Culture & Heritage

Almighty God has been generous enough to bestow all his grandeur and natural beauty to Upper Siang. The cascading waterfalls, verdant valleys and majestic snow capped mountains, boisterous streams; silent lakes and pristine forest are yet to be touched by the mortal hands. The natural surroundings and picturesque location present a perfect destination for tourists.

Upper Siang District is inhabited by four main groups of Tribes Adi ,Memba ,Khamba & Idu Mismis .Though they have a distinctive socio- cultural ,they co-exist with each other from the time immemorial .The Adis and Mismis are animists who are believers of the Sun and the moon ,while the Membas and Khambas are Mahayana Buddhists.

Hence, a diverse type of culture in terms of dances, festivals, dresses can be seen in the district. Besides, many holy places, caves, shrines, etc are located here which are accessible through foot tracks .It is worth mentioning here that ,His Holiness The Dalai Lama and His Holiness Penor Rimphoche of Mysore had visited Tuting in the year 2003 and laid the foundation stone of a Gompa (monastery).

Gompa at Tuting in Upper Siang district

Adventure sports like Trekking, water rafting and angling have immense scope to develop in this area and International white Water Rafting has been conducted in Tuting on the mighty Siang River.In the presence of this beautiful landscape, diverse cultural background, large numbers of Buddhists pilgrimages deserve its rightful place as a tourist destination.

The Gelling-Tuting-Singa triangle constitutes the ‘Pemako Zone’ of the Tibetan form of Buddhism with small hamlets of the lamas amidst serene natural environment. The Gompas and Buddhist shrines have golden Buddha statues, old scrolls and other traditional artifacts of the Tibetan form of Buddhism.

Festivals

The main festival of Adi is Solung, Celebrated in the month of September. During this festival, a traditional dance form namely Ponung is performed by the village belles. They also observe Etor and Aran. The Membas and Khambas observe Losar during the month of february & Idu Mishmi celebrate Reh in the first week of the february month