The young women guiding tourists through India's night sky

Four women in their late 20s from Hanle, India—a village at 14,764 feet in Ladakh designated as India's first Dark Sky Reserve in 2022—were trained in 2022 by the Ladakh administration and Indian Institute of Astrophysics to guide tourists through the night sky. Visitor numbers to the region surged from 3,000 annually five years ago to nearly 30,000 in 2024-25, creating local economic opportunity. The women now work as astro-ambassadors, operating telescopes and teaching visitors to identify stars, planets, and constellations.

The training programme involved 24 young people from Hanle and nearby villages; this story focuses on four of them.