Valley of Flowers National Park - History, Explorers' Records, Location, Geography and Climate

 

Valley of Flowers National Park is an Indian national park established in 1982. Located in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, it is known for its endemic alpine flower meadows and diverse flora. This highly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, musk deer, brown bear, red fox, and blue sheep. Birds found in the park include the Himalayan monal pheasant and other high-altitude birds.

At 3,352 to 3,658 meters above sea level, the serene landscape of Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park to the east. Together, they form a unique transition zone between the Zanskar and Great Himalayan mountain ranges. The park covers 87.50 km2 and is approximately 8 km long and 2 km wide. It lies entirely within the Temperate Alpine Zone. Both parks fall within the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (223,674 ha), which is further surrounded by a buffer zone (5,148.57 km2). The Nanda Devi National Park Reserve is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

The park is open only during the summer months from June to October and remains covered with heavy snow for the rest of the year.

History

Explorers' Records

Because of its remoteness, this place was not widely known to the outside world. In 1931, Frank S. Smyth, Eric Shipton, and R.L. Holdsworth, all British mountaineers, lost their way while returning from a successful expedition to Mount Kamet and arrived in a valley full of flowers. They were captivated by the beauty of the area and named it "Valley of Flowers." Smyth later wrote a book by the same name.

In 1939, Lady Joan Margaret Legge (21 February 1885 – 4 July 1939), a botanist employed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, came to the valley to study flowers. While climbing some rocky slopes to collect flowers, she slipped and fell to her death. Her sister later visited the valley and erected a memorial near the site.

Professor Chandra Prakash Kala, a botanist at the Wildlife Institute of India, conducted research studies on the valley's flowers and conservation for a decade, beginning in 1993. He compiled a list of 520 alpine plants native to the national park and wrote two books: "The Valley of Flowers – Myth and Reality" and "Ecology and Conservation of the Valley of Flowers National Park, Garhwal Himalaya."

Location

Reaching the Valley of Flowers requires a trek of approximately 17 km (10.5 mi). The nearest major town is Joshimath in Garhwal, which has good road connections to Haridwar and Dehradun, both about 270 km (168 mi) south of Joshimath. From Delhi, one can take a train to Haridwar and then a bus to Govindghat via Rishikesh. Govindghat is about 24 km before another important destination, Badrinath. Govindghat can also be reached by car from Delhi, which is about 500 km away.

Govindghat is a small place near Joshimath (about an hour's driving distance), where the trek begins. From Govindghat, a 4 km shared taxi and then a trek of less than 11 km (8.6 mi) takes trekkers to Ghangaria, a small settlement about 3 km (about 2 mi) from the valley. To reach Ghangaria, one can hire a porter, mule, or even a helicopter. The trek from Govindghat to Ghangaria is common, extending to the Gurudwara Shri Hemkund Sahib Sikh temple in Hemkund, and trekkers may encounter many Sikh pilgrims along the way. As one approaches Ghangaria, fields of fragrant wildflowers, wild rose bushes, and wild strawberries welcome you along the way. Visitors to the Valley of Flowers must obtain a permit from the Forest Department in Ghangaria. The permit is valid for three days. Only daytime sightseeing and trekking are permitted.

Visitors are not permitted to stay inside the national park, and accommodation can be found in Ghangaria. The best time to visit is between July and early September, just after the onset of the monsoon, when the valley is filled with flowers.

Geography

The Valley of Flowers is located in the Pushpavati River valley, in the upper reaches of the Bhyundar Ganga River near Joshimath in the Garhwal region. The lower reaches of the Bhyundar Ganga River near Gobindghat are known as the Bhyundar Valley. The Valley of Flowers, located in the Pushpavati Valley between 30°41' and 30°48'N and 79°33' and 79°46'E, lies 20 km northwest of Nanda Devi National Park, across the broad valley of the Bhyundar Ganga. It is one of two hanging valleys formed at the beginning of the Bhyundar Valley; the other is the smaller Hemkund Valley, which runs parallel to the Valley of Flowers about 10 km south of the Valley of Flowers. The Valley of Flowers is approximately 15 km long from east to west and averages 6 km wide. A small tributary of the Pushpavati River originates from the Tipra Glacier in the Gauri Mountains to the east and flows through the Valley of Flowers.

The area is located in the Zanskar Range of the Himalayas and the highest point in the national park is Gauri Parbat, which is 6,719 m above sea level.

climate

As an inner Himalayan valley, the Nanda Devi Basin has a unique microclimate. Conditions are generally dry and annual rainfall is low, but heavy monsoon rains occur from late June to early September. During the monsoon, fog and low-lying clouds keep the soil moist, resulting in lusher vegetation than in the drier inner Himalayan valleys. Temperatures remain moderate to cool (maximum 19°C) from mid-April to June. The Valley of Flowers also has a microclimate typical of an enclosed inner Himalayan valley, protected from the full impact of the southwest summer monsoon by the Greater Himalayan Range to its south. Heavy fog and rain are frequent during the monsoon, particularly in late summer. Both the basin and valley are typically snow-covered for six to seven months, from late October to late March. Snow accumulates at a greater depth and lower elevation in the shaded southern portions of the valleys than in the northern portions.

Ecology

Biodiversity

The Valley of Flowers, a high-altitude valley in the Himalayas, has long been recognized by renowned mountaineers, botanists, and literature. It has been internationally recognized for over a century and is mentioned in Hinduism. Local people have been visiting the valley since ancient times. It is believed that Indian yogis also visited the valley for meditation. The Valley of Flowers is home to many different colors of flowers, which have evolved over time.

The Valley of Flowers has gained prominence as a region with diverse alpine flora, representing the Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadow ecoregion. The rich diversity of species reflects its location within a transition zone between the Zanskar and Great Himalayan ranges to the north and south of the valley, respectively, and between the Eastern Himalayan and Western Himalayan flora. Many plant species are considered endangered. Several have not been recorded outside of Uttarakhand. Two have not been recorded in Nanda Devi National Park. The diversity of threatened medicinal plant species is higher than that recorded in other Indian Himalayan protected areas. The entire Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve falls within the Western Himalaya Endemic Bird Area (EBA). The Valley of Flowers National Park is the second core zone of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Seven restricted-range bird species are endemic to this part of the EBA.