Pokhran is a city and a municipality located in Jaisalmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is a remote location in the Thar Desert region and served as the test site for India's first underground nuclear weapon detonation.Pokhran shot into International Limelight on September 7, 1972 when the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave authorization to the scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay to detonate an indegenously designed nuclear device. Throughout its development, the device was formally called the "Peaceful Nuclear Explosive", but it was usually referred to as the Smiling Buddha.