Tehri Garhwal is a district in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India. Located in the Garhwal Himalayan region, it is named after the historic town of Tehri, which was the capital of the former princely state of Tehri Garhwal until its merger with the Indian Union. The district is well known for the Tehri Dam, one of the tallest dams in India, built across the Bhagirathi river.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| State | Uttarakhand |
| Region | Garhwal division |
| Administrative headquarters | New Tehri |
| Major river | Bhagirathi |
| Notable infrastructure | Tehri Dam |
| Predecessor entity | Princely State of Tehri Garhwal |
Tehri Garhwal lies in the central Himalayan belt of Uttarakhand. The terrain is largely mountainous, with deep river valleys, forested ridges, and high-altitude pastures. The Bhagirathi and Bhilangana rivers flow through the district and meet near old Tehri, the site now occupied by the reservoir of the Tehri Dam. The district shares boundaries with Uttarkashi to the north, Rudraprayag and Pauri Garhwal to the east and south, and Dehradun to the west.
The district traces its origins to the Kingdom of Garhwal, which was fragmented after the Gorkha invasions of the early nineteenth century. Following the Anglo-Nepalese War and the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, the British returned a portion of the territory to the Garhwal royal house, which established the princely state of Tehri Garhwal under the Panwar (Parmar) dynasty. Sudarshan Shah founded the new capital at Tehri in 1815. The state acceded to the Indian Union in 1949 and was integrated into Uttar Pradesh, becoming a district. With the formation of Uttarakhand (initially Uttaranchal) in November 2000, Tehri Garhwal became one of the constituent districts of the new state.
The administrative headquarters is at New Tehri, a planned township built on a ridge above the reservoir to rehouse the population displaced when the original town of Tehri was submerged by the dam reservoir in the early 2000s.
The Tehri Dam, an earth and rock-fill dam on the Bhagirathi, is among the tallest dams in India. It is part of a multi-purpose project executed by THDC India Limited, providing hydroelectric power, irrigation, and drinking water supply, including to Delhi. Construction of the dam led to the submergence of the old town of Tehri and several surrounding villages, and the formation of a large reservoir, Tehri Lake, which has since become a venue for water sports and tourism.
The economy of Tehri Garhwal is largely based on subsistence agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, and remittances from outside the district. Apples, off-season vegetables, pulses, and traditional hill grains are cultivated. Tourism, pilgrimage traffic en route to Char Dham destinations, and adventure activities on the Tehri reservoir contribute to local employment.
The district is part of the cultural region of Garhwal, with Garhwali as the predominant spoken language and Hindi as the official language. Local fairs, temple festivals, and folk forms such as Jagar are integral to community life. Important religious sites include the Surkanda Devi temple near Dhanaulti, the Chandrabadni temple, and Kunjapuri Devi temple, all set on prominent hilltops with panoramic Himalayan views.
Tehri Garhwal occupies an important place in Uttarakhand's history as the seat of a major Himalayan princely state and as the site of one of the country's largest hydroelectric projects. The displacement caused by the Tehri Dam and the protests led by activists such as Sunderlal Bahuguna brought wider national attention to issues of large-dam construction, environmental impact, and rehabilitation in the Himalayan region.