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| Before entering Jaswant Garh War Memorial |
There was a lump in my throat. I continued reading and then suddenly tears filled my eyes blurring my vision. I squeezed my eyes and tears rolled down my cheeks, but then I could read.
I had a mixed feeling. A pride and honor that here died a great soldier hero who with two of his colle foagues fought and stopped the onslaught of Chinese Army for 3 days and repulsed the attack 5 times during Indo China war 1962
The Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rathore- a Mahavir Chakra Awardee (Posthumous) of the 4th Battalion of Garhwal Rifles Infantry Regiment. Then I felt an utter disgust... A SHAME! you Indian!... didn't know about this great hero of your country!The how many of my countrymen know?My thoughts were interrupted... there was a shout from my friend.......  |
| Dirang view from hotel |
...soon we reached
Dirang. This was situated at an altitude of 4910 ft above the sea level, a beautiful hill station at a distance of 2 hours from
Bomdila.Dirang, a small hamlet was in a very beautiful valley. The town had an array of four storied fortified stone buildings in which the entire village could take refuge at the time of war. It is the only one of its kind in the entire area. Apart from taking walks around picturesque places we went to Hot Water Spring, which was also the main attraction for locals, who supposedly take bath in the Hot Springs as its water is said to possess curative properties.
Next day we headed for
Tawang, the end of the land and the entrance to heaven!
The journey, though arduous and with steep climbing, continued surrounded by jaw dropping scenery. Just awesome, it was! We started feeling breathless and knew we were heading for an incredible height. May be due to poor oxygen. We also knew that soon we were about to make a history in our lives by crossing
“Sela Pass”, the world's highest motorable high-altitude mountain pass located in
Tawang District of Arunachal Pradesh state of India at an elevation of 4170 m (13,700 ft).
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| Lake near Sela Pass |
And then we were there.
Sela Pass was a rugged beauty beyond imagination! The landscape was snow and snow all around! There was a beautiful lake half frozen.
Soon we continued our journey to
Tawang when we arrived at
Nuranang Valley, just 25 Kms before
Tawang and at
The Jaswant Garh War Memorial. |
| Entrance of Memorial |
This war memorial, set in scenic terrain just below the
Sela Pass commemorates the bravery of the martyred Indian soldiers of the 1962 Indo-China.
We entered the temple-like Jaswantgarh memorial which had a garlanded bronze bust of Jaswant Singh, a portrait of the war hero who was given and his belongings including the Army uniform, cap, watch and belt. He was a
Mahavir Chakra Awardee (Posthumous) of the 4th Battalion of Garhwal Rifles Infantry Regiment.
Words:"This war memorial stands in memory of rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat, Mahavir Chakra Awardee (Posthumous) of the 4th Battalion of Garhwal Rifles Infantry Regiment. Jaswant showed his valor by fighting and holding the invading Chinese back for 72 hours all alone during the 1962 India-China war and remained at his post at an altitude of about 10,000 feet before succumbing to an enemy bullet during that bloody winter war. The post that he held to repulse the Chinese troops has been renamed Jaswant Garh in recognition of his valor and sacrifice. For any soldier of Indian Army, the famous memorial of 1962 war between India and China at Jaswantgarh stands taller than even the 14000 ft high Sela Pass along the steep, serpentine mountainous road to monastery town at Tawang in western Arunachal Pradesh.”We had tea and some snacks offered by Army Jawans in Jaswant Dhaba and left the memorial with a heavy heart for Tawang....
to be continuedRoute: Kolkata- Guahati-Tejpur-Bomdila-Dirang-Sela Pass-Tawang
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| Map to Jaswant Garh War Memorial |