Himachal Pradesh: Visit the Land of Gods with these books

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Himachal Pradesh situated in the heart of the western Himalaya, identified as “Dev Bhumi” and is believed to be the abode of Gods and Goddesses. The entire State is punctuated with stone as well as wood temples. The shadowy valleys, rugged crags, glaciers and gigantic pines and roaring rivers and exquisite flora and fauna compose the symphony that is for ever Himachal. The State has a rich treasure of places of pilgrimage and of anthropological value. The State has also the pride of being the home to rishis like Vyas, Parashar,Vashist, Markandey and Lamas, etc.

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Read through this wondrous state via these books, best enjoyed with a cup of tea and some cookies.

Title: Diliparanjani: An 18th Century Chronicle of a Hill State in Verse
Author: Karuna Goswamy
Publisher: Indian Institute of Advanced Study

Blurb: In the parched landscape of historical records native to the hills – Himachal Pradesh in particular – a few, very few, refreshing works stand out. Among them is this 18th century chronicle in verse from the small state of Guler: written by a virtually unknown poet who came to these parts from somewhere outside, about a patron who occupies very little space in history, even that of the hills. And yet this is a compelling work: invaluable as much for its genuinely poetic feel as for the manner in which it brings the rich cultural life of the region alive. What is more: there is a measure of history in it – ancestors with their glorious exploits peep in; invaders flit in and out; victorious campaigns are mounted – even as the account is couched in hyperbolic terms and laced with courtly flourishes. The Diliparanjani – a well-chosen title, meaning literally, ‘Delighter of the heart of Dilip’, the royal patron of the poet – can yield both pleasure and profit even to the modern reader.

Price: Rs. 625 || Pages: 330

Title: Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills
Author: Minakshi Chaudhry
Publisher: Rupa & Co

Blurb: Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills is a collection of supernatural things in and around the Shimla hills, haunted bauris, mansions or benches, churails or spirits of English men and women who once walked the city of Shimla. It is a collection of stories of various encounters of citizens of Shimla (including tourists) with the many spirits which have made their abode in these hills. The foreword by the famous author Ruskin Bond further adds to the credibility of the research and of the book itself. It was a pleasure reading Ruskin Bond marvelling at the “generous sprinkling of ghosts” in Shimla.

*From the BookGeeks website.

Price: Rs. 342 || Pages: 344

Title: A Year in Himachal: Memories of an Incredible State
Author: Humera Ahmed
Publisher: Notion Press

Blurb: A Year in Himachal is a record of the life and culture of an incredible state, set against a varied landscape of splendid mountains, cold deserts, sylvan valleys and gushing rivers. Told from the perspective of a single woman and officer, a rigid city-bound Mumbaikar, the book is a memoir-travelogue that reflects on the life and people, their history and culture, the terrain during different seasons of the year and her attempt to integrate the functioning of the Post Office with community and customer needs in a multilingual and multicultural society. She goes through life-changing experiences during her journey to remote areas in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti. She experiences the barren silence of the cold desert, the overpowering grandeur and mystery of the snow-capped mountains and the peace and tranquillity of the Tabo monastery. She becomes acutely aware of a spiritual presence that enables her to come to terms with her personal grief and find a purpose in life.

Price: Rs. 202 || Pages: 198

Title: Prathaa: Kath-khuni Architecture of Himachal Pradesh
Author: Jay Thakkar, Mansi Shah, Bharat Dave
Publisher: Sid Research Cell

Blurb: This book documents an indigenous building technique called the kath-khuni construction prevalent in Himachal Pradesh, India. The relative isolation of the hills and the demanding environment fostered development and persistence of distinctive prathaa, i.e., traditions practiced for centuries. These building practices reflect synthesis of material and environmental constraints with social and cultural beliefs and rituals. This book illustrates the role of indigenous building traditions in a dual sense: architecture as an outcome of specific material assemblies to fulfil specific functional purposes and architecture as a process to bind together people, places and resources in order to sustain particular cultural norms, beliefs and values.

Price: Rs. 2581 || Pages: 156

Title: Simla the Summer Capital of British India
Author: Raaja Bhasin
Publisher: Rupa

Blurb: The summer capital of the Raj, Simla came to be known as “the workshop of the Empire”. A visitor awed by this hill-town wrote, “Every pigeonhole contains a potential revolution, every office box cradles an embryo of war or death”. The heady mixture of mountain air, political power and social snobbery attracted all manner of people to Simla: ambitious careerists, calculating matrons, enigmatic adventuresses, bored wives, and dashing roués, often with disastrous results. A letter home lamented “the pure atmosphere and foul rumors, ruined prospects, guilty passions, frivolity, intrigue…jealousy, madness…remorse unmitigated…”

Price: Rs. 361 || Pages: 488

Title: Folk Tales of Himachal Pradesh
Author: Alice Elizabeth Dracott
Publisher: Abhishek Publications

Blurb: Alice Elizabeth Dracott visited India at the turn of the 20th century in order to collect and record Indian folktales by interviewing inhabitants from the village of Simla.

