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Filled
with places of tourist interest, most locations in Pauri Garhwal
offer a breathtaking view of the snow laden Himalayan Splendour..
District Pauri Garhwal which is surrounded by the districts of
Chamoli, Nanital, Bijnor, Haridwar, Dehradun, Rudraprayag and Tehri
Garhwal,offers a panoramic view of the great Himalayas form it's
towns and villages. The majestic Himalaya and it's mountain range
can be seen from anywhere in the district.
The Pauri City which is situated at an altitude of 1814 Mts. above
the sea-level on the northern slopes of Kandoliya hills is the
headquarters of the District Pauri Garhwal and the Garhwal Division.
Headquarters of all Govt. departments are located in the city Pauri
.
Pauri also provides a panoramic view of the snow covered Himalayan
peaks of Nandadevi & Trisul,Gangotri Group,Thalaiya- sagar,Neelkanth,
Bandar Poonch, Swarga-Rohini, Kedarnath, kharcha Kund, Satopanth,
Chaukhamba, Ghoriparvat, Hathiparvat and Sumeru etc.
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The Glorious
Past... |
Through the
ages, the evolution of human civilization in the Garhwal
Himalayan has been parallel to the rest of Indian sub-continent.
Katyuri was the first historical dynasty, which rule over
unified Uttarakhand and left some important records in the form
of inscriptions and temples. In later period after the downfall
of Katyuri’s, it is believed that Garhwal region was fragmented
in more than sixty-four principalities ruled by the Chieftain,
one of the principal Chieftainship was Chandpurgarh, which was
ruled by descendent of Kanakpal. In the mid of 15th century A.D.
Chandpurgarh emerged as a powerful principality under the rule
of Jagatpal (1455 to 1493 A.D.), who was a descendent of
Kanakpal. In the fag end of 15th century Ajaypal enthroned the
Chandpurgarh and succeeded in unifying and consolidating various
principalities on the region with in a Kingdom and his Kingdom
came to known as Garhwal. Subsequently, he had transferred his
capital from Chandpur to Devalgarh before 1506 and later on to
Srinagar during 1506 to 1519 A.D.
King Ajaypal and his successors ruled the Garhwal for nearly
three hundred years even during this period they had faced a
number of attacks from Kumaon, Mughal, Sikh, Rohilla. An
important event in the history of Garhwal was the Gorkha
invasion. It was marked by extreme brutality and the word
‘Gorkhyani’ has become synonymous with massacre and marauding
armies. After subjugating Doti and Kumaon, Gorkhas attacked
Garhwal and reached as far as Langoorgarh despite stiff
resistance put up by the Garhwali forces. But in the meantime,
news came of a Chinese invasion and the Gorkhas were forced to
lift the siege. However, in 1803, they again mounted an
invasion. After capturing Kumaon, they attach Garhwal in three
columns. Five thousand Garhwali soldiers could not stand the
fury of their attack and the King Pradyumna Shah escaped to
Dehradun to organize his defense. But his forces were no match
to the Gorkha might. Garhwali soldiers suffered heavy casualties
and the King himself was killed in the battle of Khudbuda. The
Gorkhas became the masters of entire Garhwal in 1804 and ruled
the territory for twelve years.
Gorkha ruled in the Garhwal area ended in 1815 when the
British drove the Gorkhas to the West of Kali river, despite
stiff resistance offered by them. After defeat of Gorkha army,
the Britishers on 21 April 1815, decided to establish their rule
over the eastern, half of the Garhwal region, which lies east of
Alaknanda & Mandakini river, later on, known as ‘British Garhwal’
and Dun of Dehradun. The remaining part of the Garhwal in the
west was restored to King Sudershan Shah who established his
capital at Tehri. Initially the administration was entrusted to
the commissioner of the Kumaon and Garhwal with his headquarters
at Nainital, but later Garhwal was separated and formed into a
separate district in 1840 A.D. under an assistant commissioner
with his headquarter at Pauri.
