Thukje Chueling Ani Gompa, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
I have been to a lot of Buddhist monasteries during my travels, but I had never seen a monastery that was run by nuns, which is very similar to the Christian society. I saw such a place, in fact many such monasteries during my backpacking trip to the north western stretches of Arunachal Pradesh.
Such monasteries are called Ani Gompas, which literally translates into ‘Nunnery’. No male monk can be seen near these Ani Gompas and all you can see are sparkle eyed and clean-shaven nuns who are busy managing the day-to-day operations of the Ani Gompa.
In this case, I was at the Thukje Chueling Ani Gompa that is situated on top of a hill that faces the Tawang valley. This place is about 10 kilometres from the city of Tawang. Though this Ani Gompa was small in size, it made up for that in its vibrant colours and different surroundings.
In fact, the place was so interesting that we ended up spending more time at these Ani Gompas than the true Buddhist Gompas. These Ani Gompas are a must see in your Tawang holiday plan. If you are interested in such kind of holidays, do look up all inclusive package holidays from TravelSoon that offer this and much more. I definitely recommend this kind of cultural experience of Tawang. They are truly special and very different.
