McLeod Ganj or McLeodganj (pronounced ) is a suburb of Dharamshala, in the

Kangra district Kangra district is the most populous district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district. History Kangra is known for having one of the oldest serving Royal Dynasty in the world, the Katoch of ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, India. It is known as "Little

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

" or "Dhasa" as the

Tibetan government-in-exile The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ) is the government-in-exile of Tibet, based in Dharamshala, India. It comprises a judiciary branch, a legislative branch, and an executive branch, and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile ...

is headquartered here and there is a significant population of

Tibetans Tibetans () are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in t ...

in the region.

Etymology

McLeod Ganj was named after Sir Donald Friell McLeod, a Lieutenant Governor of

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

during British colonial rule in India; the suffix ''ganj'' is a common

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word used for "neighbourhood".

History

Early history

The region finds references in ancient Hindu scriptures such as

Rig Veda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

and

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

. There are mentions of the region by

Pāṇini (; , ) was a Sanskrit grammarian, logician, philologist, and revered scholar in ancient India during the mid-1st millennium BCE, dated variously by most scholars between the 6th–5th and 4th century BCE. The historical facts of his life ar ...

in 4th century BC and by Chinese traveler Heun Tsang during the reign of king

Harshavardhana Harshavardhana (Sanskrit: हर्षवर्धन; 4 June 590 – 647) was an emperor of Kannauj from April 606 until his death in 647. He was the king of Thanesar who had defeated the Alchon Huns, and the younger brother of Rajya ...

in 7th century AD. The indigenous people of the Dharamshala area (and the surrounding region) are the Gaddis, a predominantly

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

group who traditionally lived a nomadic or semi-nomadic

transhumant Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower ...

lifestyle. The region was subject to attacks from

Mahmud of Ghazni Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...

in 1009 and

Firuz Shah Tughlaq Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388), also known as Firuz III, was Sultan of Delhi from 1351 until his death in 1388. He succeeded his cousin Muhammad bin Tughlaq following the latter's death at Thatta, Sindh. His father was ...

in 1360. In 1566,

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

captured the region and brought it under the Mughal rule. As the mughal rule disintegrated,

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

chieftain Jai Singh brought the region to his control and gave it to

Sansar Chand Sansar Chand (c. 1765 – 1824) was a Punjabi Rajput ruler of the erstwhile Kangra State in what is now the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Early life Sansar Chand was a scion of the Katoch dynasty, which ruled Kangra for centuries until t ...

of Katoch dynasty, legitimate

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

prince in 1785. Gurkhas invaded and captured the region in 1806 before being defeated by

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...

in 1809. The Katoch dynasty was reduced to status of jagirdars under the treaty of Jawalamukhi signed between Chand and Singh in 1810. Post the death of Chand, Ranjit singh annexed the region into the Sikh empire.

British rule

The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

captured the region following the

First Anglo-Sikh War The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 around the Firozpur district of Punjab. It resulted in the defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession of Jammu ...

of 1846. Under the British Raj, the regions were part of undivided province of Punjab, and was ruled by the governors of Punjab from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. In 1860, the 66th

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...

Light Infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

was moved from Kangra to Dharamshala, which was at first made a subsidiary

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

. The Battalion was later renamed 1st Gurkha Rifles. Dharamshala became a popular

hill station A hill station is a touristic town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The English term was originally used mostly in Western imperialism in Asia, colonial Asia, but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by ...

during the British. In 1905, the

Kangra Valley Kangra Valley is a river valley situated in the Western Himalayas.earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

destroying much of the cantonment and the infrastructure in the region killing nearly 20,000 including 1,625 at Dharmasala including 15 foreigners and 112 of the Gurkha garrison."

Post independence

Post Indian Independence in 1947, it remained as a small hill station. On 29 April 1959, the 14th

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

Tenzin Gyatso The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

established the Tibetan exile administration in

Mussoorie Mussoorie () is a hill station and a municipal board, in Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hil ...

when he had to flee Tibet. In May 1960, the

Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ) is the government-in-exile of Tibet, based in Dharamshala, India. It comprises a judiciary branch, a legislative branch, and an executive branch, and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile c ...

was moved to Dharamshala when

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, then

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

allowed him and his followers to settle in McLeod Ganj. There they established the "

government-in-exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...

" in 1960 and the Namgyal Monastery. In 1970, Dalai Lama opened the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives which is one of the most important institutions for

Tibetology Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...

