Zemithang () or Pangchen (), is a village and the headquarters of an

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

in the

Tawang district Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous ...

of Indian state of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

. It is on the bank of the

Nyamjang Chu The Nyamjang Chu, or Nyashang Chu () is a cross-border perennial river that originates in the Shannan Prefecture of Tibet and flows into the Arunachal Pradesh state of India, joining the Tawang Chu river just before it enters Bhutan. The Nyamja ...

river, which originates in Tibet and enters India from the north near the locality called Khinzemane. The Zemithang Circle is the last administrative division of India on the border with the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

of China, along the border with

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

in the west. It has a population of 2,498 people by the 2011 census, distributed in 18 villages. The Zemithang Circle and the Dudunghar Circle to its south, together make up a

community development block In India, a community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of District, administratively earmarked for planning and development. In tribal areas, similar sub-divisions are called tribal development blocks (TD blocks). T ...

. Zemithang's border with Tibet, along the Namka Chu and Sumdorong Chu valleys, is disputed with China. Zemithang was the first point in India that the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

arrived in India as he fled China for India in 1959 following the

Chinese occupation of Tibet There are two political debates regarding the relationship between Tibet and China. The first debate concerns whether Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and parts of neighboring provinces that are claimed as political Tibet sh ...

. He settled at the

Tawang Monastery Tawang Monastery is a Buddhist monastery located in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is the largest monastery in the country. It is situated in the valley of the Tawang Chu, in close proximity to the Chinese and Bhutanese border. Tawang ...

; 70 km southeast, on 30 March before moving on a month later to

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

to meet then Indian Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

. The Dalai Lama has reportedly recalled the area "emotionally" as "a place where I had enjoyed freedom for the first time."

Gorsam Chorten

Gorsam Chorten () is a Buddhist

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

(''chorten'') in Gorsam, 3 km southwest of the Zemithang village. The history of the stupa remained unknown as the only written records of it were either lost or destroyed. Legend has it that it was built sometime between 12-14th century by a local Buddhist monk named ''Lama Sangye Pradhar'' to ward off evil spirits in the village. As he travelled to

and subsequently

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

to raise funds for the stupa, he was fascinated by the Boudhanath Stupa (some sources cited the Swayambhunath Stupa) and carved a miniature of it out of a radish. He brought the radish sculpture back to Zemithang, where Gorsam Chorten was built as a replica stupa based on it. It was said that the Zemithang stupa is different from the Kathmandu original owing to the radish miniature that had shrivelled. The stupa is roughly 28 m high and is the site of annual ''Gorsam Kora'' festival where reportedly thousands of Buddhists attend.

Gallery

File:Zimithang ARUNACHAL PRADESH, India.jpg, Nature near Zemithang File:Zimithang.jpg, Mountains of Zemithang File:Tawang district with labels.png, Tawang district

Notes

References

Tawang district Borders of Arunachal Pradesh {{India-geo-stub