Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand
—  state  —
Seal
Dehradun Location of Uttarakhand in India
Coordinates
Country	India
District(s)	13
Established	9 November 2000
Capital	Dehradun
Largest city	Dehradun
Governor	Margaret Alva
Chief Minister	Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal
Legislature (seats)	Unicameral (71‡)
Population • Density	8,479,562 (19th) • 158 /km2 (409 /sq mi)
Literacy	72%%
Official languages	Hindi, Sanskrit[1]
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area	53,566 square kilometres (20,682 sq mi) (18th)
ISO 3166-2	IN-UL
Footnotes † Dehradun is the provisional capital of the state. The new capital has not yet been chosen. ‡ 70 (elected) + 1 (nominated Anglo-Indian)
Website	ua.nic.in

Uttarakhand (Sanskrit: उत्तराखण्डम्, Hindi: उत्तराखण्ड Uttarākhanḍ) is a state located in the northern part of India. Known for its natural beauty, it was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th state of the Republic of India.^[2] It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region on the north, Nepal on the east and the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh to the south, Haryana to the west and Himachal Pradesh to the north west.

The region is traditionally referred to as Uttarakhand in Hindu scriptures and old literature, a term which derives from Sanskrit uttara (उत्तर) meaning north, and khaṇḍ (खण्ड्) meaning country or part of a country. It has an area of 20,682 sq mi (53,566 km²).

In January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal, its interim name, to Uttarakhand. The provisional capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun which is also a rail-head and the largest city in the region. The small hamlet of Gairsen has been mooted as the future capital owing to its geographic centrality but controversies and lack of resources have led Dehradun to remain provisional capital. The High Court of the state is in Nainital.

Recent developments in the region include initiatives by the state government to capitalise on handloom and handicrafts, the burgeoning tourist trade as well as tax incentives to lure high-tech industry to the state. The state also has big-dam projects, controversial and often criticised in India, such as the very large Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi-Bhilangana rivers, conceived in 1953 and about to reach completion.^[3] Uttarakhand is also well known as the birthplace of the Chipko environmental movement,^[4] and a myriad other social movements including the mass agitation in the 1990s that led to its formation.

History

A stone sculpture (Mahabalipuram) depicting Bhagiratha in penance for the salvation of 60,000 of his ancestors

Literally North Country or Section in Sanskrit, the name of Uttarakhand finds mention in the 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. It is well-known for the presence of a multitude of Hindu pilgrimage spots. The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Katyuris, Raikas, Palas, the Chands, and Parmaras or Panwars and the British have ruled Uttarakhand in turns.^[5]

The historical temples at Jageshwar, preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The region was originally settled by Kols, an aboriginal people of the austro-asiatic physical type who were later joined by Indo-Aryan Khas tribes that arrived from the northwest by the Vedic period. At that time, present-day Uttarakhand also served as a haunt for Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that Sage Vyasa scripted the Mahabharata here as the Pandavas are believed to have traveled and camped in the region. Among the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century B.C. who practiced an early form of Shaivism. They traded 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 arrival of migrants from the plains. Between the 4th and 14th centuries, the Katyuri dynasty of Khas origin dominated lands of varying extent from the Katyur (modern day Baijnath) valley in Kumaon. The historically significant temples at Jageshwar are believed to have been built by the Katyuris and later remodeled by the Chands. 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.^[6]

Uttarakhand as a part of the United Province, 1903.

By the medieval period, the region was consolidated under the Garhwal Kingdom in the west and the Kumaon Kingdom in the east. From the 13th-18th century, Kumaon prospered under the Chand Rajas who had their origins in the plains of India. During this period, learning and new forms of painting (the Pahari school of art) developed.^[7] Modern-day Garhwal was likewise unified under the rule of Parmar/Panwar Rajas, who along with a mass migration of Brahmins and Rajputs, also arrived from the plains.^[8] In 1791, the expanding Gurkha Empire of Nepal, overran Almora, the seat of the Kumaon Kingdom. In 1803, the Garhwal Kingdom also fell to the Gurkhas. With the conclusion of the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816, a rump portion of the Garhwal Kingdom was reestablished from Tehri, and eastern British Garhwal and Kumaon ceded to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli.

