Harsil, the Himalayan paradise, is a village, tourist hill station and army area located on the banks of the

Bhagirathi River The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu fa ...

, on the way to

Gangotri Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi � ...

, a Hindu pilgrimage site in Uttarkashi district of the Indian state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Situated at an altitude of 9,005 ft (2,745 metres.) from sea level, Harsil lies 78 km. from Uttarkashi, and 30 km away from the Gangotri National Park which is spread across 1,553 square km. The hill station is well- known for its natural environment and apple production.

Background

Etymology

According to the local legend, the Harsil got its name from the rivers Bhagirathi and the Jalandhari as once they had an argument over their significance. Lord

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

, also known as Hari, was asked to intervene. He turned himself into a great stone, a shila, and absorbed their anger. Even today, after Hari-shila (or Harsil), the waters of the two rivers have become a little less turbulent. Harsil

History

Harsil lies on the old caravan trail between

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a Provinces of China, province-level Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China in Southwest China. I ...

and India, where trade & marriages once flourished. Harsil has been under the Kingdom of Garhwal. In 1815 Anglo-Nepal War,

British raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

sided with the Kingdom of Garwal and as a reward they were given the eastern half of Garhwal. In mid 19th century, apples and

rajma Rājmā ( hi, राजमा, ne, राजमा, ur, راجما), also known as rajmah, rāzmā, or lal lobia, is a vegetarian dish, originating from the Indian subcontinent, consisting of red kidney beans in a thick gravy with many In ...

cultivation was introduced to Harsil by Frederick Wilson, which became Himachal's main

cash crop A cash crop or profit crop is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") ...

s. In 1842, ''"Frederick Wilson"'', also called ''"Frederick “Pahari” Wilson"'' and ''"Pahari Wilson"'', a 25-year-old Englishman, deserted the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

’s army and fled to remote Harsil where he made fortune by logging deodar trees and selling those to British for the construction of railways. He was nicknamed ''"Raja of Harsil"'' by locals, even issued own coins. He was a friend of

A.O. Hume Allan Octavian Hume, CB ICS (4 June 1829 – 31 July 1912) was a British civil servant, political reformer, ornithologist and botanist who worked in British India. He was the founder of the Indian National Congress. A notable ornithologist, H ...

and

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

, later's novel

The Man Who Would Be King "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan. The story was first published in '' The Phantom Rickshaw and other Ee ...

was inspired by the story of Wilson. Journalist Robert Hutchison wrote a book ''"The Raja of Harsil"'' on Wilson. A local deity's priest cursed him for destroying the forests and ecology. After he died in 1883, his 3 sons squandered the inheritance and died, his last known descendant, who had joined the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

, died in air crash after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Sunderlal Bahuguna Sunderlal Bahuguna Ji (9 January 1927 – 21 May 2021) was an Indian environmentalist and Chipko movement leader. The idea of the Chipko movement was suggested by his wife and him. He fought for the preservation of forests in the Himalayas, fir ...

, founder of

Chipko Movement The Chipko movement ( hi, chipko andolan, italic=yes, lit= reehugging movement) is a forest conservation movement in India. The movement originated in 1973 at the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand (then part of Uttar Pradesh) and went on to beco ...

, blamed Wilson for Garhwal's ecological destruction. Marco Pallis, ''Peaks and Lamas'' (New York, Knopf, 1940) includes an account of a visit to Harsil and environs in the 1930s.

Geography

Harsil Valley has a cluster of around eight villages near the India-China border. Upper reaches of Harsil are connected to '' Nelang Valley''. It is also connected to the

Baspa Valley Baspa Valley is a river valley that is said to be named after the Baspa River. It lies in the Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh, India. Sangla is a major town in the Baspa Valley, and the valley is also known as the Sangla Valley or Tukpa Va ...

by several passes including the Lamkhaga Pass.

Demography

Over the years, a small number of ''Jadh''s, an ethnic group of the Bhotiyas, have settled here, and speak a language closely resembling

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

. There is also a sizeable Tibetan settlement in a close vicinity to ITBP Campus housing a

Stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

(Buddhist Burial Mound) and beautifully carved wooden houses.

Military setup

Army area

Harsil army area is a base camp of Garhwal Scouts and

Indo-Tibetan Border Police The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a border patrol organization of India deployed along its borders with Tibet Autonomous Region. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces, established in 1962 in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian ...

