Urgelling Gompa, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh India

Urgelling Gompa, one of the first three monasteries built by Urgen Sangpo, is believed to have been present in Tawang since 14th century. Urgen Sangpo was the youngest brother of the famous Treasure-Revealer, Terton Pempalinga.

Tawang Valley is dotted with monasteries and stupas. As soon as I entered Tawang, the first impressive sight was a serene monastery surrounded by trees on all sides.

Located at a distance of 3 km from Tawang Township, this place is believed to be the birthplace of His Holiness the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Tashi. His Holiness the 6th Dalai Lama, born in 1683, was the son of Lama Tashi Tenzin. Lama Tashi Tenzin resided in Urgelling Village and was a descendant of Terton Pempalingpa.

You could spend a whole day visiting monasteries in Tawang. Among the many Gompas of Tawang, a few stood out. Urgelling Monastery is one of them and is the birth place of the 6th Dalai Lama (born Tsangyang Gyatso) . Once a revered gompa, nothing much of that grandness of the Urgelling Monastery has remained. Located 5km from the main town at the foothill, the Urgelling Monastery is a modest but colorful gompa hidden by old trees. The gate opened to a forlorn single temple that seemed far removed from today’s world. It seemed as if the place has refused to shake itself out of its 15th century glory. 

The gompa was closed so I wandered around and came upon a house which was down a few steps in front of the gompa. Two kids shied away into the corridor and for a second I thought they were monks, until a woman appeared at the door. Since it was unusual for gompas to be without monks; and I hadn’t seen a single monk the whole morning, I asked her if at all there were monks in the gompa. She told me that the monks usually stay in the big Tawang monastery and visited the Urgelling Monastery only sometimes.