GAUCHAR

About Gauchar

Gauchar is a Hill Town located in Karnaprayag tehsil within Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state in India. Gauchar is situated on the left bank of river Alaknanda and is en route the celebrated holy destination of Badrinath. Situated at an altitude of 800 metres (2,620 ft) above the sea level, Gauchar is surrounded by seven mountains. Gauchar is well known for its historic trade fair. This quiet little town is unique in terms of its geographical location and topography. Gauchar is located on one of the largest pieces of flatland in this mountainous region of Uttarakhand. Nature has endowed Gauchar with a large flat area, one of the largest such open spaces in the mountainous areas of Uttarakhand and this field has played a major role in its history. This field has served as an airstrip and played host to several dignitaries in the past. It has also been the venue of one of the largest trade fairs in the area. This flat land was the property of the Panwar kings of Garhwal and it was donated by them to the Badrinath Temple at some point in history. It still belongs to the Badrinath Temple and as such is not supposed to be used for agriculture or any other purpose. (Gauchars new airstrip has come up on agricultural land as a result and also because a much larger area was needed for the strip and the administrative buildings.) Gauchar first attained recognition in the 1920s when Lady Willingdon, wife of the then Viceroy of India landed here by air. Then, in 1938, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru along with his sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit also came here by air on the way to a personal visit to Badrinath. At that time cow dung used to be burnt on the field to gauge the direction of air currents!