Pangi Valley

Pangi
Clockwise from top left: View of the valley, Chandrabhaga River, A meadow, Sach Pass, Shiva Peak
Pangi
Location in Himachal Pradesh, India
Pangi
Pangi (India)
Coordinates: 33°05′02″N 76°24′25″E / 33.084014°N 76.406980°E / 33.084014; 76.406980
CountryIndia
StateHimachal Pradesh
DistrictChamba
Government
  BodyGovernment of Himachal Pradesh
  Himachal Pradesh Legislative AssemblyJanak Raj
  Member of parliamentKangana Ranaut
Area
  Total
1,601 km2 (618 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
  Total
18,868
  Density12/km2 (31/sq mi)
Demonympangwal
Languages
  OfficialHindi
  localPangwali
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
176323
Vehicle registrationHP 45

Pangi is a tehsil of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India. According to 2011 census of India Pangi valley has a total population of 18,868. It is an administrative subdivision of the Chamba district situated in the northern extreme of the state. Sandwiched between two mighty mountain ranges, the zanskar range in the North and the Pir Panjal Range in the South it is an isolated valley. In southern side it shares boundaries with Lahaul and Spiti and in eastern side with Jammu and Kashmir. Chandrabhaga cuts across the terrain in a deep narrow gorge before entering Paddar region of Jammu and Kashmir. With its deep river gorges and barren mountain peaks, it offers a wide range of scenery and vegetation. Till recently, this valley was the remotest Tribal area of Himachal Pradesh where road access to the rest of the state was established only in the mid-1990s. So forbidding was this snowy range regarded in former times of the Princely regime, that every State official proceeding to Pangi on duty was granted a special allowance, under the head of ‘‘funeral expenses”, as his return, alive or dead, was not taken at all to be a matter of certainty or even of high expectation.