har ki pauri

Jai Ganga Maa Har Ki Pauri (Hindi: हर की पौड़ी) is a famous ghat on the banks of the Ganges in Haridwar in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. This revered place is the major landmark of the holy city of Haridwar. Literally, "Har" means "Lord Shiva" who is the god according to shaivite Rishav Bhagwan school of Hindu theology, "Ki" means "of" and "Pauri" means "steps". Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are believed to have visited the Brahmakund in Har Ki Pauri in the Vedic times. There is a large footprint said to belong to Lord Vishnu on a stone wall.^[1]

It is believed that it is precise spot where the Ganges leaves the mountains and enters the plains. The ghat is on the west bank of Ganges canal through which the Ganges is diverted just to the north. Har Ki Pauri is also the area where thousands of pilgrims converge and the festivities commence during the Kumbha Mela, which takes place every twelve years, and the Ardh Kumbh Mela, which takes place every six years and the Punjabi festival of Vaisakhi, a harvest festival occurring every year in the month of April .

Haridwar is famous for Har ki Pauri and it's Ganga Aarti. Ganga aarti means worship of Ganga. Lots of people visit this place for Ganga aarti everyday at 06:00 PM.

HISTORY

King Vikramaditya is said to have built it in 1st century BC in the memory of his brother, Bharthari who had come to meditate here on the bank of the Ganges. An area within Har Ki Pauri, where the evening Ganga Aarti takes places and which is considered most sacred is known as Brahmakund (Devanagari: ब्रह्म कुण्ड).^[2] It is considered to be the spot where the drops of Amrit fell over from the sky, while being carried in a pitcher by the celestial bird, Garuda after the Samudra Manthan.

Every day, Har Ki Pauri ghat witnesses hundreds taking a dip in water of the Ganges. The place is considered very auspicious. Over the years the ghats have undergone major extension and renovation as the crowds increased in subsequent Kumbh Melas. Several temples have come up on the steps, most built in late 19th century.

The extension of the ghats took place in 1938 (done by Hargyan Singh Katara, a Zamindar from Agra in Uttar Pradesh), and then again in 1986.

uttarakhand flora and fauna

Flora and fauna

State symbols of Uttarakhand

Animal	Alpine Musk Deer
Bird	Himalayan Monal
Flower	Brahma Kamal[59]
Fruit	Kaphal[60]
Tree	Burans

Uttarakhand has a great diversity of flora and fauna. It has a recorded forest area of 34,666 km² which constitutes 65% of the total area of the state.^[61] Uttarakhand is home to rare species of plants and animals, many of which are protected by sanctuaries and reserves. National parks in Uttarakhand include the Jim Corbett National Park (the oldest national park of India) at Ramnagar in Nainital District, and Valley of Flowers National Park and Nanda Devi National Park in Chamoli District, which together are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A number of plant species in the valley are internationally threatened, including several that have not been recorded from elsewhere in Uttarakhand.^[62] Rajaji National Park in Haridwar District and Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary and Gangotri National Park in Uttarkashi District are some other protected areas in the state.^[63]

Chital crossing forest path at Jim Corbett National Park

Leopards are found in areas which are abundant in hills but may also venture into the lowland jungles. Smaller felines include the jungle cat, fishing cat, and leopard cat. Other mammals include four kinds of deer (barking, sambar, hog and chital), sloth and Himalayan black bears, Indian gray mongooses, otters, yellow-throated martens, bharal, Indian pangolins, and langur and rhesus monkeys. In the summer, elephants can be seen in herds of several hundred. Marsh crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris), gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) and other reptiles are also found in the region. Local crocodiles were saved from extinction by captive breeding programs and subsequently re-released into the Ramganga river.^[64] Several freshwater terrapins and turtles like the Indian sawback turtle (Kachuga tecta), brahminy river turtle (Hardella thurgii), and Ganges softshell turtle (Trionyx gangeticus) are found in the rivers. Butterflies and birds of the region include red Helen (Papilio helenus), the great eggfly (Hypolimnos bolina), common tiger (Danaus genutia), pale wanderer (Pareronia avatar avatar), jungle babbler, tawny-bellied babbler, great slaty woodpecker, red-breasted parakeet, orange-breasted green pigeon and chestnut-winged cuckoo.^[65] In 2011, a rare migratory bird, the bean goose, was also seen in the Jim Corbett National Park.^[66]

