Kinnaur Chilgoza Pine Nut Kinnauri Cap Apple Tribal Himachal Pradesh

Kinnaur district in Himachal's trans-Himalayan zone bordering Tibet is one of India's most ethnically distinct districts — the Kinnauri people practice polyandry (fraternal), maintain a syncretic Hindu-Buddhist faith, and are known for the Kinnauri topi (distinctive woollen cap with a distinctive green flat brim) and the elaborately woven Kinnauri shawl and patti (woollen cloth). Kinnaur grows the finest apple in Himachal (Kalpa apple orchards at 2,700m produce premium fruit), and the Chilgoza pine (Pinus gerardiana) forests of Kinnaur produce chilgoza (pine nut) — a high-value nut exported to the Gulf and Europe. The Spiti river flowing through Kinnaur joins the Sutlej, and the old Hindustan-Tibet road through Kinnaur passes monasteries at Nako, Ribba, and Kalpa.