Where is Dharamshala?

So i guess the first thing I should do on this blog is tell you a little about Dharamshala.

Dharamshala is located in the north of India in a region known as Himachal Pradesh. It's name is derived from Hindi/Sanskrit and is a compound of the words 'Dharma' and 'Shala'. While shala is easily translated into 'resting place' or 'sanctuary' dharma is a little more tricky to translate as it is a word with many meanings depending on your beliefs (Hindu/Buddhist) but essentially 'dharma' for a western audience translates into something like 'spiritual belief/law'.

So Dharamshala is the shelter or sanctuary for spiritual pilgrims.

Which is kind of appropriate as since 1959 Dharamshala has been the home to HH the 14th Dalai Lama (and the Tibetan Government in exile) since he fled Tibet following invasion by the Peoples Republic of China in 1950.

Since the Dalai Lama's arrival many Tibetans have followed to escape the harsh conditions in their occupied homeland, and currently of the 19,200 people living in Dharamshala over 5000 of these are Tibetan refugees.

For further information have a look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharamsala