DIBRUGARH, March 19 — A unique festival of the Monpa community, the Kora festival, will be held at Zemithang from March 29 for five days. Kora is an important festival of the community, next only to the Lossar festival, in significance. The border town of Zemithang, near the Indo-China border, has been its traditional venue. This year, the Tawang district administration has also arranged for a handloom expo at Zomithang, to coincide with the festivities.
Since the past few years, the Arunachal Pradesh Government has been doing all it can to promote tourism in the State. Tawang is one of the more famous tourist destinations, and the district administration there is trying to pull out all the stops in attracting tourists to all parts of the district, so that the local population derives some benefit from the industry.
Tawang Deputy Commissioner Kapa Kholie, speaking to this correspondent over telephone said the Zemithang area of the district has several places of religious significance. These include a 700-year old stupa, which is architecturally same as the stupa of Boudhinath in Nepal. The stupa, all of 93 feet in height, on a base perimeter of 186 feet, attracts Buddhists from Nepal, Bhutan and all over India. Locals know it as the Gorsem Chortem. The devout believe that doing rounds of the stupa begets blessings from Lord Buddha. Local legend has it that the foundation of the stupa was laid by a monk named lama Prathar in the 13th Century.
A trip to Zemihang would be worth the trouble, assures Deputy Commissioner Kholie. The road distance from Tawang to Zemithang is about 90 km. Though the road is not in excellent shape, it is motorable throughout the year. For visitors desirous of attending the festival, advance bookings may be necessary with the Tawang district administration, as Zemithang has limited tourist accommodation facilities.