Evergreen oaks, rhododendrons, and conifers predominate in the hills. sal (Shorea robusta), silk cotton tree (Bombax ciliata), Dalbergia sissoo, Mallotus philippensis, Acacia catechu, Bauhinia racemosa, and Bauhinia variegata (camel's foot tree) are some other trees of the region. Albizia chinensis, the sweet sticky flowers of which are favoured by sloth bears, are also part of the region's flora.^[65] A decade long study by Prof. Chandra Prakash Kala concluded that the Valley of Flowers is endowed with 520 species of higher plants (angiosperms, gymnosperms and pteridophytes), of these 498 are flowering plants. The park has many species of medicinal plants including Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Picrorhiza kurroa, Aconitum violaceum, Polygonatum multiflorum, Fritillaria roylei, and Podophyllum hexandrum.^[67][68] In the summer season of 2016, a large portion of forests in Uttarakhand caught fires and rubbled to ashes during infamous Uttarakhand forest fires incident which resulted in the damage of forest resources worth billions of rupees and death of 6 people with hundreds of wild animals died during fires.

JAGAR (RITUAL)

Jagar (Devanagari: जागर) is a form of ancestor spirit worship practiced in the hills of Uttarakhand, both in Kumaon and Garhwal. ^[1] The word Jagar comes from the Sanskrit root, Jaga (meaning to wake), Jagar is a medium or way in which Gods and local deities are called or waked from their dormant stage and asked for favors or remedies for certain problems plaguing the person.

It is attached to the idea of divine justice and is organised to seek penance for a crime or seek justice from the gods for some injustice.

Music is the medium through which the gods are invoked. The singer or Jagariya sings a ballad of the gods with allusions to the great epics like Mahabharat and Ramayana and which describes the adventures and exploits of the God being invoked.

These traditions are the part of a kind of Folk Hinduism prevalent, in fact, all across the Himalayas, which have been there along with the mainstream Hinduism for ages.

The hard life of the Himalayas and constant exposure to the vagaries of nature inspired a strong belief in paranormal phenomena and also in numerous Folk Gods who were given great reverence and respect. Every village had its own God protecting its boundaries called Bhumyal or Kshetrapal, each family has its Kul Devta or Kul Devi and numerous other benevolent demi-gods/goddesses and malicious spirits which could reward or torment people and had to be appeased.

The isolation of the Kumaon and Garhwal Himalayas promoted the emergence of local religious traditions which are still strong in these regions along with mainstream Hinduism

Jagar ceremonies are of two types one is the Dev Jagar, the invocation of a god, usually local gods in the body of the medium and the other is the Bhut Jagar the invocation of a deceased person spirit or soul in the medium’s body, although other forms like Masan Puja also exist.^[2]

Today, Jagars are seen more as cultural and musical heritage in the need of preservation than the religious ceremony itself. But it is still highly revered especially in the rural areas and the New Delhi also, because lot of Kumauni and Gadwali lives in Delhi so they can not go to villages every year for jagar so they started Jager in Delhi also , the main god of Uttrakhandi people (Bhairo , Gweil, kature, Bhumia, Ramoul, Kalbisht, Narsingh, Ujayibeer, Naag, or more. These are the strong power which exist on this planet but the power comes on the human body when jager start. The all the power lives in our universe. The jagar shows that the Hinduism is oldest religion on this planet, the jager always happen in same way as it started thousands years ago in Himalaya in three languages Sanskrit' Kumauni, Gadwali. in terms of science we can say the power comes in human body from other planet

Participants

Jagariya

The Jagariya (जगरिया) is the singer of the ballads of the Gods who leads the rituals and invokes the Gods by calling upon them he is assisted by two or more men who sing along with him in chorus.