In the post-independence period, the Tehri princely state was merged into Uttar Pradesh state, where Uttarakhand composed the Garhwal and Kumaon Divisions.^[9] Until 1998, Uttarakhand was the name most commonly used to refer to the region, as various political groups including most significantly the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Uttarakhand Revolutionary Party est. 1979), began agitating for separate statehood under its banner. Although the erstwhile hill kingdoms of Garhwal and Kumaon were traditional rivals with diverse lingual and cultural influences due to the proximity of different neighbouring ethnic groups, the inseparable and complementary nature of their geography, economy, culture, language, and traditions created strong bonds between the two regions.^[10] These bonds formed the basis of the new political identity of Uttarakhand, which gained significant momentum in 1994, when demand for separate statehood (within the Union of India) achieved almost unanimous acceptance among the local populace as well as political parties at the national level.^[11] Most notable incident during this period was the Rampur Tiraha firing case on the night of 1 October 1994, which led to public uproar ^[12]. On 24 September 1998 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the 'Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Bill', 1998, which eventually led to the creation of the state ^[13], eventually the Parliament passed the Indian Federal Legislation - Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2000, and thus on 9 November 2000,^[14] Uttarakhand became the 27th state in the Republic of India.

However, the term Uttaranchal came into use when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central and Uttar Pradesh state governments initiated a new round of state reorganization in 1998 and introduced its preferred name. Chosen for its allegedly less separatist connotations, the name change generated enormous controversy among the rank and file of the separate state activists who saw it as a political act ^[15], however they were not quite as successful as Jharkhand state that successfully thwarted a similar move to impose the name Vananchal. Nevertheless, the name Uttarakhand remained popular in the region, even while Uttaranchal was promulgated through official usage.

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,^[16] 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.

Demographics

Mindroling Monastery in Clement Town.

According to 2001 India census, Uttarakhand had a population of approximately of 8.48 million. A population exceeding 10 million is expected by the next census of 2011. The native people of Uttarakhand are generally called either Kumaoni or Garhwali depending on their place of origin in either the Garhwal or Kumaon region.

Another well known category is Gujjar,they were the rulers of a kingdom with capital at Landhaura and which covered the whole of Haridwar District today. Gujjars King Raja Ramdayal Singh Panwar had helped the Tehri ruler against the Gorkhas and the Present MLA from Laksar in Haridwar is Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion is the descendent of that King. Gujjar is a dominant community of Haridwar District.

Kumaoni and Garhwali dialects of Central Pahari are spoken in Kumaon and Garhwal region respectively. Jaunsari and Bhotiya dialects are also spoken by tribal communities in the west and north respectively. The urban population however converses mostly in Hindi.

Hindus form the majority of the population at 85.0%, Muslims form 10.5%, Sikhs 2.5% and Christians, Buddhists, Jains and others about 0.5%. It has male-female ratio of .964 and has a literacy rate of 72%. The largest cities in the state include Dehradun (530,263), Haridwar (220,767), Haldwani (158,896), Roorkee (115,278) and Rudrapur (88,720). The state government recognizes 15,620 villages and 81 cities and urban areas.

Historians of Kumaon and Garhwal say that in the beginning there were only three casts Rajput, Brahmin and Shilpkar. Main occupation of Rajput were jamindari and law enforcement. Occupation of Brahmins were to perform religious rituals in temples and religious occasions. Shilpkar were mainly working for rajputs, in their lands and were expert in handcrafts. Two famous surnames Rawat and Negi are used by Rajputs.

Geography

Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India.

