introduction to uttarakhand

410 Pages·2017·6.88 MB·English

Touristic Heritage of Uttarakhand BTTM 601

BLOCK 1:
INTRODUCTION TO UTTARAKHAND

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Touristic Heritage of Uttarakhand BTTM 601
UNIT 1: GEOGRAPHIC PERSONALITY OF
UTTARAKHAND
Structure:
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Objectives
1.3 Geographic personality of Uttarakhand
1.4 The Famous Geographic personality of Uttarakhand
1.4.1 Himalaya
1.4.2 Rivers
1.4.3 Lakes
1.4.5 Fauna World
1.4.6 Floral World
1.4.7 National Parks, Sanctuaries
1.5 Summary
1.6 Glossary
1.7 Answer to Check your Progress
1.8 References
1.9 Terminal and Model Questions

1.1 INTRODUCTION
We know Uttarakhand is a state in the northern part of India. It is often
referred to as the Devbhumi due to the many Hindu temples and pilgrimage
centres found throughout the state. Uttarakhand is known for its natural beauty of
the Himalayas, the Bhabhar and the Terai. On 9 November 2000, this 27th state
of the Republic of India was created from the Himalayan and adjoining
northwestern districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Archaeological evidence supports the existence of humans in the region
since prehistoric times. Among the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon
were the Kunindas in the 2nd century BC who practised an early form
of Shaivism. Ashokan edicts at Kalsi show the early presence of Buddhism in this
region. During the medieval period the region was consolidated under
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the Kumaon Kingdom and Garhwal Kingdom. By 1803 the region fell to
the Gorkha Empire of Nepal and with the conclusion of theAnglo-Nepalese
War in 1816 most of modern Uttarakhand was ceded to theBritish as part of
the Treaty of Sugauli. Although the erstwhile hill kingdoms of Garhwal and
Kumaon were traditional rivals, the proximity of different neighbouring ethnic
groups and the inseparable and complementary nature of their geography,
economy, culture, language, and traditions created strong bonds between the
two regions which further strengthened during the Uttarakhand movement for
statehood in the 1990s.
Uttarakhand's name is derived from the Sanskrit words Uttara meaning
North, and meaning Land, simply means Northern Land. The name finds mention
in early Hindu scriptures as the combined region of "Kedarkhand" (present
day Garhwal) and "Manaskhand" (present day Kumaon). Uttarakhand was also
the ancient Puranic term for the central stretch of the Indian Himalayas. Ancient
rock paintings, rock shelters, paleolithic stone tools and megalithsprovide
evidence that the mountains of the region have been inhabited since prehistoric
times. There are also archaeological remains which show the existence of early
Vedic practices in the area.
The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Gurjara pratihara, Katyuris,
Raikas, Palas, Chands, Parmars or Panwars, Sikhs, and theBritish have ruled
Uttarakhand in turns. The region was originally settled by Kol people, an
aboriginal people of the Austro-Asiatic physical type who were later joined
by Indo-Aryan Khasas tribe hat arrived from the northwest by the Vedic period
(1700–1100 BCE). At that time, present-day Uttarakhand also served as a
habitat for Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that the sage Vyasa scripted the
Hindu epic Mahabharata in the state.[10] Among the first major dynasties of
Garhwal and Kumaon were the Kunindas. By the medieval period, the region
was consolidated under the Garhwal Kingdom in the west and the Kumaon
Kingdom in the east. During this period, learning and new forms of painting
(the Pahari School of art) developed. Modern-day Garhwal was likewise unified
under the rule of Parmars who, along with many Brahmins and Rajputs, also
arrived from the plains. In 1791 the expanding Gorkha Empire of Nepal overran
Almora, the seat of the Kumaon Kingdom. In 1803 the Garhwal Kingdom also fell
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to the Gorkhas. With the conclusion of the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816, the
Garhwal Kingdom was re-established from a smaller region in Tehri, as the larger
portion of Tehri, along with eastern Garhwal and Kumaon ceded to the British as
part of the Treaty of Sugauli.
As you know, after India attained independence from the British, the
Garhwal Kingdom was merged into the state of UttarPradesh, where Uttarakhand
composed the Garhwal and Kumaon Divisions. Uttarakhand, which gained
significant momentum in 1994, when demand for separate statehood achieved
almost unanimous acceptance among both the local populace and national
political parties.[16] The most notable incident during this period was the Rampur
Tiraha firing case on the night of 1 October 1994, which led to a public uproar.
