Kashmir Cottage, contrary to what the name suggests, is located not in Kashmir but at the end of a sleepy lane, off the main road between McLeod Ganj and Dharamsala. McLeod Ganj, also known as Molo Ganj, Little Lhasa or Dhasa (from Dharamsala and Lhasa), was named after the Anglo-Indian Donald Friell McLeod, Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in 1865. It has been home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile since 1960.

The cottage is socalled because it belonged to a Kashmiri family which was part of a sizable community that lived in Dharamsala in the 19th century. Later, the Indian government gifted it to the Dalai Lama as a residence for his mother, Dekyi Tsering. Now, it is run as a guest house by the Dalai Lama’s sister-in-law, Rinchen Khando Choegyal, married to the youngest of his four brothers, Tenzin Choegyal, fondly known as TC. TC himself is a revered Rinpoche, which means precious jewel and is usually the reincarnation of a prominent Buddhist master.

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