India Tourism » Cities » Kinnaur Travel

Kinnaur located in the dizzying heights of the Himalayas, with passes that remain closed for six months linking them with the rest of the world, Kinnaur, Spiti & Lahaul were till now a forbidden land. Only a chosen few were granted permission to visit this secret world, officials, Moravian missionaries who settled here in 1853 and a few mountaineers. Now this area has been opened for the daring and adventurous to discover what had been hidden from the world for centuries.

From the riotous green of the Sangla Valley filled with orchards of apricots, peaches, chilgozas and apples to the magnificent desolation of the Hangrang Valley, Mother Nature's portrait is an ever changing one in Kinnaur. This land lying on the ancient trade route between India and Tibet, ringed by the majestic mountain of the Himalayan and Dhauladhar range is the land of plenty. The gushing rivers of Kinnaur abound in Trout-the angler's prize catch, their waters have over the centuries chiseled beautiful gorges across this picturesque land and nurtured one of the most unique societies on there banks. In the lush land live the descendants of the Kinners-the demi gods of the Hindu pantheon, whose deeds have been immortalized.

Kinnaur is a breath takingly scenic and sparsely populated region. Spiti and Satluj rivers flow through Kinnaur to meet at Khab and become one the Satluj. Scores of flowing streams feed these rivers and all their valleys are strikingly beautiful the slopes are covered with thick woods, orchards, fields and picturesque hamlets.

Here are two of the world's great mountain ranges the Zanskar and the Great Himalaya. Kinnaur is also home to some of India's oldest legends, and the religion of its people is a remarkable mix of Hinduism and Buddhism. Ancient Hindu texts have gone to the extent of placing the people of kinnaur the kinners as halfway between men and gods.

There is no wonder that a local tradition maintains that Kinnaur with all its beauty fell from the clouds as a gift from the gods.