Hanle (also spelt Anle) is a large historic village in the Indian union territory of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

. The village of Hanle comprises six hamlets — Bhok, Dhado, Punguk, Khuldo, Naga and Tibetan Refugee habitation —within 1100 sq km

Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary The Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary (or the Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary) is a high-altitude wildlife sanctuary located in the Ladakhi adjunct of the Changthang plateau in the Leh district of the Indian Union Territory of Ladakh. It ...

in Changthang plateau.Hanle India's first dark sky reserve
accessed 5 June 2023. It is the site of the 17th-century

Hanle Monastery Hanle Monastery is a 17th-century gompa of the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism located in the Hanle Valley, Leh district, Ladakh, India on an old branch of the ancient Ladakh-Tibet trade route. The valley is home to abou ...

(gompa) of the Drukpa

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. ...

branch of Tibetan

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. Hanle is located in the Hanle River valley on an old branch of the ancient

–

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

trade route. Hanle is the home of

Hanle observatory The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) is a high-altitude astronomy station located in Hanle, India and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Situated in the Western Himalayas at an elevation of 4,500 meters (14,764 ft), ...

(ISO - Indian Astronomical Observatory), the tenth (see

List of highest astronomical observatories This is a list of the highest astronomical observatories in the world, considering only ground-based observatories and ordered by elevation above mean sea level. The main list includes only permanent observatories with facilities constructed at ...

) highest optical telescope in the world in India.

Geography

Hanle is in the valley of the Hanle River, which originates near the Imis La pass

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

, south of Ukdungle Indian Military base, Zarsar & Tradole peak] on the India-Tibet border and joins the Indus river near Nowi and Loma north of Hanle village, close to the town of

Nyoma Nyoma is a principal village of southern Ladakh in India, the headquarters of an eponymous subdivision, tehsil, community development block and Indian Air Force Base in the Leh district.Chushul Chushul is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Durbuk tehsil, in the area known as "Chushul Valley", south of the Pangong Lake and west of the Spanggur Lake. The Line of Actual Control with China runs about 5 ...

and

Pangong Tso Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (; zh, s=班公错, p=Bān gōng cuò; ) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and Ngari Prefecture, West Tibet situated at an elevation of . It is long and divided into five sublakes, called ''Pangong Tso' ...

side. In 2012, the road terminated near Hanle (see "Transport" section for new road connectivity), the traditional trade and pilgrimage corridor formerly ran up the Hanle valley to Imis La, crossed into the Indus valley via Charding La near Demchok and Dêmqog, and proceeded to Tashigang in Tibet. This traditional trade route to Tibet is now closed. Hanle is also connected to Koyul river valley to the east via a winding mountain road that passes through the Photi La pass.

Demographics

The valley is home to approximately two thousand people, of whom about 300 people are living in Hanle village.

History

Hanle is mentioned by name in the settlement document of the kingdom of

Maryul Maryul (), also called ''mar-yul'' of ''mnga'-ris'', was the western-most Tibetan kingdom based in modern-day Ladakh and some parts of Tibet. The kingdom had its capital at Shey. The kingdom was founded by Lhachen Palgyigon, during the rule ...

in , as forming one of its frontiers: "''Wam-le'' (Hanle), to the top of the pass of the ''Yi-mig'' rock (Imis pass)". To the west of this frontier were the highlands of Rupshu and, beyond it,

Zanskar Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is the southwestern region of Kargil district in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre of Zanskar is Padum. Zanskar, together with the rest of Ladakh, was briefly a part of the kin ...

Sengge Namgyal Sengge Namgyal ( Ladakhi: , Wylie: ''seng-ge rnam-rgyal'', c. 1570–1642) was a 17th-century king of the Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh, from 1616 to his death in 1642. A Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is ...

() built the prominent Hanle monastery in association with Tatsang Repa (''Stag-tsang-ras-pa''), the notable Buddhist priest of the Drukpa ("red hat") sect. Sengge Namgyal died here in 1642 after his return from an expedition against the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

s who had occupied the Tibetan province of Tsang and were threatening Ladakh's possessions in Tibet.

