Kalga
More actions
| Kalga | |
|---|---|
| Kalgha | |
| Hierarchy | |
| Growing Region | Western Himalayas |
| Growing Area | Parvati Valley |
| Geography | |
| Country | India |
| Province/State | Himachal Pradesh |
| District | Kullu District |
| Coordinates | 31.9968, 77.4517 |
| Settlement | |
| Type | Village |
| Landscape | |
| Elevation | 2,500 m |
| Documentation | |
| Accessions | 2 |
Kalga, also spelled Kalgha, is a village in the Parvati Valley in Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India, on the pilgrims' route to Kheerganga. It is the source of a Coco Genes accession from the 2020 season; the seed bank's listing says that most of the village's households have grown cannabis for generations.[1] Kalga was one of the five villages of a 2015–2017 survey of the uses of wild hemp in the Manikaran valley.[2]
Geography
The Coco Genes listing puts Kalga at 2,500 m and calls it "a small village located on the route of Kheerganga Pilgrimage". It states that devotees of Kartikeya, the son of Shiva, have passed through the village on the way to Kheerganga "for thousands of years".[1] The hot spring at Kheerganga lies about 25 km upstream of Manikaran, on a slope some 100 m above the river.[3]
The 2011 census does not enumerate Kalga as a separate village.[4][5]
Cannabis cultivation
The Coco Genes listing, filed under "2020 Season", states that the village had "only five households" a few decades ago and that most of them "have been cultivating cannabis for generations". It credits these families with selecting their cultivars from wild plants of remote, inaccessible terrain and keeping the lines pure. Each household, it says, sows seed selected from its own fields and feeds the seed to its livestock.[1]
Two accessions carry Kalga as their locality. The general population of 2020, held by Coco Genes, is classed as a landrace grown for recreational use and processed into charas. The second is a reproduction grown in California from the 2020 seed.
The 2015–2017 survey of wild hemp in the Manikaran valley covered Kalga with Kasol, Rasol, Pulga and Tosh. Its informants used the fibre for ropes and pullan footwear and the seed to flavour food. They offered the leaves to Shiva and made the plant into ghota for Shivratri. The survey gives these uses for the five villages together, not for Kalga alone.[2]
Accessions
| Name | ID | Type | Elevation (m) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COC-IND-HIM-0120200001 | Kalga General Population 2020 | COC-IND-HIM-0120200001 | General population | 2500 |
| COC-IND-HIM-0120200001-R1 | 2020 COC Kalga Reproduction | COC-IND-HIM-0120200001-R1 | Reproduction |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Kalga | Parvati Valley". Collector's Collective. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rathore, S.; Shashni, S.; Samant, S.S.; Sundriyal, R.C. (2018). "Indigenous uses of wild hemp (Cannabis sativa) by the local inhabitants in Manikaran Valley of Himachal Pradesh, North Western Himalaya". Journal of Non-Timber Forest Products. 25 (3): 127–130. doi:10.54207/bsmps2000-2018-7393KF.
- ↑ Chandrasekharam, D.; Alam, M.A.; Minissale, A. (2005). Thermal Discharges at Manikaran, Himachal Pradesh, India (PDF) (Report). International Geothermal Association. Proceedings, World Geothermal Congress 2005, Antalya, Turkey, 24–29 April 2005, pp. 1–4.
- ↑ Directorate of Census Operations, Himachal Pradesh (2014). District Census Handbook, Kullu: Village and Town Wise Primary Census Abstract (Report). Census of India 2011, Himachal Pradesh, Series 03, Part XII-B. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.
- ↑ Directorate of Census Operations, Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh - Village Amenities (Spreadsheet (DH_2011_DCHB_Village_Release_0200.xlsx)). Census of India 2011, District Census Handbook, Kullu. Retrieved 27 September 2026.