Hikkim is a village in

Lahaul and Spiti district The Lahaul and Spiti district is a high-altitude district in Himachal Pradesh, north India. This entirely mountainous district consists of two geographically distinct as well as formerly separate political-administrative units, called Lahaul ( ...

in the

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

at an elevation of . It is from

Kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

, the nearest town connected by road. It is one of the highest year-round inhabited locations in India, with residences from 4330 to 4400 m.

Tangyud Monastery The Tangyud Monastery (also written bTang-rGyud, Tangyuth) or Sa-skya-gong-mig Gompa at the village of Komic, two km southeast of Hikkim in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh, India, is built like a fortified castle on the edge of a deep cany ...

in adjacent Komic village 2 km to the southeast has residences up to 4520 m, and Korzok Monastery in adjacent Korzok village on

Tso Moriri Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri , () or "Mountain Lake", is a pristine high-altitude lake and a Ramsar Wetland Site in the remote Changthang Plateau (literally: northern plains) in Leh district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. As the la ...

has year-round residences up to 4570 m. Most of the population is Buddhist. People use stones and wood extensively to build houses and structures.

Access

Hikkim village is situated at a very high elevation () in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. The village and the region itself remain cut off from other parts of the

state for half the year due to heavy snowfall over the mountain passes. An arduous track connects the village to

Spiti Valley Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...

town, away, the nearest town with access to asphalted road.

One of the highest post offices in the world

Hikkim village has a post office situated at an elevation of and this post office is one of the highest post offices in the world. Inarguably, the post office located in India's highest altitude . The post office connects small villages in this isolated region to the rest of the world. It receives and sends postal letters. It also acts as a savings bank where villagers can deposit money in their savings accounts or withdraw money. Intrepid travellers make it this far to Hikkim village to take pride in mailing their letters from the highest post office on Earth. The

Postal Index Number A Postal Index Number (PIN; sometimes redundantly a PIN code) refers to a six-digit code in the Indian postal code system used by India Post. On 15 August 2022, the PIN system celebrated its 50th anniversary. History The PIN system was introd ...

or PIN of the village is 172114. Rinchen Chhering has been the postmaster since its inception in 1983. The mail is carried on foot to Kaza. The post office is forced to shut during winter months due to heavy snowfall.

Record of highest polling station

Hikkim village was the world's highest polling station. It was recorded in the

Limca Book of Records The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorised into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, adve ...

. Later the record was held with Tashigang, a small Himachal Pradesh village in the same district.

Climate

According to the Köppen-Geiger system, Hikkim's climate is a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(Dfc).

References

External links