Hanle Observatory

Hanle 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

an /

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

border. India set up the Himalayan Chandra Telescope, a 2m gamma ray telescope at Hanle. The

Major Atmospheric Cerenkov Experiment Telescope Major Atmospheric Cerenkov Experiment Telescope (MACE) is an imaging atmospheric Cerenkov telescope (IACT) located near Hanle, Ladakh, India. It is the highest (in altitude) and second largest Cerenkov telescope in the world. It was built by ...

(MACE), which is under construction in Hanle, will be the world's highest Cerenkov telescope and the second largest Cerenkov telescope in the world. It was originally scheduled to become operational by 2016, but plans were pushed back to begin operations in 2020. Stable

Auroral An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in polar regions of Earth, high-latitude ...

Red (SAR) arcs were observed in Hanle in April 2023 and November 2023, as well as during the May 2024 solar storms.

Wildlife

Hanle is an important area for wild animals. It harbours the only population of the

Tibetan gazelle The goa (''Procapra picticaudata''), also known as the Tibetan gazelle, is a species of antelope that inhabits the Tibetan plateau. Description The goa is a relatively small antelope, with slender and graceful bodies. Both males and females sta ...

in Ladakh. The wetlands in the Hanle basin teem with migratory birds including

Bar-headed Goose The bar-headed goose (''Anser indicus'') is a goose that breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest. It ...

and the

Black-necked Crane The black-necked crane (''Grus nigricollis'') is a medium-sized crane (bird), crane in Asia that breeds on the Tibetan Plateau and remote parts of India and Bhutan. It is long with a wingspan, and it weighs . It is whitish-gray, with a black h ...

. One can easily see scores of Tibetan wild ass grazing on the sedge-meadows along the Hanle River.

Transport

Nyoma Nyoma is a principal village of southern Ladakh in India, the headquarters of an eponymous subdivision, tehsil, community development block and Indian Air Force Base in the Leh district.Fukche Fukche Advanced Landing Ground is an airfield in the Demchok sector of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It was built shortly before the 1962 Sino-Indian War and was revived in 2008. It is located adjacent to Koyul, 34 km northwest of Demc ...

Air Base in east are 74 km and 24 km away, respectively, and Ukdungle town is in South. Hanle is important stopover from mainland India to Ukdungle,

Chumar Chumar or Chumur () is a village located in south-eastern region of Ladakh, India and the centre of nomadic grazing. It is in Rupshu block, south of the Tso Moriri lake, on the bank of the Parang River (or ''Pare Chu''), close to Ladakh's bor ...

sector and

Demchok sector The Demchok sector is a disputed area named after the villages of Demchok, Ladakh, Demchok in Ladakh and Demchok, Ngari Prefecture, Demchok in Tibet, situated near the confluence of the Charding Nullah and Indus River. It is a part of the gr ...

. ''"Hanle-Kaza-Tabo Road"'' (HKT Road) is being constructed by the BRO under

Indo-China Border Roads Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

(ICBR) scheme. This road connects to and partially overlaps with the 125 km long Kiato-Karzok Road, from Kiato (near

Kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

Spiti Valley Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

) through the

Takling La Takling La is a parallel trek route through the Parana La (pass), located in the Himalayan Mountains. Parana La is the most famous trek route of Spiti and connects Kaza to Karzok. It has an altitude of 18,290 ft (5575 Meters) and follows t ...

Tunnel (5575 m) to

Karzok Karzok or Korzok (at an altitude of 14,995 ft or 4,570 m to 15,075 ft or 4,595 m above sea level), on the northwestern shores of the Tso Moriri lake, is a village in the Rupshu region and Community development block in India, block of ...

(on shores of

Tso Moriri Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri , () or "Mountain Lake", is a pristine high-altitude lake and a Ramsar Wetland Site in the remote Changthang Plateau (literally: northern plains) in Leh district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. As the la ...

), being constructed by the BRO as fourth alternative route to Ladakh. ''"Hanle-Zursar-Imis La Road"'' (HZI Road) was completed by December 2023.YEAR-END DEADLINE SET FOR BRO TO COMPLETE 20 ROADS ALONG LAC AS STANDOFF WITH CHINA LOOKS INCREASINGLY IRREVERSIBLE
INDIAN DEFENCE NEWS, AUGUST 03, 2023.

Geography

Demographics

History

Hanle Observatory

Wildlife

Transport

See also

References

Citations

Sources

External links