my story: Sela Pass.

Sela Pass.

Road, NH 13, connecting Tawang to Assam and the rest of the country, passes through Sela Pass. It was strategically extremely important as NH 13, the lifeline for the Tawang district and Army Formations along the borderpassed through the Sela Pass.

Since the opening of the Sela Tunnel, the distance to Tawang is reduced by more than 10 miles and travel time is cut down by almost one hour as NH 13 cuts across the mountain ridges through the tunnel and does not go through the Sela pass.

Nowadays, only tourist vehicles going to Tawang go to Sela Pass as a matter of interest for the tourists. Even these vehicles, on the return journey, use the Sela Tunnel and do not go to the Sela Pass. Only other vehicles that go to Sela Pass belong to Army units located around or beyond the Sela Pass.

All local and even military convoys use the Sela Tunnel and do not go to Sela Pass. The strategic importance of Sela Pas has thus reduced, resulting in less maintenance of that part of NH 13 which used to go through the pass. Unless things change, the road to Sela Pass will deteriorate fast, causing inconvenience to tourists.

The Se La Pass (also called Se La, as La means Pass) is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between Tawang District and West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh. The Se La pass, at an elevation of 13700 ft (4176 m), is the gateway to Tawang from the rest of India. Tawang shares international borders with China and Bhutan and is a famous Buddhist pilgrimage centre.

Sela Lake is also located near Sela Pass. it is also called Paradise Lake because of its beauty. The lake remains fully or partially frozen during winter. Small rivers flow out of the lake, and yaks can be seen grazing in the sporadic bursts of greenery on the slopes.

This part of the Eastern Himalayan range is special for the Buddhists, as around 101 glacial lakes, including Sela Lake, exist in the area around Se La pass, and each of these glacial lakes has a huge religious significance for the Buddhist community. This place remains snow-covered for most part of the year.

Sela Pass and Sela Lake are Major tourist attractions, especially during the Tawang Festival held every year in October. The scenic beauty of Sela Lake and Sela Pass is Amazing, no wonder tourists are attracted here.

Units of Sashastra Seema Bal, who look after the defences of the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan border, also look after the Sala Pass. They have made a big parking area, photo spots and also operate a cafeteria for the convenience of tourists as well as the troops passing through the Sela Pass.

Review based on the information board installed by the Government of India at Sela Pass and my own observations and experiences.

Welcome gate to Sela Pass.

We were entering the Tawang District.

Presently 38 Battalion of Sashastra Seema Bal is looking after Sela Pass. They are also running a Cafeteria near Sela Pass for the convenience of troops and tourists.

A fleetingly seen sight and a fast shutter finger to catch this photo from the windshield of a moving Urbania transport

Welcome gate to Sela Pass.

We were entering the Tawang District.

At Sela Pass.

We also love Sela 😀

Information Board installed by the Government of India, Ministry of Mines, Geological Survey of India, with the support of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

Gives information about Sela Pas. Text copied and pasted below.

The Se La Pass (also called Se La, as La means Pass) is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between Tawang District and West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The Se La pass, at an elevation of 13700 ft (4176 m), is the gateway to Tawang from the rest of India.

Tawang shares international borders with China and Bhutan and is a famous Buddhist pilgrimage centre.

This part of the Eastern Himalayan range is special for the Buddhists, as around 101 glacial lakes exist in the area around Se La pass, and each of these glacial lakes has a huge religious significance for the Buddhist community.

It witnesses heavy footfall of tourists from a religious as well as tourism point of view, especially during the Tawang Festival held every year in October.

This place remains snow-covered during most part of the year. Attached to the Pass is the beautiful Se La Lake (also called Paradise Lake because of its beauty), that remains fully or partially frozen during winter. Small rivers flow out of the lake and yaks can be seen grazing in the sporadic bursts of greenery on the slopes. The pass remains open throughout the year, irrespective of heavy snowfall, even when temperature goes down below -10° C.

A Geologically, Se La Pass area is exposes rocks of migmatitic gneisses of Palaeoproterozoic era (2.5-1.6 Billion Years) belonging to Galensiniak Formation of Sela Group as a part of higher Himalayan crystallines. The gneiss is intruded by younger tourmaline bearing leucogranite of Tertiary age (66-2.58 Million Years). The transect from Bhalukpong to Tawang passing through Se La Pass gives an unique opportunity to study the features of inverted metamorphic sequence of Himalaya Orogeny.