General information: Uttarakhand, a mountain State of India with an area of

General information: Uttarakhand, a mountain State of India with an area of 20,682 sq. miles (53,566 sq.km) is located in the northern part of India. The name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand in January 2007. The early Hindu scriptures have also mentioned the name of Uttarakhand as the combined region of Kedarkhand and Manaskhand. Uttarakhand was also the ancient Puranic' term for the central stretch of the Indian Himalayas.The provisional capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun which is also a rail-head and the largest city in the region. The High Court of the state is situated in Nainital. The sacred and national river of the India, the river Gaga has her source at Grouch near Angostura which is situated in the state. Maharinis Vas, the author of Mahwah is believed to have lived in the caves in this area. It was also known as Uttaranchal. Today, it is often called "the Land of the Gods" (Dev Boom) because of the presence of a multitude of Hindu pilgrimage spots. It became the 27th state of the Republic of India on 9 the Nov 2000. Earlier, it was the part of Uttar Pradesh. The State has borders with Tibet to the north, Nepal to the east, and the Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in the west and south respectively. Short History: The present areas under Uttarakhand were ruled by the Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Katyuris, Palas, Chands, Parmaras or Panwars and the British at different periods. The region was originally settled by Kols, an aboriginal people of the austro-asiatic physical type. They were later joined by Indo-Aryan Khas tribes that arrived from the northwest. Since 1 / 8

then Uttarakhand has been serving as a haunt for Hindu saints i.e. Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that Sage Vyasadeva scripted the Mahabharata here as the Pandavas had traveled and camped in the region. The Kunindas were the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon in the 2nd century B.C. They used to practice an early form of Shaivism and trade salt with Western Tibet. It is evident from the Ashokan edict at Kalsi in Western Garhwal that Buddhism made inroads in this region. Folk shamanic practices deviating from Hindu orthodoxy also persisted here. However, Garhwal and Kumaon were restored to nominal Brahmanical rule due to the travails of Shankaracharya and the people's migration from the plains. The Kunindas gave way to the Naga Dynasties in the 4th century A.D. Between the 7th and 14th centuries, the Katyuri dynasty of Khas origin dominated lands of varying extent from the Katyur valley in Kumaon. Other peoples of the Tibeto-Burman group known as Kiratas are thought to have settled in the northern highlands as well as in pockets throughout the region, and believed to be the ancestors to the modern day Bhotiya, Raji, Buksha, and Tharu peoples. After the disintegration of Katyuri kingdom of uttarakhand during 1300 to 1400 AD, eastern region of uttarakhand (Kumaon and Far-Western Region of Nepal which was a part of uttarakhand then), was divided into eight different princely states i.e., 1.Baijnath-Katyuri, 2.Dwarhat, 3.Doti, 4.Baramandal, 5.Askot, 6.Sira, 7.Sora, 8.Sui (Kali Kumaon). In 1581 A.D. after defeat of Raika Hari Mall (maternal uncle of Rudra Chand) by Rudra Chand, all these disintegrated parts came under King Rudra Chand and the whole region was named as Kumaon. Kumaon proper constituted an old Rajput principality, which became extinct at the beginning of the 19th century. For some time region was ruled by Gorkhas. They ruled the State with oppression. But People of Kumaon fought them valiantly. With their courage, wisdom and their ever indomitable spirit, and help from British (East India Company), they finally defeated the Gorkhas, who earlier seemed invincible, and opened the way for the liberation of Garhwal from the oppressive Gorkha rule. Inspired by their bravery the British granted on the people of Kumaon the title of martial race. Later, the region was annexed by the British in 1815, and was governed for seventy years on the non-regulation system by three administrators, Mr. Traill, Mr. J. H. Batten and Sir Henry Ramsay. In 1891 the division was composed of the three districts of Kumaon, Garhwal and the Tarai; but the two districts of Kumaon and the Tarai were subsequently redistributed and renamed after their headquarters, Nainital and Almora. 2 / 8

