The Niti Valley lies in the Joshimath subdivision of Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand (formerly Uttaranchal in the state of Uttar Pradesh), India, at an altitude of between 2,100 and 7,817 meters. The valley’s major river is the Dhauliganga which flows south-southwest and has two main tributaries – the west-southwest flowing Rishiganga and the west flowing Girthiganga – with a confluence near the villages of Reni and Kailashpur. Upstream of Reni, the area is inhabited by a substantial tribal population, the Bhotiyas, with two main sub-tribes, the Marchha and Tolchha. The area falls within the buffer zone of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR). The core of the reserve is adjacent to the villages of Lata, Reni, Paing, and Tolma. http://farbound.net/sunshine-himalayan-adventures/

1. Lata Village
An Introduction

2. Lata Village Cluster

3. USP – Nanda Devi Temple
The Nanda Devi temple in Lata,
reputed to be around a thousand
years old. Until some years ago,
there used to be a priest who
officiated at the temple, but
since he left, his duties have
been shared by three clans of
the village — the Ranas, the
Rawats, and the Butolas. Each
year, the families of one of these
clans become responsible for the
maintenance of the temple, and
for performing the puja in it.

4. The Unique Key to the Temple
Raghuvir Singh Rana at the
entrance to the Nanda Devi
temple in Lata, holding the
"key" to the temple. It looks
like a ceremonial sword, and
fits neatly into a slot in the
heavy wooden door of the
temple. Besides this there is a
long list of folklores which are
attached to this ancient temple
including the folklores of the
strong Batola- descendents of
who still occupy the vallge.

5. Vernacular Homestays
Raghuvir Singh Rana's
house in Lata. One can stay
in the room at the extreme
left on the upper floor as
well as other rooms .
Similarly at any point of the
year there are homestays
which are available to
ecotourists due to
everybody having a summer
and winter house in Lata.

6. Lata Folkways - Dress
The womenfolk of Lata
village are usually
traditionally dressed yet
quite open-minded and
forthcoming. They are
expert weavers and are
happy to interact with
the tourists. These
unique aspects of the
Lata women make it a
very comfortable for
women tourists who feel
themselves as a part of
the Bhotiya community.

7. Lata Folkways – Unique Folk Dances
Dance : Lata has some
unique dances and
villages just need an
ocassion to come
together & celebrate just
like any other hill tribe of
the Himalayas.
This dance is performed
mostly by females during
special occasions, after
dinner, when all get free
time after whole day
work. This dance is also
performed in circle with
a special step and
without any beats.

8. Lata Folkways – Unique Festivals
Sitoon, reenactment of Lord Rama’s exile
for 14 years !
Every 14 years, villagers of Lata perform
reenactment of Rama’s Vanvaas by creating
wooden idols and after series of rituals put
them in a cave symbolizing vanvaas ! Text
with photos. Image credit Vijay Butola.
Here we can see one MS guest from abroad
being dressed as a Bhotiya Lady an
interesting activity for Rural tourism making
local people and guests proud of age old
traditions.

9. Lata Folkways- Handicrafts
Making of my carpet

10. Lata Folkways- Handicrafts
Making of my carpet

11. Lata – Pristine Nature

12. Lata – Holistic Healing
Himalayan Folkways are best to heal the mind
and the body. Healing Himalayan Herbs ,
organic home stay food, joys of being a part of
the community all lead to a perfect complete
holiday both for Indians and Foreigners alike.
Just watching and participating in the day to
day activities of the village like cooking,
farming, looking after animals is a unique
experience.

13. Lata- Bird-Watching
Since Lata village is in the bufferzone of
the UN world Heritage Site of Nanda Devi
Biosphere reserve, its home to a variety of
flora and fauna. Several bird species
including 8 endangered species viz. Monal
pleasant (Lophophorus impeganus),
Himalayan snow cock (Tetraogallus
himalayansis), Koklas pheasant (Purasic
macrolopha), Western tragopan
(Tragopan melanocephalus), Golden eagle
(Aquila mipalansis), Black eagle
(Letinaetus malayensis), Bearded vulture
(Gypatus barbatus) (Mohan, 1993) can all
be spotted in the jungles above Lata.
Nature also becomes prime as Lata is the
birthplace of the famous Chipko
movement in which local ladies protected
their flora and fauna against illicit felling
by hugging the trees.

14. Lata- Trekking with Legends

15. Lata – Base for Mountaineering
Lata Village gives
one amazing
views of massive
peaks like Trishul,
Nanda Devi,
Nanda Ghunti,
Dronagiri, Hathi
Ghodi and Dev
Sthan all around.

16. Lata- Birthplace of Chipko Movement
The Lata & Reni Village is the birth
place of the world famous Chipko
(hugging the tree) movement . The
landmark event in this struggle took
place on March 26, 1974, when a
group of female peasants in Reni
&Lata village, in Chamoli district,
Uttarakhand, India, acted to prevent
the cutting of trees and reclaim their
traditional forest rights that were
threatened by the contractor system
of the state Forest Department by
hugging the trees. This movement
transpired hundreds of such grassroot
level actions, throughout the region
and became world famous.HUG THE HUGGERS

17. Lata- Amazing Day &Overnight Treks

18. Lata- Meet the Bhotiya Dog

19. Lata- Interpretive Guiding
Lata is also the head office of MS Shepard
Private Limited a unique model of
community based tourism which gone
ahead of the cDMO approach and has
local members as Directors. Here I am
standing with Mr. Dhan Singh Rana the
founder of the company and also the
Pradhan of the Van Panchayat. He also
initiated the Jhapto- Chino ( snatch & grab
movement ) after the forest department
failed to address local needs. These
members are well trained in
interpretative guiding techniques and are
qualified mountaineers , naturalists,
folklore storey tellers, first aid experts,
trekkers, birdwatchers, cooks and above
all fine hospitable mountain men.

20. Lata- Safari’s – Mountain Biking ,
Horse, Jeep Safari’s
This road is the road leading to the
highest point in the world connected
by Road – The Mighty Niti Pass @
5,700 meters. A beautiful road with
very less traffic is also ideal for doing
activities like Mountain Biking , horse
safari’s and adventure jeep safaris to
the Niti Village and back.
COME TO LATA VILLAGE …………
.....ENJOY THE HIMALAYAN FOLKWAYS