World Tourism News: Place to Visit in Himachal

Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over 21,495 sq mi (55,673 km²), and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east. The literal meaning of Himachal Pradesh is Region of snowy mountains.

Facts and Figures of Himachal Pradesh:

Area:

55,673 sq km

Population:

6,077,248

Religion:

Hinduism (95.89 %), Buddhists, Others

Annual Rainfall:180 cm

Maximum Temperature:30°C

Minimum Temperature:2°C

Capital:Shimla

Language: Hindi, English and Himachali

Skking:

Kufri, near Shimla is oneof the oldest places in India to be associated with skiing and the slopes are still in use during winter. Above Kufri, the Mahasu ridge also has good slopes. Comprehensive facilities exist at Narkanda, 64 km from Shimla. There is a range of slopes, including a beginer's run, an advanced slope and a slalom run. Himachal Tourism offers ski courses, instruction and has equipment on hire at Narkanda.

Ice- Scating:

The Shimla ice-skating rink has the largest open-air area with naturally frozen ice in this part of the world. The Ice Skating Club has already celebrated its Diamond Jubilee.

Trekking opportunities are plenty in Himachal Pradesh, here are a few:

Baralacha-Chandratal Trek — starts from Manali, ends at Chandratal Lake ("Moon" Lake)
Bhabha Pass Trek — known for lush green flower strewn meadows, picturesque and dense forests. he path for bhaba pass trek passes through a mixed forest of conifers as well as crop fields of Mastrang.
Bir Bhangal Trek — Bir Bhangal Trek is only for the experienced trekkers who have the experience of solid hiking and camping. This is one of the challenging trekking trails which starts from the Kullu valley.
Darcha Lamayuru Trek — this is one of the most popular trekking treks in the Himachal Pradesh, and one of the most traversing trek, passing through the Zanskar
Darcha Padum Trek
Deo Tibba Expedition
Friendship Peak Expedition
Hampta Pass
Indrahar Pass
Trekking routes in Himachal Pradesh
Hamta Trek
Malana History Trek
Chander Trail in Kullu Valley
Wild Trek in Kullu Valley
Dharamsala Chhota Bhangal over sari Pass Kullu
Morchella trek
Manali Hamya Herbal Trek
Kinner Kailash Parikrama
Hamirpur Deotsidh Sri Naina Devi Trek
Maidi to Nadaun
Bharmaur Kugti Udaipur Manali trek

Flora and fauna of Himachal Pradesh:

According to 2003 Forest Survey of India report, legally defined forest areas constitute 66.52% of the area of Himachal Pradesh, although area under tree cover is only 25.78%. Vegetation in the state is dictated by elevation and precipitation.

The southern part of the state, which is at the lowest elevations, has both tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. These are represented by northwestern thorn scrub forests along the border with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and by Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests in the far southeast. Sal and shisham are found here.

Rising into the hills, we find a mosaic of western Himalayan broadleaf forests and Himalayan subtropical pine forests. Various deciduous and evergreen oaks live in the broadleaf forests, while Chir pine dominates the pine forests. Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests grow near treeline, with species that include East Himalayan Fir, West Himalayan Spruce, Deodar (State tree), and Blue pine.

In the uppermost elevations we find western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows in the northeast and northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows in the northwest. Trees are sturdy with a vast network of roots. Alders, birches, rhododendrons and moist alpine shrubs are there as the regional vegetation. The rhododendrons can be seen along the hillsides around Shimla from March to May. The shrublands and meadows give way to rock and ice around the highest peaks.

Himachal is also said to be the fruit bowl of the country with orchards scattered all over the place. Meadows and pastures are also seen clinging to steep slopes. After the winter season, the hillsides and orchards bloom with wild flowers, while gladiolas, carnations, marigolds, roses, chrysanthemums, tulips and lilies are carefully cultivated. The state government is gearing up to make Himachal Pradesh as the flower basket of the world.

Himachal Pradesh is a well known habitat to a variety of animals. There are around 1200 bird and 359 animal species in the state. This includes the Leopard, Snow leopard (State animal), ghoral, musk deer and Western Tragopan. It has 12 major national parks and sanctuaries – the largest number in the Himalayan region. The Great Himalayan National Park in Kullu district was created to conserve the flora and fauna of Himachal of the main Himalayan range, while the Pin Valley National Park to conserve the flora and fauna of the cold desert.

Districts of Himachal Pradesh:

Himachal Pradesh is divided into 12 districts namely, Kangra, Hamirpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Una, Chamba, Lahul and Spiti, Sirmaur, Kinnaur, Kullu, Solan and Shimla. The state capital is Shimla which was formerly British India's summer capital under the name Simla.

A district of Himachal Pradesh is an administrative geographical unit, headed by a Deputy Commissioner or District Magistrate, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The district magistrate or the deputy commissioner is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Himachal Administrative Service and other Himachal state services. Each district is subdivided into Sub-Divisions, governed by a sub-divisional magistrate, and again into Blocks. Blocks consists of panchayats (village councils) and town municipalities. A Superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Himachal Police Service and other Himachal Police officials.

Transport in Himachal Pradesh:

Roads are the major mode of transport in the hilly terrains of Himachal Pradesh. The state has road network of 28,208 km (17,528 mi), including eight national highways (NH) that constitute 1,234 km (767 mi). Some roads get closed during winter and monsoon seasons due to snowfall and landslides. Regular bus services connect Shimla with Chandigarh, Kullu, Manali, Delhi, Mandi, Pathankot, Ambala, Chail and Dehradun. Local taxis are the major local transport here. District Hamirpur has got the highest road density in the country.

