The Chini tahsil of Mahasu district was made an independent district from May 1, 1960 and came to be known as Kinnaur district. Kinnaur is a home to some of the India's oldest traditions and legends. In the epic Mahabharata, the Pandavas are said to have spent several years of their exile in these tracts. Ancient texts have gone to the extent of placing the people of Kinnaur-the Kinner-as halfway between men and gods. The highland tribes here are simple, hard working, honest and affectionate towards the tourists.

GEOGRAPHY Located on the Indo-Tibetan border, it is surrounded by Tibet to the east, Garhwal Himalaya to the south Spiti Valley to the north and Kullu to the west. Kinnaur district starts from sarahan and extends till Sumdo which is the gateway of Spiti. The main peaks of this region include: Leo Pargial - 6791 M (31 54'N, 78 44'E), Kinner Kailash -6050 M (31 31'n, 78 32'E) Jorkaden - (6473 M) Raldang-(5499 M) (31 28'N, 78 18'E) Phawarang (6349 M).

The Sutlej river, which rises on the southern slopes of Kailash Parbat near Mansarover in Tibet, flows through the Kinnaur valley. It enters India from Tibet near Shipki La (5669 M), above Namgia, it cuts its way through the great Himalayan Range and passes through spectacular gorges carved by its strong currents. The Spiti river, flowing down from the north, joins the Sutlej at Khab and the Baspa river, coming from the east joins it at Karchham (31 29'N, 79 11'E).

PEOPLE AND CULTURE Due to the proximity of Kinnaur to Tibet, the lifestyle and religion of its inhabitants have been influenced by Buddhism, though the majority of the people practice Hinduism. Buddhism is prevalent in the northen and central regions of Kinnaur.

Most of the Villages have a Local Diety.The Diety is on a square ark made of walnut wood covered with clothes and decorated by a tuft of the tail of yak and is placed on two poles .Four people are required to lift the devtaThe village deities have their spokesmen locally known as droct, who would go into a trance when occasion demands and act as sooth-sayer, disease-diviner and also the medicine man. The devta is taken out on special occasions like foo-latch, rang-karong-ching etc.Droct or the spokesman asks questions to the diety who responds by jumping up and down and bending either to the right or left depending on a yes or a no! I had witnesed this in the month of september during rang-karong-ching! This was in Thangi Village.During this a group of people(both men and women)they go to the opposite peak!they drink and make merry,a small group goes further up to collect brahmkamal and other flowers.By the time they return it gets late and most of them are drunk. The Villagers had gathered near the temple!The entire atmosphere was very errie !! everyone was dancing wih trumpets blowing,drums beating and then all of a sudden everything goes quite! The droct asks something in response to which the devta starts shaking! i was not very sure of how it moves and shakes! but then i have personally asked people as to whether this thing is actually real! all of them confirmed its true! in fact my relative who is a local of Thangi and done his education from delhi also had same ideas.he being a local volunteered to lift the devta,he said that though he tried to resist its movement but was'nt succesful!! i know it's pretty Strange. someday i'm also gonna try it out!

One of the Strangest things that has always baffled me is appearance of rays of lights on the opposite mountains and then all of a sudden disappearing! not that i have witnessed this but many people have told me about it including my dad! he said it has got something to do with phosphour! i guess that was his theory! Even my cousin (he must be 10 years old)has seen this from moorang(village) on the opposite mountain! Local bielief is that people walk with burning pots on their heads! hmm pretty interesting! if any of you visits kinnaur make it a point to ask a local about this and yes if u get some positive inputs then please do mail me(arun_negi@hotmail.com). I dont know whether this phenomenon is observed everywhere in kinnaur or not! but people from moorang and thangi have definatly seen this!