“Gorsam Stupa: A reminder of India’s historic Tibet ties and sovereignty over Arunachal”, First Post, March 13, 2026
“The Gorsam Stupa (or Chorten in Monpa/Tibetan) is a special place, and this is for many reasons. Not only because between March 16 and 18, a Gorsam Kora (‘kora’ meaning ‘circumambulation’ in Tibetan) will be held around the monument, bringing together local Monpas and their Bhutanese neighbours, but it is also located near the Bhutan and Tibet trijunction, an area vital to India’s security, being close to the McMahon-Shatra Line, defining India’s northern border with Tibet in the Northeast since 1914.
Today, without an iota of historical evidence, this line is disputed by China, who invaded Tibet in 1950 and claims that the area is part of South Tibet (Zangnan in Chinese). If one were to believe Beijing, the Chinese territory would extend till Assam, a typically hegemonic nonsense.
In 2017 already, China had announced the ‘standardisation’ of the names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh. One of the six names was ‘Qoidengarbo Ri’. After scratching my head for some time, I realised that it sounded like ‘Chorten Karpo’ or ‘White Stupa’ and referred to the Gorsam Chorten, the only large white stupa in the area. The name ‘Ri’, or ‘ridge’ in Tibetan, may refer to one of the ridges around the stupa…….”
Read full article at firstpost.com
