We visited Bomdila and Tenga Valley during our visit to Arunachal Pradesh. The unique beauty of Arunachal Pradesh and the simplicity of its people, which is rare elsewhere, is one of the most striking features of my entire North East journey.
Bomdila city
Bomdila is a small hill town whose main reason for its fame is that it lies on the way to the famous Tawang Monastery.
Most tourists going to Tawang have to either stay at Bomdila during the night or at Dirang, which is situated a short distance away from Bomdila.
This is what makes Bomdila a perfect tourist destination. The markets here are always crowded and there are many places to see here as well. You will also find good hotels to stay in here.
Being situated at a high altitude, the city gives you beautiful views of the various valleys around which you cannot tire of admiring.
Like a true tourist, while walking the streets here, you can see fruit and vegetable vendors as well as dry fish sellers on both sides.
hyderabad to srisailam taxi service
Apart from this, there are also small shops selling colorful plastic shoes which are used for walking in the snow. The women here do their day’s work by tying their children to their backs like the queen of Jhansi. And elderly women in their traditional garb are seen gossiping with each other.
Viharas of Bomdila
There are two Viharas in Bomdila, one of which is recently built and the other Vihara is much older, probably 300 – 400 years old.
This ancient vihara is situated at the end of the main road of Bomdila, which is not difficult to find. It is a small vihara in which the fragrance of ancient times still smells.
The local people here come to this vihara to worship the Lord and spend some peaceful time in his shelter. The architecture here is similar to the architecture of any exquisite Buddhist vihara.
government handicraft center
There is a Government Handicraft Center in Bomdila, where craftsmen are seen shaping local artifacts based on traditional methods.
These artifacts are produced and sold in this center. Many items such as masks, home furnishings, and metal artifacts are made here, and weaving and embroidery work is also done here.
You can see the production process of all these items with your own eyes and if you like any of this artwork, then you can also buy it there.
Here we were told that these craftsmen get a lot of help from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) regarding their artworks.
The Institute has also greatly helped these artisans in getting intellectual property protection for their traditional creations and weaving. There are some old thangka paintings at the entrance of this center, which even today look quite new.
Museum of Bomdila
You will be surprised to know that there is also a museum in Bomdila. It is located in a government school near the only school in this city.
The surprising thing is that no one in this city knows about this museum. Even the students of the nearby school are not aware of it.
By the way, we finally reached that museum. There we met two young women who were looking after the management of this museum.
Seeing us there, both of them asked in a somewhat surprised voice what do we want to see there? To this, we replied that we want to see everything that is on display here.
They probably didn’t understand us and with a little hesitation, they allowed us to visit the museum but forbade us to take pictures of the objects on display there.
We took a tour of the entire museum but most of the exhibition halls there were closed. When we asked the girls about these rooms and requested them to open these rooms,
they told us that the man who has the keys to these rooms has gone out and if we want to see those rooms, then we have to Will have to wait for an hour.
After a while, we saw a book store there from where we bought some books. This might have made those girls feel that we were really interested in this museum and they opened all the rooms of the museum for us.
One of them came with us and gave us detailed descriptions of many things. But in reality, she could not understand what was so special about these things that one could even take the time to look at them.
I explained to him that all these things are new to us because we do not use such things. That’s why we want to know about these items to understand the local culture. It was as if he didn’t believe our words.
But later he explained to us many things in detail and also told us which tribe these items belong to and what is the importance of these ritual objects in their caste. I really enjoyed this little conversation. With this, we both got to know each other a little bit.
Nag Mandir
On our way back from Bomdila, we stopped to visit the Nag Mandir, which is situated between Bomdila and Bhalukpong.
Although there are many snake temples in this area, which indicate the snake cults living here. But because this Nag temple is situated on the main road, we thought it appropriate to visit it.
A river also flows near this temple. Like everything else in Arunachal, this temple is also very simple. You have to go upstairs to reach this temple.
Situated at a high altitude, the windows of this temple give you a beautiful view of this valley surrounded by hills, through which the river flowing makes it even more attractive.
The city of bees is situated on the hill just in front of this Nag temple. There are thousands of hives of bees there.
In all the open spaces on that hill, only these beehives are visible in all those parts. If someone had not told us about it and had not asked us to stay here and watch the beautiful scenery,
we might never have seen this amazing sight. I am still in the same thought that I do not know how these people would collect all the honey from those hives which were situated on such a high and almost straight hill.
Dense fog and clouds on the road
There is a place between Nag Mandir and Bhalukpong which is quite famous for the thick fog that covers it. These mountains are always surrounded by an army of clouds,
due to which you keep meeting these clouds throughout the way. Sometimes these clouds are so thick that it is very difficult for you to see the modes or vehicles ahead. To go through this thick fog was not only exciting but also very scary.
Such are the trips to Arunachal, which are inconvenient but at the same time very beautiful and exciting. Here you find small shops all along the way, which look like small holes made in wooden walls. And the shopkeepers sitting in them in a pictorial manner enhance their beauty even more.
The whole journey was a very exhilarating experience for us. We left Arunachal with fond memories and the hope of coming back here to visit the rest of the places.
To get any information about Arunachal Pradesh, one must go through the official webpage related to it.
I am very grateful to Sang, who made our visit to Arunachal so memorable.
