The Study of Traditional Foods, Ornaments, Costumes and Housing Patterns of the People of Ravi River Basin in Himachal Pradesh, India

In Bharmour tehsil, Cheena and inferior types of millets are used. Previously, the diet of Gaddis was simple and did not permit them much variation. In winter season all the people of this basin wear woolen garments but in summer season they wear cotton garments. As would be expected, with the process of modernization, a change took place in the traditional dress (Punjab castes, 1916). Every region has wear jewellery that is typical and peculiar to it. Jewellery and ornaments were fashioned by goldsmiths (suniars) all over Ravi River basin in Himachal Pradesh (C.S. Panchani). The houses are generally two to three storeyed buildings with separate kitchen and cowshed and the design of the houses is not uniform but its design depends upon the location of site.  In a mountainous area like Bharmour, the village is not laid out in a systematic way and a number of factors seem to have determined the pattern of settlement. The permanent villages of the Gaddis on an average lie between an altitudes of 7000 to 10000 feet above sea level and they are small sized villages ranging from 30 to 200 families. The inhabitants of most of these villages are exclusively the Gaddis (Punjab State Gazetteer, 1904).

In Bharmour tehsil, Cheena and inferior types of millets are used. Previously, the diet of Gaddis was simple and did not permit them much variation. In winter season all the people of this basin wear woolen garments but in summer season they wear cotton garments. As would be expected, with the process of modernization, a change took place in the traditional dress (Punjab castes, 1916). Every region has wear jewellery that is typical and peculiar to it. Jewellery and ornaments were fashioned by goldsmiths (suniars) all over Ravi River basin in Himachal Pradesh (C.S. Panchani). The houses are generally two to three storeyed buildings with separate kitchen and cowshed and the design of the houses is not uniform but its design depends upon the location of site. In a mountainous area like Bharmour, the village is not laid out in a systematic way and a number of factors seem to have determined the pattern of settlement. The permanent villages of the Gaddis on an average lie between an altitudes of 7000 to 10000 feet above sea level and they are small sized villages ranging from 30 to 200 families. The inhabitants of most of these villages are exclusively the Gaddis (Punjab State Gazetteer, 1904).

INTRODUCTION
Maize and wheat are the staple food of the people of this basin in Himachal Pradesh. They also used to take rice occasionally in past, but now a day's rice are used daily. It is also being commonly used in Chamba and Bhattiyat tehsils, where it is grown in abundance. In Bharmour tehsil, Cheena and inferior types of millets are used. Previously, the diet of Gaddis was simple and did not permit them much variation. They were known about the use of rice some of them occasionally take it, but they had to purchase it from the market (Census of India, 1961). Wheat and barley were the main Rabi crops and as such were also used in the form of chapatteis either single or mixed with kodra and maize. Some coarse grains bhares and phulan are also grown and consumed in the form of chapatteis while choula is boiled like rice and taken.
In Ravi River basin in Himachal Pradesh, the entire basin peoples wear western type of dresses. In winter season all the people of this basin wear woolen garments but in summer season they wear cotton garments. Just as in other parts of the hills, the common people mostly wear woolen garments. The men often also wear a cotton turban. A home spun and locally woven Patti Pajamas and a coat was the typical dress of the Chamba Himalaya people.nAs would be expected, with the process of modernization, a change took place in the traditional dress. At present Patti pajamas and coat are being replaced by trousers and bushshirts. Women wear kurta or pajami, kamees and salwar (Punjab castes, 1916).
The costume of the Gaddis, both men and women is characteristics and striking, and they can be easily recognized because of their traditional costume. Their costume includes topi (cap), pagri (turban), coat (blazer), chola (a long woolen frock), Dora, kurta (shirt), pyjama (trouser) for men and luanchadi, cholu, Dora and long dupatta, salwar and kameej for women. Every region has jewellery that is typical and peculiar to it. Jewellery and ornaments were fashioned by goldsmiths (suniars) all over Ravi River basin in Himachal Pradesh. Ornamentation like necklace with circular beads, dodmala, karanphul, jhumka, champakali and chandrahar were commonly worn by Pahari women (C.S., Panchani). The houses are generally two to three storeyed buildings with separate kitchen and cowshed. The design of the houses is not uniform.
The design of the house depends upon the location of site. Timber mainly comprising of Tauni and Kail and occasionally Deodar is also used. Doors are made of kail. In most of the houses provision of ventilation and light is very limited. In a mountainous area like Bharmour, the village is not laid out in a systematic way and a number of factors seem to have determined the pattern of settlement. Large tracts are covered with dense forest, while the slopes are often so steep as to render farming operations impossible. The permanent villages of the Gaddis on an average lie between an altitudes of 7000 to 10000 feet above sea level. They are small sized villages ranging from 30 to 200 families. Inhabitants of most of these villages are exclusively the Gaddis (Punjab State Gazetteer, 1904).

