Hanle (village)

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Hanle (village)
Hanle
city
Hanle (village)
Location in Jammu and Kashmir, India
Coordinates: 32°47′N 79°00′E / 32.79°N 79.00°E / 32.79; 79.00Coordinates: 32°47′N 79°00′E / 32.79°N 79.00°E / 32.79; 79.00
Country  India
State Jammu and Kashmir
District Leh
Languages
  Official Urdu
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Hanle Gompa

Hanle is a village in Ladakh, India. It is the site of the 17th century Hanle Monastery (gompa) of the "Red Hat" Tibetan Drukpa Kagyu branch of Tibetan Buddhism and is located in the Hanle Valley on an old branch of the ancient Ladakh - Tibet trade route. The valley is home to about a thousand people, with about 300 people living in Hanle village.

Sengge Namgyal died at Hanle on his return from an expedition against the Mongols who had occupied the Tibetan province of Tsang and were threatening Ladakh.[1]

Hanle is also home to the Indian Astronomical Observatory. The location of both the village and the observatory are highly sensitive due to the close proximity of the Tibetan / Chinese border and special permission is needed to visit either by the Indian Government.[citation needed] Fukche airport is 24 km away, and Ukdungle town is close by. India has also set up a GRT (Gamma Ray Telescope), Himalayan Chandra Telescope, of 2 m diameter at Hanle.[2]

Footnotes

  1. Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia. Second Edition. (1996), p. 70. Janet Rizvi. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. ISBN 0-19-564546-4.
  2. http://www.frontline.in/fl1820/18200840.htm
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