Beyond The High Himalayas

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A Loving Tribute To A Unique Upbringing When Stephen Alter Is Asked The Simple Question Where Are You From, Originally? He Hesitates. Although He Is In Almost Every Way An American-Granted With A Trace Of British Accent-He Has An Unexpected Reply: My Real Home Was In India, A Hill Station Called Mussoorie, Seven And A Half Thousand Feet Up The Himalayas. That Was Where I Was Born And Raised, In A Section Known As Landour... It Is A Landscape, And A Time, That Haunts Him Still: I Miss The Place Itself; The Mountains, The View Of The High Himalayas Beyond Mussoorie, Stretching All The Way To Heaven. The Son And Grandson Of Presbytarian Missionaries Living In India For More Than Half A Century, Every Day Alter Straddled The Profound Boundary Between Utterly Different Peoples, Cultures, Languages And Religions. He And His Brothers Spoke A Pidgin Dialect Of Hindustani And English As Young Boys, Fished In The Rivers Song, Ganga And The Jumna, And Later Hunted For Barking Deer And Ghoral In The Steep Foothills Of The Mountains Always Looming Behind Them. They Studied American History But Knew More About India'S Recent Independence From England. In All The Way To Heaven, Alter Writes Affectionately Of His Family, His Indian Friends And His Memories Exotic And Mundane.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER ONE OF CBC'S BEST CANADIAN NONFICTION BOOKS OF 2022 For fans of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, the riveting story of the unsolved disappearance of an American backpacker in India—one of at least two dozen tourists who have met a similar fate in the remote and storied Parvati Valley. For centuries, India has enthralled Westerners looking for an exotic getaway, a brief immersion in yoga and meditation, or, in rare cases, a true pilgrimage to find spiritual revelation. Justin Alexander Shetler, an inveterate traveler trained in wilderness survival, was one such seeker. In his early thirties, Justin quit his job at a tech startup and set out on a global journey—across the United States by motorcycle, then down to South America, and on to the Philippines, Thailand, and Nepal—in search of authentic experiences and meaningful encounters while documenting his travels on Instagram. His enigmatic character and magnetic personality gained him a devoted following who lived vicariously through his adventures. But the ever-restless explorer was driven to seek out ever-greater extremes, and greater risks, in what had become a personal quest—his own hero’s journey. In 2016, he made his way to the Parvati Valley, a remote and rugged corner of the Indian Himalayas steeped in mystical tradition and shrouded in darkness and danger. There he spent weeks studying under the guidance of a sadhu, an Indian holy man, living and meditating in a cave. At the end of August, accompanied by the sadhu, he set off on a spiritual journey to a holy lake—one from which he would never return. Lost in the Valley of Death is about one man’s search to find himself, in a country where, for many Westerners, the path to spiritual enlightenment can prove fraught, even treacherous. But it is also a story about all of us and the ways, sometimes extreme, we seek fulfillment in life.

A Journey of Healing and Transformation An enlightening memoir of a reluctant spiritual seeker who finds much more than she bargained for when she travels to India. Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, from Hollywood, California, had a privileged upbringing that hid some dark secrets. She grappled with an eating disorder and trauma from her early childhood for years. But, as a Stanford grad getting her PhD in Psychology, she felt she was successfully navigating adulthood. After getting married, when she agreed to travel to India to appease her husband, little did Sadhviji know a journey of healing and awakening awaited her. She had everything the material world could offer. Soon, she would give it all up to follow the divine path. Hollywood to the Himalayas describes Sadhviji’s odyssey towards divine enlightenment and inspiration through her extraordinary connection with her guru and renewed confidence in the pleasure and joy that life can bring. Now one of the preeminent female spiritual teachers in the world, Sadhviji recounts her journey with wit, honesty, and clarity. Along the way, she offers teachings to help us all step onto our own path of awakening and discover the truth of who we really are—embodiments of the Divine. Americanborn Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, PhD, moved to India in 1996. A graduate of Stanford University, she was ordained by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, president of one of the largest interfaith institutions in India, into the tradition of sanyas and lives at the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, where she leads a variety of humanitarian projects, teaches meditation, gives spiritual discourses, and counsels individuals and families. Americanborn Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, PhD, moved to India in 1996. A graduate of Stanford University, she was ordained by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, president of one of the largest interfaith institutions in India, into the tradition of sanyas and lives at the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, where she leads a variety of humanitarian projects, teaches meditation, gives spiritual discourses, and counsels individuals and families.

Beyond the peaks and valleys of the Himalaya Mountains lies a magical sanctuary. Protected from the chaos of man, it is home to immortal beings and mystical creatures. When Vijaya, a young human, is brought into the sanctuary for her protection, some immortals fear her presence may lead to their ruin. But as mankind draws ever closer to the sanctuary’s border, Vijaya will have to prove that there is more to being human than the violence her new family fears beyond their borders. David Jesus Vignolli’s debut graphic novel A Girl in the Himalayas explores the astonishing potential of the human spirit.

Central Asian Expedition, organized by Major H.P.S. Ahluwalia, in 1994; journey through Central Asia, China, and Tibet, covering 14, 000 k.m.

The Gaddi of North India are agro-pastoralists who rear sheep and goats following a seasonal migration around the first Himalayan range. While studies on pastoralists have focused either on the pastoralists' adaptation to their physical environment or treated the environment from a symbolic perspective, this book offers a new, holistic perspective that analyzes the ways in which people "make" place. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book not only describes a contemporary understanding of the Gaddi's engagement with the environment but also analyzes religious practices and performances of social relations, as well as media practices and notions of aesthetics. Thereby, the landscape in which the Gaddi live is understood as a network of places that is constantly being built and rebuilt through these local practices. The book contributes to the growing interest in approaches of practice within environmental anthropology.

A magisterial history of the Himalaya: an epic story of peoples, cultures, and adventures among the world’s highest mountains. For centuries, the unique and astonishing geography of the Himalaya has attracted those in search of spiritual and literal elevation: pilgrims, adventurers, and mountaineers seeking to test themselves among the world’s most spectacular and challenging peaks. But far from being wild and barren, the Himalaya has been home to a diversity of indigenous and local cultures, a crucible of world religions, a crossroads for trade, and a meeting point and conflict zone for empires past and present. In this landmark work, nearly two decades in the making, Ed Douglas makes a thrilling case for the Himalaya’s importance in global history and offers a soaring account of life at the "roof of the world." Spanning millennia, from the earliest inhabitants to the present conflicts over Tibet and Everest, Himalaya explores history, culture, climate, geography, and politics. Douglas profiles the great kings of Kathmandu and Nepal; he describes the architects who built the towering white Stupas that distinguish Himalayan architecture; and he traces the flourishing evolution of Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism that brought Himalayan spirituality to the world. He also depicts with great drama the story of how the East India Company grappled for dominance with China’s emperors, how India fought Mao’s Communists, and how mass tourism and ecological transformation are obscuring the bloody legacy of the Cold War. Himalaya is history written on the grandest yet also the most human scale—encompassing geology and genetics, botany and art, and bursting with stories of courage and resourcefulness.