Mcleod Ganj

Mcleod Ganj i is where they mean when travellers talk of heading up to Dharamsala to see the Dalai Lama.

Mcleod Ganj i is where they mean when travellers talk of heading up to Dharamsala to see the Dalai Lama.
Three kilometres north of Dharamsala town (or 10km via the looping bus route), McLeod Ganj is the residence of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and home to a large Tibetan population, including many monks and nuns.
The Tibetan government-in-exile is based just downhill at Gangchen Kyishong. McLeod attracts thousands of international visitors each year to volunteer with the Tibetan community, take courses in Buddhism, meditation or yoga, trek in the Dhauladhar mountains, shop for Tibetan crafts, or just hang out and enjoy the low-budget spiritual/alternative vibe and the many good cafes and restaurants dishing up Indo-Italo-Israeli-Tibetan food.
With an interesting mix of travellers, volunteers, maroon-robed monks and nuns, the international dharma crowd and an increasing flow of Indian tourists, you're never far from an interesting conversation here.

Attractions in Mcleod Ganj
Tsuglagkhang
The revered Tsuglagkhang is the exiles’ concrete equivalent of the Jokhang temple in Lhasa and was built in 1969.

Tsuglagkhang Complex
The main focus of visiting pilgrims, monks and many tourists, the Tsuglagkhang complex includes the Tsuglagkhang itself.

Central Tibetan Secretariat
Inside the government-in-exile compound, nearly 2km downhill from the Tsuglagkhang Complex, the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives.

Men-Tsee-Khang
Established to preserve the traditional arts of Tibetan medicine and astrology, Men-Tsee-Khang is a college, clinic, museum, research centre.

Tibet Museum
The museum tells the story of Tibetan history, the Chinese occupation and the continuing Tibetan resistance and exodus.

Men-Tsee-Khang Museum
The recently modernised Men-Tsee-Khang Museum has three floors of fascinating displays on the sophisticated sciences of Tibetan astrology.

Kalachakra Temple
Before visiting the Tsuglagkhang itself, pilgrims first visit the Kalachakra Temple on its west side, which contains mesmerising murals.

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