One cannot sojourn for long in the East without hearing strange stories, all of which are vouched for by the natives. Most would make one’s blood run cold, but they are irresistibly fascinating. Filled with pathos but almost always showing that every cloud has its silver lining, these tales carry the reader into the mythical past that was India. Most of these tales have the raw transparency of folk art, whilst others are fashioned with uncommon sophistication. Many of the stories have been passed down by word of mouth. Long before the radio and television ever existed, people spent hours around fires telling stories for entertainment.

Price: Rs. 395 || Pages: 157

Title: Crafts of Himachal Pradesh
Author: Subhashini Aryan, R.K. Datta Gupta
Publisher: Grantha Corporation

Blurb: This is the first book to document the beauty of Himachal Pradesh crafts. It captures the beauty of the picturesque people of this land as they continue to express their innate creativity in numerous artefacts.

Price: Rs. 995 || Pages: 168

Title: Murder in Shimla
Author: Bulbul Sharma
Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books

Blurb: When, at the height of World War II, an uninvited guest arrives at a dinner party at Chartsville Hall, the Assistant Deputy Commissioner’s house in Shimla, the lives of its inmates are thrown into turmoil. Especially when the guest is blonde and beautiful—and found dead in her bed the next morning.

With her unerring ear for dialogue and skilfully drawn characters, Bulbul Sharma recreates the world of the British Raj—complete with English memsahibs who stroll down the Mall with their parasols, mansions with manicured lawns, and Brigadiers and their ladies who can crack a crime over bridge at the club. In the tradition of Agatha Christie and Alexander McCall Smith, Murder in Shimla doesn’t let up on the mystery and suspense until the last page.

Price: Rs. 319 || Pages: 304

This list of books is curated by Amritesh Mukherjee for Purple Pencil Project’s Instagram.

Diliparanjani: An 18th Century Chronicle of a Hill State in Verse

Title: Diliparanjani: An 18th Century Chronicle of a Hill State in Verse

Author: Karuna Goswamy

Publisher: Indian Institute of Advanced Study

Price: Rs. 625

Pages: 330

Blurb:

In the parched landscape of historical records native to the hills – Himachal Pradesh in particular – a few, very few, refreshing works stand out. Among them is this 18th century chronicle in verse from the small state of Guler: written by a virtually unknown poet who came to these parts from somewhere outside, about a patron who occupies very little space in history, even that of the hills. And yet this is a compelling work: invaluable as much for its genuinely poetic feel as for the manner in which it brings the rich cultural life of the region alive. What is more: there is a measure of history in it – ancestors with their glorious exploits peep in; invaders flit in and out; victorious campaigns are mounted – even as the account is couched in hyperbolic terms and laced with courtly flourishes. The Diliparanjani – a well-chosen title, meaning literally, ‘Delighter of the heart of Dilip’, the royal patron of the poet – can yield both pleasure and profit even to the modern reader.

Get the Book from Amazon

Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills

Title: Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills

Author: Minakshi Chaudhry

Publisher: Rupa & Co

Price: Rs. 342

Pages: 344

Blurb:

Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills is a collection of supernatural things in and around the Shimla hills, haunted bauris, mansions or benches, churails or spirits of English men and women who once walked the city of Shimla. It is a collection of stories of various encounters of citizens of Shimla (including tourists) with the many spirits which have made their abode in these hills. The foreword by the famous author Ruskin Bond further adds to the credibility of the research and of the book itself. It was a pleasure reading Ruskin Bond marvelling at the “generous sprinkling of ghosts” in Shimla.

*From the BookGeeks website.

Get the Book from Amazon

A Year in Himachal: Memories of an Incredible State

Title: A Year in Himachal: Memories of an Incredible State

Author: Humera Ahmed

Publisher: Notion Press

Price: Rs. 202

Pages: 198

Blurb:

A Year in Himachal is a record of the life and culture of an incredible state, set against a varied landscape of splendid mountains, cold deserts, sylvan valleys and gushing rivers. Told from the perspective of a single woman and officer, a rigid city-bound Mumbaikar, the book is a memoir-travelogue that reflects on the life and people, their history and culture, the terrain during different seasons of the year and her attempt to integrate the functioning of the Post Office with community and customer needs in a multilingual and multicultural society. She goes through life-changing experiences during her journey to remote areas in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti. She experiences the barren silence of the cold desert, the overpowering grandeur and mystery of the snow-capped mountains and the peace and tranquillity of the Tabo monastery. She becomes acutely aware of a spiritual presence that enables her to come to terms with her personal grief and find a purpose in life.

