As I prepare for my 3rd visit to India this year I came across some photos I took three years ago when I visited the village of Mana in north India. Mana is often known as the last Indian village before the Tibetan border and it is the furthest north I’ve been in the Indian subcontinent. Inhabitants of the Mana village are the last generation of the Bhotia community of Mongolian tribes.
It’s at an altitude of about 3118 meters (10229 feet) and is located in the state of Uttarakhand. It’s also located a short distance away from Badrinath which is a famous pilgrimage place that sees vast number of Hindu pilgrims visiting each year during the summer months when the path to this mountain shrine is open. During the winter months the village is vacated and the Bhotia community move to a location that is about a 100kms away that has less extreme weather conditions.
It was definitely challenging getting up here and scary as well as the “road” conditions were not good at all. It took two days of long hours of driving (I didn’t drive) before I got to Badrinath and then made the short journey to Mana village. The village is crammed with small houses separated by narrow alley ways and is simply special to work around.
