Chumi Gyatse Falls

Chumi Gyatse Falls[lower-alpha 1] (Tibetan: ཆུ་མིག་བརྒྱ་རྩ, Wylie: chu mig brgya rtsa, THL: chu mik gya tsa), called Domtsang and Dongzhang waterfalls in Tibetan and Chinese languages respectively, are a collection of waterfalls in the Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh, India, close to the border with the Tibet region of China.[2][3] According to the local Buddhist tradition, the 108 holly water falls which originate from in-between the mountains symbolise the blessings of Guru Padmasambhava.[4] The Chumi Gyatse Falls are close to the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border between China and India, just 250 metres away according to one account.[5][lower-alpha 2]

Chumi Gyatse Falls
Chumi Gyatse Falls is located in Arunachal Pradesh
Chumi Gyatse Falls
Location in Arunachal Pradesh, India
LocationTawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Coordinates27°46′34″N 91°58′58″E

Geography
Yangtse area

The Chumi Gyatse Falls are in an area called Yangtse[lower-alpha 3] where the Tsona Chu river flows from Tibet into India's Tawang district. They are along the cliff face of a high plateau ("Yangtse plateau") formed by an east–west mountain range, whose watershed serves as the India–China border as per the McMahon Line.[8]

A few hundred meters to the north, lies Domtsang (Tibetan: དོམ་ཚང, Wylie: dom tshang) or Dongzhang (Chinese: 东章; pinyin: Dōng zhāng) (27°46′49″N 91°58′37″E), a Buddhist meditation site associated with Guru Padmasambhava.[9] Domtsang was evidently an important locale during the historical period so as to lend its name to the river and valley below it, as "Domtsangrong".[10][11] China continues to use the names "Dongzhang river" and "Dongzhang waterfalls".[3][12]

To the south of the waterfalls, Tsona Chu is joined by another river called Nyukcharong which rises from within the Yangtse plateau. A village called Tsechu (27.7229°N 92.0149°E / 27.7229; 92.0149 (Tsechu)) lies near the confluence of the two rivers, marking the terminus of the Yangtse region.[13]

Buddhist Legends
A mural of Padmasambhava from Bhutan

Domtsang

The earliest mention of the place is in Padma bka’ thang, a fourteenth century mythography of Padmasambhava by Orgyen Lingpa; Padmasambhava stayed in Domtsang for five days, and it was one of the seven regions in Mon to have been blessed by him.[14] Since then, Domtsang has been associated with meditation in a spectrum of Buddhist literature.[14]

Both Deb ther sngon po [1476] and Mkhas pa’i dga’ston [1564] records Düsum Khyenpa, the first Karmapa Lama (1110–1193) to have meditated at Domtsang.[14] Lha btsun rin chen rnam rgyal's early-16th-century biography of Tsangnyön Heruka (1452–1507) notes him to have received a vision of Cakrasaṃvara upon being chased by a phantom boar during meditation in Domtsang.[15] One of Heruka's disciples, rGod tshang ras chen, spent time at Domtsang while practicing tummo.[16] In late 16th c., Don Grub, the King (?) of Mon, invested himself as the patron of the "great shrine" at Domtsang.[14]

An undated biography of Tukse Dawa Gyaltsen [c. 17th c.] records Domtsang as one of the three most sacred sites of Shar Lawog Yulsum (eastern Tawang) which was worth a day of pilgrimage.[17] Dga’ ba’i dpal ster, a biography of Merag Lama Blo gros rgya mtsho (d. 1682) which was likely drafted in the 17th century, records one Gtsang ston Rol pa’i rdo rje (c. 15th c.) to have had found the Che mchog temple in Domtsang.[18][lower-alpha 4] O rgyan gling dkar chag, an 18th c. work by the 6th Dalai Lama, features Domtsang as the tactile site in a mandala of the senses.[14]

Chumi Gyatse

Local oral traditions ascribe the falls to have been the product of a showdown between Padmasambhava and a Lama of the Bonpa sect.[5] The Chumi Gyatse ("Chumig" = "water holes"; "gyatse" = rosary[19]) falls was formed when Padmasambhava flung his rosary against a rock and 108 streams gushed out.[5] Monpas believe the water to have recuperative abilities.[8][19]

History
The Line of Actual Control near the Chumi Gyatse Falls: marked by the US Office of the Geographer in 2012 (in blue) vs OpenStreetMap in 2022 (in dark green).[20] The difference between them is believed to be the alteration made by India in 1986.

Prior to the birth of modern nation-states of India and China, Yangtse — like, most of Tawang — remained under the suzerainty of Tibet.[lower-alpha 5] In February 1951, India wrested control of Tawang in a peaceful transfer of power.[lower-alpha 6] When the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) invaded Tibet during the same year, it is believed to have destroyed the temple at Domtsang.[19][lower-alpha 7]

The region remained demilitarized until 1986 when Indian Army occupied the territory around the falls as a buffer zone in retaliation to the Chinese occupation of the Wangdung (Sumdorong Chu) pasture.[6][19] In 1995, a Joint Working Group of the two countries listed both Sumdorong Chu and Yangtse among the unresolved border disputes.[13] In 1999, the Chinese troops attempted to assert "sovereignty" over a pasture called "Dogoer" (Chinese: 多果尔草场; pinyin: Duō guǒ ěr cǎochǎng) atop the waterfalls, having organised a grazing team jointly with local shepherds. Indian troops are said to have blocked their entry and a tense face-off ensued, lasting 82 days.[3][21] Chinese media reports further allege India to have demolished a wooden bridge in 2001, that was used by Tibetans to access the Falls, and even setting up a sentry post to block their entry.[3][21]