Railway track is accessible only to a few places in Himachal Pradesh. The Pathankot–Jogindernagar line connects Punjab with Himachal Pradesh. The other railway tracks pass through Shimla, Solan and Una. Shimla is connected with Kalka by a narrow gauge railway line, which in turn is connected with the major cities in India. Himachal has two narrow gauge rail tracks. The Kalka-Shimla Railway track has a length of 96 kilometres. It passes through 102 tunnels and crosses 864 bridges.

There are three domestic airports in the state—Shimla Airport, Bhuntar Airport serving Kullu and Manali, and Gaggal Airport serving Kangra and Dharamsala. The air routes connect the state with Delhi and Chandigarh. There are no international airports in Himachal Pradesh. Deccan, Air India, MDLR has flights from Delhi, Chandigarh to Kullu and back. Jagson Airlines has flights from Delhi to Shimla.

Culture of Himachal Pradesh:

Himachal was one of the few states that had remained largely untouched by external customs, largely due to its difficult terrain. With the technological advancements the state has changed very rapidly. It is a multireligional, multicultural as well as multilingual state like other Indian states. Some of the most commonly spoken languages includes Hindi, Punjabi, Pahari, Dogri, Mandialli Kangri, Gojri and Kinnauri. The Hindu caste communities residing in Himachal include the Brahmins, Rajputs, Gujjars, Gaddis, "Grith (choudhary)," Kannets (come under RAJPUTS), Rathis and Kolis. There are also tribal population in the state which mainly comprise , Kinnars,Pangawals, Sulehria, and Lahaulis.

The state is well known for its handicrafts. The carpets, leather works, shawls, metalware, woodwork and paintings are worth appreciating. Pashmina shawl is one of the product which is highly in demand not only in Himachal but all over the country. Himachali caps are also famous art work of the people. Extreme cold winters of Himachal necessitated wool weaving. Nearly every household in Himachal owns a pit-loom. Wool is also considered as pure and is used as a ritual cloth. The well known woven object is the shawl, ranging from fine pashmina to the coarse desar. Kullu is famous for its shawls with striking patterns and vibrant colours. Kangra and Dharamshala are famous for Kangra miniature paintings.

Local music and dance reflects the cultural identity of the state. Through their dance and music, they entreat their gods during local festivals and other special occasions. Apart from the fairs and festivals that are celebrated all over India, there are number of other fairs and festivals also that are of great significance to Himachal Pradesh.

Shimla, the state capital is home to Asia's only natural ice skating rink.

The day to day food of Himachalis is very similar to the rest of the north India. They too have lentil, broth, rice, vegetables and bread. Some of the specialities of Himachal include Pateer, Chouck, Bhagjery, jhoul, Patrode, Sidku, Beduan, Chutney, Madra, Khatti Dal, Khatta and Ambua, Madra, Pahari Aloo and Pahari Murgh.

Famous people associated with Himachal include: Dalip Singh Rana, Anupam Kher, Amrish Puri (who studied here), Prem Chopra (brought up here) , Mohit Chauhan, Shahrukh Khan from Bilaspur who studied in D.A.V Public School, Bilaspur, third Supreme Court Chief-Justice and former Prime Minister of Kashmir in 1947 Mehr Chand Mahajan, economist and former vice-president of World Bank Shahid Javed Burki, NSG Commando, Pritam Singh,Bollywood actresses Preity Zinta, Kangna Ranaut, Hollywood actress Namrata Singh Gujral, Satyananda Stokes who introduced apple in the region, writer Idries Shah, ornithologist Allan Octavian Hume (had his home here), former general of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and current President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai who both studied here.

Education in Himachal Pradesh:

Himachal Pradesh has one of the highest literacy rates in India. Hamirpur District is among the top districts in the country for literacy. Education rates among women are quite encouraging in the state.

The standard of education in the state has reached to a considerably high level as compared to other states in India. The state has several reputed educational institutes for higher studies.

The Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Shimla ,the NIT, Hamirpur,the Jaypee University of Information Technology,Waknaghat,The Arni University, Distt.Kangra, The Chitkara University,Distt.solan, IITT college of Engineering, Kala Amb, Distt. Sirmour and Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology Baddi are some of the pioneer institutes located in the state. The soon upcoming Central University of Himachal Pradesh which shall come up with its main campus at Kangra, and subsequently, two campuses will be set-up at Dauladhar and Dehra in the majestic hills of the state. Himachal Pardesh Agriculture University (HPAU) is one of the most renowned hill Agriculture Institutes in world. Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry has earned a unique distinction in India for imparting teaching, research and extension education in horticulture, forestry and allied disciplines.

The government is working constantly to prepare various plans and projects in order to strengthen the education system of the state. Recently, the State Government has decided to start three nursing colleges to develop the health system in the state. There are over 10,000 primary schools, 1,000 secondary schools and more than 1,300 high schools in Himachal. The state government has decided to start up with 3 major nursing colleges to develop the health system in the state. In meeting the constitutional obligation to make primary education compulsory, Himachal has now became the first state in India to make elementary education accessible to every child in the state.

The State has got Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital. Besides that there is Himachal Dental College which is the first recognised Dental Institute in the State.

Himachal also has institutions to revive fading traditional skills such as those in art. The Chitera School of Art teaches the delicate style of Kangra Miniature Paintings