Study Area
The Ravi River Basin in Himachal Pradesh, Which lies in Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh, has been chosen for the present study. Geographically Ravi River (H.P.) Basin area is located between 32° 11' 30ʺ to 33° 01 ' 5ʺ North latitudes and 75°48' to 77°45' East Longitudes. The tract is mountainous, covered by the Dhauladhar and Pirpanjal ranges. The elevation varies from 559 meters to 5563 meters. On the other side the climate of the Ravi River Catchment area may be described as moderate summer and very cold winter. The precipitation is received in both during rainy season and winter season, but in high altitude an area in winter season receives precipitation is in the form of snow and in lower altitude area in the form of Rainfall from Monsoon winds as well as from Western Disturbance.
The highest monthly temperature is experienced in June and lowest below 0 o C in January. The Ravi River has a total of 5451 sq.Kms. Catchment area and its total length are about 158 Kms. in H.P. The Ravi River originates in Bara Bhangal area of the Multhan Tehsil of Kangra. This River rises at the elevation of 4300 mts on the southern side of the mid Himalayas. It flows through Bara Bhangal, Bara Bansu and Chamba District.It flows in forms of Rapids in its initial reaches with boulders seen scattered in the bed of the River. The Ravi River in this reach flows in a gorge with a River bed slope of 1:185 feet per mile, and is mostly fed by snow. It is called Ravi after meeting two tributaries Tantgari and Badal in Bara Bhangal area of Kangra District. The main tributaries of Ravi River are Badal, Tantgari, Budhil, TundahNala, ChirchindNala, Nai, BatogNala, SahoNala, Baira and Siul etc. It left Himachal at Khairi and enters in Punjab (Fig.1).

