Thursday 9 April 2020

H is for... Hills ... Handkerchief... n ... Home...






First off, I have Ho Jayegi Balle Balle from Daler Mehndi – one of the veterans of Bhangra Pop who’s been singing in this foot-tapping robust genre of Punjabi music since the 90s.




Next is a Bengali track – Hariye Jaowar Gaan, from Anupam Roy, you've encountered him before, a prominent name among the contemporary Bengali artistes – have a listen.



Finally, here’s Zakir Hussain, the finest percussionist India has, collaborating with David Holland and others to play jazz fusion.



Handkerchief, Hills and the Home of Snow.



Handkerchief with Tibetan inspired motifs
This handkerchief I got at a place called Lava in West Bengal, located at an altitude of 7200 ft. Rather different the design motifs used there as compared to the plains. The entire culture is different, ancient Buddhist monasteries, Tibetan influences, different languages, different food and music. Rivers that are slow and wide in the flat expanse of lower Bengal are much narrower there, rushing torrents arching in high waterfalls in steep ravines, churning under landmark bridges like the Coronation Bridge.


My home state Bengal at its northern edge is bounded by the Himalayas, and tucked into those mountainous borderlands are some places that were developed for tea cultivation and as hill stations by the British in the 19th century, so they could hotfoot it there to escape the terrible humid heat of the Indian plains in the summers.


Credit The Himalayas have nine of the ten tallest peaks in the world.

The Himalayas (lit Him=snow, Alaya=abode/dwelling/home, from Sanskrit) are the youngest mountain range on the planet, formed 50-70 million years ago when the Eurasian tectonic plate and the Indo-Australian Plate collided, folded and pushed up into peaks along their edges, closing an ancient ocean called the Tethys. This explains why the tallest peak in the world - the Everest, is formed of marine sedimentary rocks  and contains marine fossils.


Kagyu Thekchen Ling Monastery, Lava.
They are humongous mountains, nine of the ten tallest peaks are located in the Himalayas. Not just the height, but consider the length and breadth of them too - 2400 kms long and 125 km wide at their narrowest point. They are made up of three separate mountain ranges - the Greater Himalayas or Himadri,  the Lesser Himalayas (Himachal) and at the outermost, the southernmost, lowest range, the Sivalik Hills. The Himalayas' influence on the culture and climate of the entire Indian subcontinent has been monumental. They have provided spiritual retreats for ascetics and holy men, therefore several peaks are sacred to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The Himalayas are the birthplace of Buddha and many monasteries are located in the  hills, as are ancient temples/shrines to Hindu and Jain deities. 


The mountains also provide India with its source of water, being the origins of ten major river systems. Of these, the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra are central to the subcontinent's life and culture, with many key ancient settlements being located along their banks or that of their tributaries.  


The Himalayas collectively have 15,000 glaciers containing around 12,000 cubic kilometre of water. The upper reaches of these mountains are permanently snowbound in spite of being located at the tropics. And the ten rivers rise  from those slopes and snows. The mountains also arrest the monsoon clouds and so keep the rainfall on the Indo-Gangetic plains, simultaneously restricting rains on the leeward side, the Tibetan plateau. The range also has numerous high altitude lakes, some of which are pilgrimage points for several Indian faiths.



Gangtok, the capital of the Himalayan state of Sikkim. Sikkim 
was a monarchy which chose to become part of India in 1975.
The ecology of the Himalayas is composed of a vast range of flora and fauna. Many of the medicinal plants used in Indian traditional medicine are found in the Himalayas. The foothills are ideal for the cultivation of crops that need well-drained soils and lots of rainfall, which is the reason the British chose it for their tea gardens. Adventure tourism, religious pilgrimage and summer relief - all have formed the backbone of the Himalayan tourism industry. However, unsustainable adventure tourism, especially tourism centred around climbing famous peaks, poses a serious threat to the delicate ecological balance of the mountains. Climate change implies that the glaciers, the biggest snow cover by volume outside of the poles, are receding. The original inhabitants have used the forestry products found in the hills in a lifestyle and economy that goes back much deeper into the past. But this too is changing under the guise and pressures of modernity.


According to the WWF, there are over 10,000 plants species that are native to the hills and nearly 2000 species of animals including mammals, birds and fish. Unfortunately, over 150 of those species are endangered, with the Red Panda and Snow Leopard being severely so. There are conservation efforts on but unless the threats are removed the amazing biodiversity of the Himalayas will be lost forever. 






How close are you to the mountains in your region? Do they have any impact on your culture?  The pick of the day from the blogs visited - Tui Snider, Historic Cemeteries.






A-Z Challenge 2020

32 comments:

  1. The Himalayas always had a mystic vibe, even as a kid studying foreign lands. So exotic. Growing up in PA, there were hills and western PA has "mountains" but they are old and uneventful - pretty but not dramatic. Now living in DFW area of Texas - it's flat, flat, flat. There is nothing to break the sightline, alas.
    I can understand how mountain people would have a different view of life than those down below. Hefty post to contemplate

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    1. That's an eye opener for me! I always thought Texas had those deep red canyon type landscapes somewhere - Mackenna's Gold scenic views :)

      Whatever little of eastern USA I have seen, it is beautiful!

