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AsiaIS >India > Uttaranchal> Introduction
| UTTARANCHAL |
Ruskin Bond, the
well-loved writer who has made Uttaranchal his home, brings vividly to life the beauty of
the Garhwal Himalayas in his poem In Cold Himal,
Deep in the crouching mist, lie the
mountains.
Climbing the mountains are forests
Of rhododendron, spruce and deodar-
Trees of God, we call them- soughing
In the wind from Kumaon and Garhwal. |
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A
wonderfully evocative description of one of the loveliest states of India: Uttaranchal. A
land of dense forests, icy white glaciers, clear gurgling streams and towering mountains;
a land which has been known as `Dev Bhoomi’- the land of the gods. Two contiguous
areas- Garhwal and Kumaon- comprise Uttaranchal, and right across this stretch are
hundreds of temples, shrines, and ashrams. Devout Hindus believe that these hills are the
abode of the gods, and that visits to the shrines here will bring salvation. |
| And for the not-so-devout, there are mountains to climb, rivers to ford,
deodar forests to explore and trails to trek. Make your way up to tiny villages hidden
away in misty hills, wend your way through a rhododendron forest ablaze with red blossoms,
or just sit under a tree and watch the sun go down in a burst of colour. It doesn’t
get lovelier than this… |
F A C
T B O X |
| Area |
55,845 sq km |
| Capital |
Dehradun |
| Population |
8,479,562 (2001) |
| Language |
Pahari dialects (Garhwali and Kumaoni), Hindi |
Religion |
Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Muslim minorities |
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