Zemithang

Zemithang
Pangchen
Village
Gorsam Chorten
Gorsam Chorten
Zemithang Circle
Zemithang Circle
Zemithang is located in Arunachal Pradesh
Zemithang
Zemithang
Location in Arunachal Pradesh, India
Zemithang is located in India
Zemithang
Zemithang
Zemithang (India)
Coordinates: 27°42′38″N 91°43′48″E / 27.7106891°N 91.7300530°E / 27.7106891; 91.7300530
Country India
StateArunachal Pradesh
DistrictTawang
Elevation
2,120 m (6,960 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total2,498
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)

Zemithang (Tibetan: བྱེ་མ་ཐང།, Wylie: bye ma thang[a]) or Pangchen (Tibetan: སྤང་ཆེན, Wylie: spang chen), 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.

The Zemithang Circle is the last administrative division of India on the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, along the border with Bhutan in the west.[2][3][4] 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.[5] Zemithang's border with Tibet, along the Namka Chu and Sumdorong Chu valleys, is disputed with China.[6]

Zemithang was the first point in India that the 14th Dalai Lama arrived in India as he fled China for India in 1959 following the Chinese occupation of Tibet.[6] He settled at the Tawang Monastery; 70 km southeast, on 30 March before moving on a month later to Uttarakhand to meet then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[7] The Dalai Lama has reportedly recalled the area "emotionally" as "a place where I had enjoyed freedom for the first time."[7]

  1. ^ Kalita, Kangkan (2023-03-21). "Tree planted by 14th Dalai Lama near LAC in Arunachal a big hit". The Times of India. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  2. ^ Sang Khandu. "Leaves of Pangchen" (PDF). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  3. ^ Chowdhary, Charu (2019-07-23). "Zemithang: An Oasis of Calm And Tranquility in Arunachal Pradesh". India.com. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  4. ^ "Community from Zemithang Valley bags award for forest conservation". www.wwfindia.org. WWF-India. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  5. ^ Tawang District Census Handbook, Part A (PDF), Directorate of Census Operations, Arunachal Pradesh, 2011, pp. 28, 77
  6. ^ a b "Taking the high road: India infrastructure drive counters China". RFI. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  7. ^ a b "How the Dalai Lama escaped to Arunachal Pradesh 58 years back". Indian Express. 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2023-07-07.


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