Valley of Flowers National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Uttarakhand has a total geographic area of 51,125 km², of which 93% is mountainous and 64% is covered by forest. Most of the northern parts of the state are part of Greater Himalaya ranges, covered by the high Himalayan peaks and glaciers, while the lower foothills were densely forested till denuded by the British log merchants and later, after independence, by forest contractors. Recent efforts in reforestation, however, have been successful in restoring the situation to some extent. The unique Himalayan ecosystem plays host to a large number of animals (including bharal, snow leopards, leopards and tigers), plants and rare herbs. Two of India's mightiest rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna take birth in the glaciers of Uttarakhand, and are fed by myriad lakes, glacial melts and streams in the region.^[18]

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 (9,800 and 16,000 ft) are montane grasslands and shrublands: the western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows. Temperate coniferous forests, the 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. This belt is locally known as Bhabhar. These lowland forests have mostly been cleared for agriculture, but a few pockets remain.^[19]

Indian National Parks in Uttarakhand include the Jim Corbett National Park (the oldest national park of India) at Ramnagar in Nainital District, Valley of Flowers National Park and Nanda Devi National Park in Chamoli District, which together are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Rajaji National Park in Haridwar District, and Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Gangotri National Park in Uttarkashi District.

Government and politics

The present Chief Minister of Government of Uttarakhand is Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal.He was appointed as the fifth Chief Minister of Uttarakhand by Governor B. L. Joshi on 27 June 2009. The last state elections in Uttarakhand were held on 21 February 2007. The Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the largest party with 34 seats in the 70-seat Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly. One seat short of forming a majority, the BJP have had to rely on support from the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and three independents to form the government. The Indian National Congress is the official opposition, holding 21 seats.

Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand

• Nityanand Swami
• Bhagat Singh Koshiyari
• Narayan Dutt Tiwari
• B C Khanduri
• Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank

Districts

Districts of Uttarakhand

There are 13 districts in Uttarakhand which are grouped into two divisions. Kumaon division and Garhwal division

The Kumaon division includes six districts.

• Almora
• Bageshwar
• Champawat
• Nainital
• Pithoragarh
• Udham Singh Nagar

The Garhwal division includes seven districts.

• Dehradun
• Haridwar
• Tehri Garhwal
• Uttarkashi
• Chamoli
• Pauri Garhwal (commonly known as Garhwal)
• Rudraprayag

Important cities

Economy

Evening prayers at Har-ki-pauri (known for a footprint of Vishnu on a stone in a wall) in Haridwar

Uttarakhand's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $6 billion in current prices. Born out of partition of Uttar Pradesh, the new state of Uttarakhand produces about 8% of the output of the old Uttar Pradesh state. Consolidated Finvest and Holdings, a S&P CNX 500 conglomerate has its corporate office in Uttarakhand. It reported a gross income of Rs.137 million for 2005.

In 2003, a new industrial policy for the state with generous tax benefits for investors was initiated that has led to a massive upsurge of capital investment. SIDCUL, the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal (sic) has established seven industrial estates in the southern periphery of the state, while dozens of hydroelectric dams are being built in the upper reaches. However, hill development remains an uphill challenge as out migration of local peoples continues from the highland hinterlands.

Transport

Uttarakhand is well connected with Rail, Road and Air modes of transport

Airports

• Jolly Grant Airport (Dehradun)
• Pantnagar Airport (Pantnagar)
• ([Naini-Saini] Pithoragarh Pithoragarh)
• Uttar Kashi
• Gochar (Chamoli)
• Agastyamuni (Heliport) (Rudraprayag)

Tourism

Leisure, adventure, and religious tourism play a prominent role in Uttarakhand's economy, with the Corbett National Park and Tiger Reserve and the nearby hill-stations of Nainital, Mussoorie, Almora, Kausani, Bhimtal and Ranikhet being amongst the most frequented destinations of India. 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.