. Several thousand Tibetan exiles have now settled in the area where monasteries, temples and schools have come up. It has become an important tourist destination with many hotels and restaurants, leading to growth in tourism and commerce. In 2017, Dharamshala was made the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh with the legislative assembly located at Sidhbari.

Geography

McLeod Ganj has an average elevation of . McLeod Ganj is located in the

Kangra Valley Kangra Valley is a river valley situated in the Western Himalayas.Dhauladhar Dhauladhar () () is a mountain range which is part of a Lower Himalayan Range, lesser Himalayan chain of mountains in northern India. It rises from the Siwalik Hills, Shivalik hills, to the north of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra and Mandi, ...

mountains and forms a part of the town of Dharamshala.

Transport

Road

NH 503 starts from Dharmashala and connects the town to

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

via Kangra. State highways link the town with NH 154 running from

Pathankot Pathankot () is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the sixth most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal ...

Mandi, Himachal Pradesh Mandi ( formerly known as Mandav Nagar) is a major town and a municipal corporation in Mandi District in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated north of state capital, Shimla in the north-west Himalayas at an average altitude o ...

. Buses connect the town with other major locations nearby.

Air

The region is served by Kangra Ghaggal airport located about 12 km to the town's south.

Rail

, 90 km away, is the nearest major rail head. The Kangra Valley Railway is a gauge railway that runs from Pathankot, Punjab to Jogindernagar through the

Kangra Valley Kangra Valley is a river valley situated in the Western Himalayas. The region is a major hill station and spiritual center. It hosts a number of trekking trails across the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

into the upper Ravi Valley and

Chamba district Chamba district is the northwestern district of Himachal Pradesh, in India, with its headquarters in Chamba town. The towns of Dalhousie, Khajjhiar and Churah Valley are popular hill stations and vacation spots for the people from the plains ...

. Major trekking trails include hikes to Toral Pass (4575m), Bhimghasutri Pass (4580m), Dharamshala—Bleni Pass (3710m), Kareri lake and

Triund Triund is a small hill station in the Kangra district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Triund is a part of Dharamkot. Triund is at the foot of the Dhauladhar ranges and is at a height of . See also * List of hill stations in India ...

. It is a major center of Tibetan Buddhism and known for its Tibetan handicrafts,

thangka A ''thangka'' (; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा) is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala. Thangkas are traditionally kept unframed and rolled ...

s, Tibetan carpets, garments, and other souvenirs. Tsuglag Khang, the

's temple with the statues of Shakyamuni,

Avalokiteśvara In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (meaning "the lord who looks down", International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), also known as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a Bodhisattva#Bhūmis (stages), tenth-level bodhisattva associ ...

and

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ('Born from a Lotus'), also known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru'), was a legendary tantric Buddhist Vajracharya, Vajra master from Oddiyana. who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries... He is consi ...

is an important Buddhist site in the town. Other Buddhist and Tibetan sites include the Namgyal Monastery, Gompa Dip Tse-Chok Ling monastery, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Gangchen Kyishong (Tibetan government-in-exile), Mani Lakhang Stupa,

Nechung Nechung Monastery, Nechung Gompa () or Nechung Chok ( "the small dwelling", ), is the seat of the State Oracle of Tibet. It is also referred to as Sungi Gyelpoi Tsenkar, the "Demon Fortress of the Oracle King." It is about 10 minutes walk down ...

Monastery and Norbulingka Institute. The Tibet Museum, established in 1998 has a collection of Tibetan artifacts and photographs showing Tibetans' struggle and their way of life. Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Karmapa lives near Dharamshala, in Gyuto monastery in Sidhbari. St. John in the Wilderness is an Anglican church located near Forsyth Ganj. The neo-Gothic stone building was constructed in 1852 and hosts a graveyard and a memorial to the British Viceroy Lord Elgin. Dal Lake is a small lake about 3 km from McLeod Ganj, next to one of the Tibetan Children's Villages schools. An annual fair is held there and there is a small spring and an old temple near the lake. Bhagsu is an area with a temple dedicated to Bhagsu Nath (Lord

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

). Bhagsu falls is a waterfall about 20 meters tall near the temple. The Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) is held annually.

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLeodGanj Cities and towns in Kangra district Dharamshala Hill stations in Himachal Pradesh Tibetan Buddhist places Tibetan diaspora in India Tourism in Himachal Pradesh