Dhauladhar ( hi, धौलाधार) () is a mountain range which is part of a

lesser Himalaya The Lower Himalayan Range ( ne, पर्वत शृङ्खला parbat shrinkhalā) – also called the Middle Himalayas or Lesser Himalayas or Himachal – is a major east–west mountain range with elevations 3,700 to 4,500 m (12,000 to ...

n chain of mountains. It rises from the Shivalik hills, to the north of Kangra and

Mandi Mandi may refer to: Places * Mandı, Azerbaijan India * Mandi, Jammu and Kashmir, a town on the Mandi River in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir * Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, a city in Himachal Pradesh ** Mandi State, former princely s ...

. Dharamsala, the headquarters of

Kangra district Kangra is the most populous district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district. History Kangra is known for having the oldest serving Royal Dynasty in the world, the Katoch. In 17 ...

and the winter capital of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several pea ...

, lies on its southern

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

in the

Kangra Valley Kangra Valley is a river valley situated in the Western Himalayas.Dhaula Dhar
'' The Imperial Gazetteer of India'', v. 11, ''p. 287.''

Chamba Chamba may refer to: People *Gilberto Chamba (born 1961), Ecuadorian serial killer *Jessica Chamba (born 1981), European activist Places Ghana * Chamba, a town in the Northern Region India * Chamba (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Himachal Pradesh * ...

lies to the North of this range.

Overview

The Dhauladhar range is one of the ranges of the Middle Himalayas. They begin from near Dalhousie at the northwest end of Himachal Pradesh and pass through the state to the vicinity of the bank of the

Beas River The Beas River (Sanskrit: ; Hyphasis in Ancient Greek) is a river in north India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab. Its total length is ...

in the Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh. They begin to merge with the

Pir Panjal The Pir Panjal Range (Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's ...

near Manali. They are entirely in Himachal Pradesh. They are distinctive in their typical dark granite rocky formations with a remarkably steep rise culminating in sharp streaks of snow and ice at the top of their crested peaks. This distinctive profile is best seen from the

Kangra Valley Kangra Valley is a river valley situated in the Western Himalayas.Hanuman Tibba Hanuman Tibba is the highest mountain peak in Kangra district and lies on Dhauladhar Range in Himachal Pradesh, with an altitude of above sea level. It lies to the Northwest of Manali and to the East of Solang. To the north of Hamuman Tibba, li ...

, about 5860m high. There are several peaks which are close to 5500 m (17,000 ft). From the banks of the

river in Kulu, the range curves towards the town of

, Himachal Pradesh, India. Then, running north, it passes through

Bada Bhangal Bada (stylized as bada; Korean: ) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Samsung Electronics for devices such as mid- to high-end smartphones and tablet computers. The name is derived from " (bada)", meaning " ocean" or "sea" ...

, joins the

PIr Panjal Range The Pir Panjal Range ( Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's ...

and moves into Chamba. Dhauladhar peak from McLeod Ganj

The Dhauladhars have a peculiar topography. Although mostly composed of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

, the flanks of the range exhibit frequent formations of

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

(often used for the roofs of houses in the region),

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

. Ascending from any side is difficult, given the near vertical incline. This calls for highly technical trekking and mountaineering. There is very little habitation on the range given the harsh conditions. But meadows abound near the crest providing rich pastures for grazing where large numbers of Gaddi shepherds take their flocks. The top of the crest is buried under vast expanses of thick snow.

Triund Triund is a small hill station in the Kangra district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Triund is a part of Dharamkot. Triund is at the foot of the Dhauladhar ranges and is at a height of . See also *List of hill stations in In ...

, approached from the hill station of

McLeod Ganj McLeod Ganj, also spelt McLeodganj, (pronounced ''Mc-loud-gunj'') is a suburb of Dharamshala in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is known as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" (a short form of Dharamshala used mainly by Tibetans) becaus ...

, is the nearest and most accessible snow line in the Indian Himalayas. The range has rich flora and fauna. Peaks, virgin and scaled, have drawn mountaineers from all over the world. Some of the well-known ones are Mun (4610 m) near Dharamshala, Manimahesh Kailash () (5653 m) in the sacred Manimahesh region, Gauri Junda (4946 m), near the Talang pass, which is commonly referred to as the 'Dhauladhar Matterhorn', Christmas (4581 m), Toral (4686 m), Dromedary (4553 m), Riflehorn (4400 m), Lantern (5100 m), Arthur's Seat (4525 m), Camel (4520 m), Slab (4570 m), and several other named and unnamed peaks. Due to the position of the range it receives two

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

s a year with heavy rains; where the mountains have not been heavily logged, there are dense pine and Deodar forests. There are

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10, ...

s in the Dhauladhars. Prominent among them is the Lam Dal which is the biggest with a circumference of about 2.5 km. It is a very

sacred lake Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cler ...

and considered to be the abode of

Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

alongside Manimahesh LakeEach year pilgrims take a holy dip in August and September just when the

Manimahesh Manimahesh Lake (also known as Dal Lake, Manimahesh) is a high altitude lake (elevation ) situated close to the Manimahesh Kailash Peak in the Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas, in the Bharmour subdivision of Chamba district of the Indian sta ...

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 ...

begins. There are other very sacred lakes like the Nag Dal/Nag Chattri Dal. This lake owes its history to the Bhagsunag Temple and is considered sacred. It is dedicated to the Nag Devta or the Lord King Cobra. The other beautiful lakes are the Chanderkup Dal above the Lam Dal, Kareri Lake below the Minkaini Pass, Dehnasar Lake across the Sari Pass and the very sacred Kali Kund just 150 m below the Lam Dal at an elevation of 3900 m and approachable from Minkiani Pass (4250 metres). One of the major passes across this range is the Indrahar Pass. At an altitude of 4,342 metres (14,245 ft) above mean sea level, near the tourist town of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, Indrahar Pass forms the border between Kangra and

districts. It is part of a popular trekking route from Dharamshala Including Triund Trek , Mun Peak Expedition from the Indrahar Pass , Seven Lake Trek Lake starting from Kareri Lake , Kareri Lake Trek , Lam Dal Lake Trek increases substantial tourist traffic during the trekking season between April and October. The Dhauladhar mountain range became visible after 30 years in Jalandhar,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

, less than 200 km away, after pollution levels came down amidst the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020.

Gallery

Notes

References

Works cited

External links

team "flyoctane" paragliding professional in India, now at Himachal Pradesh.

Mcllo.com - Dhauladhar Trek -An Informative, Travel and Community website of Kangra Valley, Dharamsala,McleodGanj

Kareri Lake Trek Dhauladhar
{{coord, 32, 29, 10, N, 76, 05, 50, E, type:mountain_source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Geography of Kangra district Mountains of Himachal Pradesh Himalayas