The story
The kora, and the house on it
Kora means circumambulation — walking a circuit around a sacred site, as an act of devotion, of settling the mind, of simply arriving somewhere on foot. In McLeodganj that circuit runs around the Tsuglagkhang complex, the temple and residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the house stands on it. You are, more or less, neighbours of the Dalai Lama while you are here.
From the balcony you can watch Tibetans and other practitioners making their way round the temple. They are performing a kora. Most carry a mala — prayer beads, used to count recitations of a mantra. The one you will hear most often is om mani padme hum, which stands for compassion.
Behind the house is the police and security post for His Holiness, so the lane is well watched. On the hill there is a brightly painted Shiva temple, and at some point in the day you will hear its bell — rung both to call the deity and to wake up whoever is about to worship.
The house sits inside a restricted core zone, where commercial expansion and construction are tightly controlled. It is the reason the view from the balcony is likely to stay the view from the balcony.
McLeodganj, down the hill from the house. Photographs of the house itself are on their way from the hosts.
Why the house exists
Built to finish someone's wish
Rohitash and Ashish's late father, a veteran of the 1965 war, bought this land. He passed away before the building was completed.
His sons completed it between them — Rohitash took on the construction and runs the house day to day; Ashish handles the bookings and everything online. What they wanted was to commemorate their father, and the thing he had wanted: somewhere people could come together, enjoy the beauty, and learn from each other.
What comes next is sustainable power and water, and a communal space for gatherings and events.
In their own words
“We originally built this home for ourselves, our family and our friends. Over time we realised that the joy of staying here — the mountain views, and being a short walk from the residence of His Holiness — was worth sharing with travellers from around the world.”
“Hosting has given us the chance to meet people from very different backgrounds, hear their stories, and have conversations that often turn into lasting friendships.”
“From the moment guests arrive they are met by the panorama and a kind of quiet that makes this place what it is. Some come for the closeness to His Holiness' residence. Many simply tell us, within the first few minutes, that what they want is to sit on the balcony with a chai and watch the sunset over the mountains.”
— ROHITASH & ASHISH
The town it sits in
Two cultures, one hillside
Tibetans in exile settled here in 1960, after their land and culture were taken by the invading Chinese, and they were able to because India made room for them. Religious difference has long been ordinary in this country, and it is worth noticing how peaceably these particular traditions sit side by side on one hillside.
Guests here have ranged from Gaddi shepherds' neighbours in the villages below to people who came for a teaching and stayed a month. The point of the house is that they end up on the same balcony.
The guidebook the hosts keepThe design, briefly
The maroon and gold through the house nod to the robes and gilding of the temple below; the deodar green to the forest that lines the walk; the ink-slate grey to the stone the mani walls are built from. None of it is decoration for its own sake — it is the same palette the town wears.
Who runs the house
There is no front desk. Someone walks up with you and shows you where things are.
Rohitash
Construction and the house day to day
Ashish
Bookings and everything online
Suraj
Caretaker · on site 9am–5pm
Reachable by phone outside those hours
Worth knowing before you book
None of this is buried in a policy page, because a mismatched expectation is the one thing that ruins a stay here.
- Roughly 50 to 60 steps from the car park up to the house, and no lift. Every room is above that climb, including the ground-floor one. The caretaker will carry your bags, but the steps themselves are unavoidable, so the house is not suited to guests with mobility difficulty.
- The market is about 500 metres away.
- Housekeeping is not daily.