Churdhar Sanctuary is located in the

Sirmaur district Sirmaur district is the southernmost district of Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It is largely mountainous and rural, with 90% of its population living in villages. Some of its towns include the capital Nahan, Paonta Sahib, Lana palar, T ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

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 ...

. The total covered area of this sanctuary is 56.16 square kilometers, as notified on 15 November 1985. The fauna includes

Himalayan black bear The Himalayan black bear (''Ursus thibetanus laniger'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear. It is distinguished from '' U. t. thibetanus'' by its longer, thicker fur and smaller, whiter chest mark. The species is considered an ecological ind ...

Barking deer Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

Musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all eight, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family (biology), family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, b ...

Langur The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. Some classifications split ...

and

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

s. The work of administration at Churdhar is taken care by Chureshwar Sewa Samiti. The sanctuary is named after Churdhar Peak. Churdhar (elevation of 3,647 metres; 11,965 feet) is the highest peak in Sirmour district and is also the highest peak in the outer

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 peak has a great religious significance for the people of Sirmour, Shimla, Chaupal and

Solan Solan is a city in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and the district headquarters of Solan district. It is located south of the state capital, Shimla. Solan has an average elevation of . The city is situated between Chandigarh (joint cap ...

and

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

. Churdhar is a holy place related to Shri Shirgul Maharaj (Chureshwar Maharaj), a deity widely worshipped in Sirmour and Chaupal. The main routes for arrival are from Nohradhar to 18 km, (Sirmour) and Sarain, Chaupal of 8 km. The Churdhar Peak is mentioned in the book, ''The Great Arc'', by

John Keay John Stanley Melville Keay FRGS (born 1941) is a British historian, journalist, radio presenter and lecturer specialising in popular histories of India, the Far East and China, often with a particular focus on their colonisation and explora ...

but is referred to as The Chur. It is from this peak that

George Everest Sir George Everest, (, ; 4 July 1790 – 1 December 1866) was a British surveyor and geographer who served as Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843. After a military education, Everest joined the East India Company and arrived in I ...

made many astronomical readings and sightings of the Himalaya mountains around 1834. He was the Surveyor General of India and did the initial survey of the full length of India as well as some very accurate measurements of the earth's curvature.

Access

*Airways: Jubbarhatti airport (23 km from Shimla) *Nearest railhead:

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

Kalka Kalka is a town in the Panchkula district of Haryana, India. It is near Panchkula city. The name of the town is derived from the Hindu goddess Kali. Kalka is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and is a gateway to the neighbouring st ...

narrow-gauge railway line *Nearest city: Chaupal, Himachal Pradesh *The sanctuary has a well connected road network.Himachal tourism dep. co.
/ref>

References

External links

himachaltourism.nic.inhptdc.gov.in
* Maa Bhangayani Temple, Haripurdhar
sirmour.co.in
{{Wildlife HP Instagram.Com/Churdhar_ * https://hpsirmaur.nic.in/tourist-place/churdhar/ Wildlife sanctuaries in Himachal Pradesh Geography of Sirmaur district Protected areas with year of establishment missing