Dharamshala

Dharamshala can mean either of the following:

(banda), Argentina - Buenos Aires.

References

Dharamshala (type of building)

A dharamshala (Hindi: धर्मशाला dharmaśālā) is an Indian religious resthouse. In Hindi, Dharma means religion, and shala means "sanctuary" hence dharamshala is a 'religious sanctuary' or rest-house for pilgrims, that is primarily created for religious pilgrims or as a religious endowment.

Creating dharmashala a tradition common in Hinduism, Jainism and also Tibetan Buddhism. Just as sarai are for travellers and caravans, dharamshalas are specifically meant for religious travellers and built at pilgrimage sites.

Community-specific dharamshala

Sometimes a dharmaśālā is built at religious pilgrimages for a specific community, caste, ethnic group, profession or persons from a specific region. The specified pilgrims are generally charged minimal or allowed free stay for a limited duration at a dharamshala specifically built for them but other pilgrims may be charged higher amounts.

Etymology

Dharamshala (Devanagari: धर्मशाला; ITRANS: Dharmashaalaa; IAST: Dharmaśālā) is a Hindi word (derived from Sanskrit) that is a compound of dharma (धर्म) and shālā (शाला). A loose translation into English would be 'spiritual dwelling' or, more loosely, 'sanctuary'. Rendering a precise literal translation into English is problematic due to the vast and conceptually rich semantic field of the word dharma, and the cultural aspect of India.