Khinmey Gompa

Arunachal Pradesh


This beautiful monastery in a tiny village east of Tawang (9km by vehicle, 6km on foot) is well worth a visit. Its current head, the Thegtse Rinpoche, is the 14th reincarnation of the guru who founded it in 1440. The main prayer hall is covered with fantastic, brightly coloured murals of hundreds of deities and presided over by the fierce-looking Buddhist sage Padmasambhava, flanked by his Indian and Tibetan wives.

A large statue of the Medicine Buddha sits on top of a pavilion of prayer wheels in the grounds. You could walk to Khinmey from Urgelling Gompa (a total of 8km from central Tawang), then ask one of the monks to call you a taxi back to town (₹300).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Arunachal Pradesh attractions

1. Urgelling Gompa

1.59 MILES

The ancient if modest Urgelling Gompa, a 3km walk below Tawang town, is where the sixth Dalai Lama, a Monpa, was born in 1683. Before he left for Lhasa,…

2. Tawang Gompa

2.17 MILES

The magical Tawang Gompa, founded in 1681 in what was then a Monpa royal palace, overlooks the town from its ridgetop site. Reputedly the world’s second…

3. Museum

2.18 MILES

An interesting Buddhist museum that contains images, robes, trumpets, gongs, oboes and ancient masks and manuscripts, along with some personal items of…

4. Gyangong Ani Gompa

2.34 MILES

This friendly nunnery, with about 50 Buddhist nuns, was founded by Merag Lama (founder of the main Tawang Gompa) for his sister. It's connected to Tawang…

5. Gom Kora

23.27 MILES

An extraordinarily picturesque temple, Gom Kora is located 13km north of Chazam. The lush green fields, the monks' red robes and the temple's yellow roof…

6. National Institute for Zorig Chusum

24.01 MILES

This arts and crafts institute south of town was opened in 1997 to provide vocational training opportunities for those who aren't continuing in the higher…

7. Chorten Kora

24.26 MILES

Chorten Kora is large, but not nearly as large as the stupa of Bodhnath in Nepal, after which it was patterned. It was constructed in 1740 by Lama Ngawang…

8. Trashigang Dzong

27.5 MILES

The dzong is on a thin promontory overlooking the confluence of the Drangme Chhu and the Gamri Chhu. It was built in 1667 by Mingyur Tenpa, Bhutan's third…