Himachal Pradesh

(“Himalayan State”) Modern Indian state
located in the Himalayan region between
the state Jammu and Kashmir and the
kingdom of Nepal. Himachal Pradesh was
created in 1966 when the former state of
Punjab was divided into Punjab,
Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. As its
name implies, Himachal Pradesh is a
mountain state, with its lower regions in
the Shiwalik Hills and its upper regions in
the high Himalayas. Most of the state’s
people live in the long, fertile river valleys
between the mountain ranges, and in the
hot season its hill stations provide welcome relief from the scorching heat.
Himachal is the home for seven of
the nine Shiwalik goddesses. These
seven goddesses are all the presiding
deities of a particular site, and some of
them have become quite important in
northern Indian religious life. Himachal
Pradesh is also home to a spectacular
Dussehra festival in the town of Kulu,
at which all the gods in the Kulu Valley
are brought to Kulu to honor the god
Rama on his victory over the demonking Ravana. For general information,
an accessible reference is Christine
Nivin et al., India. 8th ed., Lonely
Planet, 1998.