Travel style · Arunachal
Festivals in Arunachal
Masked dances, fairs and harvest days
Tshechus in Bhutan, Hemis in Ladakh, Losar across the Buddhist Himalaya, Kullu Dussehra, Ziro's music festival and the Black-necked Crane festival. Planned around lunar dates that move every year.
Photo: Bhavikji · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsMost Himalayan festivals follow lunar calendars, so their dates move by weeks from year to year. We confirm dates with monasteries and organisers before you book, and you should check current status before you travel.
Arunachal is India's far eastern Himalaya: Monpa Buddhist country around Tawang and Dirang in the west, Apatani rice valleys at Ziro, Adi villages along the Siang, and the rainforest of Namdapha in the east. Indians need an Inner Line Permit, foreigners a Protected Area Permit. October to April is the best window.
Trips
Festivals trips in Arunachal
No published festivals trip in Arunachal yet
We plan them on request. Tell us your month and budget and a planner sends a route and an itemised price within one working day.
Plan a festivals trip3 places
Where to go
Photo: Bhavikji · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Pasighat
Adi country where the Siang meets the plains
Photo: Kthatapalli · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Tawang
India's largest monastery above a Monpa valley town
Photo: Arunachal2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Ziro
The Apatani valley of rice, fish and pine
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Rashid Jorvee · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sunset on the Siang at Pasighat
Watch the Siang spread out of the hills into braided channels and sandbanks as the sun sets behind the ridges, with boa…
Photo: Prashanthns · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Birding in Daying Ering sanctuary
Cross to the river islands of the Siang to look for wintering ducks, waders and grassland birds in a sanctuary of sandb…
Photo: Research Institute of World’s Ancient Traditio… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
An Adi village, the mosup and apong
Visit an Adi village near Pasighat with a local guide: stilt houses, granaries, the mosup community hall, orange and ar…
Photo: Rumelade · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Morning prayers at Tawang Monastery
Join the early assembly at India's largest Buddhist monastery, when young monks chant in the prayer hall and butter tea…
Photo: Prof Ranga Sai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Urgelling, birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama
A small, old temple a few kilometres below Tawang where Tsangyang Gyatso, the 6th Dalai Lama, was born in 1683. Quiet, …
Photo: Kingshuk Mondal · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Watch Mon shugu paper being made
See how the Monpa made paper for monastery scriptures: bark of the shugu sheng shrub soaked, pounded into pulp and set …
Photo: Bullo Doilyang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Apatani village walk in Hong and Hari
Walk through two large Apatani villages with a local guide: stilt houses, granaries, clan platforms, shrines and the ri…
Photo: Thinksaurabh · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
An Apatani kitchen: pike pila and rice beer
Cook and eat with an Apatani family around the hearth: smoked pork, bamboo shoot, sticky rice, pike pila pickle and hom…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Anand Explore · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
Apatani homestays, Ziro valley
Family homestays in the Apatani villages of Hong, Hari, Hija and Siiro are the best way to stay in Ziro: wooden ro…
Photo: Kthatapalli · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Hotel Gakyi Khang Zhang, Tawang
One of Tawang's longest-established hotels, Gakyi Khang Zhang sits in town with views towards the monastery and th…
Photo: Arunachal2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Siiro Resort, Ziro
A pine-wood resort in Siiro village on the edge of the Ziro valley, with private rooms, attached bathrooms and vie…
Photo: Kthatapalli · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
Vivanta Tawang
A Taj-group hotel that opened in December 2023 a short drive from Tawang Monastery. Heated rooms, a full restauran…