Hanle trip planner

Hanle is a village in Ladakh in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. 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.DemographicsThe valley is home to approximately a thousand people, of whom about 300 people live in Hanle village.HistorySengge 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.Indian Astronomical ObservatoryHanle is home to the Indian Astronomical Observatory. The location of the village and the observatory are highly sensitive due to the close proximity of the Tibetan / Chinese border. Special permission is needed to visit either by the Indian Government.India set up the Himalayan Chandra Telescope, a 2m gamma ray telescope. Once complete the Major Atmospheric Cerenkov Experiment Telescope gamma ray telescope under construction there will be the world's largest telescope at the highest altitude and the second largest gamma ray telescope in the world.