St John in the Wilderness

Mcleod Ganj


Amid tall cedars 1.5km west of McLeod, this brooding Gothic church dates from 1852, and though rebuilt after the 1905 earthquake which destroyed its tower, it is one of the few remaining traces of the town's days as a British hill station.

Services in English and Hindi are held at 10.30am on Sundays. The cemetery contains the rocket-like tomb of the Earl of Elgin, second Viceroy of India, along with the graves of many victims of 1905.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Mcleod Ganj attractions

1. Tibetan Children’s Village

0.31 MILES

Just a short hop from the underwhelming Dal Lake, 3km northwest of McLeod, the Tibetan Children’s Village provides free education for nearly 2000 refugee…

2. Tsechokling Gompa

0.39 MILES

At the base of a long flight of steps off of Nowrojee Rd, this peaceful gompa was built in 1987 to replace the original Dip Tse Chokling Gompa in Tibet,…

3. Chorten

0.44 MILES

Ringed by colourful prayer wheels, this recently built temple between Temple and Jogiwara Rds is generally known as the Chorten (Tibetan for stupa), since…

4. TIPA

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This flourishing arts school keeps traditional Tibetan dance, music and colourful folk opera (lhamo) very much alive among the exile community. Irregular…

5. Gu-Chu-Sum Movement Gallery

0.68 MILES

A charity that assists current and former Tibetan political prisoners, Gu-Chu-Sum has a gallery displaying harrowing photos chronicling oppression in…

6. Hope Gallery

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Through a gallery-cafe and film screenings, this organisation tells the tales of individual Tibetan lives as a way to illustrate Tibet's plight.

7. Tsuglagkhang Complex

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McLeod's main focus for visiting pilgrims, monks and most tourists is the Tsuglagkhang complex, a custard-coloured concrete monastic village that's home…

8. Kalachakra Temple

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Visiting the Tsuglagkhang clockwise, as is required by Buddhist convention, you pass a prostrating area then a door leads into the westernmost building,…

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