Book Description

Kinnaur has been an enchanting land of legends, inhabited by charismatic people. Nature has bestowed it with its choicest bounties floral and faunal extravaganza, lush green and snow-crested ranges, polychromatic geological formations and the verdant oasis amidst the stark arid wilderness. Generations of its inhabitants have adorned it with exotic wooden temples and monasteries, beautiful arts and handicrafts, steeped in nostalgic aroma and colourful lifestyle. It has been the cynosure of all eyes since ages. This land and its enigmatic inhabitants have figured variously in the classical literature. That type of imagery has lingered on even to our times. It was only since the pre-modern times that tangible efforts to remove the mist over this terra incognita were made by many explorers and travellers, who ventured into this area and wrote about it, but in wondrous awe. Obviously, since ages past, people of various ethnicities, diverse persuasions and varied interests have been drawn towards this legendary land of umpteen charms. Be it a trekker or hiker, mountaineer or nature-lover, peace-seeker or pilgrim, artist or scientist, sociologist or anthropologist, it has been beckoning all. Certainly, it is a blessed land of many thrills, pleasant surprises and endless attractions. In the present book, all those aspects, blended with nostalgic aroma of history, have been lucidly discussed. An in-depth study of the land, its people and their enchanting arts, handicrafts and architecture has been made. Many complex ethnic, social and cultural riddles have been analysed and explained objectively. Besides, the challenges of environmental degradation and cultural erosion confronting Kinnaur have been boldly highlighted. This book on Kinnaur, complete in itself, will be useful and interesting to the sociologists, anthropologists, researchers, and the general readers.