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Nanda Devi
Nanda Devi is blessed to be the 2nd highest peak in India. Also, this huge mountain is the highest of the mountains that completely reside within the political borders of India. Considering the geography that beholds this mountain for a very elaborate period in the history of the world, Nanda Devi was considered to be the highest peak in the world. It was only in 1898 when western mountaineers discovered the ranges of Dhaulagiri. Before the state of Sikkim joined the union of India, Nanda Devi hill continued to be the tallest in the country. Forming the Himalayas of Kumaon in Uttarakhand, Nanda Devi stands between the valley of Rishiganga on its western side and the valley of Goriganga on the eastern. The mountain’s name, “Nanda Devi” denotes a Bliss-Giving Goddess. Local values has it that the hill patrons the Himalayas in Uttarakhand. To preserve the religious symbolism of the hill and to maintain the ecosystem, Nanda Devi and its surrounding were forbidden for the tourists and climbers in 1983. The ‘Nanda Devi National Park’ was elected by UNESCO as a ‘World Heritage Site’ in 1988.
Facts & Features
Nanda Devi is massive with two peaks and it forms a high rise ridge which extends to 2 km from east to west. The summit towards the west is the higher one. These two peaks (the east and west one) are clubbed together and are referred to as the twin peaks of Nanda Devi. The prime summit is guarded with a ring like barrier that has the Indian Himalaya’s tallest peaks. 12 of these cross a whopping 21,000 ft (6,400 m) vertically. In Indian Mythology, this place is hence referred to as the Himalaya’s daughter. The inside portion of this mentioned ring is called the Nanda Devi sanctuary which is a declared as a National Park.
The summit on the east is called the eastern summit but now people also call her the Sunanda Devi. As a whole, they are referred as the twin peaks of Sunanda and Nanda Devi. In Bhagwad Gita, the holy text, these two are mentioned together and hence the people of Kumaon worship them as twins in this region. There is not much reference to the eastern summit as Sunanda Devi but a novel mentioned it recently.
Apart from being in the top 25 list of the world’s highest individual peaks, The Nanda Devi is also notable for its steep and large rising from the other terrain. The height is over 10,800 ft or 3,300 metres. This is in contrast to the south western base which is on Dakhni Nanda Devi Glacier. This lies at a distance of 4.2 kilometres. There is a similar rise towards the northern glacier too. With this, the Nanda Devi stands as being one of the highest of the peeks with such steepness, a profile is comparable to the K2. The terrains are so vivid that one is always surprised to learn that it is surrounded by valleys.
Towards the massif’s northern side is the great Uttari Nanda Devi Glacier which flows itself to the Uttari Rishi Glacier. On the south western frontier, there is the presence of the Dakhni Nanda Devi Glacier which flows into Dakhni Rishi Glacier. The glaciers join and get drained t the Rishiganga on the west. The Pachu Glacier can be traced to the east while on the southeast lies the Nandaghunti and the Lawan Glaciers. These glaciers always drain themselves to the Milam Valley.
The glacier of Pindari can be traced to the south of Nanda Devi. This glacier pours itself to the Pindari River. Towards the southern part of the east of Nanda Devi, a hill divided the drainage of Lawan Gad from the glacier of Dakhni Nanda Devi. This peak is called as the Longstaff Col, and it stands at 5,910 m. It forms a high pass which guard the access into the sanctuary of Nanda Devi.
Conservation
The sanctuary, after a break, was opened to the climbers of foreign, the trekkers and to the locals in 1974. This led the delicate ecosystem to a state of compromise as things like garbage, grazing and firewood cutting started happening. Till 1977, ecologists started noticing problems in the environment and hence the sanctuary shut itself down in 1983. At present, Nanda Devi gives birth to the base of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve which was so declared in 1982 by the government of India. 6 years later, the Nanda Devi National Park received the status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, naming it as "a site of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humankind". The sanctuary in totality along with the main summit and the approaches on the interior leading to the close peaks are now deemed to be off-limits to both climbers and locals.
This was made into an exception as a contingent from the Indian Army consisting 40 people visited the place to inspect, remove and clear the Nanda Devi of all previous garbage and hazardous materials.
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