Diversity

UttarakhandUttarakhand became the 27th state of the Republic of India on 9th November 2000. The State came out of Uttar Pradesh. Demand for Uttarakhand was first made in 1930 at the Karachi session of INC. It occupies 17.3% of India's total land area with 51,125 sq kms. Uttarakhand is a place with great diversity of the region where snow-clad mountains, green hills, fertile valleys, flowing rivers and thriving lakes add to the natural beauty.

Culture : The Land of Gods, natural diversity and the element of the Himalayas unparalleled beauty and sanctity add a new dimension to the word culture. The people of the state are as diverse as the landscape. Uttarakhand is blessed with a whole multiplicity of culture greatly influenced and inspired by its geo-social factors. The ancient cultural traditions of Uttarakhand are deep rooted primarily in religion. Music, dance and arts are a manifest for the firm religious bonds of the people with the awe-inspiring Himalayas.

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Uttarakhand's diverse ethnicities have created a rich literary tradition in languages including Hindi, Kumaoni, Garhwali, Jaunsari, and Bhoti. The dances of the region are connected to life and human existence and exhibit myriad human emotions. Langvir Nritya is a dance form for males that resembles gymnastic movements. Barada Nati folk dance is another famous dance of Dehradun, which is practised during some religious festivals. Other well-known dances include Hurka Baul, Jhora-Chanchri, Jhumaila, Chauphula, and Chholiya. Music is an integral part of the Uttarakhandi culture. Popular types of folk songs include Mangal, Basanti, Khuded and Chhopati. These folk songs are played on instruments including dhol, damau, turri, ransingha, dholki, daur, thali, bhankora, mandan and mashakbaja. The primary food of Uttarakhand is vegetables with wheat being a staple, although non-vegetarian food is also served. A distinctive characteristic of Uttarakhand cuisine is the sparing use of tomatoes, milk, and milk based products. Coarse grain with high fibre content is very common in Uttarakhand due to the harsh terrain.Geography : Uttarakhand has a total area of 53,483 km2, of which 86% is mountainous and 65% is covered by forest. Most of the northern part of the state is covered by high Himalayan peaks and glaciers. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the expanding development of Indian roads, railways and other physical infrastructure was giving rise to concerns over indiscriminate logging, particularly in the Himalaya. Two of the most important rivers in Hinduism originate in the region, the Ganges at Gangotri and the Yamuna at Yamunotri. These two along with Badrinath and Kedarnath form the Chota Char Dham, a holy pilgrimage for the Hindus. The state hosts the Bengal tiger in Jim Corbett National Park, the oldest national park of the Indian subcontinent. The Valley of Flowers, a Unesco World Heritage Site located in the upper expanses of Bhyundar Ganga near Joshimath in Gharwal region, is known for the variety and rarity of its flowers and plants. Demographics :Though 2011 census is silent on religion wise data, since data is ready and government is about to release it, some national newspapers accessed the data and published it. The data says there are 2 percent growth in Muslim population between 2001 and 2011, Now Muslim comprised 13.9 percent of total state population.

The native people of Uttarakhand are generally called Uttarakhandi and sometimes specifically either Kumaoni or Garhwali depending on their place of origin in either the Kumaon or Garhwal region. According to the 2011 census of India, Uttarakhand has a population of 10,116,752 comprising 5,154,178 males and 4,962,574 females, with 69.45% of the population living in rural areas. The state is the 20th most populous state of the country having 0.84% of the population on 1.69% of the land. The population density of the state is 189 people per square kilometre having a 20012011 decadal growth rate of 19.17%. The gender ratio is 963 females per 1000 males. The crude birth rate in the state is 18.6 with the total fertility rate being 2.3. The state has an infant mortality rate of 43, a maternal mortality rate of 188 and a crude death rate of 6.6.Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh, abbreviated as UP, is a state located in Northern India. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces, and was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950. Lucknow is the administrative capital of Uttar Pradesh. Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Moradabad, Aligarh, and Varanasi are known for their industrial importance in the state as well as in India. On 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved out from the Himalayan hill region of Uttar Pradesh.

