Tak-Tsang Gompa or T Gompa: As serene as it gets

The name means tiger’s den, but it is a Buddhist monastery located in the high altitude of the Eastern Himalayas in Western Arunachal Pradesh. Everything about it is peaceful. The place is so  quiet that the only sound you can hear is that of the wind blowing and your heat beating.


It is believed that this Buddhist monastery was hallowed by the visit of Guru Padma Sambhava in the 8th century. Legend has it that the guru meditated here in a cave for sometime.


Today, this place is such that you feel like meditating literally anywhere in its campus. The bitter cold winds coming by the nearby mountains make you cringe, but in spite of it you feel a warmth in this place. When I was exploring this place, I only found a monk who was so busy meditating that he hardly noticed my presence. His meditation had a lot of power in it and tons of passion too. I was so moved by him that I think I will definitely go back to him and be his disciple. May be, I will learn something from him.


The Tak-Tsang Gompa (Gonpa) or T Gompa is located close to Sangetsar Lake (also known as Madhuri Jheel) and is located at an altitude of about 12,500 to 13,000 feet. As with most Buddhist monasteries, the T Gompa is also situated on the top of a hillock and by a cliff.


It is about 40 kilometers from the town of Tawang and takes about 2 hours to drive to T Gompa from Tawang. The route is fairly simple. From Tawang, one heads on the road to Bumla pass. At Y junction, a road to the left leads to Sangetsar Lake and from Sangetsar lake, it is a steep uphill climb for about 15 minutes.


I have had a fair share of Buddhist monasteries in India across Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and I have to say that this place is definitely very different. There is something special about it.


May be, it is the Himalayan remoteness. May be, it is the feeling of true peace. I really don’t know and I will definitely one day return to this place to find out more.

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Sangetsar Lake: Abundance of Himalayan Vistas

The Himalayan landscapes are bound to captivate nearly anyone in this world. Irrespective of the month of the year or the time of the day, it has something to offer to its visitors. It was indeed such a moment when I approached Sangetsar Lake, a high altitude lake in the Eastern Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh that is considered holy by the Buddhists.

 
It is the heady mix of spirituality, the mighty Himalayas surrounding it and the tree trunks jutting out of this lake that give it that oomph factor. Or may be, it is because, your brain is gasping for oxygen at this high altitude of about 12,000 feet.

 
This place is also known as Madhuri Jheel after the famous Bollywood movie Koyla (featuring Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit) that was shot here. In terms of location, the Sangetsar Lake is about 30 kilometres North East of Tawang (about 2 hour drive one way depending on weather and road conditions). One requires a special permit from the District Commissioner's (DC) office located at Tawang to visit this lake. Only Indian nationals are allowed here.

 
There is a fair bit of history associated with this lake. The Sangetsar Lake is one of the remotest high altitude lakes in India and is located tantalizingly close to the China border. Both the Buddhists of India as well as the Buddhists of Tibet, consider the waters of this lake extremely pure and come here on pre-defined days of the year to offer their prayers.

 
And then there is a bit of story attached to the eerie tree trunks jutting out of this lake. I found this one out from the local army folks over a cup of tea. Apparently, the Sangetsar lake used to be located at a short distance away from its current location, but after an earthquake that hit this part of the world and the ensuing tectonic plate shift, the lake moved its position from its earlier location to a pine forest. The move was so dramatic that it drowned the entire forest except for the top of the tree trunks that can still be seen jutting out, even today.

 
There are some other interesting facts about this lake. One, it never dries out even during the driest years and second, it never freezes even during the coldest year and that too when everything around it is deeply frozen.

 
If you are fairly fit and have acclimatized well to the high altitude, then you should definitely walk the well paved pedestrian path that surrounds this lake. This trail gives you a 360 degree view of this magnificent Himalayan vista, while you cut across innumerable streams and pine forests that are dressed in fresh snow. This place is a definite on the travel bucket list if you are in love with the Himalayas.

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Buddhist Monk at Tak-Tsang Gompa, Arunachal Pradesh

This Buddhist Monk was the sign of peace, serenity and concentration while he was reading the verses from his holy book. I liked his posture so much that I knew I needed to take a portrait shot, but at the same time did not want to disturb him. Luckily for me, he took a break and that was when I requested for a short photography session and the monk happily obliged.


I spotted this monk sitting just outside the inner sanctum of Tak-Tsang Gompa or locally known as T Gompa. Tak-Tsang Gompa, situated close to Sangetsar Lake and the China Border, is part of the high altitude Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh. It is at a distance of about 35 kilometres from Tawang. Though, this temple is small in size, it compensates quite a bit in power and beauty.

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