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Hanle (village)
Encyclopedia
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is the site of the 17th century Hanle Monastery
Hanle Monastery
Hanle Monastery or Hanle or Analy Gompa is a 17th century Buddhist monastery of the "Red Hat" Tibetan Drukpa Kagyu branch of Tibetan Buddhism, located in the Hanle Valley, Leh District, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir in northern India on an old branch of the ancient Ladakh - Tibet trade route. The...
(gompa) of the "Red Hat" Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an Drukpa Kagyu
Kagyu
The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other five being the Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Bon and Gelug...
branch of Tibetan Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and is located in the Hanle Valley on an old branch of the ancient Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
- Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
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
Ü-Tsang
Ü-Tsang , or Tsang-Ü, is one of the three traditional provinces of Tibet, the other two being Amdo and Kham. Geographically Ü-Tsang covered the central and western portions of the Tibetan cultural area, including the Tsang-po watershed, the western districts surrounding and extending past Mount...
and were threatening Ladakh.
Hanle is also home to the Indian Astronomical Observatory
Indian Astronomical Observatory
The Indian Astronomical Observatory , located near Leh in Ladakh, India, has one of the world's highest sites for optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescopes. It is operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru. It is currently the second highest optical telescope in the...
. The location of both the village and the observatory are highly sensitive due to the close proximity of the Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an / Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
border and special permission is needed to visit either by the Indian Government. Fukche
Fukche
Fukche Advanced Landing Ground is one of the numerous Advanced Landing Grounds built in India during and after the 1962 Sino-Indian War.-Location:...
airport is 24 km away, and Ukdungle
Ukdungle
Ukdungle is a small settlement in Leh District, Jammu and Kashmir in northern India near the border with Tibet. It lies only 22.7 miles south-west of Dêmqog, Ngari Prefecture in western Tibet. Hanle Observatory and Demchok village on LAC are close by. It is the highest city in India-External links:*...
town is close by. India is also setting up a GRT (Gamma Ray Telescope
Gamma-ray astronomy
Gamma-ray astronomy is the astronomical study of the cosmos with gamma rays. Gamma-rays are the most energetic form of "light" that travel across the universe, and gamma-rays thus have the smallest wavelength of any wave in the electromagnetic spectrum.Gamma-rays are created by celestial events...
) of 21 m diameter at Hanle.