The beautiful mountain state of Himachal Pradesh (HP) was originally formed as a centrally administered territory on April 15, 1948 by the integration of 30 odd Punjab hill provinces. In 1951, it became a Part C State under a Lieutenant Governor, with a Legislative Assembly of 36 members and a Cabinet of three ministers.

In 1954, Bilaspur, another Part C State, was merged with HP and the strength of the Assembly was raised to 41 members. In 1956, the States Re-organisation Commission recommended the merger of Himachal Pradesh with Punjab. But the people of HP so stoutly opposed that the proposal was overruled.

Till October 1966, HP consisted of only six hill districts—Mahasu, Mandi, Chamba, Sirmaur, Bilaspur and Kinnaur. In November 1966, it was enlarged with the inclusion of some of the hilly areas of Punjab—Shimla, Kangra, Kullu, Lahaul, Spiti, Nalagarh tehsil of Ambala district, and areas of Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts.

HP was organised into 10 districts and declared a state on January 25, 1971, with Shimla as its capital. In 1972-73, the state was re-organised into 12 districts—Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kulu, Lahaul & Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan and Una.

After Indian Independence, a Union Territory of Hill states was created. It primarily constituted of hill states around Shimla. On November 1, 1966 Punjab Hill areas were merged into Himachal as part of reorganization of Punjab. Himachal Pradesh became a full fledged state of the Republic of India on January 25, 1971. Himachal Pradesh has been on the path of progress since Independence.

 Every village in the state has electricity and drinking water now. Many young men from Himachal serve the Indian Army and have played significant role in the National defense. Dharamsala has a war memorial dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives for their country. Himachal has one state university at Shimla, namely, Himachal Pradesh University. There is a Regional Engineering College (REC) at Hamirpur that has students from all over India. In addition, there is a Medical College at Shimla.

 Himachal is literally a power house when it comes to hydro-electricity. The state has many dams that harness the hilly rivers to generate electric power. The electricity is used by farmers in Punjab, Haryana and by the industries in the northern plains.

Himachal also has a rich cultural heritage, and has a variety of dances, musical forms and architectural styles. The fairs and festivals of the hill people are occasions of joyful song and dance; they are a veritable riot of colours. In many parts of the Himachal the villages Gods are carried on palanquins to village fairs. On Dussehra the largest congregation of village Gods takes place at Kullu.  Kullu Dussehra (October), Lavi fair (November), Minjar fair (August-September), Manimahesh fair, Shivaratri fair (February-March), and Navratri fair (April and October) are among the famous religious celebrations of Himachal. Exquisitely designed shawls of Kinnaur, the distinctive woolen caps of Kullu, and the embroidered handkerchiefs of Chamba accent their colourful, festive clothing. The folk songs of Himachal Pradesh are full of charm. They are usually based on a religious or a romantic theme. People gather in a circle in village fairs and dance to the tune of these songs. The dancing is usually spontaneous during a village fair and is symbolic of the peace and joy of the people. In general people of Himachal Pradesh are honest, truthful, gentle, and good humored.

 Today the district is studded with numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries including Labarang, Gondhala, Dalung, Keylong, Guru-Ganthal, Darcha, Markula in Lahul and Dhankar, Mud, Lidang, Rangrik, Ki (also spelt as Kye), Losar and Tabo in Spiti. A millennium old Tabo is one of the area’s most revered monasteries. Often called the “Ajanta of the Himalaya” because of its breathtaking murals and stucco images, tabo’s sanctity in trans-himalayan buddhism is next only to tibet’s tholing gompa.

Apart from their religious influence the monasteries are also strongholds of tradition and treasuries of the region’s art and manuscripts. Gompas, forts and chorten scattered all over the vastness of this cold desert provide an unending feast for the sightseer and for scholars, some authentic foot-notes and references to the local history and culture. 

The Lahaul district of Himachal is one rare pocket in the Indian Himalayas where one may trace a continuous course of development of Trans-Himalayan Buddhism and it is probably one of the last remaining areas in which the original Tibetan-Buddhist culture remains untouched either by communism as in Tibet, or by the dissolving influence of tourism to which Ladakh has been exposed.

 Migrations into Himachal has made its culture rich, the conservative contact with outside world had made its culture unique, its social fabric distinct and the music, dance, art, architecture etc. traditional. In their ways of living punched are the faiths of Kolorian, Bon, Indo-Aryan and Buddhist Lamas; traditions of democratic Khasas and Kulinds, customs and chivalry of the Rajputs and nomadic instincts of Huns and Gujjars.

 Amidst the natural environment, Himachal art which is both functional and decorative represents many aspects of life, belief and myths of the hill persons. They have created the art either for their religious purpose or for the pleasure of the patrons.               NEXT