Riding through Uttaranchal: Auli and Badrinath near Nanda Devi

From the archive record

The state of Uttaranchal came into being largely with the hill districts of Uttar Pradesh. Today, Uttaranchal is home to an awesome stretch of the Himalayas - the romantic Kumaon and the spiritual Garhwal ranges. For many centuries, sages made these mountains into their homes, to live in splendid isolation. Perhaps it is here that they found that unearthly romance they sought. They found love and peace, as the spirit of the divine Himalayas permeated the body to awaken the soul. Even as travellers and tourists, honeymooners, pilgrims, trekkers and mountaineers throng the Himalayas for many different reasons, the underlying yearning is to be close to nature. To discover the harmony between the inner and the outer self. To cleanse the body and rejuvenate the spirit. Riding the Himalayas was