Culture :

There is a long literary and folk Hindi language tradition in the state. In the 19th and 20th century, Hindi literature was modernised by authors such as Jaishankar Prasad, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Munshi Premchand, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala, Babu Gulabrai, Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya', Rahul Sankrityayan, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Dharamvir Bharati, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Dushyant Kumar, Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, Bharatendu Harishchandra, Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena, Shivmangal Singh Suman, Mahadevi Varma, and Vibhuti Narain Rai. Uttar Pradesh has produced musicians, including Anup Jalota, Baba Sehgal, Girija Devi, Gopal Shankar Misra, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Kishan Maharaj, Vikash Maharaj[205]Naushad Ali, Ravi Shankar, Shubha Mudgal, Siddheshwari Devi, Talat Mehmood, and Ustad Bismillah Khan. The Ghazal singer Begum Akhtar was a native of Uttar Pradesh. The region's folk heritage includes songs called rasiya (especially popular in Braj), which celebrate the divine love of Radha and Krishna. Other forms of music are kajari, sohar, qawwali, rasiya, thumri, birha, chaiti, and sawani. Kathak, a classical dance form, owes its origin to the state of Uttar Pradesh. The dance form is connected to classical Hindustani music where the rhythmic nimbleness of the feet is accompanied by the Tabla or Pakhawaj.[208] Two schools of this dance form, Lucknow gharana and Benares gharana, are situated in Uttar Pradesh.Diwali (celebrated between mid-October and mid-December) and Rama Navami are popular festivals in Uttar Pradesh. Kumbh Mela, organised in the month of Maagha (Feb-March), is a major festival held every three years in rotation at Allahabad. A typical day-to-day traditional vegetarian meal of Uttar Pradesh, like any other North Indian thali, consists of roti (flatbread), chawal, dal, sabji, raita and papad. Many people still drink the traditional drink chaach (traditional Butter milk) with meals. On festive occasions, usually 'tava' (flat pan for roti) is considered inauspicious, and instead fried foods are consumed. A typical festive thali consists of Puri, Kachauri, sabji, pulav, papad, raita, salad and desserts (such as sewai or Kheer).

Many communities have their own particular style of cuisines, such as the Jains, Kayasths and Muslims. There are also certain sub-regional delicacies. Awadhi cuisine is world famous for dishes such as kebab, biryani, keema and nihari. Sweets occupy an important place in the Hindu diet and are eaten at social ceremonies. People make distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including khurchan, peda, gulabjamun, petha, makkhan malai, and chamcham. The chaat in Lucknow and Banarasi Paan is known across India for its flavour and ingredients.

The people of Uttar Pradesh dress in a variety of traditional and Western styles. Traditional styles of dress include colourful draped garments such as sari for women and dhoti or lungi for men and tailored clothes such as salwar kameez for women and kurta-pyjama for men. Men often sport head-gear like topi or pagri. Sherwani is a more formal male dress and is frequently worn along with chooridar on festive occasions. European-style trousers and shirts are also common among the men.Geography :

Uttar Pradesh, with a total area of 243,290 square kilometres (93,935sqmi), is Indias fourth largest state in terms of land area. It is situated on the northern spout of India and shares an international boundary with Nepal. The Himalayas border the state on the north, but the plains that cover most of the state are distinctly different from those high mountains. The larger Gangetic Plain region is in the north; it includes the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, the Ghaghra plains, the Ganges plains and the Terai. The smaller Vindhya Range and plateau region is in the south. It is characterised by hard rock strata and a varied topography of hills, plains, valleys and plateaus. The Bhabhar tract gives place to the terai area which is covered with tall elephant grass and thick forests interspersed with marshes and swamps. The sluggish rivers of the bhabhar deepen in this area, their course running through a tangled mass of thick under growth. The terai runs parallel to the bhabhar in a thin strip. The entire alluvial plain is divide into three sub-regions. The first in the eastern tract consisting of 14 districts which are subject to periodical floods and droughts and have been classified as scarcity areas. These districts have the highest density of population which gives the lowest per capita land. The other two regions, the central and the western are comparatively better with a well-developed irrigation system. They suffer from water logging and large-scale user tracts. In addition, the area is fairly arid. The state has more than 32 large and small rivers; of them, the Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sarayu, Betwa, and Ghaghara are larger and of religious importance in Hinduism. The state has an abundance of natural resources. In 2011 the recorded forest area in the state was 16,583km2 (6,403sqmi) which is about 6.88% of the state's geographical area. In spite of rapid deforestation and poaching of wildlife, a diverse flora and fauna continue to exist in the state. Several species of trees, large and small mammals, reptiles, and insects are found in the belt of temperate upper mountainous forests. Medicinal plants are found in the wild and are also grown in plantations. The Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands support cattle. Moist deciduous trees grow in the upper Gangetic plain, especially along its riverbanks. This plain supports a wide variety of plants and animals. The Ganges and its tributaries are the habitat of large and small reptiles, amphibians, fresh-water fish, and crabs. Scrubland trees such as the babool and animals such as the chinkara are found in the arid Vindhyas.Demographics :Uttar Pradesh has a large population and a high population growth rate. From 1991 to 2001 its population increased by over 26%. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India, with 199,581,477 people on 1 March 2011. The state contributes 16.16% of India's population. The population density is 828 people per square kilometre, making it one of the most densely populated states in the country.