Get the Book from Amazon

Prathaa: Kath-khuni Architecture of Himachal Pradesh

Title: Prathaa: Kath-khuni Architecture of Himachal Pradesh

Author: Jay Thakkar, Mansi Shah, Bharat Dave

Publisher: Sid Research Cell

Price: Rs. 2581

Pages: 156

Blurb:

This book documents an indigenous building technique called the kath-khuni construction prevalent in Himachal Pradesh, India. The relative isolation of the hills and the demanding environment fostered development and persistence of distinctive prathaa, i.e., traditions practiced for centuries. These building practices reflect synthesis of material and environmental constraints with social and cultural beliefs and rituals. This book illustrates the role of indigenous building traditions in a dual sense: architecture as an outcome of specific material assemblies to fulfil specific functional purposes and architecture as a process to bind together people, places and resources in order to sustain particular cultural norms, beliefs and values.

Get the Book from Amazon

Simla the Summer Capital of British India

Title: Simla the Summer Capital of British India

Author: Raaja Bhasin

Publisher: Rupa

Price: Rs. 361

Pages: 488

Blurb:

The summer capital of the Raj, Simla came to be known as “the workshop of the Empire”. A visitor awed by this hill-town wrote, “Every pigeonhole contains a potential revolution, every office box cradles an embryo of war or death”. The heady mixture of mountain air, political power and social snobbery attracted all manner of people to Simla: ambitious careerists, calculating matrons, enigmatic adventuresses, bored wives, and dashing roués, often with disastrous results. A letter home lamented “the pure atmosphere and foul rumors, ruined prospects, guilty passions, frivolity, intrigue…jealousy, madness…remorse unmitigated…”

Get the Book from Amazon

Folk Tales of Himachal Pradesh

Title: Folk Tales of Himachal Pradesh

Author: Alice Elizabeth Dracott

Publisher: Abhishek Publications

Price: Rs. 395

Pages: 157

Blurb:

Alice Elizabeth Dracott visited India at the turn of the 20th century in order to collect and record Indian folktales by interviewing inhabitants from the village of Simla.

One cannot sojourn for long in the East without hearing strange stories, all of which are vouched for by the natives. Most would make one’s blood run cold, but they are irresistibly fascinating. Filled with pathos but almost always showing that every cloud has its silver lining, these tales carry the reader into the mythical past that was India. Most of these tales have the raw transparency of folk art, whilst others are fashioned with uncommon sophistication. Many of the stories have been passed down by word of mouth. Long before the radio and television ever existed, people spent hours around fires telling stories for entertainment.

Get the Book from Amazon

Crafts of Himachal Pradesh

Title: Crafts of Himachal Pradesh

Author: Subhashini Aryan, R.K. Datta Gupta

Publisher: Grantha Corporation

Price: Rs. 995

Pages: 168

Blurb:

This is the first book to document the beauty of Himachal Pradesh crafts. It captures the beauty of the picturesque people of this land as they continue to express their innate creativity in numerous artefacts.

Get the Book from Amazon

Murder in Shimla

Title: Murder in Shimla

Author: Bulbul Sharma

Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books

Price: Rs. 319

Pages: 304

Blurb:

When, at the height of World War II, an uninvited guest arrives at a dinner party at Chartsville Hall, the Assistant Deputy Commissioner’s house in Shimla, the lives of its inmates are thrown into turmoil. Especially when the guest is blonde and beautiful—and found dead in her bed the next morning.

With her unerring ear for dialogue and skilfully drawn characters, Bulbul Sharma recreates the world of the British Raj—complete with English memsahibs who stroll down the Mall with their parasols, mansions with manicured lawns, and Brigadiers and their ladies who can crack a crime over bridge at the club. In the tradition of Agatha Christie and Alexander McCall Smith, Murder in Shimla doesn’t let up on the mystery and suspense until the last page.

Get the Book from Amazon

Anshika Jain

Anshika Jain

Anshika's existence revolves around books, caffeine, and Hindi songs (Bollywood and indie). When not reading, she'll be trying to persuade other people to either read A Suitable Boy or watch "tick, tick... BOOM!"

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