On 24 September 1998, the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the
Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, which began the process of creating a new
state. Two years later the Parliament of India passed the Uttar Pradesh
Reorganisation Act 2000, and thus, on 9 November 2000, Uttarakhand became
the 27th state of theRepublic of India. Here in this unit we go through the
geographic importance of the state.
1.2 OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of this chapt are as follows:
 To give you details of Uttarakhand Geography.
 To make you well known to the famous beautiful natural sites of state.
 Importance of state geography
1.3 GEOGRAPHIC PERSONALITIES OF UTTARAKHAND
The state is divided into two divisions, Garhwal and Kumaon, with a total
of 13 districts. The interim capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun, the largest city in
the region, which is a railhead. The geography of Uttarakhand reveals that it is
surrounded by Himachal Pradesh in the north-west and Uttar Pradesh in the
south and shares its international borders with Nepal and China. The state is
quite rich in natural resources.The well known Himalayan peaks of Nanda Devi,
Kedarnath, Trishul, Bandarpunch and Mt Kamet and the important glaciers like
Gangotri, Pindari, Milam and Khatling are situated in Uttarakhand. The Ganga,
the Yamuna, Ramganga and Sharda are rivers contributing to the geography of
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this region. The state of Uttarakhand covers twelve prominent ecological zones
of the country. These are:
 Nanda Devi National Park
 Valley of Flowers
 Gangotri
 Govind National Park
 Rajaji National Park
 Kedarnath
 Mussoorie
 Binsar
 Sanadi
 Govind sanctuary
 Ascod sanctuary
The key factor of the above division is:
 All these divisions support many rare plants and animal communities.
 Uttarakhand is one of the most picturesque areas of north India (and
beyond). It is a land of considerable natural beauty. The northern part of the
state of Uttarakhand is shrouded by Himalayan ranges and glaciers, whereas
the lower parts of the state are thickly forested. The Himalayan ecosystem
plays host to a large number of animals, plants and rare herbs.
 The geography of Uttarakhand makes it an ideal place for hiking, walking or
trekking. You will find several frequented trails, several among them even
well documented. Besides, you can also take advantage of the long and
solitary walks through fields, hills and mountains.
 Two of India's biggest rivers, the Ganga (Ganges) and the Yamuna originate
in the glaciers of Uttarakhand and are supplied with water on a perennial
basis by numerous lakes, glaciers and many streams in the region. The
geography of Uttarakhand is such that it has been usually divided into two
parts, the western half known as Garhwal and the eastern region as Kumaon.
The source of the word Uttarakhand is the Sanskrit term for North Country.
Uttarakhand has a total area of 53,484 km², of which 93% is
mountainous and 65% is covered by forest. Most of the northern part of the state
is covered by high Himalayan peaks and glaciers. In the first half of the
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nineteenth century, the expanding development of Indian roads, railways and
other physical infrastructure was giving rise to concerns over indiscriminate
logging, particularly in the Himalaya. Two
of the most important rivers in Hinduism
originate in the region,
the Ganga at Gangotri and the Yamuna at
Yamunotri. These two along
with Badrinath and Kedarnath form
the Chota Char Dham, a holy pilgrimage
for the Hindus. The state hosts the Bengal
tigerin Jim Corbett National Park, the
oldest national park of the Indian subcontinent. The Valley of Flowers, a Unesco
World Heritage Site located in the upper expanses of Bhyundar Ganga
near Joshimath in Gharwal region, is known for the variety and rarity of its
flowers and plants.
One who raised this was Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, Director of the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, who visited the region. As a consequence, Lord
Dalhousie issued the Indian Forest Charter in 1855, reversing the previous
laissez-faire policy. The following Indian Forest Act of 1878 put Indian forestry on
a solid scientific basis. A direct consequence was the founding of the Imperial
Forest School at Dehradun by Dietrich Brandis in 1878. Renamed the 'Imperial
Forest Research Institute' in 1906, it is now known as the Forest Research
Institute (India). The model “Forest Circles” around Dehradun, used for training,
demonstration and scientific measurements, had a lasting positive influence on
the forests and ecology of the region. The Himalayan ecosystem provides habitat
for many animals (including bharal, snow leopards, leopards andtigers), plants,
and rare herbs. Two of India's largest rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna,
originate in the glaciers of Uttarakhand, where they are fed by myriad lakes,
glacial melts and streams.
