“Himalayas”

Himachal Pradesh·hills · river

Spiti drive-throughs en route Rekong, Kaza and up the valley in winter, Himachal Pradesh driving holiday, as seen from a gyro-stabilized camera. See the masses of multi-storeyed development across the river at 3:30 into this video.

wildlife · snow

A picture of feline bliss! A mother Snow Leopard and her cubs wake up, groom themselves and go back to sleep at the base of cliffy rock face, in a sort of protected cave, in the wintery mountains of the western Himalaya.

Himachal Pradesh·livestock · hills

Following their ancient winter trails to high altitude feeding grounds of dry grasses and lean season sustenance are these Himalayan Blue Sheep or Bharal and Himalayan Ibex, moving around in a mixed herd, and bringing them close to human ha…

village · wildlife

This is a rural attempt at re-creating a Snow Leopard to educate local kids about the importance of the high altitude fauna of the Himalaya, by the Forest department, Indian Army and villagers of Thangu village in north Sikkim.

industry

A Nepalese couple from the Rolpa region of Nepal work at a site in India, with their children close at hand but not able to attend to them full-time.

industry

Manual labour often means hard work at a construction site in India for these Nepalese labourers, breaking and laying stone walls, as well as digging pits and preparing to lay the foundations for retaining walls or pushtas in the Himalaya.

Uttarakhand·flowers · farmland

The red stamens of the Kesar crocus from Spain are what are picked, dried and used as the super high value spice of kesar.

farmland

A sunspot can be clearly in the sun rising from behind coniferous trees in the Himalaya. What do sun spots signify and tell us about the sun's activity levels and health? Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear…

Uttarakhand·hills · river

The distant plains of India show to the south, at dawn, even as the dark and enormous scree slopes and moraines of the glaciers south of Trishul rise up above Roopkund Lake.

Arunachal Pradesh·river · aerial

Aerial view of Yingkiong city in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Yingkiong is the administrative headquarters of Upper Siang District situated on the bank of Simang river, a tributary to Siang river.

Uttarakhand·village · dance

The devta of the village is taken out in a procession on a palki or palanquin, and the entire village turns up for the prayer and celebration, at Agoda village en route Dodital Lake in the Uttarakhand Himalaya beyond Uttarkashi town.

hills

What a survival challenge these Ibex face in the harsh Himalayan winters! With barely any green grasses or other fodder, their lean season sustenance is indeed a challenge.

snow

Morning sky like a painting from Dayara buggyal meadow, of a White Peak Bandarpunch peak almost bereft of snow, with a thick glacial ice mass on the summit ridges, but vast exposed rock flanks on the southern faces.

livestock · hills

A herd of Himalayan Blue Sheep or Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur) grazes in the dry grass on the slopes in late autumn in the Himalayas. They look like a mix of sheep and goat.

snow · hills

A brilliant mid-winter high altitude view of the Bandarpunch range of the Garhwal Himalaya. See the laden glaciers near the summits of Kalanag or Black Peak and White Peak or Bandarpunch West, as seen from across the valley, from the slopes…

Uttarakhand·snow · aerial

Chaukhamba aerial view: Himalayan glacier melts into little lakes under strain from climate change, rising temperature High altitude secret world of a Himalayan glacier complaining about climate change, with melting lakes atop its moraine!…

flowers · hills

See how the pollen has amply dusted off on the back of this beetle which feeds within a Crocus or Rain Lily bloom at the wildfilmsindia botanical arboretum in Uttarakhand.

birds · hills

Sounding like the typical audio track of an English country garden, this thrush screams out its territorial calls down the valley, with the added soundtrack of the Hill Barbet's 'piao-piao' call that reverberates through the Himalayan valle…

farmland

Yaks are used for pulling a plough by farmers in winter-time Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, as they sing along with the hard work. Rare farming vignettes from the high trans Himalaya in north India.

Uttarakhand·monsoon

Monsoon clouds swirl and envelope the valleys and peaks above Joshimath, around Hathi and Ghori Parbat, Barmal, above Auli, and across the Dhauli Ganga and up the Alaknanda emanating from Vasudhara Falls and Mana Village side, near Badrinat…

Uttarakhand·village · dance

The devta of the village is taken out in a procession on a palki or palanquin, and the entire village turns up for the prayer and celebration, at Agoda village en route Dodital Lake in the Uttarakhand Himalaya beyond Uttarkashi town.

hills

An Impeyan Pheasant, Danphe or Monal Pheasant male sits on an Oak tree, while the female, with her delicate blue eye lappet patch, is on the ground, and looks to fly up to the tree to join her mate.

hills · forest

The white wing streaks elegantly offset the black wings and the slaty grey neck of this forest and mountain treepie.

hills · forest

"Three Cheers" says the Rufous or Black-capped Sibia, in a cheery toned voice that carries across valleys.