Hanle's Women Astro-Ambassadors Turn Ladakh's Night Sky Into a Livelihood

As night settles over Hanle, stars spread across the cold desert of eastern Ladakh in a canopy that seems close enough to touch. The village, at an altitude of 4,500 metres, is home to India's first Dark Sky Reserve, and stargazers travel here in growing numbers for a view of the cosmos that is hard to find elsewhere in the country.

Artificial lighting is tightly controlled to keep light pollution at bay. In the darkness, attention turns upward, with visitors introduced to the basics of stargazing and to objects such as the Milky Way, Jupiter, Andromeda and Neptune.

The guides for these sessions are drawn from the village itself. Traditional nomadic herders have taken on a new role, using telescopes to help visitors observe stars, planets and deep-sky objects. Around two dozen villagers, including 18 women, have been trained as astro-ambassadors.

"I guide people in stargazing and show them how celestial objects can be observed through a telescope. A large number of tourists are visiting Hanle, and it has transformed our lives," said Tsering Dolker, one of the astro-ambassadors.

Hanle, the remotest inhabited village in eastern Ladakh, also hosts India's highest astronomical observatory. Over the past two years, the site has helped bring astronomy closer to ordinary people, and the effect on local livelihoods has been rapid. The village has become India's only dedicated astro-tourism destination and is seen as a model for sustainable development in remote areas.

Homestays and guesthouses have come up across Hanle. Women who earlier had little or no income now earn between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh a month, according to accounts from residents.

Angmo, who runs a homestay, said she never expected the skies above her village to become her source of income. "My homestay is fully booked. I get customers regularly. Earlier, I had no income. Now, I earn around Rs 1.5 lakh a month," she said.

Kesang Dorje said the astronomical institute provided telescopes to all the astro-ambassadors, who have worked steadily to improve the visitor experience. "With the help of telescopes, we show people deep-sky objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye, such as nebulae and the Hercules Cluster. When we observe Saturn through a telescope, we can clearly see its rings," he said.

For visitors, the experience can be striking. Ravi Singh, a nature enthusiast from Noida, said his group had come to Hanle specifically for stargazing. "Students had set up telescopes, and we were able to see the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way and Neptune. Everything we witnessed was mesmerising. I could hardly believe my eyes. The sky is incredibly clear here. I even managed to take some photographs. It's something that cannot be described in words; you have to come here and experience it yourself," he said.

The changes are visible even to those returning after short absences. A journalist from Ladakh, also named Angmo, said the initiative had transformed lives on a large scale. "Earlier, there were only mud houses here. Today, you see concrete homes and visible development all around. So many positive changes have taken place because of the observatory," she said.

Ladakh's high altitude, dry climate and low light pollution make it one of India's leading stargazing regions, with areas around Hanle and Pangong Lake offering some of the clearest views. Astro-tourism, closely tied to dark-sky tourism, centres on travelling away from city lights to experience the night sky in its purest form — from meteor showers and the Milky Way to thousands of stars visible to the naked eye — with an emphasis on immersion rather than luxury.