The project is a
documentation of traditional institutions such as temples, monasteries, Bon chos, antiquities, forts, and old dialects of diverse ethnic groups in the trans-Himalayan area of Himachal Pradesh, particularly
Kinnaur.
The volume uses field investigations to shed light on the inhabitants of
Kinnaur's socioeconomic and cultural lives, including a study of their customs and architectural legacy. It describes the indigenous deities (
'Shu' on rathang or the
Shu Republic) who rule and run the ethnic communities' administration, as well as the development administration and democratic set-up, from
Panchayat upwards.
It is based on actual field research of the public activities of the Shu Republic in 15 deshang
or villages of Kinnaur, as well as the U-Khyang and Dhang-U-Khyang, i.e. In some deshang, there is a flower festival and a Dakhrain festival. It describes numerous architectural patterns of native residential buildings and provides more than a glance into their administrative set-up, customary rules, and customs with regard to the deshang
P.S. Negi Loktus, IAS (retd), is a
Himachal Pradesh native who grew up in the
Trans-Himalayan District of Kinnaur. He served as
Principal Secretary to the
Government of Himachal Pradesh in areas such as Culture and Language and E
ducation during his time in the lAS.
She is the author of a book that was released in 2015.