Uttarakhand lies on the southern slope of the Himalaya range, and the
climate and vegetation vary greatly with elevation, from glaciers at the highest
elevations to subtropical forests at the lower elevations. The highest elevations
are covered by ice and bare rock. Below them, between 3,000 and 5,000 metres
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(9,800 and 16,400 ft) are the western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows. The
temperate western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests grow just below the tree
line. At 3,000 to 2,600 metres (9,800 to 8,500 ft) elevation they transition to the
temperate western Himalayan broadleaf forests, which lie in a belt from 2,600 to
1,500 metres (8,500 to 4,900 ft) elevation. Below 1,500 metres (4,900 ft)
elevation lie the Himalayan subtropical pine forests. The Upper Gangetic Plains
moist deciduous forests and the drier Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands cover
the lowlands along the Uttar Pradesh border in a belt locally known as Bhabhar.
These lowland forests have mostly been cleared for agriculture, but a few
pockets remain.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
1. How many districts are in Uttarakhand?
Ans…………………………………………………………………………………
2. In how many ecological zones the state is devided?
Ans…………………………………………………………………………………
3. What is Kumaun called in early Hindu edicts?
Ans…………………………………………………………………………………
4. Who founded F.R.I?
Ans…………………………………………………………………………………
5. Name the first major dynasty of Uttarakhand
Ans…………………………………………………………………………………
1.4 THE FAMOUS GEOGRAPHIC PERSONALITY OF
UTTARAKHAND
The state Uttarakhand is the unique place. The state has its identity for its
specific geographical situation. There are number of geographic places which we
can treat as the Geographic personality of state. The short descriptions of some
of them are as follows:
1.4.1 Himalaya
Uttarakhand is a state of immense natural beauty, boasting some major
hills that contribute much to rendering tourism, the source of revenue in the state.
The northern areas comprise part of the Greater Himalayan ranges, shrouded by
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lofty Himalayan peaks and glaciers, whereas the lower foothills were thickly
forested till deforested by British log traders and forest contractors in the post
independence period. The major hills are regularly visited by tourists from all over
the country.
The Himalayas, or Himalaya, Sanskrit word meaning "abode of the
snow") is a mountain range in South Asia which separates the Indo-Gangetic
Plain from the Tibetan Plateau. This range is home to more than one hundred
mountains exceeding 7,200 metres (23,600 ft) in altitude, and all of the planet's
peaks exceeding8,000 metres, including the highest, Mount Everest. The
Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia. Many Himalayan
peaks are sacred in both Buddhism and Hinduism. The Himalayas are bordered
on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain, on
the northwest by theKarakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, and on the east by the
Indian state of Assam. The western anchor of the Himalayas — Nanga Parbat —
lies just south of the northernmost bend of the Indus River, while the eastern
anchor — Namcha Barwa — is situated just west of the great bend of the Yarlung
Tsangpo River. The Himalayas span five countries: India, Nepal, Bhutan, China,
and Pakistan, with the first three countries having sovereignty over most of the
range. Lifted by the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian
Plate,[3] the Himalayan range runs northwest to southeast in a 2,400 kilometres
(1,500 mi) long arc. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres (250 mi) in the
west to 150 kilometres (93 mi) in the east. Besides the Greater Himalayas, there
are several parallel lower ranges. The southernmost of these, located along the
northern edge of the Indian plains and reaching about a thousand meters in
altitude, are called the Sivalik Hills. Further north is a higher range, reaching two
to three thousand meters, known as the Lower Himalayan Range.Three of the
world's major rivers — the Indus, the Ganges and theBrahmaputra — arise in the
Himalayas. While the Indus and the Brahmaputra rise near Mount Kailash in Tibet,
the Ganges rises in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Their combined drainage
basin is home to some 600 million people.
