Transport :- There is an airport about eighteen kilometers from lower Dharamshala connecting to Delhi, Kullu, Shimla.
Dharamshala can also be reached by an overnight or day bus from Delhi, which takes about twelve to fourteen hours.    A more comfortable alternative would be to take a twelve-hour train trip from Delhi to Pathankot and then a three-hour bus or two-hour taxi ride to Dharamshala. From there buses and taxis regularly shuttle people to McLeodgunj.

The Kangra Valley is rich par in unexplored archaeological sites of great importance to understanding Indian Buddhism; in 635 AD the Chinese monk-pilgrim, Hsuan Tsang recorded fifty monasteries with around 2,000 monks in this fertile region. But, a century later, Buddhism and all its sites were eliminated from the valley during an upsurge of Brahminical revivalism. Dharamsala's earliest history is obscured by time and the successive invasions that swept through all North India. But it is known that the original tribes identified with Kangra's hilly tracts were Dasas, a warrior people, later assimilated by Aryans. In 1849 the British posted a regiment in Dharamsala, but the place was not to remain a military cantonment for long. By 1855 it was a small but flourishing hill station and the administrative headquarters of Kangra District, which had been annexed by the British in 1848. The two main areas at the time were McLeod Gunj, named after Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, David McLeod, and Forsyth Gunj, named after a divisional commissioner. Lord Elgin, Viceroy of  British India and a former Governor-General of Canada, loved the forests of Dharamsala so much that, before dying here in 1863, he asked to be buried in the graveyard of St. John's Church in the Wilderness. Had he lived longer, Dharamsala might have become the summer capital of British India. The name Sir Francis Younghusband - leader of British India's fateful incursion to Lhasa in 1904 - also has Dharamsala connections. In 1856 his parents, Clara Shaw and John Younghusband, lived in a bungalow in the pine forest above St. John's Church and later bought land in the Kangra Valley to pioneer a tea plantation. Clara's brother, Robert Shaw, was a renowned explorer of Central Asia and an early Kangra tea planter. But in 1905 a severe earthquake changed the face of Dharamsala. Many buildings collapsed and the whole settlement, once ravaged, was never reoccupied .The local officials advised residents to move to the safety of Lower Dharamsala which at that time comprised little more than a jail, a police station and a cobbler's shop. The pine-clad hillsides continued to flourish as a quiet health resort for the "sahibs" and "memsahibs" of British India. The visits of "sahibs" and "memsahibs" ended
when India achieved independence in 1947. McLeod Gunj then quickly became a sleepy, undistinguished village until His Holiness the Dalai Lama, fleeing persecution in his homeland, made it his home    in exile and moved the Central Tibetan Administration, in effect the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, from Mussoorie to Dharamsala in 1960. Today, more than 8,000 Tibetan refugees consider Dharamsala their second home

Present Facts:-

Dharamsala is situated in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It lies on a spur of the Dhauladhar range, the Pir Panjal region of the Outer Himalayas; and commands majestic views of the mighty Dhauladhar ranges above, and the Kangra Valley below. Dhauladhar means "white ridge" and this breathtaking, snow-capped range rises out of the Kangra Valley to a height of 5,200 meters (17,000 feet).  The mountains dominate the scenery in McLeod Gunj. They form a treacherous range creating unpredictable weather, but passes of 2,400 meters (8,900 feet) provide route for the herdsmen of the Ravi Valley beyond. The Kangra Valley is a wide, fertile plain, criss-crossed by low hills. The scenery touched the heart of a British official who wrote: "No scenery, in my opinion, presents such sublime and delightful contrasts. Below lies the plain, a picture of rural loveliness and repose... Turning from this scene of peaceful beauty, the stern and majestic hills confront us... above all are wastes of snow to rest on." Dharamsala is divided into two very different parts. Kotwali Bazaar and areas further down the valley (at the average height of 1,250 metres) are called Lower Dharamsala, while McLeod Gunj (at the height of nearly 1,800 metres)   and surrounding areas are known    as Upper Dharamsala. McLeodgunj is      nine kilometers by bus route and four kilometres by taxi route up the hill from Kotwali Bazaar.While inhabitants of Lower Dharamsala are almost all Indians,                   McLeod Gunj is primarily a Tibetan area. McLeod Gunj is surrounded by pine, Himalayan oak, rhododendron and deodar forests. The main crops grown by local Indians in the valleys below McLeod Gunj are rice, wheat and tea. Today, streams of Tibetan refugees from all over the world flock to McLeod Gunj to receive blessings and teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Western and Indian tourists and scholars come here to see the rebirth of an ancient and fascinating civilization. The high altitude and cool weather contribute physically to this recreation of the original Tibetan environment. Dharamsala pulsates with the sights and sounds of old Tibet. Though certainly more modern, life is basically Tibetan in character. Shops strung out along the narrow streets of McLeod Gunj sell traditional Tibetan arts and handicrafts and the aroma of Tibetan dishes lingers in the air.