Beginning 2018, the state of Arunachal Pradesh has been developing the Falls as a tourism site.[5] New roads were constructed to ease travelling from the town of Tawang.[5] In July 2020, a gompa with a statue of Guru Padmasambhava was inaugurated. India is said to have proposed to China to allow Tibetan pilgrims to visit the Falls, but China has not chosen to do so.[5]

See also

Notes
  1. Alternaive spellings: Chumig Gyatse[1] and Chumik Gyatse.
  2. Map measurements indicate a distance of 500 metres.
  3. Alternative spellings: Yangste,[6] and Yangtze.[7]
  4. Rol pa’i rdo rje does not find a mention in other extant sources. He is held to be the disciple of the 1st Dalai Lama but this is probably an exaggeration; the construction of the Mon drab monastery at Tsona, Sha’u Di khung monastery at Sha’u, and the Ar yag gdung monastery are also attributed to him.
  5. Three major villages in Tawang elected their respective Gaon Buras who came under the nominal authority of two Dzongpons from the neighboring Tsona County.
  6. In 1944, J. P. Mills had taken control of the part of Tawang Tract that lay to the south of Sela Pass and evicted Tibetan tax-farmers. He did not venture north of the Sela Pass.
  7. China still refers to the falls as "Dongzhang Waterfalls", perhaps following the local Tibetan nomenclature.

References
  1. Tawang district DC Kesang Ngurup Damo visits border village, The Sentinel, 31 March 2022.
  2. Manoj Joshi (14 December 2022). "Scale of the Recent Chinese Intrusion in Tawang Is a Cause for Concern". The Wire.
  3. Hemant Adlakha (16 December 2022), "The Tawang Clash: The View From China", The Diplomat, ProQuest 2754866279
  4. Shantanu Dayal (December 15, 2022). "Why Yangtse? At LAC, a long saga of military grit". Hindustan Times.
  5. Karishma Hasnat (20 October 2020). "This Arunachal waterfall near LAC is being developed for tourism. But China 'keeping an eye'". The Print.
  6. Shaurya Karanbir Gurung, Row with China: Present tense [Defence], The Economic Times, 24 July 2017. ProQuest 1922308065: "As a retaliation to Sumdorong Chu, the Indian Army occupied Yangste in the latter half of 1986."
  7. AP, Indian, Chinese troops clash at border in fresh faceoff, NBC News, 13 December 2022.
  8. Shantanu Dayal (15 December 2022), "Why Yangtse? At LAC, a long saga of military grit", The Hindustan Times, ProQuest 2754518605
  9. "Geographical names of Tibet AR (China): Tibet Autonomous Region". KNAB Place Name Database. Institute of the Estonian Language. 2018-06-03.
  10. Aris 2012, pp. 85–86.
  11. Tenpa 2018, pp. 52–53, 125.
  12. Joseph P. Chacko, Did PLA grab Chumi Gyatser waterfall or Dongzhang Waterfall in Arunachal Pradesh?, Frontier India, 23 January 2022.
  14. Tenpa, Lobsang (2018). An Early History of the Mon Region (India) and its Relationship with Tibet and Bhutan. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. pp. 52–53, 77, 110–111, 124. ISBN 9789387023345.
  15. DiValerio, David M. (April 2015). "Reanimating the Great Yogin: On the Composition of the Biographies of the Madman of Tsang (1452–1507)" (PDF). Revue d'Études Tibétaines. 32: 36.
  16. Ehrhard, Franz-Karl (2010). "Editing and Publishing the Master's Writings: The Early Years of rGod tshang ras chen (1482–1559)". In Chayet, Anne; Scherrer-Schaub, Cristina; Robin, Françoise; Achard, Jean-Luc (eds.). Edition, éditions: l'écrit au Tibet, évolution et devenir (PDF). Collectanea Himalayica III. Munich: Indus Verlag. p. 138. ISBN 978-3-940659-02-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. Dorji, Lham (Winter 2005). "Religious Life and History of the Emanated Heart-son Thukse Dawa Gyeltshen" (PDF). Journal of Bhutan Studies. 13: 85.
  18. Lobsang, Tenpa (Autumn–Winter 2013). "The Life and Activities of Rgyal sras Blo bzang bstan pa'i sgron me, a 16th century Tibeto-Mon Monk from Tawang". The Tibet Journal. 38 (3–4): 9.
  19. Bidhayak Das (13 November 2022), "Legend of the Chumi Gyatse: A Deeper Understanding of Arunachal's Famous 108 Holy Waterfalls Along the LAC", BorderLens
  20. Large Scale International Boundaries (LSIB), Europe and Asia, 2012, EarthWorks, Stanford University, 2012.
  21. Liu Zongyi (13 October 2021), Liúzōngyì: Yìndù wèihé jiè dōng zhāng dìqū tiǎoxìn zhōngguó? 刘宗义：印度为何借东章地区挑衅中国？ [Liu Zongyi: Why does India use the Dongzhang area to provoke China?] (in Chinese) – via guancha.cn

Bibliography
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