Dagariya

The Dagariya (डगरिया) is the medium, whose body is used by the Gods when they incarnate. Dagariya comes from the Kumaoni word Dagar (meaning way), he is the one who shows the way.

Syonkar

The Syonkar (स्योंकर) is the person who has organized the Jagar to seek divine intervention to his problems. The Jagar is held at his home.

Preparations

The room in which the Jagar is to be performed is purified by processes closely administered by the Jagar singer or ‘’Jagariya’’.

The Dhuni (धुनी) or sacred fire is lit for the Homa.

Instruments

The musical instruments used are the ‘’Hurka’’ (हुड़का), ‘’Dhol’’ (ढोल), ‘’Damau’’ (दमाऊ), ‘’Thali’’ (थाली) all of which are percussion instruments native to Uttarakhand played by professional musicians.

uttarakhand assembly

The Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly also known as the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, (Hindi: उत्तराखण्ड विधानसभा) is a unicameral governing and law making body of Uttarakhand, one of the 29 States in India, and is situated at Dehradun, the interim state capital of Uttarakhand, with 71 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).

Following the Bharatiya Janata Party's historic win in 2017 election, the current Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and Leader of the House is Trivendra Singh Rawat. The Speaker of the Assembly is Premchand Aggarwal. Krishan Kant Paul is the current Governor of Uttarakhand. From 27 March 2016 to 12 May 2016, Uttarakhand was under President's Rule.

Suspension

Capping a nine-day high-voltage political drama, the Central Government on Sunday brought Uttarakhand under President’s rule citing a constitutional breakdown in the wake of a rebellion in the ruling Congress, which slammed the decision calling it a "murder of democracy" and a "black" day.

President Pranab Mukherjee signed the proclamation under Article 356 of the Constitution dismissing the Congress government headed by Harish Rawat and placing the Assembly under suspended animation this morning on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet.

The Central Government was of the view that continuance of the Rawat government was "immoral and unconstitutional" after the 18 March 2016, when the Speaker declared the Appropriation Bill "passed" in controversial circumstances without allowing a division pressed for by 35 MLAs, including 9 rebel Congress legislators.

The Union Cabinet had held an emergency meeting on Saturday night presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had cut short a visit to Assam to return to the capital for the purpose.

The Cabinet considered several reports received from Governor K. K. Paul, who had described the political situation as volatile and expressed apprehensions over possible pandemonium during the scheduled trial of strength in the State Assembly on Monday.

The purported CD of the sting operation conducted against the Chief Minister that was in public domain on Saturday was understood to have been factored into the decision of the Cabinet which found it as a case of horse trading.

Additionally Two Uttarakhand MLAs, one each from Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party were on 9 June suspended for cross-voting during the floor test that was held on 10 May. Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal suspended BJP MLA Bhim Lal Arya and INC MLA Rekha Arya

List of Assemblies

The following is the list of all the Uttarakhand Legislative Assemblies^[7]

Colour key for parties
Bharatiya Janata Party   Indian National Congress

Assembly	Election Year	Speaker	Chief Minister	Party		Opposition Leader	Party
Interim Assembly	N/A	Prakash Pant	Nityanand Swami	Bharatiya Janata Party		Indira Hridayesh	Indian National Congress
			Bhagat Singh Koshyari
1st Assembly	2002	Yashpal Arya	Narayan Dutt Tiwari	Indian National Congress		Matvar Singh Kandari	Bharatiya Janata Party
2nd Assembly	2007	Harbans Kapoor	Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri	Bharatiya Janata Party		Harak Singh Rawat	Indian National Congress
			Ramesh Pokhriyal
			Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri
3rd Assembly	2012	Govind Singh Kunjwal	Vijay Bahuguna	Indian National Congress		Ajay Bhatt	Bharatiya Janata Party
			Harish Rawat
4th Assembly	2017	Premchand Aggarwal	Trivendra Singh Rawat	Bharatiya Janata Party		Indira Hridayesh	Indian National Congress

deer musk (kasthuri hiran)