So, Uttarakhand is also called as the “Land of the Gods” is one of the
most beautiful state in India, very well known for its Himalayan Mountain
Peaks,natural beauty and Terai, The marshy grasslands, savannas and forests
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of the Himalaya. Uttarakhand has some of the tallest and mostbeautiful peaks of
the great Himalayas in India, Many Himalaya mountain peaks of Uttarakhand are
unclimbed and unnamed are situated in the Karakoram ranges,Garhwal and
Kumaon Himalayas.The major hills of Uttarakhand Himalaya:
 Nanda Devi: The Nanda Devi is the second highest mountain peak in India
and highest entirely within the country. Nanda Devi main summit is 7,816 m
(25,643 ft) high located at Chamoli District and Nanda Devi East is 7,434 m
(24,390 ft) high in Pithoragarh-Chamoli. The peak of Nanda Devi is a national
park known as Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Park at
northwest.
 Kamet: Kamet is the second tallest mountain in Garhwal region of
Uttarakhand in the Chamoli District, It is 29th highest mountain peak in the world
and 3rd highest mountain in Indian Territory.
 AbiGamin: Abi Gamin Mountain peak is situated in the Chamoli district of
Uttarakhand and very famous for Joshimath Trek. Joshimath is gateway to
several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, trekking trails and
pilgrim centers.
 Mana Peak: Mana Peak is one of the three Himalayan peaks linked by a
ridge, Kamet, Abi Gamin and Mukut Parbat being other. Badrinath the land
of God Shiva offers amazing view of the Mana Peak.
 Mukut Parbat: The Mukut Parbat is situated in the Garhwal Himalayas, It is
the four main peaks of the Kamet group known as (Kamet, Abi Gamin, Mukut
Parbat, Mana). Mukut Parbat is well famous peak in the Uttarakhand.
 Hardeol: The Temple of God or Hardeol is situated in Kumaon Himalaya and
known as one of the major peaks of Pithoragarh district. Hardeol is guarding the
Nanda Devi Sanctuary from the northeast corner.
 ChaukhambaI: Chaukhamba I is the main summit and the highest peak in
the Gangotri Group of the Garhwal Himalaya, It has four mountain summits other
are known as Chaukhamba II, Chaukhamba III and Chaukhamba IV.
 Satopanth: Satopanth mountain peak is major peak of the Garhwal division
of the Himalayas and very famous for its Satopanth Glacier, Satopanth Tal or
Satopanth Lake. Garhwal region is very famous for its amazing snow-capped
peaks.
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 Tirsuli: Tirsuli is one of the top 10 highest Himalayan mountain peak of
Uttarakhand, situated in the Pithoragarh district of Kumaon region. It is part of the
complex Greater Himalaya Mountains.
1.4.2 Rivers
Uttarakhand, located in Northern India, contains some of the most
important and major rivers of India. The Ganga and the Yamuna have their
sources in this state and comprise the most famous and major rivers of the
country as a whole. They are supplied with water on a perennial basis by
numerous lakes, glaciers and countless streams in the area.
1. Alaknanda: The is a Himalayan river in the state of Uttarakhand, India and
one of the two headstreamsof the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and
the holy river of Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the source
streamof the Ganges on account of its greater length and discharge;[1]however,
in Hindu mythology and culture, the other headstream, theBhagirathi, is
considered the source stream. Several rivers in the Garhwal region merge with
the Alaknanda at Panch Prayag or 'holy confluence of rivers'. These are:
1. Vishnuprayag, where the Alaknanda is met by the Dhauliganga River
2. Nandaprayag, where it is met by the Nandakini River
3. Karnaprayag, where it is met by the Pindar River
4. Rudraprayag, where it is met by the Mandakini River
5. Devprayag, where it meets the Bhagirathi River and officially becomes
the Ganges
The headwaters of the Bhagirathi are formed at Gaumukh (elevation
3,892 metres (12,769 ft)), at the foot of the Gangotri glacier andKhatling
glaciers in the Garhwal Himalaya. It is then joined by itstributaries; these are, in
order from the source:
 Kedar Ganga at Gangotri (elevation 3,049 m (10,003 ft)),
 Jadh Ganga at Bhaironghati (elevation 2,650 m (8,690 ft)),
 Kakora Gad and Jalandhari Gad near Harsil (elevation 2,745 m (9,006 ft))
 Siyan Gad near Jhala (elevation 2,575 m (8,448 ft)),
 Asi Ganganear Uttarkashi (elevation 1,158 m (3,799 ft)),
 Bhilangna River near Old Tehri (elevation 755 m (2,477 ft)).
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