In August 2006, India's Union Cabinet assented to the four-year-old demand of the Uttaranchal state assembly and leading members of the Uttarakhand movement to rename Uttaranchal state as Uttarakhand. Legislation to that effect was passed by the State Legislative Assembly in October 2006, and the Union Cabinet brought in the bill in the winter session of Parliament. The bill was passed by Parliament and signed into law by the President in December 2006. Since then, Uttarakhand denotes a state in the Union of India. Geographical information: With the total geographic area of 51,125 Sq. km, Uttarakhand land is mountainous to the extent of 93% with 64% under forest cover. Most of the northern parts of the state are part of Greater Himalayan ranges with presence of the high Himalayan peaks and glaciers. The lower foothills are densely forested. The unique Himalayan eco-system harbours a large number of animals (including bharal, snow leopards, leopards and tigers, etc.), plants and rare herbs. Two great rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna have their sources from the glaciers of Uttarakhand. Entire Uttarakhand is situated on the south slope of the Himalayan range. The climate and vegetation vary greatly with elevation, from glaciers at the highest elevations to tropical forests at the lower elevations. The highest elevations are covered by ice and bare rock. The Western Himalayan Alpine Shrub and Meadows eco-region lies between 3000-3500 and 5000 meters elevation. The tundra and alpine meadows cover the highest elevations and Rhododendron-dominated shrublands below. The Western Himalayan sub-alpine conifer forests lie just below the tree line at 3000-2600 meters elevation. The Western Himalayan broadleaf forests lie in a belt from 2,600 to 1,500 meters elevation. Below 1500 meters elevation lies western Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands belt and also the Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests. This belt is locally known as Bhabhar. These lowland forests have mostly been cleared for agriculture, but a few pockets remain. Uttarakhand has 6 National Parks which are full of various types of animals, birds and trees including medicinal plants. Districts of Uttarakhand 3 / 8

There are 13 districts in Uttarakhand which are grouped into two divisions. Kumaon division includes Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh, and Udham Singh Nagar. includes Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal (commonly known as Garhwal), Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal and Uttarkashi. Garhwal division Tourism The tourism in Uttarakhand is mostly based on Hindu pilgrimage and partly on wildlife, eco-tourism and adventure sports viz. skiing, river rafting, mountaineering, trekking, etc So, a major part of economy is dependant on tourism industry. The Chardham (4 Temples i.e. Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath Shiva temple and Badrinath Vishnu temple) which is regarded as one of most spiritually auspicious pilgrimage circuits of Hindus, the Corbett National Park and Tiger Reserve and the nearby hill-stations of Nainital, Mussoorie, Almora, Kausani, Bhimtal and Ranikhet are amongst the most frequented destinations of Indian and foreign tourists. The state also contains numerous peaks of interest to mountaineers, although Nanda Devi, the highest and best-known of these, has been off-limits since 1982. Other national wonders include the Valley of Flowers, which along with Nanda Devi National Park, form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 4 / 8

Rishikesh near Haridwar is known as the preeminent yoga center of India while the spectacular view from Hemkund is of special significance to Sikhs. In addition, the state has an abundance of temples and shrines, many dedicated to local deities or manifestations of Shiva and Durga, references to many of which can be found in Hindu scriptures and legends. The architecture of most of these temples is typical of the region and slightly different from other parts of India, the ancient temples at Jageshwar being the most prominent for their distinct architectural features. Tibetan Buddhism has also made itself felt with the recent reconstruction of Mindroling Monastery and its Buddha Stupa, touted as the worlds highest situated at a place southwest of Dehradun. Devi Temples: 1 Devi Temples Ansuiya Devi (2000m) - 5 km from Mandal 2 Balani Devi (1700m) - 26 km short of Tiuni towards Chakrata 3 Banari Devi (Almora Distt). 4 Champawati Durga Temple (Champawat) 5 Chandidevi- approachable by Udankhatola, Hardwar 6 Chandika Mai (Simli) - 6 km from Karanprayag 7 Chandrabadni (2278m) - 7 km from Jamnikhal 8 Dhari Devi (1 km trek from Kaliyasaur) -15 km from Srinagar 9 Dunagiri (2660m) - 15 km from Dwarahat 10 Garjiya Temple - 14 km from Ramnagar 11 Gaura Devi Temple (Dewalgarh) 4 km trek - from Tamdhar on Srinagar -Rudraprayag 12 Gaura Mai (Gaurikund) 13 Hariyali Devi (1400m) - 22 km from Nagarsu 14 Hokara Devi - 3 km from Birthi Water Fall 15 Jwalpadevi - 36 km from Pauri 16 Kali Temple (Chaukhutiya) 17 Hatkali Temple /Kalika Temple (Gangolihat -1800m) 5 / 8

