Paper: 10, Tourism Products of India Module: 33, Mountain Ranges and Famous Hill Stations of India Principal Investigator Prof. S P Bansal Vice Chancelor Indira Gandhi University, Meerpur, Rewari, Haryana Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Prashant K Gautam Director, UIHMT Panjab University, Chandigarh Paper Coordinator Dr. Prashant K Gautam Director, UIHMT Panjab University, Chandigarh Dr. Arun Singh Thakur Content Writer Assistant Professor, University Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management Panjab University, Chandigarh Content Reviewer Prof. S P Bansal Vice Chancelor Indira Gandhi University, Meerpur, Rewari, Haryana ITEMS DESCRIPTION OF MODULE Subject Name Tourism & Hospitality Paper Name Tourism Products of India Module Title Mountain Ranges and Famous Hill Stations of India Module Id Module No-33 Pre- Requisites Knowledge about the geographical features of India To acquire the knowledge about the mountain ranges and famous hill Objectives stations of India. Keywords Tourism, Mountains, Hill Stations. QUADRANT- I MODULE 33:MOUNTAIN RANGES AND FAMOUS HILL STATIONS OF INDIA 1. LEARNING OUTCOMES 2. INTRODUCTION 3. MAIN MOUNTAIN RANGES IN INDIA 1 Himalayas 2 Aravali Mountain Range 3 Vindhya Mountain Range 4. Satpura Mountain Range 5. Eastern Ghats 6. Western Ghats 4. TOURISM IN MOUNTAINS- FEW FAMOUS HILL STATIONS OF INDIA 5. SUMMARY 1. LEARNING OUTCOMES Present units deals with understanding the Major mountain ranges. After studying this unit you will be able to; Understand the mountain system in India; Know about the various mountain ranges in India; Understand the parts of ranges in the Himalayas; Know briefly about the famous hill stations of India. 2. INTRODUCTION India is a country which occupies major landmass in the Asian subcontinent having various landforms starting from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to the Kanyakumari in the south and Gujarat in the west to the Arunachal Pradesh in the East. India occupies 7th place in the world covering 2.4%area of the entire world. The neighbouring countries of India are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. All countries in Indian subcontinent lie in the Northern hemisphere only. The mainland of India extends from8°4′ north and 37°6′ north in length (latitudes), and between 68°7′ East and 97°25′ east in width (longitudes). Length of the main land India is 3214 km and breadth is 2933 km.Indian Standard Time is +5:30 i.e.: 5 and half hour ahead of GMT. The Standard Meridian passes through Mirzapur near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. India is blessed to have the world's highest mountain range is the great Himalayas and also the vast coastline with one of the finest beaches in the world along with dense forest and mighty rivers. Its varied geographical features make its destination that attracts all type of tourist for the various activities from all across the globe. The present module focuses upon the various mountain ranges of India which are very important from tourism point of view. 3. MAIN MOUNTAIN RANGES IN INDIA India has several noteworthy mountain ranges having pinnacles of more than 1000 meters. India has a portion of the most astounding mountain ranges on the planet. It likewise has a portion of the world's most elevated mountain roads. The Great Himalayan mountainranges are well known and most noteworthy mountain slopes of India. The Himalayas stands like a wall between Indian and rest of the Asia, these mountains are the essential wellspring of strong waterways in India. These slopes contain regions excellent waterfalls and living space for some types of therapeutic plants, lovely feathered creatures, extraordinary reptiles and wild creatures. Kanchenjunga is the highest mountain peak in India and third on the planet; Nanda Devi is the second most elevated mountain lies in India. In this part of module we will discuss the mountain ranges of India which are as under; 1 Himalayas 2 Aravali Mountain Range 3 Vindhya Mountain Range 4. Satpura Mountain Range 5. Eastern Ghats 6. Western Ghats The brief description of each one of them is as follows; 1 Himalayas http://cdn.walkthroughindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Himalayan-Mountains-Ranges.jpg The Himalayas arethe youngest and the highest mountain ranges in the world. After Himalayas Karakoram, The Hindu Kush and many other Ranges which are little lesser. The world's highest peaks like Mount Everest and K2 exists in Himalayas, along with the largest glaciers like Siachen and many others in this dwelling place of snow which originates and feeds many of the mighty rivers in the region. The mountain ranges of Himalayas run in west to east direction starting from the planes of river Indus to the great Brahmaputra. These mountains are about 2400 km long and 400 km wide. Eastern half of the mountains are greater in altitude as compared to the Western half. There exist a number of valleys between the three parallel longitudinal ranges of the Himalayas. Himalayas gave birth to the old mighty rivers like Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra and many tributaries of these rivers forming one of the most fertile plains of the world viz; planes of Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus. Himalayas can be divided into five categories on the basis of its geographical entity is such as; 1. The Greater Himalayas (Himadri) 2. The Lesser Himalayas (Himachal) 3. The Outer Himalayas (Shivalik) 4. The Trans Himalayas 5. The Eastern Hills- Purvanchal: A chain of hills in North East India. 