Harsil is a village, tourist hill station and army area located on the banks of the

Bhagirathi River The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu f ...

, on the way to

Gangotri Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bha ...

, a Hindu pilgrimage site in

Uttarkashi Uttarkashi is a town and the headquarters of Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand, India. Geography Uttarkashi is located at . It has an average elevation of . Demographics India census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is t ...

district of the Indian state of

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 ...

Situated at an altitude of 9,005 ft (2,745 metres.) from sea level, Harsil lies 78 km. from Uttarkashi, and 30 km away from the

Gangotri National Park Gangotri National Park is a national park in Uttarkashi District in Uttarakhand state of India, covering about . Its habitat consists of coniferous forests, alpine meadows and glaciers. Gomukh at Gangotri glacier, the origin of the river Gang ...

which is spread across 1,553 square km. The hill station is well- known for its natural environment and apple production.

Background

Etymology

According to the local legend, Harsil got its name from the rivers

Bhagirathi The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu f ...

and the Jalandhari as once they had an argument over their significance.

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

, also known as Hari, was asked to intervene. He turned himself into a great stone, a shila, and absorbed their anger. Even today, after Hari-shila (or Harsil), the waters of the two rivers have become a little less turbulent. Harsil

History

Harshil lies on the old caravan trail between

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

and India, where trade & marriages once flourished. Harshil has been under the Kingdom of Garhwal. In 1815 Anglo-Nepal War,

British raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

sided with the Kingdom of Garwal and as a reward they were given the eastern half of Garhwal. In mid 19th century, apples and

rajma Rājmā (, , ), also known as rajmah, rāzmā, or lal lobia, is a vegetarian dish, originating from the Indian subcontinent, consisting of red kidney beans in a thick gravy with many Indian whole spices, and is usually served with rice. It ...

cultivation was introduced to Harshil by Frederick Wilson, which became Himachal's main

cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

s. In 1842, ''"Frederick Wilson"'', also called ''"Frederick “Pahari” Wilson"'' and ''"Pahari Wilson"'', a 25-year-old Englishman, deserted the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

’s army and fled to remote Harshil where he made fortune by logging deodar trees and selling those to British for the construction of railways. He was nicknamed ''"Raja of Harshil"'' by locals, even issued own coins. He was a friend of

A.O. Hume Allan Octavian Hume, CB ICS (4 June 1829 – 31 July 1912) was a British political reformer, ornithologist, civil servant and botanist who worked in British India and was the founding spirit and key founder of the Indian National Congress. He ...

and

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

, later's novel

The Man Who Would Be King "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan. The story was first published in '' The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other T ...

was inspired by the story of Wilson. Journalist Robert Hutchison wrote a book ''"The Raja of Harsil"'' on Wilson. A local deity's priest cursed him for destroying the forests and ecology. After he died in 1883, his 3 sons squandered the inheritance and died, his last known descendant, who had joined the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

, died in air crash after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Sunderlal Bahuguna Sunderlal Bahuguna (9 January 1927 – 21 May 2021) was an Indian environmentalist and Chipko movement leader. The idea of the Chipko movement was suggested by his wife Vimla Bahuguna and him. He fought for the preservation of forests in the ...

, founder of

Chipko Movement The Chipko movement () is a forest conservation movement in India. Opposed to commercial logging and the government's policies on deforestation, protesters in the 1970s engaged in tree hugging, wrapping their arms around trees so that they coul ...

, blamed Wilson for Garhwal's ecological destruction. Marco Pallis, ''Peaks and Lamas'' (New York, Knopf, 1940) includes an account of a visit to Harsil and environs in the 1930s.

Geography

Harshil Valley has a cluster of around eight villages near the India-China border. Upper reaches of Harshil are connected to ''

Nelang Nelang or Nilang is a river valley of the Himalayas, containing a small eponymous village, in the Uttarkashi District of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is close to the disputed Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control (LAC), and is also claim ...

Valley''. It is also connected to the

Baspa Valley Baspa Valley is a river valley that is said to be named after the Baspa River. It lies in the Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh, India. Sangla is a major town in the Baspa Valley, and the valley is also known as the Sangla Valley or Tukpa V ...

by several passes including the Lamkhaga Pass.

Demography

A small number of indigenous(of Nelong valley)''Jadh''s, an ethnic group of the

Bhotiya Bhotiya or Bhot (, ) is an Indian and Nepali exonym lumping together various ethnic groups speaking Tibetic languages, as well as some groups speaking other Tibeto-Burman languages living in the Transhimalayan region that divides India from T ...

s, have lived here (since hundreds of years) as Harsil valley was enroute Nelong-Rishikesh and practiced transhumance. They speak Bhoti language resembling

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

. There is also a sizeable Tibetan settlement in a close vicinity to ITBP Campus housing a

Stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

(Buddhist Burial Mound) and beautifully carved wooden houses.

Military setup

Army area

Harshil army area is a base camp of Garhwal Scouts and

Indo-Tibetan Border Police The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a Central Armed Police Forces, central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding Border guard, India’s border with ...

