The
State And The People:
The beautiful hill state of Himachal Pradesh lies at
the foothills of the Himalayas. The mon khmer (Kirat)
and other tribes had sought shelter here when
persecuted by the Aryan invaders. Shanwar was their
brave and powerful leader. This proves that this
tribe exited as far back as the Rig-Vedic (early
vedic) period. In the second century B.C. this
entire area was known as Kinnar, the land of Kiratas.
Proofs for this are available In the famous stone
edict (in the Sharda script) found in the Shiva
temple at Baij Nath. The edict refers to the
settlement as the 'Kir' village (Kirat Gram). These
tribes have now settled in the Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba
and Pangi areas. In the Malanga village in kulu, we
have distinct proofs of the Kiratas having settled
there.
In the tribal area of this region one still comes
across prehistoric socio-cultural beliefs. The
Kiratas, the Yakshas and Nagas here are among those
important tribes to which we have parallel
references in the Puranas and history. According to
these the forerunner of man in the universe, "Manu
lived in Manali (Manavalaya, the abode of Manu). The
oldest temple of saint Manu is located here. Other
rishis too performed Tapas here. Ashramas of some of
them like Vashishtha, Vyasa asn Bhrigu are located
here. All this proves tha this area has a long
historical past and it has performed an important
role in the rise and development of the human race.
From the topographical point of view, this area has
been referred to as Trigarta, an area separated from
the plains of the Punjab by its peculiar physical
characteristics. It had six Janapadas known as
Trigarta Shashtha or Jalandharayana. The present day
districts of Chamba, Kulu, Mandi, Bilaspur and
Kangra come within this Trigarta area, well known in
the hill regions. It was also called the Ayuddha
Sangha, a federation of six principalities.
There
are also indications that the Aryan Rishis of yore
preferred to live in cooler climates, in area lying
between Kashmir in the west and the coastal regions
of the Sutluj river in the east. The Rigveda calls
the Vyasa river 'Arjikiya'. In this area are also
located the remains of the eight storied temple of
the saint temple of the saint Shringi and Skirntila,
the site where the king Dashrath is said to have
performed the Putreshti Yagna (the fire sacrifice
that helps produce a male heir). It is also said
that the saint Bhrigu had brought the fire God Agni
down from the heavens in this very area. Perhaps
Parvati, the daughter of the Himalayas, also
belonged to the area. There is a river called the
Parvati in the Kullu region, after which the valley
is known as the Parvati valley. This perhaps was
also the domain the King Daksha, whose daughter Sati
had burnt herself in the sacrified fire, and was
consequently immortalized as Sati (the Truthful
one). Lord Krishna's grandson Pradyumna was married
to Usha, the daughter of King Banasur of Shonitpura
(now known as Sarain near Rampur). It is said that
at the end of the Satyg, the rishi Jamdgni was born
here and tales about his son. Parashuram and wife
Renuka are well-known in the region. Nirmand, the
place where the saint Parashar performed Tapas and
the origins of the Beas (Vija Sa Srofa) are located
here. All in all, the entire area has a very long
and rich historical past.
The State of Himachal is surrounded by the States of
Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, HaRYANA AND Uttar
Pradesh. Some of its principal cities are - Simla,
Nahan. Solan, Rnuka, Paunta Sahib, Rampur,
Dalhousie, Chamba, Bharmaur, Dharamshala, Kangra,
Palampur, Hairpur, Sujanpur, Oona, Mandi, Kullu and
Manali, Places like Khajiyar, Renuka, Mani Mahesh,
Rivalsar, Bhagsu Nag, Mani Karna, Tatta Pani, Vyasa
Kund, Govind Sagar, Pong Dam are well known for
their natural lakes and waterfalls. Kufri, Chail and
Narkanda are famous for winter sports. The state has
tourist offices located in all the major towns to
encourage tourism and to help assist the tourists.
Some tourists' bungalows are also under
construction.The major rivers of the area are the
Ravi, the Chenab, the Beas, the Sutlaj, the Giri,
the Pawar and The Yamuna. All these rivers come out
of the Himalayas and after winding through the hills
and the valleys all of them come down to the plains.
From the point of view of vegetation, the area is
extremely rich and beautifull. Most of the foliage
is of the evergreen variety and keeps the valleys
looking lush and green all the year around. Kulu and
Kangra valleys have terraced tea gardens. Fruits and
walnuts are grown here in plenty and also medicinal
herbs.
The state of Himachal has a natural beauty all its
own. The towering Dhauladhar range stands at the
head of the state. And the traveller finds a new
view to admire round every bend. An Englishman Mr
Varns writes in the Kangra gazetteer that he had
never seen anything quite like this anywhere in the
world. Another British traveler M.C. forbes writes
in his book to 'kulu and back' that the area is a
veritable heaven to every traveler whether he
carries a camera or a paintbrush. As the traveler
goes up the hills and down the valleys, the sounds
of rivers and rivulets and the stray note of the
shepherd's flute, almost hypnotise him.
The state of Himachal came into being on 15th april,
1948 after the dissolution of 81 princely states of
region. At that time its area was 10,600 sq miles
and its population stood at 9,35,000. during the
British period, the area was divided into two, the
Punjab hill states and the Shimla hill states. On
November 1st 1966, the states were reformed on the
basis of the linquistic identity, and the hilly
areas of Punjab, Kangra, Kulu, Lahaul, Spiti,
Nalagarh and Oona, were added to it. This doubled
both its area and population. Now its area measures
55,673 sq km, and its population (according to 1971
census reports) is 34,60,434. it has 36 cities and
16,916 villages. The number of city dwellers is
2,41,890 and of people living in the villages is
32,18,544. of these 7,69,572 belong to scheduled
castes and 1,41,610 to the scheduled tribes. Nearly
every district has colonies of the people belonging
to the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes.
Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti. Kulu , Chamba-Pangi are
tribal areas which are snow bound most of the year
round. The hills In the area are barren and the
people living here have to descend to the plains in
the winters, in search for animal fodder. They lead
a hard life but they are a tough and hardy lot. 96%
of the people in the state live in the villages and
depend upon farming for their livelihood. The
climate here is cool, and healthy.
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