Tours · Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh

Prayer Flags in the Oak Forest of Dharamsala

A forest path near Dharamsala runs under strings of prayer flags, many of them white. Which trees grow here, what white flags can stand for, and which birds live in these woods.

A footpath near Dharamsala runs under a ceiling of prayer flags. Strings cross from trunk to trunk above the track, and among the usual five colours there are long rows of plain white flags. The trees are oak and rhododendron, and in this June panorama the sun comes through their leaves in patches. Prayer flags came to these hills with the Tibetan community of Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj after 1960. The forest is far older, part of the band of oak and rhododendron woods that climbs the southern face of the Dhauladhar range.

Why are white prayer flags hung?

White has a place in every ordinary set of prayer flags: the five colours stand for the five elements, and white is air and wind. A white flag can carry exactly the same printed prayers as a coloured one. The Horniman Museum in London holds a matching pair, one white and one coloured, whose only difference is the colour and the dedication.

White flags also have a second, sadder use. In Bhutan, tall white flags called manidhar are raised as a memorial after someone dies. Raising 108 of them, a number considered auspicious in Buddhism, is held to be especially meritorious, although a single flag is said to carry the same benefit. Nothing in the panorama tells us why these particular white rows were hung, and it would be wrong to guess. Either way, the custom asks the same of a passer-by: leave the strings where they are, and step around any flag that has fallen, since prayer flags should not lie on the ground.

The trees: ban oak and tree rhododendron

The common oak of these slopes is ban oak (Quercus leucotrichophora), called banj in Uttarakhand and ban in Himachal. It is an evergreen with leathery dark green leaves that are smooth on top and covered underneath in white or grey hairs. It is a working tree. The leaves are cut as cattle fodder, the wood burns hot and is heavily lopped for fuel, and the nitrogen-rich leaf litter makes good compost. Mosses, lichens and epiphytes cover the older branches.

Its usual companion is the tree rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum), which grows to about 12 m, occasionally 20 m. In early and mid spring it carries bunches of 15 to 20 bell-shaped flowers, red, pink or white. It is the national flower of Nepal, the state tree of Uttarakhand and the state flower of Nagaland. By June the flowers are long gone, and the rhododendrons in this panorama show only their leaves.

Deodars and the forest belts of the Dhauladhar

The slopes above Dharamsala rise from about 1,400 m in the lower town to over 4,000 m on the crest, and the forest changes with height. The lower reserved forests are dominated by deodar (Cedrus deodara), while large areas below 1,600 m were planted with pine. Higher up, oak and rhododendron forests alternate with grassy slopes and meadows, and above the tree line come alpine meadows and rock that stays under snow for much of the year.

The deodar is the state tree of Himachal Pradesh. Its name comes from the Sanskrit devadaru, ‘wood of the gods’, and Hindus regard it as a sacred tree. It grows between about 1,500 and 3,200 m and can reach 40 to 50 m. The rot-resistant timber was used for buildings and bridges, and the houseboats of Srinagar are made of it.

Birds of the Dharamsala forests

The Dhauladhar slopes above McLeod Ganj are listed as a Key Biodiversity Area for birds, covering about 1,009 km² between 1,600 and 4,400 m. The pheasants are the best known residents: Himalayan monal, koklass, kalij and cheer pheasant, along with hill partridge and chukar. Higher up live the snow partridge and Himalayan snowcock.

The range is rich in birds of prey. Thirty-six raptor species have been recorded, and the golden eagle, lammergeier, booted eagle and crested serpent eagle breed here. Some birds follow the seasons up and down the slope: mountain species come down in winter, and the forests near Sarah, between 700 and 1,400 m, are an important wintering ground. Restricted-range species include Tytler’s leaf warbler and the spectacled finch.

The forest in June and the monsoon

June is when the monsoon begins. The rains in Dharamsala run from June to mid-September and bring up to 3,000 mm, which makes the town one of the wettest places in Himachal Pradesh.

The same factsheet that lists the birds also lists what threatens these woods: fires set when vegetation is burned, firewood cutting, grazing near the tree line, and solid waste and littering near McLeod Ganj. On a forest walk, the most useful thing a visitor can do is carry every wrapper and bottle back down. For a closer look at the flags themselves and what is printed on them, see the hillside in Tibetan Prayer Flags.