(TibetanReview.net, Feb24’24) – The government of the state of Arunachal Pradesh is developing the 1959 escape trail within India of Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, following China’s annexation of Tibet into a spiritual and religious tourism circuit.
Little-known Lumla in western Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district would soon be on the national tourism map. The young Dalai Lama had passed through, even stayed in this area, during his escape from Lhasa to India, reported the PTI news agency Feb 23.
“We are developing the escape trail of His Holiness into a religious and spiritual tourism circuit which is going on. As many as five monoliths will be constructed in each place where the Dalai Lama spent the night during his journey to India from Tibet”, Tsering Lhamu the Lumla MLA, has told PTI.
The escape trail was stated to be through the business route that started in Tibet’s Tsona district and ended at Khen-Dze-mani under the Zemithang circle in Tawang district.
On Mar 31, 1959, the Dalai Lama and a group of eight people along with another group of eighty people were received officially at Khen-Dze-Mani by the political officer of Tawang, the 5 Assam Rifles and the people of Zemithang, the report said.
Currently, a small gate known as ‘Lhasa Dwar’, the point where the Dalai Lama entered India, is marked by a ‘Holy Tree’, which is said to have grown from a staff dug by the Dalai Lama during his escape. It is now worshipped as a relic marking the historic event.
Another notable point of interest in this area is stated to be a hanging bridge on the Indian side, followed by the Lhasa Dwar.
Then there is Gorsam Chorten, a little far from Lhasa Dwar, located 90 km from Tawang. It was founded by a Monpa monk named Lama Pradhar in the 12th century and is the largest Buddhist stupa in the region, the report said. Monpa is a major tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The Dalai Lama stayed in the Gorsam Chorten for a day.
Zemithang is also being developed as a vibrant village in Tawang district under New Delhi’s vibrant village programme to counter China’s ‘border defence villages’ in occupied Tibet.
Lhamu has said two gompas at Thonglek and Lumla areas had been completed as part of the project while a museum is coming up at Lumla, which will display various artefacts related to the Dalai Lama.
Also, a 113 feet Maitreya Buddha (the coming Buddha) statue is coming up at Buri along the India-Bhutan border, under the NE scheme of Swadesh Darshan of the Union Tourism ministry for the development of Bhalukpong-Bomdila-Tawang tourism circuit, the report said.
Swadesh Darshan scheme is one of the flagship programmes of the ministry for the development of thematic circuits in the country in a planned and prioritised manner. Under the scheme, the government is focussing on the development of quality infrastructure with the objective of providing better experience and facilities to visitors while fostering economic growth.