McLeodganj

Why this icon McLeodganj, 'Little Lhasa', is known for its Tibetan food — steaming momos above all. Source: incredibleindia.gov.in

Zostel

The story

Dusk in Little Lhasa: momos steam in a big steamer on a stall's counter close by, and a traveller in the lane beyond holds a plate of them while a macaque on the parapet eyes it; prayer flags cross over the lane, two blue magpies fly home over the town stacked across the gap as it lights its windows, and the snowy Dhauladhar glows pink above the rooftops.

Why this picture

McLeodganj (2,082 m), 'Little Lhasa', is the hill town of the Tibetan community above Dharamshala, stacked on a ridge under the Dhauladhar. Momos, Tibetan dumplings, are steamed over soup in tiered steamers and sold all along its lanes; prayer flags in their five colours hang across them, and rhesus macaques sit on the lanes' walls and railings, eyeing the food, and red-billed blue magpies glide between the trees. In winter the cold makes the steam bloom and snow sits on the range, which glows pink at sunset.

The motion

Two blue magpies fly across the whole sky; the moon's rings turn; windows light up one by one; steam curls up off the momos; the prayer flags flutter; the macaque turns its head. A 16-second loop.

Colour

Orchid #AA5EA5

Valley Blue #4F87C7

Blush #F6ADCD

McLeodganj takes Blush #F6ADCD, one of the three Valleys colours — with its icon in Steel Grey on it.

Another moment in McLeodganj

A second scene: another true moment at McLeodganj, drawn in the graphic vocabulary with the animals and city symbols that belong there. Wide for screens, tall for a phone held upright.

The story

A bright winter morning on a rooftop café terrace in McLeodganj: Tibetan carpets hang over the rail to air in the sun, a traveller sits at a table over a hot bowl of thukpa while a rhesus macaque on the parapet eyes it, and beyond the town the ropeway's cabins glide down the valley under the snowy Dhauladhar, black kites wheeling overhead.

Why this moment

McLeodganj's hillside cafés serve Tibetan thukpa, momos and butter tea, and its shops sell hand-knotted Tibetan carpets, which hang out over rails and balconies in the sun. Winter brings cold, clear days and snow on the Dhauladhar. The Dharamshala Skyway, a ropeway opened in 2022, carries cabins between Dharamshala and McLeodganj; rhesus macaques work the rooftops for food and black kites circle over the town.

The motion

The ropeway's cabins glide along their cables across the sky, one each way; black kites wheel over the town; the sun's rays turn; steam rises off the thukpa. A 16-second loop.

In the picture

Its files

wide: wide second scene, SVG wide second scene, Animated SVG wide second scene, PNG
tall: tall second scene, SVG tall second scene, Animated SVG tall second scene, PNG

Also in the kit's zip, in its own folder.

McLeodganj in symbols

Beside its icon, the things that are McLeodganj, drawn in the Brand Manual's city language: a monument in the city grey with its openings cut, the things of the place in flat landscape colours. Each comes in colour and in the city grey. Every place's symbols

ThukpaOf the place
Thukpa, the Tibetan noodle soup that Little Lhasa eats beside its momos: noodles and vegetables in a hot broth, greens on top.
SVG Grey SVG PNG
A Tibetan carpetOf the place
The Tibetan carpet, the craft McLeodganj's Tibetan community weaves and sells: hand-knotted highland wool, here the old checkerboard design in a plain border, fringes at the ends — geometry only, no symbols.
SVG Grey SVG PNG

Also drawn for McLeodganj 4

Detailed icons from the library that name McLeodganj among their places: one drawing, on the page of every place it belongs to. Every detailed icon

Say hello to McLeodganj's Zobus

Zobu in McLeodganj's own dress, on the palette. Hover or tap one and it waves. Each comes still and alive — idle, hello and hop — for stickers, stories and the app.

