Aditya Decodes

India is renowned in the entire world for its rich cultural heritage and legacy of the past. India is a treasure house with a huge number of monuments which includes Monuments of National Importance that entails 3,684 monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). 4,134 State protected monuments and 30,000 unprotected sites. But, if see the current ground reality of most of the monuments, it is not a good sight to see. Most of the monuments  are vandalised, abused, painted with spitting, calligraphed with scribbling of names and almost destroying them to another level. Recognising the same the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India came up with a very innovative and one of it’s kind scheme named as Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar Apni Pehchan. The scheme was launched on 27 September, 2017 by the Honourable President of India. The scheme is a collaborative effort by three main national level agencies  the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Surv

Diwali the festival of light which we all celebrate with great joy every time. But the place from where I belong i.e. in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh we celebrate this wonderful festival not once but twice. As it is the story which I have heard from my childhood is that as the time where lord Ram came back to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and defeating Ravana everyone in the the bharat varsha welcomed them.  But as hills were remote and the communication was not that extensive as today so the news of homecoming of lord Ram came a month later to the people living in far flung areas of Himachal and Uttarakhand.  So they celebrated the Diwali once them knew about it. This became an every time  occasion and is known as Buddhi Diwali. The term     Buddhi in hindi and pahari refers to old. Buddhi Diwali is mainly celebrated in the districts of Sirmaur, Kullu and some Sirmaur touching areas of Shimla district and also in the entire state of Uttarakhand.  In the trans giri area o

Siddu's or known as Sidku's in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh from where I belong is one of the most  authentic and regional dish of the himachali cuisine.  From childhood siddu's have always been  one of my most favourite breads that i have every tasted.  Though most of you may not have heard of it. In himachal and especially in the upper himachal area it is almost a frequent dish which is made in almost every household. Though, siddus are famous all over himachal but they are mostly made and in the districts of Shimla, Kullu, Solan, Mandi, Sirmaur, Kinnaur & Lahaul Spiti. Mostly in the upper himachal areas where there is more colder climate. Siddu's are a fermented bread made of wheat flour which is stuffed with a variety of sweet and savoury fillings. There are a variety of fillings which used for stuffings such as the sweet combination of the jaggery powder with dry fruits to the savoury lentils paste, potato paste or the sweet potato paste. Also poppy

My village “Dabhara” is a beautiful and picturesque hamlet located in the lap of himalayas. It is a tiny village with around 20 homes and a population of less than 100 people, who all are a part of one family. Dabhara is located in the Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh. Situated at an elevation of around 1600 metres my village has a panoramic view of the peaks of the Solan, Sirmaur and Shimla districts. Also, a magnificent view of the Churdhar peak (literally meaning the bangle of snow), which is the highest peak of the Sirmaur district is seen right in front. View from my village  You must be wondering what is the meaning of Dabhara ?  I too was very inquisitive to know what this term actually means. I always used to enquire from the elders of our village about the same. But I always got a similar kind of answer from almost everyone. The answer was that in the old days the names were given very randomly to places in our pahari language and they need not have any fixed meanings. Bei