(ITBP). Since it is close to the disputed India-China Border, it is of military significance. On 6 November 2018, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

visited Harsil to celebrate

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

with ITBP soldiers.

Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research

Harsil has a field station of the Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research (DIBER), earlier known as the ''Defence Agricultural Research Laboratory'' (DARL), run by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). DARL, engaged in the research and development of

bioenergy Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms biom ...

as well as the

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

and eco-friendly high altitude agro-technologies in the Indian Himalayan Region for the use of

Indian Military The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by th ...

, has developed a range of vegetable varieties suitable for mid to high altitude. Haldwani in April 2008. During the Golden Jubilee year of DRDO, the laboratory was renamed from DARL to Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research (DIBER) with a new mandate and thrust areas. DIBER has its origin in an Agriculture Research Unit (ARU) established 1960s at Sitoli, which was renamed to DARL in 1990s and to DIBER in 2008.Defence Agricultural Laboratory (DARL) Historical Background
DRDO, accessed 10 Sept 2021. Harsil filed research station was established in May 1973.

Tourism

Gangotri pilgrimage

Harsil is part of Chota Char Dham's

yatra ( sa, यात्रा, 'journey', 'procession'), in Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, sacred mountains, places associated w ...

(pilgrimage) route. The idol of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

River Goddess

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

(Ganges) is brought down from the shrine at Gangotri in the upper Himalayas after

and kept at 'Mukhba' village near Harsil. It remains there throughout the winter when Gangotri is snowbound and inaccessible.

Eco alpine mountain tourism

Government is developing the cluster of 8 villages of Harsil valley, as well as Nelang Valley for the tourism by creating tourist facilities. India's first snow leopard conservation centre is being established in the region. During the summer tourist season, path to Gartang Gali cliff-side hanging stairway is open, along which homestays in the native villages are developed. Natives of the border villages, Sukki, Mukhba, Harsil, Bagori, Dharali, Jhala, Jaspur and Purali are trained as nature conservation and adventure guides for eco-tourism trekking, bird-watching, flora and fauna. Harsil town is being beautified, tourist lights being installed similar to those at Nainital and Mussoorie, telescopes being set up at several places for star gazing.

Transport

Char Dham Railway's railhead at

Maneri Maneri is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Joe Maneri (1927–2009), American jazz musician and composer *Mat Maneri (born 1969), American jazz musician and composer * Sharafuddin Maneri (1263–1381), Indian Sufi mystic (Patna, ...

(62 km south on NH-34) is the nearest railway station.Achilles Heel in India's Border Defence with China!
Indian Defence Review, 20 June 2017. Nearest airports are

Dehradun Airport Dehradun Airport , also known as Jolly Grant Airport, is a domestic airport serving Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, India, located 25 km south of the city. Commercial operations began on 30 March 2008, after a runway extension to accomm ...

(220 km southwest)Harsil tourist place
uttarkashi.nic.in, accessed 10 Sept 2021. and

Shimla Airport Shimla Airport is a regional airport located in Jubbarhatti, from Shimla, in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Kingfisher Airlines used to operate the sole daily flight from Delhi, but could not carry more than 28 passengers on its retur ...

(375 km west). Harsil is on NH-34 within the Char Dham Highway network. The ''"Karcham-Harsil Road"'', nearly 150 km long route, was announced in 2020 which will link Karcham on NH-5 (site of

Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant The Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station on the Sutlej River in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh state of India. Etymology The dam and power station are located between the villages of Ka ...

) to Harsil, both in Himachal Pradesh. It will cut down present 450 km long distance, which take nearly 16 hours, to just nearly 150 km or 2 to 3 hours. Since Karcham and Harsial are 26 km and 52 km away from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) respectively, the new road will also enable the faster deployment of troop. This new road, to be constructed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at a cost between Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 crore, is in addition to the 73 previously approved

India-China Border Roads India-China Border Roads (ICBRs, ICB Roads) is a Government of India project for developing infrastructure along the Sino-Indian border by constructing strategic roads, including bridges and tunnels. The ICBR project is largely in response to C ...

(ICBR).Modi govt's infra push along China border — 2 new roads, alternate route to Daulat Beg Oldie
The Print, 15 September 2020.

References

External links

*{{Wikivoyage-inline Tourism in Uttarakhand Villages in Uttarkashi district