Char Dham Road and the Himalayas

The Char Dham Pariyojana has been dedicated by our Prime Minister to the Uttarakhand flood victims of 2013. Ironically, its construction has been exacerbating the same destruction of the Himalayas that caused the 2013 mishap. Uttarakhand's State Animal, the Musk Deer shares some concerns from my column with The Hindu.

Gangtok Urban Biodiversity Map

Presenting my third project with ICLEI: an illustrated urban biodiversity map of Gangtok, the capital of the Himalayan state of Sikkim. Situated in a once pristine landscape that is now subject to rapid change and degradation, Gangtok still boasts of an incredible range of fauna and flora, specially in its greenest pockets (such as forests around the Himalayan Zoological Park, the Governor's Bungalow, and Hanuman Tok to name a few). Its orchid diversity makes it next to none among Indian capital cities. But although it is surrounded by protected areas and sanctuaries like Fambonglho, Kyongnodsla and the Kanchenjunga National park, Gangtok today struggles to strike an equilibrium between rapid urbanization and nature conservation. 

The map pays tribute to Thangka art, an art style that has fascinated me for years, and is almost synonymous with art itself in Sikkim. The Directorate of Handloom and Handicraft at Gangtok has a Thangka art school, where I spent some time learning a few tips and tricks from both art teachers and students before working on this map.

Thanks once again to ICLEI for commissioning me for the project. I also extend my gratitude to the prolific Sikkim forester and my mentor Mrs. Usha Lachungpa (who features in the map!), and my friends Minla and Karmachoden for all their help with my orientation of Sikkim and Gangtok, and without whom this illustration would be impossible to execute.  

The illustration can be downloaded in high resolution on the Interactbio ICLEI website here.

Some snippets from the map are below (click on the images for a larger view):

Wild Bhutan

I'm just back from my second trip to Bhutan and could not resist the temptation of drawing wildlife from this wonderland again! Here's a collage of Bhutan's wildlife- 22 of the myriad of wild fauna found in the Cloud Kingdom.

Prints of the artwork are available as a wide range of apparel and merchandise on my webstore here. 

For orders within India, please view the range of products available below-

A1 poster (594 x 841mm)- Rs. 1800 each

A2 Poster (419 x 594mm)- Rs. 1200 each

A3 Poster - Rs. 500 for the first copy and Rs. 200 for the second copy onwards 

Tshirt (S,M,L,XL)- Rs. 1300

Coffee Mug (Compilations)- Rs. 850

Personal Diary (Hard Cover, A5, 150 pages)-  Rs. 800

(email your orders to rohanchakcartoonist@gmail.com, mentioning a postal address and contact number for delivery. Payments are accepted via NEFT or PayTM)

Note that this list is far from accurate or complete, but does cover some of the country's most prominent fauna, such as its national animal, the Golden Takin; its national bird, the Common Raven; the Black-necked Crane, an important bird in Bhutanese folklore, and so on. For a more comprehensive list and distribution of the wildlife of Bhutan, please go through my 2016 project with WWF Bhutan, The Wildlife Map of Bhutan.

Wild IDs More Secure than Aadhar

Wild IDs more secure than Aadhar. From my column with Sunday Mid-day. 

Kailash Sacred Landscape- an Illustrated Map

(Click on images for a larger view)

The Kailash Sacred Landscape is distributed across three countries- India, Nepal and China; and is not only an important religious site, but also a haven for alpine and trans-Himalayan wildlife. The apex of the region is Mount Kailash (called Gang Rinpoche in Tibet), a Tibetan mountain sacred to five religions- the Hindus, Buddhists, Bons, Sikhs and Jains. Several important wildlife sanctuaries and biodiversity hotspots lie within the region, such as the Api Nampa Conservation Area in the Far-Western Developmental Region of Nepal, and the Askot Musk Der Sanctuary in Kumaon, Uttarakhand in India.

The map was illustrated for ICIMOD's Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI), that aims at ecosystem conservation and strengthening trans-boundary co-operation by working with local communities. Research for my project took me trekking along the western Indo-Nepalese border, to ICIMOD's field sites in some of the most scenic and remote locations that I never knew of, such as Askot, the villages of Himkhola, Nakot and Jajurali; and witnessing some of the most majestic Himalayan wildlife such as Bearded Vultures, Himalayan Griffons, Gorals and Leopard Cats! The map aims to present the fauna and the various communities of the region as a single, inter-dependent unit, and to create an at-a-glance reference of all important elements- parks, mountains, pilgrimage sites and passes that comprise the region. Here are some previews from the map-

The fauna of KSL- the Himalayan Red Fox, Kiang, Bharal, Wild Yak, Himalayan Musk Deer, Himalayan Monal, Snow Leopard, Leopard Cat, Himalayan Goral, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Black-necked Crane, Bearded Vulture, Himalayan Tahr, Tibetan Sand Fox and the rare Himalayan Brown Bear.

Some people of KSL- seen here are Tibetan millet farmers, a Hindu Sadhu, Buddhist and Bon pilgrims, Tibetan monks, a Tibetan Yak herder, honey harvesters from Kumaon, wool weavers from Khar in Nepal, dancers from Uttarakhand, Churya (butter-fruit) collectors from Uttarakhand and Nepalese women dancing for 'Teej' (a Hindu festival).

Some important sites in KSL- the town of Grabyang, the Yam Dwaar, the Halji Gumba, Haatkalika Temple, Mount Kailash, the town of Darchen, the Yalbang Gumba, the Trugo Gumba and Narayan Ashram.

The project is my first trans-boundary illustration! A big thanks to ICIMOD's fantastic team at Kathmandu for commissioning me for this, and assisting me with timely references and information throughout the project; and to my friend Sumit Arya, a bird scientist at the WII studying population densities of Himalayan birds, for taking me around in Kumaon.

(Copyrights to all images in the post belong to ICIMOD)

Uttarakhand Burning- A National Emergency

The forests of Uttarakhand have been set on fire by the timber mafia (report here). A nexus of timber black marketers and villagers has been unearthed. Please spread the word and request immediate intervention by the government. Follow updates from Uttarakhand on this Facebook page.

You can download a high resolution image here-