The sex ratio in 2011, at 908 women to 1000 men, was lower than the national figure of 933. The state's 20012011 decennial growth rate (including Uttrakhand) was 20.09%, higher than the national rate of 17.64%. Uttar Pradesh has a large number of people living below the poverty line. Estimates released by the Planning Commission for the year 2009-10 revealed that Uttar Pradesh had 59million people below the poverty line, the most for any state in India.PunjabPunjab, also spelt Panjab, is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region.The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast, Rajasthan to the southwest, and the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west. To the north it is bounded by the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The state capital is located in Chandigarh, a Union Territory and also the capital of the neighbouring state of Haryana.Culture :

The culture of Punjab has many elements including music such as bhangra, an extensive religious and non-religious dance tradition, a long history of poetry in the Punjabi language, a significant Punjabi film industry which dates back to before Partition, a vast range of cuisine which has become widely popular abroad, and a number of seasonal and harvest festivals such as Lohri, Basant, Vaisakhi and Teeyan, all of which are celebrated in addition to the religious festivals of India. A kissa is a Punjabi language oral story-telling tradition that has a mixture of origins ranging from the Arabian peninsula to Iran and Afghanistan. Punjabi wedding traditions and ceremonies are a strong reflection of Punjabi culture. Marriage ceremonies are known for their rich rituals, songs, dances, food and dresses, which have evolved over many centuries. One of the main features of Punjabi cuisine is its diverse range of dishes. Home cooked and restaurant cuisine sometimes vary in taste. Restaurant style uses large amounts of ghee. Some food items are eaten on a daily basis while some delicacies are cooked only on special occasions.

Within the Punjab region, there are different preferences in terms of use of spices and cooking methods. Also many varieties of ingredients exist as well. People in villages tend to cook much stuff in animal fats compared to the residents in the cities. Also there are many regional dishes that are famous in some regions only. Many dishes are exclusive to Punjab, such as sarson da saag, Tandoori chicken, Shami kebab, makki di roti etc. to name a few. Tandoori food is a Punjabi specialty especially for non-vegetarian dishes. Before the 1947 partition, tandoori cooking in India was traditionally associated with the former undivided Punjab. Many of the most popular elements of Indian cuisine as it is marketed to non-Indian customers (such as tandoor, naan, pakoras and vegetable dishes with paneer) is derived from Punjab. Punjabis celebrate a number of festivals which have taken a semi secular meaning and are regarded as cultural festivals by people of all religions. Some of the festivals are Bandi Chhor Divas(Diwali), Mela Maghi, Hola Mohalla, Rakhri, Vaisakhi, Lohri, Teeyan and Basant.Sikhism is the predominant faith in Punjab, followed by more than 60% of the populace. The holiest of Sikh shrines, the Sri Harmandir Sahib (or Golden Temple), is in the city of Amritsar and the city also houses the SGPC, the top most Sikh religious body. The Sri Akal Takht Sahib, which is within the Golden Temple complex, is the highest temporal seat of Sikhs. Of the five Takhts (Temporal Seats of religious authority) of Sikhism, three are in Punjab. These are Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Damdama Sahib and Anandpur Sahib.

