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Tourism of Arunachal Pradesh
Places of tourist interest in the state include Bomdila, Tawang and the nearby Buddhist
monastery, which happens to be the largest in India. Itanagar is famous for its
excavated ruins of the historical Ita Fort, and the attractive Gyaker Sinyi or the
Ganga Lake. Malinithan and Bhismaknagar are the two important archaeological sites
in the state, and Parashuram Kund is a prominent pilgrimage site. Namdapha Wildlife
sanctuary in the Changlang district is home to the rare Hoolock gibbon.
Arunachal Pradesh, bordered on the
south by Assam state, on the west by Bhutan,
on the north and northeast by China, and
on the east by Myanmar (formerly known
as Burma) is a sparsely populated mountainous area in the extreme northeastern part
of the subcontinent. Arunachal Pradesh (Sanskrit for "Land of the Rising Sun") has
an area of 83,743 sq km.
Most of Arunachal Pradesh is mountainous. Its terrain consists of lofty, haphazardly
aligned ridges that separate deep valleys and rise to the peaks of the Great Himalayas.
The state's main rivers are the Brahmaputra known in Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang,
and its tributaries, the Tirap, the Lohit (Zayü Qu), the Subansiri, and the Bhareli.
The climate of the foothills is subtropical; in the mountains, temperatures decrease
rapidly with altitude. Rainfall averages between 2000 and 4000 mm (80 and 160 in)
a year
Arunachal Pradesh has a single-chamber Legislative Assembly, which has 60 seats. The state
sends three members to the Indian national parliament: one to the Rajya Sabha (upper
house) and two to the Lok Sabha (lower house). Local government is
based on 12 administrative districts
History
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The region that is now Arunachal Pradesh is mentioned in the Puranas (Sanskrit writings
about the beginning of time), but little else is known of the state's early history.
Part of Arunachal Pradesh was annexed by the Ahom kings of Assam in the 16th century.
In 1826 Assam became part of British India, but efforts to bring Arunachal Pradesh
under British administration did not begin until the 1880s. In 1912 the region became
an administrative unit within Assam, called the North Eastern Frontier Tract (NEFT);
in 1954 the NEFT became the North East Frontier Agency. Its northern boundary with
Tibet has been disputed since 1913, when China rejected British proposals that the
border should follow the crest of the Himalayas. This proposed border, known as
the McMahon line, has served as the de facto boundary since. After the independence
of India in 1947, China made claims to practically the whole area covered by the
districts of East and West Kameng, Lower and Upper Subansiri, East and West Siang,
and Lohit, arguing that the McMahon Line had never been accepted by China and was
the result of British "aggression."
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Following this dispute, Chinese troops crossed the McMahon Line on August 26, 1959,
and captured an Indian outpost at Longju, a few miles south of the line. They abandoned
this in 1961 but in October 1962 crossed the line, this time in force. After first
striking toward the Tanglha ridge and Tawang near the Bhutan border, the Chinese
later extended their attack along the whole frontier. Deep inroads were made at
a number of points. Later the Chinese agreed to withdraw approximately to the McMahon
Line and in 1963 returned Indian prisoners of war.
The region became the union territory of Arunachal Pradesh in 1972, and India's 24th state in December 1986.
Society and Culture
Most of the population of Arunachal Pradesh is of Asiatic origin and shows physical
affinities with the peoples of Tibet and the Myanmar hill region. There are dozens
of tribes and subtribes, each with a specific geographic distribution. In western
Arunachal Pradesh the main tribes are the Nissi (Nishi or Dafla), Sulung, Sherdukpen,
Aka, Monpa, Apa Tani, and Hill Miri. The Adi, the largest tribal group in the state,
occupy the central region. The Mishmi occupy the northeastern hills, and the Wancho,
Nocte, and Tangsa inhabit the southeastern district of Tirap.These tribal groups
speak about 50 distinct languages and dialects, belonging mostly to the Tibeto-Burmese
branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. They are often mutually unintelligible
and, thus, Assamese, Hindi, and English are used as lingua francas in the region.
As a rule, the tribes do not intermarry, and each follows distinct social, cultural,
and religious practices. The most common religious practice is animism, in which
deities of nature and various spirits are worshiped. Ritual sacrifice is also common,
and the mithun (a domesticated gaur, or wild ox) is especially revered as a sacrificial
animal.
Hindu beliefs and practices have penetrated the region, especially among
populations near the Assam lowlands. Tibetan Buddhism is found among groups near
the Tibetan border, and some tribes along the Myanmar border practice the Southeast
Asian form of this religion, Hinayana Buddhism.
Economy and Infrastructure
Arunachal Pradesh is well endowed with an abundant forest cover, mineral, and hydel
power resources. the principal crops are rice. Maize, millet, wheat, pulses (edible
seeds gathered from pea and bean crops), potatoes,
sugarcane, fruit, and oilseeds
are also important. Many areas depend on shifting cultivation (also known as slash-and-burn
agriculture), in which trees and grasses are burned from an area so a crop may be
planted for several seasons and then shifted to a new area. Industry is small scale
and includes timber, rice, and oil mills; soap and candle making; sericulture (raising
silkworms for the production of raw silk); and handicrafts. The economic potential
of Arunachal Pradesh's forests and rivers, and of its coal, oil, and other mineral
deposits has yet to be exploited, partly because rough terrain makes transportation
difficult.Coal reserves of the state comprising of the Namchik-Namphuk coal mine
in Tirap district, are estimated at 90 million tonnes and the crude oil reserves
are estimated to be 1.5 million tonnes. Deposits of dolomite, limestone, graphite,
quartzite, kyanite,
mica, iron and copper are also reported to be found here.
The state's rugged terrain makes transport and communications extremely difficult.
With few surfaced roads and no railways in Arunachal Pradesh, links with the rest
of India are limited.
Hotels of Arunachal Pradesh
The Union Territory has hotels of star and non star category catering to the needs of the
tourists visiting Arunachal Pradesh. Besides it has resorts, restaurants and cafés
which cater to the needs of all segment of travelers.
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