An overview on the Tibetan culture areas of North-East India

The Tibetan cultural area has been one of the many sources of identity formation for the Tibetanized tribal people of North-East India especially Sikkim and Tawang, (Arunachal Pradesh) whose history according to European writings begins only in 19th Century but, according to Tibetan monastic chronicles and literature, it is traced back to 7th Century AD. The Tibetan cultural area can be identified with its unique strong family resemblance in language, lifestyle, culture and especially the pre-dominance of Mahayana Buddhism, which was the state religion of Tibet. There have been a lot of cultural changes taking place in terms of development in its transitional stage from tradition to modernity which came with the influence of the outsiders and the achievement of statehood of these two regions (Sikkim and Tawang).

The paper will focus on the evolution of Tibetan Buddhist religion in North-East India and the emergence of the Gompa in Tibet which altered the nature of polity, bringing the religious element to the forefront with a large scale input of monastic influence into polity which, later on was extended to all the Tibetan cultural regions including Tawang and Sikkim. The paper will also examine how greatly tradition has influenced modernity and how they go hand-in-hand in the field of socio- economic and political development of these two regions.