Geography :

Punjab is in northwestern India and has an area of 50,362 square kilometres (19,445sqmi). It extends from the latitudes 29.30 North to 32.32 North and longitudes 73.55 East to 76.50 East. It is bounded on the west by Pakistan, on the north by Jammu and Kashmir, on the northeast by Himachal Pradesh and on the south by Haryana and Rajasthan.

Most of the Punjab lies in a fertile, alluvial plain with many rivers and an extensive irrigation canal system. A belt of undulating hills extends along the northeastern part of the state at the foot of the Himalayas. Its average elevation is 300 metres (980ft) above sea level, with a range from 180 metres (590ft) in the southwest to more than 500 metres (1,600ft) around the northeast border. The southwest of the state is semiarid, eventually merging into the Thar Desert. The Shiwalik Hills extend along the northeastern part of the state at the foot of the Himalayas. There are no natural forests in the plains; extensive tracts occur covered only with grass, shrubs and bushes. The mango fruit is largely cultivated in the southeast of the Punjab and attains a high degree of perfection about Multan and Hoshiarpur. Cultivated fruit trees, such as orange, pomegranate, apple, peach, fig, mulberry, quince, apricot, almond, and plum are abundant in the region. The Shivalik area is the richest area of Punjab in terms of floral and faunal diversity, and has been identified as one of the micro-endemic zones of India. Amongst the angiosperms, about 355 species of herbs, 70 tree species, 70 species of shrubs or under shrubs, 19 of climbers and 21 species of twiners have been recorded from the area. Apart from angiosperms, 31 species of pteridophytes, 27 of bryophytes and one species of gymnosperms (Pinus roxburghii) have also been recorded. The area is also rich in faunal diversity, including 396 species of birds, 214 species of Lepidoptera, 55 species of fish, 20 species of reptiles, and 19 species of mammals. Here are a number of wetlands, bird sanctuaries and zoological parks across Punjab. These include the Hari-Ke-Pattan National Wetland and Wildlife Sanctuary at Harike in Tarn Taran Sahib District, the Kanjli Wetland, the Kapurthala Sutlej Water Body Wetland, the Ropar Zoological Park, Chhatbir, Bansar Garden, Sangrur, the Aam Khas Bagh, Sirhind, the Ram Bagh Garden Amritsar, the Shalimar Garden, Kapurthala and the Baradari Garden at Patiala.Demographics :

According to the 2011 Indian Census, the population of Indian Punjab is 27,704,236 (males 14,634,819 & females 13,069,417) The literacy rate in Punjab is 75%, male literacy being 80.23% and female literacy 68.36%.

List of major cities population in Punjab are:-

1. Ludhiana, population of 1,613,878.

2. Amritsar, population of 1,183,761.

3. Jalandhar, population of 903,775.

4. Patiala, population of 404,686.

5. Bathinda, population of 285,813.

The sex ratio of Punjab was 895 females per 1000 males (2011 census). On account of female foeticide, Punjab has the second lowest sex ratio amongst all Indian states. Being an agricultural state, a large part of the population lives in the rural area. Roughly 66% of the people live in rural areas while the rest of the 34% are urban residents.

Punjab has highest dalit population in India which is 31.9% including both Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The scheduled caste population is 28.9%, the highest percentage of any Indian state.[53] Districts with high dalit population are Ferozepur (42 percent of dalits), Nawanshahr (40 per cent), Jalandhar and Muktsar ( 38 per cent), Faridkot (36 per cent), Tarn Taran (32 percent) and Kapurthala (30 per cent).