(ITBP). Since it is close to the disputed India-China Border, it is of military significance. On 6 November 2018, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

visited Harshil to celebrate

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

with ITBP soldiers.

Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research

Harshil has a field station of the Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research (DIBER), earlier known as the ''Defence Agricultural Research Laboratory'' (DARL), run by the

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, head ...

(DRDO). DARL, engaged in the research and development of

bioenergy Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy that is derived from plants and animal waste. The Biomass (energy), biomass that is used as input materials consists of recently living (but now dead) organisms, mainly plants. Thus, Fossil fuel, fossil fu ...

as well as the

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

and

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...

high altitude agro-technologies in the

Indian Himalayan Region The Indian Himalayan Region (abbreviated to IHR) is the section of the Himalayas within the Republic of India, spanning thirteen Indian states and union territories, namely Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, We ...

for the use of

Indian Military The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

, has developed a range of vegetable varieties suitable for mid to high altitude. Haldwani in April 2008. During the Golden Jubilee year of DRDO, the laboratory was renamed from DARL to Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research (DIBER) with a new mandate and thrust areas. DIBER has its origin in an Agriculture Research Unit (ARU) established 1960s at Sitoli, which was renamed to DARL in 1990s and to DIBER in 2008.Defence Agricultural Laboratory (DARL) Historical Background
DRDO, accessed 10 Sept 2021. Harsil filed research station was established in May 1973.

Tourism

Gangotri pilgrimage

Harshil is part of

Chota Char Dham The Chota Char Dham ( 'the small four abodes/seats' or 'the small circuit of four abodes/seats') is an important modern Hindu pilgrimage circuit in Uttarakhand, in the Indian Himalayas. Located in the Garhwal region of the state of Uttarak ...

yatra ''Yatra'' (, ), in Indian religion, Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of River#Sacred rivers, sacred rivers, Sacred mountains#India, sacred mount ...

(pilgrimage) route. The idol of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

River Goddess

Ganga The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...

(Ganges) is brought down from the shrine at Gangotri in the upper Himalayas after

and kept at 'Mukhba' village near Harshil. It remains there throughout the winter when Gangotri is snowbound and inaccessible.

Eco alpine mountain tourism

Government is developing the cluster of 8 villages of Harshil valley, as well as Nelang Valley for the tourism by creating tourist facilities. India's first

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

conservation centre is being established in the region. During the summer tourist season, path to Gartang Gali cliff-side hanging stairway is open, along which homestays in the native villages are developed. Natives of the border villages, Sukki, Mukhba, Harshil, Bagori, Dharali, Jhala, Jaspur and Purali are trained as nature conservation and adventure guides for eco-tourism trekking, bird-watching, flora and fauna. Harshil town is being beautified, tourist lights being installed similar to those at

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

and

Mussoorie Mussoorie () is a hill station and a municipal board, in Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hil ...

, telescopes being set up at several places for

star gazing Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

Transport

Char Dham Railway The Char Dham Railway, the Indian Railways's under construction twin railway lines under Char Dham Pariyojana project by connecting the holiest places of Hinduism called Chota Char Dham, from the existing Doiwala railway station near Dehradun t ...

's railhead at Maneri (62 km south on NH-34) is the nearest railway station.Achilles Heel in India's Border Defence with China!

Indian Defence Review Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

, 20 June 2017. Nearest airports are

Dehradun Airport Dehradun Airport , also known as Jolly Grant Airport, is a domestic airport serving Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, India. It is located in Jauligrant, south of the city, from Rishikesh and from Haridwar. Commercial operations began ...

(220 km southwest)Harsil tourist place
uttarkashi.nic.in, accessed 10 Sept 2021. and Shimla Airport (375 km west). Harshil is on NH-34 within the

Char Dham Highway Char Dham National Highway, is an under construction two-lane (in each direction) 889 km long National Highway with a minimum width of 10 metres in the Indian state of Uttarakhand under Char Dham Pariyojana. The under construction highway wi ...

network. The ''"Karcham-Harshil Road"'', nearly 150 km long route, was announced in 2020 which will link Karcham on NH-5 (site of

Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant The Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station on the Sutlej River in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") ...

) to Harshil, both in Himachal Pradesh. It will cut down present 450 km long distance, which take nearly 16 hours, to just nearly 150 km or 2 to 3 hours. Since Karcham and Harshil are 26 km and 52 km away from the

Line of Actual Control The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment of ...

(LAC) respectively, the new road will also enable the faster deployment of troop. This new road, to be constructed by

Border Roads Organisation The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India. BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring countries. This include ...

(BRO) at a cost between Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 crore, is in addition to the 73 previously approved

India-China Border Roads Chinese Indian or Indian Chinese may refer to: * China–India relations China and India maintained peaceful relations for thousands of years, but their relationship has varied since the Chinese Communist Party's victory in the Chinese Civil ...

(ICBR).Modi govt's infra push along China border — 2 new roads, alternate route to Daulat Beg Oldie
The Print, 15 September 2020.

References

External links

*{{Wikivoyage-inline Tourism in Uttarakhand Villages in Uttarkashi district