Uttarakhand

monsoon · hills

Lightning over the lower hills of the Himalaya and the Shivalik range, as seen from Landour in Uttarakhand, India. You can actually see the clouds with their discharge of rain, as they move across the Doon valley, during the monsoon months.

temple · river

Tungnath is the highest Shiva temple in the world and is one of the five and the highest Panch Kedar temples located in the mountain range of Tunganath in Rudraprayag district, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

temple · hills

Archival footage from pre 1990, of the Char Dham pilgrim trail in Uttarakhand's Garhwali district of the Himalaya.

temple · river

Pilgrims gather for prayers and seek blessings from Goddess Yamunotri temple in Uttarakhand. Yamunotri is one of the Char Dham and it is also first place to visit in the Char Dham Circuit.

river · temple

Aerial view of the confluence of river Alaknanda and Mandakini in Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand. At the confluence, there is a temple of Hindu Lord Shiva. Pilgrims use the staircase to reach the temple as it is on a hilltop.

river

The worst of the Uttarakhand floods: a compilation of frightening imagery from our favourite mountains... What we did to the river before what the river did to us...

temple · forest

Neelkanth Mahadev Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Nilkanth (Lord Shiva). The temple is situated at a height of 1330 meters and is located about 32 km from Rishikesh in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, India.

festival · highway

Kanwarias or devotees of Hindu god Shiva fill their pots with the water from the river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Haridwar.

It is poor mule drivers and mules such as these, carrying pilgrims visiting the Char Dham and riding atop these mules, that suffered the maximum damage in the June 2013 flood carnage.

village · sport

Children of Osla village play football in the western Himalaya, India. The wooden temple is an old architectural vestige from ancient Garhwal and the people here actually pray to Duryodhan, a baddie from the Mahabharath era! Nowhere else in…

Uttarakhand's Jatoli village hosts a gaggle of White throated Laughing Thrushes in the early winter, when there is a shortage of air-borne insects and bugs need to be searched for in hidden places.

industry · forest

Construction work underway in Uttarakhand overlooking the Deodar forests. A construction worker is seen manually bending iron rods using just a wooden beam and a hollow metallic pipe.

village · hills

Buffalos crowd into a village pond in the lower hills of Uttaranchal / Uttarakhand. A village sabha takes place where the village men and women explain the trouble they are facing due to water shortages.

flowers

A common terrestrial orchid found in thick forest ravines, usually near flowing water, and common in Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal. The 2-3 cm. long flowers are borne alternately on an erect flowering stem, well above the leaves.

forest · monsoon

Misty monsoon takes over the deodar (Cedrus deodara) forest of Devidhura in Uttarakhand.

temple · crafts

The temple is situated in Baleshwar i.e 76 km from Pithoragarh within the city of Champawat in Uttarakhand. It is the most artistic temple in the area.

A common but highly variable perennial, usually growing prostrate on open slopes or near high-altitude cultivation.

temple · festival

Devotees go in trance at Goddess Annapurna at Nag Devta Temple in Uttarakhand as they start procession for Annapurna Temple yatra. Annapurna temple, situated in world famous tourist spot Dodital opens its portals for the pilgrims.

snow · forest

Tourists walk down snow covered hills of Auli as an Indian Army Truck passes by. A man rings bell on top of a building partially covered with the snow.

temple · hills

As Cicadas call, at one end of this lush meadow lies the ancient temple of Madhyamaheshwar which is part of the Panch Kedar Yatra.

river

Gaurikund falls in Gangotri in Uttarakhand. Ganga passes through a rocky chasm. Gauri Kund in Gangotri is famous for Mountaineering, Temple, Dams, Lakes, Waterfall.

forest · aerial

Masrana Mussoorie aerial view of pine forests and villages in Garhwal. Known as the “heart of Uttarakhand”, Garhwal is amongst the two regions that the state is divided into.

festival · temple

People gather to participate in Devidhura Bagwal or stone pelting festival. They all carry a wooden shield which is to protect them from stones during the festival. Bagwal literally means "fight with stones".