Every destination's Zobus →

Female
Still Idle Hello Hop Face Wave
Male
Still Idle Hello Hop Face Wave

The animals of McLeodganj

Animals and birds the research behind McLeodganj's picture names, drawn in the Brand Manual's animal style, in colour and in the city grey. All the animals of India

Rhesus macaqueMacaca mulatta
SVG Grey SVG PNG
Black kiteMilvus migrans
SVG Grey SVG PNG

The kit

Everything McLeodganj needs: its profile, its cover, wide and tall, its icon, tile, display picture and lockup, its loop and the symbol becoming it, its second scene, its city map, its city symbols and its Zobus — every file ready to download.

46 files in one zip, the cover, its second scene, its symbols, its Zobus and its city map included

Profile

McLeodganj’s page as a story, 1080 × 1920: its cover, its tile, its name, its line and its verbs — for stories, status and a phone’s lock screen.

SVGOther formats

Cover, wide

1600 × 900, for screens: a page’s top, a slide, a share card. The still is the loop’s first frame. The animated SVG loops in 16 s; where it shouldn’t move, use the still.

SVG Animated SVG PNG

Cover, tall

900 × 1600, composed for a phone held upright: stories, reels, a lock screen. The animated SVG loops in 16 s; where it shouldn’t move, use the still.

SVG Animated SVG PNG

Tile

The icon in one colour on McLeodganj’s own — for a grid, a story, a sticker.

SVG PNG

Icon

An object: flat landscape colours. Transparent; the mono takes any one colour.

SVG PNG Mono SVG

Loop

Points twinkle behind the peak, or clouds drift past. 7.2 s, seamless.

Animated SVG Lottie JSON

Motion

The symbol becomes McLeodganj and turns back — a Lottie loop for stories, the app and the web.

Lottie JSON

Display picture

Circle-safe: the colour, the icon and the name — for chats, socials and the app.

SVG PNG

Lockup

The horizontal lockup, with McLeodganj under the wordmark — for signage, email and merch.

SVG

City symbols

McLeodganj’s symbols, each in colour and in the city grey, as SVG and PNG — in the zip’s symbols folder.

See them with their files

Zobus

McLeodganj’s Zobu pair, still and alive (idle, hello, hop), waving still and as a face (a profile picture) — in the zip’s zobus folder.

Female SVG Male SVG

Also made for McLeodganj 5

The rest of what the library holds for McLeodganj: the pattern of its region, the card its links share, each opening its own file or gallery.

The map we made for McLeodganj

Seven things to do around Zostel McLeodganj, each in its true direction with its distance and time from the door — a map made for your phone.

Camp on Triund under the starsTriund · 9 km · 200 min hike
Walk the kora past prayer wheelsThe kora · 0.8 km · 10 min walk
Ride the ropeway to DharamshalaThe Skyway · 0.5 km · 6 min walk
Watch the Dhauladhar at sunsetNaddi · 3.6 km · 50 min walk
Find a church deep in deodarsSt John's church · 2 km · 25 min walk
Eat thukpa in Little LhasaMain Square · 0.5 km · 7 min walk
Sit in Dharamkot's hillside cafésDharamkot · 1.6 km · 20 min walk

Download the phone map (PNG)Download the phone map (SVG)

1080 × 1350, for a phone or a story. Distances and times from Zostel McLeodganj, measured on OpenStreetMap routing. Map for representation purposes only.

On the map

McLeodganj is in Himachal Pradesh, India — one of the 84 places where Zostel is live.

Region: Himachal Pradesh
Country: India
Where: 32.24° N, 76.32° E
Landscape: Valleys

Make its poster Every place

McLeodganj · Himachal Pradesh · India

Lift the lid in Little Lhasa. Momos steam. Order one more.

The story

Why this picture

The motion

Colour

Another moment in McLeodganj

The story

Why this moment

The motion

In the picture

Its files

McLeodganj in symbols

Also drawn for McLeodganj 4

Say hello to McLeodganj's Zobus

The animals of McLeodganj

The kit

Also made for McLeodganj 5

The map we made for McLeodganj

On the map