Birds of Himachal

For a bird watcher, Kangra is just incredible. About half of the known world population of Bar --headed Geese winters in the foothills of this part of the Himalayas at Pong wetland. And every year, a migration route of over 10,000 Steppe Eagles passes over Mcleod Ganj. The excitement of discovering these things is something I can't express in words," Jan den Besten

Dharamsala Bhagsunag waterfall

TIBET’S    ENVIRONMENT All of China’s openly documented nuclear tests have been carried out at Lopnor          in Xinjiang province, northwest of Tibet. These tests have been linked to the increases in cancer and birth defects, but no medical investigations have been carried out... Read more.....

Photos of 1905 Earth Quake:-The earthquake that struck the Dharamshala Kangra   area in Himachal Pradesh on April 4th, 1905 is among the deadliest earthquakes in the history of India. According to the then provincial government of Punjab, 19,727 people were killed.  Read more...

  Patients from all over the country, and even abroad, are turning to Tibetan medicines, reports Vibhor Mohan from Dharamsala  Read   more....

  Himachal Pradesh certainly need a disaster mitigation action plan functional at lower leval.   Dr Rakesh Kapoor    Read more.....

Geology (Kangra District]:-The Tertiaty rocks in the Dharmsala area and to a lesser extent in the Dehra Dun area, form deep bays into the ancient Himalayan mass, they are very thick beds and have accumulated comparatively recently in geological history at a very rapid rate so that a condition of unequilibrium has been set up in the earth 's crust in these areas;                                 Read  more...

  Nagadhiraj Himalaya A Review of the Indian Himalayan 

In the northern direction there is a noble souled mountain called the Himalaya He is Nagadhiraj, the Lord of all mountains, with his two  extending arms fathoming the eastern and western oceans He stands unsurpassed as the measuring rod of the earth '' Read more

Dadasiba Temple:- Dada Siba was a small state whose ruling dynasty was an offshoot of the house of Kangra. Raja Ram Singh who ruled over the state about two hundred years ago, was a man of refined taste                                            Read more...

^{I want to warn that in this new century, there will be water wars, between countries and within countries. With little forestry, the rivers are drying up and being polluted by uncontrolled industries. Forests, where the tigers have now entirely disappeared. The reduction of forests is damaging our rivers. I want to warn our young people, that in this new century; there will be water wars, between countries and within countries}   Read more..

Between the forests and the snow lies the most poetical of the mountain regions. There, when climbing upwards you first feel the bundle of earthly care rolls off your shoulders and that you have finally cleared the ‘slough of despond’. There in the early months, you walk knee-deep in flowers, every one of which is a bit of embodied poetry.”              Read more..

A neglected Heritage !                                                                                                                  Three kilometres east of Dhameta, a small town in Kangra, there stands a cluster of antique, unique, tall temples which remain dipped in water for eight months Read more....