In the land of Wilderness – Nanda Devi National Park

Posted in Asia | October 5, 2011 | Comment Now

Come and fall in love in India. Fall in love with the flora, the fauna and the beautiful natural surroundings around. Come to Nanda Devi national park and love the beautiful bio diversity here. Come to the second highest mountain range with the best combination of Mother Nature.

With the pristine surroundings and the beauty of the idyllic ambience Nanda Devi National Park was found in the year 1980 and has some of the best peaks in this part of western Himalayas.

With snow leopards and Himalayan Black bear the main inhabitants here you also have the brown bear, bharal, Himalayan thahr, chir pheasants and the nonal. So when you are anywhere in the western Himalayas don’t miss this beautiful verdant expanse of reserve of wildlife. Spread over an area of 243 square miles, Nanda Devi national park is the best place to visit if you want to go anywhere between April to October.

Situated around the Nanda Devi Peak, this place in the state of Uttarkhand in north India is the ideal place to go to if you want to meet nature at its raw look. In the year 1982, it became a National park. Then the valley of flowers nearby joined with it and today it is a World Heritage Site as told by the UNESCO. It was declared so in the year 1988. Today both the parks are a part of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Then there is another buffer zone here. The reserve is also a part of UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since the year 2004.

The entire park surrounds a basin which is completely encircled by peaks. There is the River Rishi Ganga which flows through this region and it falls in the Rishi Ganga gorge. This is a steep region and the park is therefore at a height of around 3500 m. above the level of the sea.

River in Nanda Devi National Park

There are two divisions of the Sanctuary. The outer, the inner. These two have the wall around it which is the main sanctuary wall. This wall is a continuous ridge like structure on all sides. The western side of the sanctuary sees a less imposing wall.

The inner portion of the sanctuary is around two thirds of the entire sanctuary area. It in fact has the Nanda Devi. Then there are two glaciers which border the peak. There is the Uttari glacier in the northern side and the Rishi glacier and the Dakkhni glaciers in the south. It is believed that this place has been inhabited since the year 1934. It was a person called Eric Shipton who found the presence of humans here along with H.W.Tilman.

The Outer sanctuary or the other portion of this Nanda Devi sanctuary is the one which occupies a major portion of the entire sanctuary. It is separated from the other portion by many ridges. The Rishi Ganga flows through these ridges. This river splits the outer sanctuary into two – the Ramani Glacier in the north and the Trisul Glacier in the south.