New Delhi: Majnu ka Tilla, a Tibetan colony on G.T. road, opposite Timarpur, Delhi is home to many Tibet refugees.Majnu ka Tilla derives its name from Guru Nanak Dev Ji's devotees called Majnu.The gurudwara was built by Sikh military leader Baghel Singh to honour Guru Har Gobind Singh.A Muslim ascetic had been fasting and meditating for Guru Nanak Dev on a small hill at the Yamuna's edge. He used to ferry people across the river for free when he did not meditate.He became so weak and languished that people started calling him ‘Majnu' as they considered him crazy. Gurudwara Majnu ka TillaOne day, Guru Nanak Dev Ji traveling across Yamuna, came to him and blessed him. Finally he got the fruit of his long mediation and became a true disciple of Guru Nanak Dev.He told Majnu that your name would be immortalized and this place would be named after your name.Since then, the place was called ‘Majnu ka Tilla'. Majnu ka Tilla has three main residential settlements: Aruna Nagar, New Aruna Nagar and Old Chandrawal village. The community centre of Majnu ka TillaAruna Nagar came into existence in 1958-59, when the land and development wing of the urban development ministry gave 925 plots measuring 40 square yards to people from various parts of north Delhi under a resettlement plan. After the 1959 Tibetan uprising, following in the footsteps of the 14th Dalai Lama more than 150,000 Tibetan refugees fled to India during the past 50 years. Eventually, a Tibetan camp came up across the road on the Yamuna riverbed for rehabilitation of Tibetans fleeing their country after the Chinese occupation.Today, it is home to 2,500 residents and is called the Mini Tibet of India. The colony has not been granted legal status as a residential settlement. In March, 2013 the government had included New Aruna Nagar (Tibetan refugee camp) in the list of 895 to-be-regularised colonies. Over the years, New Aruna Nagar has become a foreign tourist hub.Markets in the colony visited by foreign touristsNumerous hotels, restaurants and shops of woolen clothes, ornaments, momos, and noodles have opened.Travel agencies offer tours for Tibet, cyber cafes hawkers selling pop songs from Tibet, book shops selling books on Tibetan culture, medicine are available.Momos, the famous cusine sold at eating jointsThe Majnu ka Tilla parkThe inside view of Gurudwara Majnu ka TillaThe Tibetan monastry
