Питорагарх қаласы: географиясы, тарихы және мәдениеті

Town in Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India
the municipality in Uttarakhand, India

Pithoragarh (Kumaoni: Pithor'garh) is a Himalayan town with a Municipal Board in Pithoragarh district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the largest hill town in Kumaon Division.

Pithoragarh has a monsoon influenced climate. The summer season from April to mid June is moderately warm with occasional thunderstorms, whilst the monsoon season from mid June to mid September is humid with heavy showers almost daily. This gives way to a warm and sunny autumn season. The winter season brings pleasant afternoons, very cold mornings, and spells of frontal rain accompanied by sparse snowfall.

Pithoragarh is an urban town with a Nagar Palika Parishad or Municipal Council spread over an area of 9 square km. It is divided into 20 wards for the sake of administration. It is also part of the Almora Lok Sabha Constituency, thus has BJP MP Ajay Tamta representing the city and part of the Pithoragarh Vidhan Sabha constituency, represented by INC's Mayukh Mahar. Pithoragarh town, before the creation of a Municipal Board, was administered as a Town Area by a committee consisting of 10 members and a chairman. The Municipality of Pithoragarh came into existence on 24 Nov 1962 and the members and the chairman of Town Area Committee became its members. The board was, however, dissolved on 12 Mar 1963, and the town was then administered by the District Magistrate, who was the ex officio chairman of the board under the U. P. Municipalities Act of 1916. There was no elected body and the affairs were supervised by an Officer in charge (a deputy collector) to whom the powers were delegated by the District Magistrate. Hilljatra is a pastoralists' and agriculturalists' festival, which is celebrated in some parts of Pithoragarh districts. The aathon (eight day of bhado) and Gawra Visarjan became part of Hilljatra during the development process. The festival, which originated in West Nepal's Sorar (Mahakali) region, was first introduced to the valley in Kumor village, Pithoragarh. The hiljatra of Urai (Dewalthal)is the most famous. Tha tableau of the Lakhiya bhoot is the main attraction. On the evening of hiljatra,worship of goddess Mahakali is performed tableaux are tajen out. The people of Bajethi, another village near Pithoragarh, accepted the Jatra, and it was modified and introduced as Hiran chital in the Kanalichhina and Askot regions. Hilljatra is linked to ropai (paddy planting) and other rainy season agricultural and pastoral labours (Hill = mud, Jatra = Jaat). It has also been linked to the Champawat ruler's victory.

The small town was extensively described in a novel by American author Bradley Swift, From Pithoragarh to Pittsburg. Major parts of the Bollywood film Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar have been shot in the city.

Pithoragarh is not connected by any direct train services; however, it is well connected by road, and it also has an airport. The National Highway 9 passes through Pithoragarh. Landslides and cloudbursts, caused by heavy rains that fall during the summer monsoon, often interrupt transportation networks. The Pithoragarh Airport, also known as the Naini Saini Airport, is located about north east of the city. The airport, which was constructed in 1991 for administrative use, was previously mainly used by the Indian Air Force for defence purposes. The airport was upgraded in 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs 64.91 crore. Bareilly Airport is located around 249 km from Pithoragarh is a major airport nearby which is connected to cities like Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru. Pithoragarh is connected to the rest of Uttarakhand by all weather motorable roads. The total road length in Pithoragarh is 80 km. Before independence, during the middle of the 19th century when Pithoragarh was part of Almora, there were only two middle schools in Pithoragarh. LSM Govt. Post Graduate College is the only government college in the town providing studies up to post graduation. It was previously affiliated to Kumaun University, Nainital. With the growing impact of I. T., the government opened SIT Pithoragarh in 2011. Almost a dozen of privately owned computer centres opened up later in the town.