|
About
Himachal |
 |
Himachal
Pradesh is situated in the northern region in the heart of the western Himalayas.
The word Himachal means the land of the snows. This state is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir in the
north, Uttar Pradesh in the south-east, Haryana in the south and Punjab in the
west. Shimla, a beautiful
hill station is the state capital of the Himachal Pradesh and
was the summer capital of the British Empire in India. It is veiled from the plains by the Shivalik range of
mountains. The physiographic
divisions from south to north are the outer Himalayas or the Shivaliks,
the lesser Himalayas or the central zone and the great Himalayan and Zanskar
or the northern zone. The state of Himachal Pradesh is divided
into twelve districts, which are Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Lahual
Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan and Una. It abounds in
exotic valleys, green hill slopes, snow-capped peaks and
gushing rivers and streams.
|
|
|
|
History of
Himachal |
|
About 2 million years ago
some of the people lived in the foothills of Himachal Pradesh,
mainly in the Bangana valley of Kangra, Sirsa valley of Nalagarh and Markanda valley
of Sirmour. These people belonged to the Indus valley civilization
and pushed the Kolorians towards north. They moved to the hills of Himachal
Pradesh where they could live peacefully and preserve their way of life.
In the Vedas they have been referred to as Dasas. Later on the Aryans laid the base of history and culture of Himachal
Pradesh. In the later period, the hill chieftains accepted the
rule under the Mauryan empire, the Kaushans, the Guptas and
Kanauj rulers and made some mutually agreed arrangements. In the
19th century, Ranjit Singh dominated some of the states. When
the British came, they defeated Gorkhas and entered into
treaties with some Rajas and captured the kingdoms of others.
This situation remained unchanged till 1947. After Independence,
30 princely states of the area were united and Himachal Pradesh
was formed on 15th April, 1948. With the recognition of Punjab
on 1st November, 1966, certain areas belonging to it were also
included in Himachal Pradesh. On 25th January, 1971, Himachal
Pradesh was made a full-fledged state.
|
|
|
|
|
Geography
of Himachal |
|
The state of
Himachal Pradesh is situated in the western Himalayas and
well surrounded by the several high mountains, many of
which have still not been scaled, streams and glaciers.
The various streams race through deep boulder-strewn
gorges and valleys of considerable beauty. The state can
be broadly divided by its valleys that hold most of the
existing tourist destinations. Some of these valleys are
the Kangra valley, Chamba valley, Pangi valley, the Lahaul
and Spiti valleys in the Trans Himalaya, Kinnaur valley,
Parvati valley, Giri valley and the Kullu valley. |
|
|
|
|
People
of Himachal |
|
Most of the
people of Himachal Pradesh are Hindus and the presence of
Hinduism is very strong towards the south of the Greater
Himalayas. The rural people of Himachal worship various
local gods and goddesses. Besides Hindus, there is a
strong influence of Buddhism in the trans Himalayas. The
arrival of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala has
made Himachal Pradesh a second home for the Tibetan
Buddhists. Christianity came with the arrival of the
British and today, there are various churches across the
state. The people of Himachal Pradesh live through a cycle
of rituals and ceremonies all their life. They are very
happy and have colourful folk dances. The traditional
house of the people of Himachal in the rural areas
consists of three storeys – the lowest storey for the
household cattle, the middle for storage of grains and the
top floor for living. |
|
|
|
|
Festivals
of Himachal |
|
The rich
culture, tradition, warm and hospitable people, diverse
climate and topography offers a variety of fairs, festivals and celebrations
in Himachal. About 2000 deities are worshipped in Himachal and
different fairs and festivals are held in their honour.
Some of the fairs and festivals which are celebrated in
Himachal are Baisakhi, Lohri, Himachal's Winter Carnival,
Holi, Gugga fair, Fullaich Festival and
Dussehra.
More
Information on Festivals of Himachal |
 |
|
|
|
|
Adventure
in Himachal |
|
|
The rivers,
forests, snow covered mountains and alpine meadows in Himachal
provides a wide range of interesting and leisure activities to
the tourists. Some of these adventurous sports are Skiing,
Mountain cycling, camping, mountaineering, trekking, river
rafting, para gliding, heli skiing, golf and jeep safaris.
Narkanda and Solang are the best areas where skiing is done in
the winters. The Trans Himalayan tracts of Lahaul, Spiti and
Kinnaur are best for mountain cycling. The best way to explore
the beauty of Himalaya is by having a jeep, car or motorcycle
safari. For the enthusiasts, no special training is required,
but you should be perfectly fit. Equipment, training and instructors are available. |
|
|
|
Camping
in Himachal |
|
Camping is
perhaps the best way of enjoying the wonders of nature in Himachal
Pradesh and sharing the warmth of its people. You can carry your
own sleeping bags and other camping equipments along while you
are traveling and set up your own camps. Besides this you can
also select any one of the camps that are pitched in various
parts of the State. These camps offers various facilities like
accommodation, catering and various other leisure activities
like hiking, fishing, rafting and nature tour |
|
|
|
|
|
Hill
Stations
in Himachal |
|
|
There are five
well-developed core-focus zones that draw the maximum visitors
and also acts as the base camps for most of towns of Himachal.
These are the towns of Shimla, Kullu and Manali, Dalhousie and
Chamba, Dharamsala and Palampur and the ‘tribal areas’ of
Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti. Shimla is the
capital city of Himachal Pradesh. It is also known as the
"Queen of the Hill stations". Dharamshala is a
beautiful and peaceful hill station, surrounded by the pine
forests. It provides a range of interesting activities for the
visitors. |
|
|
|
|
Wildlife Sanctuaries in
Himachal |
|
Himachal Pradesh
has a different type of topography, climate and forest cover
due to which it has been gifted with a vast variety of flora and fauna.
Out of the total geographical area of 55,670
sq. km, the forest area as per legal classification is 37691 sq km. There are about 32 wildlife sanctuaries, 2
national parks and 3 game reserves in Himachal Pradesh. Some
of these wildlife sanctuaries are Simbalbara Sanctuary, Renuka Sanctuary, Maharana Pratap Sagar
Sanctuary, Great Himalayan National Park.
More Information
on Wildlife Sanctuaries in Himachal |
|
|
|
|
|
How to reach
Himachal |
|
By Air:
The three domestic airports in Himachal Pradesh are Bhuntar,
Gaggal and Jubbarhatti. The regular flights operates between
Shimla, Kulu, Delhi and Chandigarh.
By Rail:
The Pathankot - Jogindernagar line is the longest railway line
which connect Punjab with Himachal Pradesh. The other railway
tracks pass through Shimla. Shimla is connected with Kalka by a
narrow gauge railway line, which in turn is connected with the
major cities in India.
By Road:
The state of Himachal Pradesh is well accessible by road from
Pathankot, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Shimla, Kullu, Manali, Delhi, Mandi
and Chail. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chat
