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| Lower Tons Expedition - June 16-22, 2008 |
| The Tons river flows through Garhwal, the western part of the Himalayan state of Uttaranchal, bordering Himachal Pradesh. With its source in the 20,720 ft high Bandarpunchh mountain, it is the biggest tributary of the Yamuna, and, in fact, carries more water than the Yamuna itself.
The Tons valley lies in the Jaunsar Bawar region of Garhwal, a little known area, unique in culture and history. Another name for Uttarakhand was Panchaldesh, referring to the five Pandava brothers from the great Hindu epic Mahabharata. The Pandavas, and their rivals, the Kauravas, figure especially in the anthropology of the Tons valley, where the villagers actually claim to have descended from the two clans. Their social customs are very unlike the rest of conservative Garhwal. Polyandry, and to some extent, polygamy, are the normal practice. Economically, these customs probably owe their origin to a necessity to keep population down and prevent division of property. A system of bride price, where the worth of a to-be-bride increases with the number of past husbands she has had, is still prevalent.
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