In the late 1980s a committee chaired by Prof. B. V. Sreekantan recommended that a national large optical telescope be taken up as a priority project. The search for the site of the observatory was taken up in 1992 under the leadership of Prof. Arvind Bhatnagar. The scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics found the site at Hanle.The first light was seen by the Observatory 2-metre telescope on the midnight hour between 26 September and 27 September 2000.The satellite link between the Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST), Bangalore and Hanle was inaugurated by the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah on 2 June 2001. The Observatory was dedicated to the nation on 29 August 2001.