Deer musk is a substance with a persistent odor, obtained from a gland of the male musk deer situated in its back/rectal area.^{[dubious – discuss]} The substance has been extensively used as a perfume fixative, incense material, and medicine, since ancient times. It was and still is one of the most expensive animal products in the world. The name originates from the Persian word moshk meaning "deer's navel".

Although more commonly referred to as "musk", the term itself is often used to describe a wide variety of "musky" substances from other animals such as the African civet ("civet musk") or various synthetic musks whose compound exhibits some character of deer musk.

Cultural history

The etymology of the name musk, originating from Indian Sanskrit मुस्कस् muṣká via Middle Persian مشک mušk, Late Greek μόσχος (moschos), Late Latin muscus, Middle Frenchmusc and Middle English muske,^[1][2] hints at its trade route.

In Ayurveda, the ancient Indian medicinal system, musk has been used in various cardiac, mental and neurological disorders for centuries. It has also been included in various compound formulations.

Musk deer—more commonly known as Kasturi in India—of the Himalayas is one of the most endangered species in the region. Scent glands from these deer can fetch thousands of rupees and are used for manufacturing perfume and medicine.

Deer musk was unknown in the Western world in classical antiquity and reference to it does not appear until the 5th century AD when it is mentioned in the Talmud (Brachot 43.) as an animal-based fragrance. The 6th-century Greek explorer Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned it as a product obtained from India.^[3] Soon afterwards Arab and Byzantine perfume makers began to use it, and it acquired a reputation as an aphrodisiac.^[3] Under the Abbasid Empire of Arabs it was highly regarded, and the caliphs of Baghdad used it lavishly. In the early 9th century, Al-Kindi included it in a large number of his perfume recipes and it became one of the important luxury items brought by Arabian ships from the East.^[3]

Deer musk has been a key constituent in many perfumes since its discovery, being held to give a perfume long-lasting power as a fixative. Despite its high price, musk tinctures were used in perfumery until 1979, when musk deer were protected as an endagered species by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Today the trade quantity of the natural musk is controlled by CITES but illegal poaching and trading continues

Harvesting

Moschus moschiferus, Siberian musk deer

The musk deer belongs to the family Moschidae and lives in Nepal, India, Pakistan, China, Korea, Siberia and Mongolia. To obtain their musk, the deer is killed and its gland, also called "musk pod", is removed. It is dried either in the sun, on a hot stone, or by immersion in hot oil. Upon drying, the reddish-brown paste turns into a black granular material called "musk grain", which is used for alcoholic solutions. The aroma of the tincture becomes more intense during storage and gives a pleasant odor only after it is considerably diluted. No other natural substance has such a complex aroma associated with so many contradictory descriptions; however, it is usually described abstractly as animalic, earthy and woody^[5] or something akin to the odor of baby's skin.^[4]

Obtaining one kilogram (2.2 lb) of musk grains requires between thirty and fifty deer, making musk tinctures highly expensive. At the beginning of the 19th century, Tonkin musk grains cost about twice their weight in gold.^[4]

Properties

Good deer musk is of a dark purplish color, dry, smooth and unctuous to the touch, and bitter in taste. The grain of musk will distinctly scent millions of cubic feet of air without any appreciable loss of weight, and its scent is not only more penetrating but more persistent than that of any other known substance. In addition to its odoriferous principle, it contains ammonia, cholesterol, fatty matter, a bitter resinous substance, and other animal principles.

The best quality is Tonkin musk from Vietnam, followed by Assam and Nepal musk, while Carbadine musk from Russian and Chinese Himalayan regions are considered inferior.^[4]