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    2. yes - west Texas does have some red canyons and the Big Bend area has the Guadelupe Mountains. But that's 8-10 hours away. It's another world from me in North Central TX. The state is just too freaking huge.
      Eastern USA has lots of trees and greenery - more rolling hills and mountains, not dramatic peaks.

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  2. I had not realised that the Himalayers are our youngest mountain range. Young yes, but simultaneously older than I can imagine/understand. This is something I am going to take away and chew over.
    On a world scale, our mountains are best described as hillocks. Those hillocks were still very challenging for early explorers though...

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    1. The older they are, they more they erode, so your mountains are way ahead in the seniority department than the Himalayas...they've seen a lot more action! Geological and otherwise :)

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  3. We live in Atlanta, which is close to the end of the Piedmont range of the Appalachian Mountains. They don't really have much impact on the culture until you go about 40 miles north of here.

    I enjoyed the musical selections, particularly the first one. I had no idea what the song was about, but it was fun to watch...

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    1. That music genre originated from the Indian Punjabis living in the UK, Bhangra is a Punjabi folk dance and Bhangra Pop is a fusion of Brit and Punjabi sounds..very popular dance music in India. Glad you enjoyed it.

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  4. My paternal grandparents grew up in the mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky. I have never lived in the mountains. For them to have an impact on my life.

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    1. That's so interesting you say that. I've never lived in a mountain region at all, but culturally I can't escape the Himalayas no matter how far I live.

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  5. Hi! I live probably 1-2 hours from the mountains where people go for skiing and climbing. but i would love to visit the himalayan mountains for sure. and that handkerchief is so pretty. i love the design.

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    1. So lucky to live so close to nature! I would have to go miles and miles to get close to any mountains. :) I do hope you can go see the Himalayas some time.

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  6. That was a great read. I did not know much of that.

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  7. Hari OM
    I adored my time in the Himalayas; Sidhibari, Himachal Pradesh. One's scale is reordered and the lungs are freed...

    Of course, in Scotland, the Highlands (another literal name!) have a major impact on the cultural identity. There are several ranges, such as the Trossachs, the Cairngorms and the Ochils, all making up the massive part of our land called by the one name. The Borders are relatively flat, are still some large and rolling hills are there reaching over 1500 ft above sea level. So yes. Such things leave their impression! YAM xx

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    1. The highlands are super impressive and so very scenic! I came across a blogger who had posted pictures of Greig St footbridge - such a lovely nostalgia fix! :)

      Mountains anywhere have the facility to re-calibrate my scale. Always in a good way.

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  8. That first song is such a joyful sound, it's impossible not to smile. No mountains in Kent, just some big hills 😂 I suppose the closest mountains must be the Peak District, but I couldn't swear to it.
    Tasha 💖
    Virginia's Parlour - The Manor (Adult concepts - nothing explicit in posts)
    Tasha's Thinkings - Vampire Drabbles

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    1. Peak District's still on my bucket list! Hang on, do I have permission for a bucket list?

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  9. Marine fossils on the highest peaks in the world. Fascinating :)
    I love mountains and mountain views. But compared to the Himalayas, Hungary's mountains are barely hills...

    The Multicolored Diary

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    1. Lower mountains impress me with their age, higher mountains impress me with their height..

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  10. Makes me sad when plants and animals are threatened and close to extinction.
    We live in mountains these are low compared to the Himalayas but we have four seasons of beauty and animals. The handkerchief is a beauty and one I know is special.

    The Letter H

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    1. I am a huge fan of African wildernesses. Nothing else in the whole world as magnificent and as grand.

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  11. What a fascinating post - I learned so much. I'm uncertain why but the Himalayas really call to my heart. I'm located in the Midwest of the United States and it's probably 600-700 miles to the nearest mountain range. No oceans nearby either, just Great Lakes.

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    1. I haven't been to the Great Lakes, remember reading about Lake Superior. USA is a scenic country.

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  12. Although we now have theories on how mountains were formed and evidence to back them, it is hard to imagine or visualise, no? Nature is so fascinating.

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    1. Exactly! - beyond fascinating. And spectacular. Just imagine the continents colliding and closing the ocean and the landmass buckling up into the Himalayas...mind blowing! :)

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  13. Fascinating. GEography is so important to the creation of a culture. We don't often appreciate it. And I suppose that such majestic mountain also have an influence on humans soul, on what we believe and how we feel towarod the environment around us. We really are like ants in the face of nature, and places like the Himalayas certainly remind us of that.

    @JazzFeathers
    The Old Shelter - Living the Twenties

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    1. Very true. India's entire culture is rooted in her geography - the Himalayas, the river systems, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.

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  14. The Himalayas are beautiful, imposing, and cannot be taken for granted. .especially for trekkers.. We are near the western ghats and do get to enjoy some parts of those ... Great H post!

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    1. Agree, nothing of nature should be taken for granted.

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  15. Beautiful embroidered handkerchief. Himalayas are such beautiful mountains.

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  16. I'm too far from the mountains. But I've always appreciated their beauty. It's what I miss of Alaska the most. Beautiful! Tourism to such sites are understandable, but not the kind that destroys.

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