The town of Tawang is located in Arunachal Pradesh, in north-east India.  It borders with Tibet in the north and Bhutan in the southwest.  The area around Tawang is highly-praised for the beauty of its majestic mountain peaks, lakes, forests, and waterfalls, and is renowned for its rich cultural traditions.

Tawang is blessed with various monasteries, nunneries, and stupas, which reflect its deep religious history.  Tawang Monastery, the second largest Buddhist monastery in the world, was founded by the great 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century.  The 6th Dalai Lama and many great masters have been born in Tawang over the centuries.

With an area of 2000 square kilometers and a population of around sixty thousand, Tawang is headquarters of one of the smallest districts in Arunachal Pradesh. The majority of the people are dedicated followers of Tibetan Buddhism. The local dialect is Monpa, which is based on Tibetan language, and is spoken in many other parts of the Himalayan region.  Tibetan is regarded as one of the most profound languages in the world and is the only living language in which the entirety of the Buddha’s teachings exists.

Like people in many small traditional communities around the world, the people of Tawang are experiencing tremendous changes in the town’s infrastructure, economy, and way of life.  While they strive to integrate into the global community, they are facing serious challenges in preserving their distinctive identity and culture.

Many thousands of families live in remote villages in the mountainous Tawang district.  They mainly subsist through agriculture, animal husbandry, trading, and construction work. While some children can walk long distances to attend government schools, many do not, so they are growing up without formal education.