Pithoragarh: My Home Town

Back to Homepage

Pithoragarh Picture Gallery









I am a Kumauni and belong to Pithoragarh – a beautiful district of Kumaun in the lap of majestic Himalayas. Kumaun is a beautiful region in the newly formed state Uttarakhand situated in the central Himalayas between Himalayan peaks from the north and river ‘Kali’ on the east side.

Uttarakhand consists of two main regions – Kumaun and Garhwal. ‘Kumaun’ word has been derived from ‘Kurmanchal’ which means Land of the Kurmavtar – tortoise incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Kumaun consists of 06 Districts (Almora, Nainital, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Champawat and Udhamsingh Nagar).

I generally visit Pithoragarh every alternate year. Most of our relatives still live there including mine and Hema’s parents. Snow-clad mountain peaks, picturesque green hillocks and the amazing panoramic view of along the roadside , dancing streams, clueless water sources and hard working folks they all make this place an awesome place to visit. The climate of Kumaun is very pleasant and people mainly come here for enjoying the natural beauty and the pleasant climate.

It takes about 18 hours to reach Pithoragarh from New Delhi. One has to take a bus from New Delhi in the evening which reaches Tanakpur early next morning. Tanakpur is the last station before initiating seven hours long uphill journey to reach Pithoragarh by noon. It’s a great feeling to crawl uphill following those zig-zag roads. We enjoy the greenery and panoramic view of hills that drives us crazy. We couldn’t resist taking our cameras out and capture the beautiful scenery even if its very shaky and nearly impossible to shoot.

Pithoragarh is a border district of Uttaranchal which touches Nepal from one side and Tibet from other. The breath taking beauty of Pithoragarh - Himalayas, wide expenses of grassy meadows, perennial streams roaring down the zig zag course, a stupendous variety of flora and fauna, above all, pure nature yet unsullied, seem to beckon the beholder into their folds, into a charmed world of virgin beauty.

There are many good places to visit in and around Pithoragarh city which includes Chandak, Thal-kedar, Haat-kalika in Gangolihat, Patal Bhuvneshwar in Thal, Tea Gardens of Chaukori in Berinag, Didihat, tracking to Milam/Ralam/Namik Glacier from Munsyari, Kailas-mansarover pilgrimage from Dharchula, and Narayan Ashram n Jauljibi.

Click here for more detailed information (official) on Pithoragarh.

My village 'Dewal' is a beautiful hamlet five kilometers away from Pithoragarh city and one kilometer away from the road going towards Indo-Nepal border. It’s gives me immense happiness to get down at the road-head and start walking towards my village. Narrow pathways between green fields going through small hillocks takes us to our village consists of handful of houses both modern and traditional ones.

Pithoragarh district’s entire northern and eastern boundaries are the international borders. Tibetan watershed divide in the north and the Kali river forming a continuous border with Nepal in the east. The Pithoragarh district is surrounded by the national boundaries of Almora, Champawat, Bageshwar and Chamoli districts and extends over an area of 7,169 sq. Kms.

The Pithoragarh town is located at a height of 1645 meters above sea level. The district lies between 29.4° to 30.3° North latitude and 80° to 81° East longitude along the eastern and southern part of the central Himalayas with Indo-Tibetan watershed divide in the north and the Kali river forming a continuous border with Nepal in the east. The Pithoragarh district is surrounded by the national boundaries of Almora, Champawat, Bageshwar and Chamoli districts and extends over an area of 7,169 sq. Kms

Pithoragarh district has been divided into 05 Tehsils (Munsyari, Dharchula, Didihat, Gangolihat & Pithoragarh) having its head quarter at Pithoragarh city. There are 08 Blocks, 03 Towns, 64 Panchayats, 651 Gram-Sabhas and about 1635 villages in the district. Population of the district is 4,16,647 out of which 2,09,177 are males and 2,07470 females as per 1991 census.

Kumaun region was mainly ruled by The Katyuri and Chand dynasties. They also construct different temples in this region. Some of them are very famous and attracts lot of tourists. The Katyuri kings ruled from 7th to 11th century and Baijnath near Almora was the capital of this dynasty. After Katyuri kings the Chands of Pithoragarh became the dominant dynasty. The magnificent temple complex at Jageshwar with its cluster of a hundred and sixty four temples was built by the Chand rulers over a space of two centuries.

Naveen