At the time of independence, Garhwal, Almora and Nainital
districts were administered through commissioner of Kumaon
division. In early 1960, Chamoli district was curved out of
Garhwal district. In 1969 Garhwal division was formed with its
headquarter at Pauri. After curving out of seventy-two villages
of Khirsu block of district Pauri Garwhal in 1998 for creation
of new district of Rudraprayag, the district is reached in its
present form. |
Pauri Garhwal, a district of Uttarakhand state encompasses an
area of 5230 sq. km and situated between 29° 45’ to 30°15’ Latitude
and 78° 24’ to 79° 23’ E Longitude. This district is ringed by the
districts of Chamoli, Rudraprayag & Tehri Garhwal in North, Bijnor &
Udhamsingh Nagar in South, Almora & Nainital in East, Dehradun &
Haridwar in West. The District is administratively divided into nine
tehsils, viz., Pauri, Lansdown, Kotdwar, Thalisain, Dhumakot,
Srinagar, Satpuli, Dhumakot & Yamkeshwar and fifteen developmental
blocks, viz., Kot, Kaljikhal, Pauri, Pabo, Thalisain, Bironkhal,
Dwarikhal, Dugadda , Jaihrikhal, Ekeshwer, Rikhnikhal, Yamkeswar,
Nainidanda, Pokhra & Khirsu.
Pauri is the headquarter of Pauri Garhwal district and is located at
the height of 1650 m. and has a population of 24,743. This is fairly
located on high altitude amongst the Deodar forest and on the
northern slopes of the ridge, which provide one of the ice-clad
mountain chains.
Besides Alaknanda, Nayyar River is the major river of the
district and is one of the major tributies of Alaknanda which is
called Nayyar after the confluence of eastern and Western Nayyar at
Satpuli. Both the Nayyars originate from the Dudatoli range and
drain their water to the south. The high ranges in the Nayyar
catchments areThailisain (Dudatoli - Chakisain ridge), Baijro (Pokhra
- Demdeval ridge), Khirsu-Mandakhal (Pauri - Adwani - Kanskhet
ridge), Bironkhal (Lansdowne - Gumkhal - Dwarikhal ridge) &
Rathwadhab (Dugadda - Kandi ridge).
Climate..
The region has a sub-temperate to temperate climate, which remains
pleasant throughout the year. The maximum temperature recorded in
the month of june is 45°C at Kotdwar while in the higher reaches at
Dudhatoli it only rises to 25°C. Temperature descends to a minimum
of 1.3°C in January, and means monthly temperature for the region
ranges from 25°C to 30°C.
The hilly terrain with its densely forested slopes receives
adequate rainfall generally commencing from mid-June and extending
till mid-September. Occasional rainfall is also recorded in winter.
Average annual rainfall in the district is 218 cm., about 90 percent
of which is generally concentrated over the monsoon. Relative
humidity varies between 54 and 63 percent. The higher reaches
receive some snow in winter when temperature falls to freezing
point.
Topograophy..
The topography of pauri Garhwal is by and large rugged and except
for the narrow strip of Bhabar, the entire region is mountainous.
The highest point of the area is 3116 mtrs at Dudatoli and the
lowest point of the area is 295 mtrs near chilla. The village
located at the hightest level is Dobri, which is 2480 mtrs high. The
cross profiles of the fluvial valleys show convex form with steep
valley sides, interlocking spurs descending towards the main
channel, hanging valleys, water falls and rapids and terraced
agricultural fields on the gentle slopes on the valley sides. The
clustering of villages is confined mainly on the gentle slopes of
the ridges on the fluvial terraces. The forest cover is the maximum
in Thailisain block and the minimun in the Pauri block. Most of the
part of the area is approachable by road from its district
headquarter. Most of these roads are not yet metalled and are prone
to land slips, slides, dusty, except few main roads.
The district of Pauri Garhwal as part of the Western Himalaya
presents a unique set of ecological characteristics over a complex
variety of systems that incorporate forests, meadows, savannah
grasslands, marshes and rivers, as well as wildlife, geology and
several other phyto-geographically distinctive peculiarities. The
occurrence of diverse topographical and climatic factors has
resulted in the remarkable biodiversity of the district as a result
of which flora also correspondingly differs over its different
parts. Forests dominate in the phyto-geography and also constitute
the most valuable natural resource of the district.
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