18 Kalika Temple - 5 km from Ranikhet 19 Kasar Devi - 7 km from Almora 20 Kot Ki Mai - 8 km from Gwaldam 21 Kuteti Devi - 1.5 km from Uttarkashi 22 Kunjapuri (1665m) - 13 km from Nareandra Nagar 23 Mahakali Temple (Kalimath) 10 km - from Guptkashi 24 Manila Devi - around 32 km from Bhikiyasen 25 Mansadevi, approachable by Udankhatola, Hardwar 26 Naina Devi (Nainital) (Nainital) 27 Naithna Devi (1652m) - 4 km trek from Mansi 28 Nanda Devi (Nauti) -25 km from Karanprayag 29 Nanda Devi - 3 km from Chaukori 30 Nanda Devi (Almora) 31 Navdurga Devi (Joshimath) 32 Pangi Devi - 20 km kuchha motorable road from Gulerghati 33 Mata Purnagiri - 20 km from Tanakpur 34 Pushti Mata (Jageshwar) 35 Santla Devi - 15 km from Dehradun 36 Sirkot Devi (Didihat) 37 Syahi Devi - 3 km trek from Seetlakhet 38 Surkanda Devi (3030m) -24 km from Mussoorie 39 Tripura Devi (Almora) 40 Tripura Devi (Uttarayan, Berinag) 41 Uma Devi (Karanprayag) 42 Vaishno Devi Temple (Chaukhutiya) 43 Varahi Devi (Davidhura) 44 Vrinda Devi (1 trek from Jalna on Almora -Paudhar road) -15 km Abodes of Shiva 1 Agasteshwar Mahadev (Agastmuni) 2 Baijnath - 16 km from Kausani 3 Baghnath (Bageshwar) 4 Binsar Mahadev (near Ranikhet) 5 Budha Kedar 6 Dwarahat Temples 7 Jageshwar (a) Jyotirling -Nagesham Darukabane (b) Maha Mrityunjaya (c) 8 Kalpeshwar (Kalpnath) 9 Kamleshwar Mahadev - 2 km from Jarmola 10 Kamleshwar Mahadev (Srinagar) 11 Kedarnath (3584m) 12 Koteshwar - 3 km from Rudraprayag 13 Kotmaheshwar 14 Kranteshwar Mahadev (east of Champawat) 15 Madhyamaheshwar (3490m) 16 Mukteshwar (2290m) - 51 km from Nainital 17 Neelkanth Mahadev (1550m) 22 km - from Laxmanjhula 18 Onkareshwar Temple (Ukhimath) 6 / 8

19 Pancheshwar - 37 km from Lohaghat 20 Rameshwar - 10 km from Ghat 21 Rudranath (2286m) - 17 km trek from Mandal 22 Salt Mahadev 23 Shiva (Rudra) Temple (Rudraprayag) 24 Shiva Temple (Gopeshwar) 25 Shiva Temple (Karanprayag) 26 Shivling and Cave - 3 km from Kotdwar 27 Someshwar - 11 km from Kausani 28 Submerged Shivling at Gangotri 29 Tapkeshwar Mahadev near Dehradun 30 Trijuginarayan (1982m) - 14 km from Sonprayag 31 Tungnath (3680m) - 3.5 km from Chopta 32 Virneshwar (Shiva) Templeat Binsar, constructed by king Kalyan Chand 33 Vishwanath Temple (Guptkashi) 34 Vishwanath Temple (Uttarkashi) 35 Vridh Jageshwar (Bara Jageshwar) Panch Dharas (around Badrinath) 1 Bhrigu Dhara 2 Indra Dhara 3 Kurma Dhara 4 Prahlad Dhara 5 Urvashi Dhara Panch Shilas (around Badrinath) 1 Garur Shila 2 Narad Shila 3 Markandeya Shila 4 Narsingh Shila 5 Varaha Shila Char Dham 1 Yamunotri (3185m) 2 Gangotri (3048m) 3 Kedarnath (3584m) 4 Badrinath (3096m) Panch Badri 1 Badri Vishal -Sri badrinath (3096m) 2 Yogdhyan Badri (1920m) 3 Bhavishya Badri (3641m) 4 Vridha Badri (1380m) 5 Adi badri (1630m) Panch Kedar 1 Sri Kedarnath (3584m) 2 Tungnath (3680m) 3 Rudranath (2286m) 4 Kalpeshwar (2134m) 5 Madhyamaheshwar (3490m) 7 / 8

Panch Prayag 1 Deoprayag (813m) 2 Rudraprayag (610m) 3 Karanprayag (832m) 4 Nandprayag (914m) 5 Vishnuprayag (1372m) The Prayag Raj - Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh (The confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saras Devi Darshan 1 Kunjapuri (1665m) 2 Surkanda Devi (3030m) 3 Chandrabadni (2278m) 4 Ansuiya Devi (2000m) GURDWARAS 1 Hemkund Sahib (4150m) -19 km trek from Govindghat 2 Nanak Matta Sahib (45 km from Udham Singh Nagar) 3 Reetha Meetha Sahib (900m) -74 km from Chamawat 8 / 8