Dharamkot, Himachal Pradesh Explained

Dharamkot
Image Alt:Dhauladhar
Pushpin Map:India Himachal Pradesh
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Himachal Pradesh, India
Coordinates:32.2386°N 76.3239°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: India
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Himachal Pradesh
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Kangra
Unit Pref:Metric
Elevation M:2100
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:Languages
Demographics1 Title1:Official
Timezone1:IST
Utc Offset1:+5:30

Dharamkot (aka Dharmkot) is a small hill station in Kangra district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India.

On the crest of a hill above McLeodGanj, Dharamkot is a spot with wide views of the Kangra Valley and the Dhauladhar ranges. Dharamkot also has the Vipassana meditation centre, Dhamma Shikara, as well as the Tushita Meditation Centre which is a centre for the study and practice of Buddhism in the Tibetan Mahayana tradition.

Past Dharamkot, at a distance of 9 km from McLeodGanj, much of which is a steady climb, Triund is at the foot of the Dhauladhar ranges and is at a height of 2,827 m. The snow line is the most easily accessible in the entire Himalayan range starts from Ilaqua, 4 km from Triund.

Mini Israel

Dharamkot is a locality known as 'Tel Aviv of hills'. It is the only village in the state with a Jewish community center – the Chabad house, which stands in the middle of the village and looks like 770 Eastern Parkway. Restaurants serve Israeli dishes : falafel, shakshuka and hummus with pita. Over time, locals have also acclimatised and many can now fluently speak Hebrew. Signage and boards in the village are also written in Hebrew, and keyboards in Internet cafes have Hebrew letters. Israeli people every year mark ceremonies here to celebrate Rosh-Hashana.

Triund

The trek to Triund starts from Gallu Devi temple in Dharamkot, where people going for this trek register their names.

The trek mostly is a straight route up to Triund. The distance is 11 kilometers and usually takes about 4–5 hours.