There are approximately 120,000 Tibetan refugees worldwide with some 80,000 currently living in India and Nepal. Bylakuppe is the largest Tibetan community in exile with about 40,000 people in five settlements containing monasteries, kindergarten to higher level secondary schools, health care clinics, a hospital and a traditional Tibetan medical facility.
Bylakuppe is a growing centre with an increasing number of families. This growth places continuous demands on infrastructure, schools, day-care centres, roads and medical facilities. Bylakuppe supports various light industrial businesses, handicraft centres and an established farming community. The principal source of income for the Bylakuppe settlement is farming — predominantly maize, millet and rice.
Situated in Karnataka State of Southern India, Bylakuppe is an area of cleared jungle leased to Tibetan refugees in 1960. The Indian government maintains Bylakuppe as a restricted area and one must obtain a Protected Area Permit (PAP) from the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi to remain in Bylakuppe. This requirement has always been there but recently the Indian government has been enforcing it with more vigour.
In short, without a PAP foreign nationals can only visit during the day but cannot stay in Bylakuppe overnight.
It is worth noting that it can take up to 3 months to obtain a PAP and together with your completed and signed form you’ll also need to send 2 recent passport size photos and a photocopy of your passport.
You can download a PAP form here in MSWord format, or here as PDF.