Uttaranchal
(2001 est. pop. 8.5 million). Uttaranchal is an Indian state that was created in 2000 from the northern quarter of Uttar Pradesh. It consists of thirteen hill districts bordering on Nepal to the east, with the lower Himalayas in the north, and the states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to the west and northwest respectively. It has an area of 51,125 square kilometers.
Dehra Dun is the state capital, and the population of the individual districts is primarily tribal. The state is home to four of the most revered Hindu sites in India: Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. All attract thousands of pilgrims every month. In the pre-Independence period, the numerous districts of present Uttaranchal were ruled over by several petty hill princes, who owed their formal allegiance to the British. Among the prominent nationalist figures who came from this region is the Congress leader Dr. Govind Ballabh Pant (1887–1961). (The town of Pantnagar in Nainital district has been named after him.) Since the 1980s, the region has been at the forefront of the Indian environmental movement, spearheaded by the Chipko Movement of Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhatt. There also has been vocal opposition to the proposed Tehri Dam in the district of Tehri Garhwal, a construction that threatens to wipe away entire villages.
Further Reading
Berreman, Gerald D. (1972) Hindus of the Himalayas: Ethnography and Change. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
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