TSUGLAGKHANG TEMPLE / DALAI LAMA TEMPLE
DHARAMSHALA, INDIA
The seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile is in McLeod Ganj (upper Dharamsala), a picturesque town overlooking the Kangra valley, below the snowy peaks of the Dhaula Dhar range in the Indian Himalayas. At one end of the ridge in McLeod Ganj is the locus of the Tibetan community, the Tsuglagkhang complex, their Potala Palace-in-exile, though this is a rather modest affair by comparison. It contains the Dalai Lama’s residence, a monastery, temples, and stupas. For visitors there’s also a café, bookshop, and the Tibet museum.
Visitors are free to roam except to the monks’ residential quarters. The ambiance is warm and collegial. Wistful sketches of the Potala Palace hang beside paintings that depict scriptural stories and fierce Tibetan deities. Most monks are refugees from Tibet (rather than born in India) and speak only a smattering of Hindi or English; their monastic education is entirely in Tibetan. Each day they study philosophy, tantra, history, geography, Tibetan, etc. (but not Hindi or English, forcing an additional state of exile on the monks, some mere kids drafted into the order). Few among the Indian-born Tibetans—or Tibetan-Indians, depending on how they see themselves—choose to become monks.
SIGNAGE
Signs improve and are most times integral to a clearly designed wayfinding program. The function of a sign is to identify, inform, direct, honor, restrict or permit. A good sign system recedes into the background while providing clear information when needed. In addition, sign codes, life safety issues and disabled access guidelines need to be included to meet national and state requirements. Successfully designed signage helps visitors find their way, makes information accessible, provides an enhanced experience and honors donor recognition. In addition, an inclusive assessment of the environment and issues that affect orientation for first time visitors is imperative to a successful signage and wayfinding program.
CURRENT SIGNAGE | PROBLEM & SOLUTION
The current problems in the existing signages and wayfinding in Tsuglagkhang Palace (Dalai Lama Temple) is that the design of the signage and the color selection is similar to the other existing signage of Himachal Pradesh or the Highway signage. The new signage and the selction of colors gave the signages of monastery, its very own identity. The existing signage material is of a metal frame with vinyl over that. The vinyls does not stand the weather of Mcleod Ganj as it receivers very heavy rainfall throughout the year and also experiences the snowfall in winters. So the metal frames easily corrodes in these conditions, which makes the signage difficult to stand.
The other main problem is the Tibet Museum. Many visitors coming to Mcleodganj doesn’t have any knowledge about Tibet Museum. So creating a signage for the museum on the Mcleod Square and making their directional signage would help people to know about the museum.
The Directional signages present within the temple are also not much effective. There are three gates in the temple, first for the monks of the monastic people, second for normal public, and the third one for the foreigners.So to keep them aware about it, the signage should be of a bigger size rather than an A4 sheet which currently exists.
The selection of materials should be such so that it can stand against the weather of Mcleodganj and also takes less maintaing work. One materials proposed can be acrylic sheets, and vinyl in the middle of that, which can be mounted on the walls within the temples. The color selection for the signage is maroon and yellow ochre, taken from the colors of Tibet art, architecture, etc. The design for the same has been kept minimal, so that it should be easy for the visitors to understand.
The placement of the signages matters the most, specially the Directional Signages. The Mcleod Ganj square is the best place to put up the signages since its the entrance of Mcleodganj and many people look to the existing signages as a guide. The color selection has also been kept red and yellow, so that it attracts the attention of the people.
ENTRANCE for THE TIBET MUSEUM