1. The Great Himalayas The northern range is called as the great Himalayas or the Himadri. The average elevation in the greater Himalayas is 6100 m above mean sea level and the width is about 25 km. The world’s highest peak Mt. Everest is situated in the Great Himalayas. There is almost no vegetation and also no precipitation occurs in these mountains. They are covered with thick cover of snow all round the year. 2. The Middle of Lesser Himalayas This part of Himalaya’s lies in between the greater Himalayas in the north and towards the South is the Shivalik. Lesser Himalayas runs almost parallel to both the ranges and also called lower Himalayas or Himachal. The elevation of these mountains varies from 3500 to 4500 M and they are around 60 to 80 km wide and 2400 km long. The peaks in these mountains remain covered with snow throughout the year and there are many peaks having elevation more than 5000 meters. The lesser Himalayas are having steep and bare southern slopes as compared to Northern slopes which are covered by forest. The famous mountains in this category are Mussoorie and Nag Tibba ranges in Uttarakhand. These mountains are friendly to the humans as compared to the greater Himalayas. 3. The Outer Himalayas This mountain range is located between the lesser Himalayas and the Great Plains of river Ganga. The elevation of these mountains varies between 600 to 1500 m with a length of 2400 km which extends from Potwar plateau till Brahmaputra valley. The slopes towards the north are gentle while they are steep towards south side of the mountains. The mountains are most wide with maximum 50 km in Himachal Pradesh and a minimum of 15 km in Arunachal Pradesh. The outer Himalayas form a chain of low hills throughout its length except the area occupied by Teesta river valley. These Mountains are covered with a very thick forest cover which decreases from east towards the west also the rainfall in these mountains decreases when we go from east to the west. There are many beautiful valleys and meadows created by thousands of streams and small rivulets which are snow fed and many of them are perennial. Due to its scenic beauty there are ample tourist destinations in these mountains which are world famous. 4. The Trans Himalayas The Trans Himalayas rangesare situated just immediate north to the great Himalayan range and also known as Tibetan Himalaya due to the reason most of the portion of these ranges lies in Tibet. The main mountain ranges in Trans Himalaya are the Zaskar range, the Ladakh Range, the Kailash and the Karakoram Range. The average elevation of these mountains is 3000 meters and is stretched in a distance of 1000 km from east to west direction. The Nanga Parbat with an elevation of 8126 metres is one of the highest mountain peak situated in Zanskar range. Towards the north of the Zaskar range, the Ladakh Range lies with only few peaks attaining the height of 6000 metres. One of the largest rivers of the world, the river Indus originates from northern slopes of the Kailash range. In the North most part of the Trans Himalayas lays the Karakoram Range which is also called as Krishnagiri range. This range is the home to the second highest mountain in the world that is K2 or Godwin Austen which is having the elevation of 8611 meters. Karakoram range is also the home of world's greatest glaciers which exist outside the polar region. 5. The Eastern Hills- Purvanchal: A chain of hills in North East India. The Purvanchal Range which is also known as The Eastern Hills is the extension of the Great Himalaya range in north-east region of India.These mountains run along with Myanmar border from Arunachal Pradesh in the north to the Mizoram in the south. The elevation of these mountains varies from 2000 m to 3000 m and the highest peak is Saramati with the altitude of 3826 meters. The well- known Ranges in the Purvanchal Mountains are the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia and Lushai hills. These Mountains are world famous for Cherrapunji with highest annual rainfall and its status as a wettest place on the earth. The forests in these mountains are the rainforest and they are one of the thickest forests with wide variety of flora and fauna.