HaryanaHaryana is a state in North India with its capital at Chandigarh. It came into existence on 1 November 1966 as a newly created state carved out of the Indian Punjab (East Punjab) state on the basis of language. It has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the Apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar (VS 11891230). It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna defines its eastern border with Uttar Pradesh. Haryana also surrounds the country's capital Delhi on three sides, forming the northern, western and southern borders of Delhi. Consequently, a large area of south Haryana is included in the National Capital Region for purposes of planning for development.Culture :Haryana has a rich cultural heritage that goes back to the Indus Valley Civilization era. Dhosi Hill, the ashram of the mythical Rishi Chyawan is an important site where Chyawanprash was purportedly formulated for the first time. The last Hindu emperor of India who belonged to Rewari in Haryana, Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, also called Hemu, declared himself a 'Vikramaditya' king after defeating Akbar's forces in Delhi in 1556. It amounted to establishing a vedic 'Hindu Raj' in North India during medieval period after a gap of more than 350 years. The age-old customs of meditation, Yoga and chanting of Vedic mantras are still observed by the masses. Famous yoga guru Swami Ramdev is from Mahendragarh in Haryana. Seasonal and religious festivals glorify the culture of this region. Haryana has a variety of folk dances. Haryanavi has traditionally been the dominant mother tongue in Haryana, with Standard Hindi being spoken as a second language. Haryanvi has no official status, as it is seen as a dialect of Hindi. Therefore Hindi is the official languages and also the most commonly spoken language in the state. Since it was the Punjabi Suba movement that had led to formation of Haryana, Bansi Lal thought, Let any language other than Punjabi be the second language of the state. Hence, Tamil became the second state language even though there might not have been even a single Tamil native family in the state at that point of time.[38] Since 1947, Punjabi has also been spoken by a lot of people in Haryana especially by those Hindus and Sikhs who came over from the West Punjab, following the Partition of India. As such, Punjabi edged out Tamil as the secondary official language of the state, other than Hindi and English, in 2010.Geography :

Haryana is a landlocked state in northern India. It is located between 2739' to 3035' N latitude and between 7428' and 7736' E longitude. The altitude of Haryana varies between 700 to 3600ft (200 metres to 1200 metres) above sea level. An area of 1,553km2 is covered by forest. Haryana has four main geographical features.

The Yamuna-Ghaggar plain forming the largest part of the state

The Shivalik Hills to the northeast

Semi-desert sandy plain to the southwest

The Aravalli Range in the southThe river Yamuna flows along its eastern boundary. The ancient Sarasvati River is said to have flowed from Yamuna Nagar, but it has now disappeared.

The river Ghaggar is Haryana's main seasonal river. The Ghaggar rises in the outer Himalayas, between the Yamuna and the Sutlej and enters Haryana near Pinjore, Panchkula district. Passing through Ambala and Hissar, it reaches Bikaner in Rajasthan and runs a course of 460km (290mi) before disappearing into the deserts of Rajasthan. Important tributary are Chautang and Tangri. The Haryana has 2 National Parks, 8 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 2 Wildlife Conservation Areas, 4 Animal & Bird Breeding Centers, 1 Deer park and 3 Zoos, all of which are managed by the Haryana Forest Department of the Government of Haryana. Thorny, dry, deciduous forest and thorny shrubs can be found all over the state. During the monsoon, a carpet of grass covers the hills. Mulberry, eucalyptus, pine, kikar, shisham and babul are some of the trees found here. The species of fauna found in the state of Haryana include black buck, nilgai, panther, fox, mongoose, jackal and wild dog. More than 300 species of birds are found here.

Demographics :

Hindus are majority in Haryana and are about 88.23% of the population, Sikhs 5.54%, Muslims 5.78%(mainly Meos, Others 0.45%. In 2001 Hindus made up 18,655,925 of the population, Muslims 1,222,196, Sikhs 1,170,662, Jains 57,167, Christians 27,185, and Buddhists 7,140. Muslims are mainly in the Mewat district and Yamuna Nagar district, while Sikhs are mostly in the districts adjoining Punjab, Hisar, Sirsa, Jind, Fatehabad, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Narnaul and Panchkula. Haryana has second largest Sikh population in India after the state of Punjab. In May 2014 Haryana Government notified the Haryana Anand Marriages Registration Rules, 2014, allowing Sikhs to register their marriages under these rules. Although the Anand marriage law was enacted in 1909, there was no provision for registration of marriages. The parliament had passed the law allowing Sikhs to register their marriages under the Anand Marriage Act in 2012, but Haryana has issued the notification in 2014. Meanwhile, the new rules, which have been implemented with immediate effect, would be called Haryana Anand Marriages Registration Rules, 2014

Agriculture and related industries have been the backbone of the local economy. These days the state is seeing a massive influx of immigrants from across the nation, primarily from Bihar, Bengal, Uttrakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. Scheduled Castes form 19.3% of the population.