Tawang Chu | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | India; Bhutan |
District | Tawang district (Arunachal Pradesh); Trashiyangtse and Trashigang |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Tsona Chu |
• location | Tsona County, Tibet |
• coordinates | 28°05′24″N92°03′32″E / 28.090°N 92.059°E |
2nd source | Mago Chu |
• location | Tawang district, Arunachal Pradesh |
• coordinates | 27°51′18″N92°16′59″E / 27.855°N 92.283°E |
• elevation | 3,360 m (11,020 ft) |
Mouth | Kholong Chu |
• location | Duksum, Trashiyangtse District, Bhutan |
• coordinates | 27°26′02″N91°34′26″E / 27.434°N 91.574°E |
• elevation | 1,040 m (3,410 ft) |
Basin features | |
Progression | Drangme Chu, Manas River |
River system | Brahmaputra |
Tawang Chu (Tawang river) is the main river of the Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh, India. The entire district may be regarded as the basin of the Tawang Chu river. In addition, two south-flowing rivers from Tibet, viz., the Tsona Chu and Nyamjang Chu, join the river within the district. The combined river flows west into Bhutan, where it progresses to the Manas River (tributary of Brahmaputra River) and flows into the Assam state of India.
Tawang Chu is formed by the joining of three rivers originating within the Tawang district: the Goshu Chu, Dungma Chu and Gorjo Chu. These rivers merge near the village of Mago ( 27°41′15″N92°12′26″E / 27.6876°N 92.2072°E ), after which the combined river is called Mago Chu. After Tsona Chu joins it, near Kyelatongbo at an elevation of 2,240 metres (7,350 ft), the combined river is called Tawang Chu. The river flows west towards Bhutan, passing by the Tawang town on its southern flank. [1] Near Jang, between Mago & Tawang, the Nuranang River joins Tawang Chu. Near Lumla, the Nyamjang Chu river originating in Tibet joins Tawang Chu.
Tawang Chu enters Bhutan after passing the Dudunghar Circle of the Tawang district. At Duksum, the river merges with the Kholong Chu river flowing from the north. [2] The combined river is called Drangme Chhu (or Manas River).
Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It lies on NH-13 section of Trans-Arunachal Highway. The town was once the headquarter 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 the number one tourist destination of Arunachal Pradesh.
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The Takpa or Dakpa language, Dakpakha, known in India as Tawang Monpa, also known as Brami in Bhutan, is an East Bodish language spoken in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, and in northern Trashigang District in eastern Bhutan, mainly in Kyaleng, Phongmed Gewog, Dangpholeng and Lengkhar near Radi Gewog. Van Driem (2001) describes Takpa as the most divergent of Bhutan's East Bodish languages, though it shares many similarities with Bumthang. SIL reports that Takpa may be a dialect of the Brokpa language and that it been influenced by the Dzala language whereas Brokpa has not.
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Namka Chu or Kejielang River is a tributary of Nyamjang Chu that flows along the disputed border between India and China. The Indian side of the border is the Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh. The Tibetan side of the border is in Tsona Dzong, Shannan province of Tibet. Namka Chu originates near the trijunction of Tibet, Bhutan and India and flows east for 26 km before joining Nyamjang Chu. It is about 200 kilometers away from the Misamari railhead and 60 kilometers from the Tawang road head. The Namka Chu valley was the scene of some of the most fierce fighting during the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
The Nyamjang Chu, or Nyashang Chu (Tibetan: ཉ་བཤང་ཆུ, Wylie: nya bshang chu, THL: nya shang 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 Nyamjang Chu valley has provided the traditional communication route between Tawang and Tibet. The valley near the town of Zemithang in the Tawang district, called the Pangchen Valley, is known for its serene beauty and forms one of the wintering locations for the black-necked crane.
Zemithang or Pangchen, is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous circle in the Tawang district of Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is on the bank of the Nyamjang Chu river, which originates in Tibet and enters India from the north near the locality called Khinzemane.
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Tulung La (Tibetan: ཐུ་ལུང་ལ་, Wylie: thu lung la) is a border pass between the Tsona County in the Tibet region of China and India's Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh. It is in the eastern part of the two districts, close to the Gori Chen cluster of mountains, on a watershed between the Tsona Chu river in Tibet and the Tawang Chu in the Tawang district. The watershed ridge forms the border between Tibet and India as per the McMahon Line. Tulung La provided an invasion route to China during the 1962 Sino-Indian War. It is also the scene of occasional clashes between the two sides.