India-China clash: What has happened in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh

Subject: Mapping

The Defence Minister told Lok Sabha that on December 9, PLA troops carried out an incursion (“atikraman”) across the LAC in Yangtse area of Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh, and attempted to unilaterally change the status quo.

About Tawang

Tawang is a town in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The town was once the capital of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into the Tawang district and the West Kameng district.Tawang continues as the headquarters of the former.
Tawang is situated 448 km north-west of state capital Itanagar at an elevation of approximately 3,048 metres (10,000 ft).
It lies to the north of the Tawang Chu river valley, roughly 10 miles (16 km) south of the Line of Actual Control with China.
It is the site of a famous Gelugpa Buddhist monastery(Tawang Monastery).

About Tawang Monastery

It is the largest monastery in India and second largest in the world after the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
Tawang Monastery is known in Tibetan as Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, which translates to “celestial paradise in a clear night.”
It was in 1680-1681 in accordance with the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682).
It belongs to the Gelug school of Mahayana Buddhism.

Architecture and other features:

The monastery is triple storied with a large assembly hall, ten other functional structures and with 65 residential quarters for students, Lamas and monks.
The main temple in the monastery is known as the Dukhang.