The Himachal Pradesh people are deeply religious and god-fearing but their Hinduism is different from that of the plains. It appears that the grandeur of the natural features, the Himalayas, and the magnitude of the physical forces arraigned against man pohas led the inhabitants to assign supernatural powers to natural environments, some benevolent but mostly malevolent. To the children of the mountains, the 'Himalayas are the gods'. Along with the major gods, who are represented in the Thakardwaras and the Shivalas mostly in the towns, the people worship the godlings or the village deities, the Deotas, the Rishis, the Munis, the Siddhas, the Pandavas, the hill tops, the trees, the joginis or wood fairies, the kali, the shakti, the nagas and even a host of devils and deities of the aborigines. The water courses, the sprouting seeds, the ripening corn ear are all in charge of separate spirits who are duly propitiated. Animal sacrifice is a major religious rite and is performed at weddings, funerals, and festivals, harvest time, on the beginning of the ploughing or thanks giving. Lamaistic Buddhism is practiced in the trans-Himalayan areas. It is said that the great Padma Sambhava, who was responsible for the spread of Buddhism in Tibet in the eighth century, lived for some time at Riwalsar, near Mandi, where there is a temple for him who is visited by Buddhists not only from the Himalayan areas but also from Tibet and Bhutan. Lamaistic Buddhism assimilates the mysticism of the northern school of Buddhism, the Vajra-Yana, with the magic and devil worship of the Tantras and the cult of the Shakti, Tara. The priest or the lama is the friend, philosopher and guide in the life of the Buddhists who mostly live in the border areas. He guides them in spiritual matters, foretells events, determines lucky and unlucky days, practices medicine, exorcises evil spirits, performs magic and regulates the destiny of the living and the dead. The Muslims in the villages follow Pir Lakh Data and also pray and light earthen lamps at the shrines of other saints. Hindi is the State language but people mostly converse among themselves in Pahari, which according to Y.S. Parmar has various dialects or 'sub-languages'. Grierson in his linguistic survey had called it 'Western Pahari`, and had demarcated its area from Jaunsar Bawar in the U.P. hills (near Dehradun) to Bhadarwah in Jammu and Kashmir. It was on the basis of their distinctive language and culture besides other factors that the hill people in Himachal and Punjab demanded their union and finally got it in 1966. The various dialects of Pahari spoken in the region are :
For more information on what to see and things to do in Himachal Pradesh during you trip contact Swan Tours one of the leading travel agents in India offers Rajasthan tour packages at best price.
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1/18/2024 12:53:25 am
India's golden triangle is tourist circuit which connects the national capital Delhi, Agra,and Jaipur. The Golden Triangle is so called because of the triangular pattern formed by the locations of New Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan on the Map.
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