Gun Hill, Mussoorie
viewpoint · 1.2 km away
town9 min from Mussoorie
Happy Valley, Mussoorie
Happy Valley, the Tibetan neighbourhood of Mussoorie where the Dalai Lama arrived in April 1959: the Shedup Choephelling temple, prayer wheels and a garden.
What it is
Happy Valley is the neighbourhood west of Library Point in Mussoorie where the Tibetan community settled. The Dalai Lama arrived in Mussoorie on 20 April 1959 and stayed until April 1960, when he moved to Dharamshala. The Tibetans who stayed put up a Buddhist temple and homes in Tibetan style, and Wikipedia says about 5,000 still live in Mussoorie.
Photos: VasuVR (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Getting there
Happy Valley is about 3 km and 9 minutes by road from the centre of Mussoorie, and the Shedup Choephelling temple a little further, about 4.6 km and 10 minutes. Many visitors walk it as part of a day in town. We have no verified bus timings, so ask for the right turn at Library Point.
The visit
The temple is the thing to see: a white building with painted pillars and a decorated porch, and a covered row of brass prayer wheels that visitors can turn as they pass. The municipal garden in the same area has an artificial lake with paddle boats, and the national academy named for Lal Bahadur Shastri, which trains India's civil servants, is nearby. It is a working campus, so we have no word on visits.
Mahatma Gandhi stayed at Birla House in Happy Valley and addressed the European members of the municipal council on 18 October 1929. We do not know whether that house can be visited.
When to go
Any dry month works for a short visit; see when to visit Mussoorie for rain, snow and the clear weeks.
Around it
Gun Hill is 5 minutes and Landour 9 minutes by road from the centre of town. The one-day plan puts Happy Valley in the middle of the day, and the two-day plan includes it on the first.
Plans that include this
All 2 plans that stop here →
Day plan · First visitleisure
One day in Mussoorie — Gun Hill, Happy Valley and Landour
A one-day Mussoorie plan: the Gun Hill cable car, the Tibetan temple at Happy Valley and the Landour ridge, with short legs and no long drives. Free to copy.
Best Apr–May · Oct–Dec
See the plan →
1 night · 2 days · First visitleisure
Two days in Mussoorie — Landour, Everest's House and Kempty Falls
A two-day Mussoorie plan: Gun Hill, Happy Valley and Landour on day one, then Sir George Everest's House and Kempty Falls on day two. Free to copy.
Best Apr–May · Oct–Dec
See the plan →Nearby places
Questions people ask
What is Happy Valley in Mussoorie?
A neighbourhood west of Library Point where Tibetan refugees settled after 1959, putting up a Buddhist temple and homes in Tibetan style. Wikipedia says about 5,000 Tibetans live in Mussoorie today. It also holds a municipal garden with paddle boats and the civil-service academy named for Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Why did the Dalai Lama come to Mussoorie?
He arrived on 20 April 1959, during the Tibetan uprising, and took up residence in Mussoorie until April 1960, when he moved to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. The first Tibetan school in Mussoorie opened in 1960, and Happy Valley is where Tibetans settled. We do not give dates for individual buildings.
Can visitors go into the temple?
The Shedup Choephelling temple is a working Buddhist temple, so go quietly, dress modestly and ask before photographing inside. We have no verified opening hours or rules, so ask in Mussoorie. By road it is about 4.6 km and 10 minutes from the centre of town on our routing.