To Uttarakhand, long called "abode of the gods" (Devbhumi), belong some of the holiest Hindu shrines, and for more than a thousand years, pilgrims have been visiting the region in the hopes of salvation and purification from sin. Gangotri and Yamunotri, the sources of both the Ganges and Yamuna fall in the upper reaches of the state and together with Badrinath (dedicated to Vishnu) and Kedarnath (dedicated to Shiva) form the Char Dham, one of Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious pilgrimage circuits. Haridwar, meaning "Gateway to God" is a prime Hindu destination. Haridwar hosts the Kumbha Mela every twelve years, in which millions of pilgrims take part from all parts of the India and the world. Rishikesh near Haridwar is known as the preeminent yoga centre of India. 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.^[20] 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 (a complex of 124 temples in a deodar woodland) are historically the most prominent for their distinct architectural features. Uttarakhand is, however, a place of pilgrimage not only for the Hindus. Hemkund nested in the Himalayas is a prime pilgrimage center for the Sikhs. Tibetan Buddhism has also made itself felt with the recent reconstruction of Mindroling Monastery and its Buddha Stupa, touted as the world's highest^[21], southwest of Dehradun.

The state has always been a destination for mountaineering, hiking and rock climbing in India. A recent development in adventure tourism in the region has been white water rafting and other adventures sports. Eco tourism, agritourism and rural tourism have also found new grounds in many villages of the state.

Education

Uttarakhand is home to several important educational institutions, including the oldest engineering colleges in Asia, the Indian Institute of Technology at Roorkee and Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology in Pantnagar.Other universities and institutes of prime importance include, Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, ICFAI University in Dehradun , Forest Research Institute in Dehradun, Govind Ballabh Pant Engineering College in Pauri and Kumaon Engineering College, Dwarahat.

Uttarakhand is home to several reputed day and boarding schools including St. Joseph's College (Nainital), the Doon School (Dehradun), Sherwood College (Nainital), All Saints' College (Nainital), St. Mary's Convent (Nainital), Sainik School Ghorakhal near Bhowali and G D Birla Memorial School(Ranikhet). Several Indian luminaries attended these schools including former prime ministers and film stars.

Historically, Uttarakhand is believed to be the land where the Vedas and the Shastras were composed and the great epic, the Mahabharata, was written. Rishikesh is widely considered the Yoga capital of the world.

Universities

Garhwal and Kumaun Universities were founded in 1973 as part of the upsurge of regional sentiment that led to the Uttarakhand statehood. The most famous universities of Uttarakhand are:

See also

• Garhwal Division
• Garhwali
• Garhwal
• Kumauni People
• Kumaon Division
• Kumaoni
• Garhwal Rifles
• Kumaon Regiment
• Baitada
• Doti
• Bengal Engineers
• Special Frontier Force

References

Further reading

• Umachand Handa (2002). History of Uttaranchal. Indus Publishing. ISBN 81-7387-134-5. Excerpts
• Husain, Z. (1995). Uttarakhand movement: the politics of identity and frustration, a psycho-analytical study of the separate state movement, 1815-1995. Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot. ISBN 81-85897-17-4
• Śarmā, D. (1989). Tibeto-Himalayan languages of Uttarakhand. Studies in Tibeto-Himalayan languages, 3. New Delhi, India: Mittal Publications. ISBN 81-7099-171-4
• Fonia, K. S. (1987). Uttarakhand, the land of jungles, temples, and snows. New Delhi, India: Lancer Books.
• Mukhopadhyay, R. (1987). Uttarakhand movement a sociological analysis. Centre for Himalayan Studies special lecture, 8. Raja Rammohunpur, Dt. Darjeeling: University of North Bengal.
• Uma Prasad Thapliyal (2005). Uttaranchal: Historical and cultural perspectives. B.R. Pub. Corp.,. ISBN 81-7646-463-5.
• Nationalistic part of Greater Nepal Region
• Vijaypal Singh Negi, Jawahernagar,Post -Agastyamuni,Dist.- Rudraprayag, The Great HimalaysPublication Date- 1998,

Alok Aswal,dehradun

External links

• Official web-site of Uttarakhand Government
• Uttarakhand Online Community
• USA based Uttarakhand Association
• NJ?NY/PA-usa based UANA Association

	Himachal Pradesh		China
	Haryana
		Uttarakhand
		Uttar Pradesh	Nepal

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