India: McLeod Ganj, Tibetans in exile
From Amritsar, we endure a 5 hour taxi ride north-west up to the Himalaya mountain state Himachal Pradesh. Our final and last destination of our India itinerary is situated north of Dharamshala, in the town of McLeod Ganj, where the Dalai Lama and a large community of Tibetan refugees live in asylum since the Chinese invasion of Tibet forced the Dalai Lama to flee to India in 1959.
McLeod Ganj was named after a British Lieutenant Governor, while the suffix Ganj is a common Hindi word for “neighbourhood”. Here the Tibetan refugees have created a “little Tibet” in the cool mountain ranges of McLeod building Tibetan schools, shops, restaurants, hotels and Buddhist temples aiming to keep the Tibetan culture alive and of course to make a living in their host country of India. Monks wearing their crimson red robes were a frequent site around this town.
Our hotel, the Chonor House, is part of the Norbulingka Institute, and our beautiful room was decorated with mural wall paintings from the artisan students. The hotel was located just down the hill from the Dalai Lama residence and temple complex (unfortunately he was away in South India during the time of our visit). Also nearby is the wonderful little Tibet Museum which moved us in telling its historical story of the ongoing struggle of Tibet and its people.
We spent a day visiting the Norbulingka Institute, which is dedicated to the teaching and preservation of the Tibetan language and the traditional arts. Artists are painstakingly trained in the Tibetan skills of painting, sculpting, metalworking, woodworking, embroidery and weaving.
It’s no coincidence McLeod reminds us so much of the beginning of our trip where we started in Bhutan, because historically Tibet and Bhutan had been one country and culture with Buddhism brought there from India in the 8th century. It feels like we did a full circle and it’s fitting that we now depart McLeod Ganj to fly back to Delhi to catch our return flight back home to Sydney.
After spending 7 weeks traveling around India, we reflect upon our journey, the sights and sounds of where we have travelled and what experiences that will forever linger in our hearts and minds — this country has touched and affected us in countless ways. India is place of deep tradition, history, culture, beauty and diversity. This colourful and interesting country has definitely gotten “under our skin”.
Incredible India indeed!
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 10th, 2011 at 12:51. It is filed under Blogs, India, Travel Blog and tagged with Dalai Lama, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, McLeod, tibet.
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