Know Your State ‘Uttarakhand’ – Culture, Geography, Climate and Govt. Policies (Part 1)

Here we’ll talk about the land of beautiful things like Snow-clad peaks, Holy Rivers, full of divine temples, abundant wildlife, etc. UTTARAKHAND is the land of untouched beauty, one of the prime skiing destination and umpteen adventures. This is the Best Place for Nature Lovers. This place is the most glorious creation of nature with an amazing array of fauna and flora.

So, in this blog, we will study the geographical, cultural and political aspects of Uttarakhand.

Do you know know which state is called Devabhumi or Land of Gods? Do you know that World’s Highest Shiva temple is located in which state? Where was the First Agricultural University of India fabricated?

Let’s explore one of the Fastest-Growing states of Northern India i.e., “UTTARAKHAND”.

Let’s start off by answering the above questions along with some more interesting facts.

UTTARAKHAND is a state in the northern part of India located at the Foothills of the Himalayan mountain ranges. It is also known as ‘Devabhumi’ or ‘Land of Gods’ because it is the Holiest state of our country due to the presence of uncountable ancient temples situated throughout the state. Uttarakhand was formed on 9^th November 2000. It is rich in natural resources especially water and forest.

State Symbols of Uttarakhand:

Let’s study the foremost aspect of Uttarakhand i.e. its social and cultural aspects:

CULTURE:

Uttarakhand is a culturally colourful society which is divided into two major regions of Gharwal and Kumaon. The religious, social and cultural urges of people of Uttarakhand find an expression in various fairs and festivals.

• Uttrakhand is the only state in India which has Sanskrit as its Official Language.
• The famous folk dances of Uttarakhand include Langvir Nritya, Barada Nati, Hurka Baul, Chholiya etc.
•  Main festivals of the state are Kumbh Mela, Devidura Mela, Nanda devi Mela of Almora, Uttariani Mela of Bageshwar, Purnagiri Mela etc.
• Haridwar is one of the four holy pilgrimage sites where Kumbh Mela is organized.
• Kedarnath temple is one of the holiest places as per Hindu belief as it is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva.
• Uttarakhand is home to the pilgrimage site of Chota Char Dham (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri).
• Tunganath temple is the world’s highest temple situated in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand.
• Literacy rate of Uttarakhand is 79.6% which is above National average of 74.04%.
• The first agricultural university of India “Govind Ballabh Pant University” which paved the way for the Green revolution of India was fabricated in 1960 in Pantnagar.

Let’s have a look on the next aspect of Uttarakhand i.e. studying about the geography of Uttarakhand                                                                         

GEOGRAPHY:

Uttarakhand, formerly Uttaranchal is located in the northwestern part of the country. Most of the northern part of Uttarakhand is covered by High Himalayan peaks and glaciers.

• Area: 56,483sq.km.
• Population: 100.86lakh

Population Rank in India- 21^st

• Latitude: 28°43’N to 31°27’N
• Longitude: 77°34’E to 81°02’E

Area rank in India – 19^th

• Uttarakhand is bordered by 2 states – Himachal Pradesh (north-west) and Uttar Pradesh (south and southwest).
• Uttarakhand shares its international border with northeast Tibet autonomous region of China and with southeast Nepal. Total international border length of Uttarakhand is 766km.
• The state is divided into two parts : Gharwal and Kumaon
• Nanda Devi is the highest peak of Uttarakhand and the second highest peak of India with an altitude of 7816mt.
• The two most important sacred rivers in Hinduism: Ganga at Gangotri and Yamuna at Yamunotri originate in the glaciers of Uttarakhand.
•  Valley of Flowers National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated in Northern Chamoli in Gharwal region of Uttarakhand contains rarely found thousands of varieties of flowers, medicinal plants etc.
• Jim Corbett National Park of Nainital District is the oldest national park of India established in 1936 for the protection of Royal Bengal Tiger.

CLIMATE:

The climate of state is temperate with seasonal variations in temperature also affected by tropical monsoons.

• The climate ranges from subtropical in southern foothills, averaging summer temperatures of about 30°C and winter temperatures of about 18°C.
• January is considered to be the coldest month, averaging below freezing in North and 21°C in the Southeast.
• In the North, July is the hottest month, with temperatures rising from mid 40s F to about 70°F daily. In the Southeast, May is the warmest month with temperature reaching about 38°C to about 27°C.
• 60 inches (1,500mm) of annual precipitation is brought by the southwest monsoon (from July to September) in most parts of the state.
• In northern part of the state, 10–15 feet (3-5 metres) of snowfall is common from December to March.

SOIL TYPE:

There are five types of soil found in the state. These are as follows:

1. Tertiary Soil: This soil is found in the Shivalik and Doon valley. This soil is suitable for the production of tea.
2. Cord Soil: This soil contains shell cysts and quarts. This is light and unproductive soil found in Nainital district.
3. Volcanic Soil: This type of soil is found in the mountain slopes of the state.
4. Alluvial Soil: This is found in lower slopes of the Shivalik range and Doon valley containing lime, iron and biological remains. This soil is suitable for Agriculture purposes.
5. Grey Soil: The major content of this type of soil is lime but it is short of productive elements. It is found in NAINITAL, MUSSOORIE and CHAKARATA.  

Now let’s jump to another aspect of Uttarakhand i.e. its Political Structure.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS:

The political structure of the Government of Uttarakhand is determined by the national constitution of 1950 like that of other states of India.

• The state has unicameral legislature whose members are elected for five-year tenure.
• State has parliamentary system consisting of executive, legislative and judicial branches.
• The chief executive is the governor appointed by President of India.
• Legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha) is a unicameral body.
• The High Court of Uttarakhand is situated in the Nainital district, headed by chief justice.

Representation of Uttarakhand in Parliament:

Assembly seats (unicameral): 71

Rajya Sabha: 3

Lok Sabha: 5

First Governor of Uttarakhand: Surjit Singh Barnala

                                                 (9/November/2000– 7/January/2003)

First Chief Minister of Uttarakhand: Nityanand Swami

                                                 (9/November/2000 – 29/October/2001)

Now here comes SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT DEVBHUMI–

• Population density wise Uttarakhand has the highest number of soldiers in the Indian Army than any other Indian state.
• Tehri Dam is the tallest dam in India which is a multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam.
• Uttarakhand is the Hub of famed institutes like IIT (Roorkee), IIM (Kashipur), National Institute of Technology (Srinagar), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Rishikesh). These are very famous educational institutes.
• Rishikesh of Uttarakhand is the YOGA CAPITAL OF WORLD and also known as the ‘Gateway to the Gharwal Himalayas’ is a holy town.
• There is a hanging bridge in Uttarakhand named “Lakshman jhoola” as it is believed that the bridge was constructed on place where Lakshman crossed the Ganges River using just two ropes.
• Champawat Tiger was a well-known man-eater female tiger responsible for the death of more than 436 people alone in the Kumaon and Nepal region and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Record as the highest number of fatalities from a tiger. She was shot by Jim Corbett in 1907.

Hope this blog made your facts clear about Uttarakhand. In our forthcoming blog, we will be studying about other aspects of Uttarakhand.

Do you know about the economic aspects of Uttarakhand? Which state is famous for ‘Chipko Movement’ known for the conservation of forests?

In the next blog, the facet correlated with these questions will be answered certainly. If you don’t want to miss it, click here – Know your State ‘Uttarakhand’ – Part 2. We hope it will help you in the preparation of your exams such SSC 10+2, SSC CGL, CDS, NDA, etc.

THANK YOU