Food
Maize and wheat are the staple food of the people of this basin in Himachal Pradesh. They also used to take rice occasionally in past, but now a day's rice are used daily. It is also being commonly used in Chamba and Bhattiyat tehsils, where it is grown in abundance. In Bharmour tehsil, Cheena and inferior types of millets are used. Villagers take butter, milk and are very fond of curry. Mustard oil is used for the preparation of vegetables but on ceremonial occasions ghee is used. In Bharmaur and Holi tehsils which remain under snow for about 6 months, people consume liquor locally distilled. Many women also drink though not in the public as a rule. The common man cannot afford but include meat in his diet except on special occasions. With the passage of time Desi Ghee is being replaced by hydrogenated vegetable oils and use of tea is also becoming popular. The food is generally taken four times a day i.e. Nawari which corresponds to the breakfast and consists of chapatti taken with sag or chhach. Kalwar is akin to lunch and consists of maize or wheat chapattis taken with vegetable or lassi. Arehni which is taken in the afternoon resembles with kalwar. Biali corresponds to the dinner and consists of rice or wheat/maize chapattis taken with dal or vegetable.
Previously, the diet of Gaddis was simple and did not permit them much variation. Day after day the menu was the same occasionally relived by some special dishes prepared on festival occasions. The staple diet was Maize which was taken in the form of bread with either dal or some locally available vegetable. If occasion so demands, the Maize bread might be taken with a paste of salt and chillies taken in the form of chatni. Ghee or cheer oil is used as fat. Cheer oil is extracted from the kernel of wild apricot seeds. These are pounded in a wooden mortar and then squeezed through a thick coarse cloth. Rice is not grown in area and instead thereof chinai (panicum miliceum) was used as a substitute not only in everyday use, but even in marriages as where people cannot afford Rice. They were known about the use of rice some of them occasionally take it, but they had to purchase it from the market (Census of India, 1961). Wheat and barley were the main Rabi crops and as such were also used in the form of chapatteis either single or mixed with kodra and maize. Some coarse grains bhares and phulan are also grown and consumed in the form of chapatteis while choula is boiled like rice and taken. Only small percentages of peoples were vegetarians and maximum numbers of peoples are non-vegetarians. Since there were no regular meat shops in the villages, they eat meat whenever any Goat or Sheep was sacrificed. During old days, instead of sugar they used mostly honey which they get from the forest hives and preferred the crude salt of Gumma mine of Mandi. Honey had dwindled down and it had become a commodity for supplementing the family earnings. People did not prepare any jams, jellies and pickles (Census of India, 1961).
Presently, Gaddis are good agriculturists and grow a variety of crops, so their diet is totally changed. Their staple food consists of cakes of maize, wheat and barley, rice with pulses and goat or cow's milk etc. They also make moderate use of vegetables, including roots and tubers, and fruits. Mustard or refined oil is the usual cooking medium. Their special dish madra along with a sweet preparation is a must on all social and festive occasions. They also used different types of spices to make food tasty. Occasionally, goat or sheep mutton, chicken and liquor are consumed especially on marriage or festive occasions. Families, who keep poultry, also eat their eggs. Gaddis favorite drink is sur a mild alcoholic drink made from fermented rice or barley flavored with roots of shrubs. Some families of Gaddis also eat some edible plants like lungri and phaphru. Parched barley made into flour also consumed on their journey from place to place. The Gaddis take their meals three times a day. The morning meal which is called nuhari and may be equated with breakfast consists of maize or wheat bread. It is taken with dal or vegetable if available otherwise generally with a cup of tea. The mid-day meal again consists of maize or wheat bread dal or vegetables. Sometimes rice also forms an item of the menu. The evening meals are again the same (Gaddis of Dauladhar).

Dress
In Ravi River basin in Himachal Pradesh, the entire basin peoples wear western type of dresses. In winter season all the peoples of this basin wear woolen garments but in summer season they wear cotton garments.Just as in other parts of the hills, the common people mostly wear woolen garments. The men often also wear a cotton turban. A home spun and locally woven PattiPajamasand a coat was the typical dress of the Chamba Himalaya people. As would be expected, with the process of modernization, a change took place in the traditional dress. At present Pattipajamasand coat are being replaced by trousers and bushshirts. Women wear kurta or pajami, kamees and salwar (Punjab castes, 1916).They put on nylon or other synthetic cloth 'dupatta' called 'chadru'.In the areas of Brahmaur, Chaurah tehsils and Saluni sub-tehsil, people mostly wear woollen coats.Men use the chola and the 'dora'. The common head dress of the Chaurah women is 'joji'. Cotton or synthetic colourful shirts and woollen 'pattu' tied with a cotton piece around the waist are the important items of dress for Chaurah women. On festive occasions people put on new clothes and are heavily loaded with ornaments.
In Bharmour and Holi, as the Climate are varies from mid-temperate to arctic condition, the people mostly wear warm cloths throughout the year. The costume of the Gaddis, both men and women is characteristics and striking, and they can be easily recognized because of their traditional costume. Their costume includes topi (cap), pagri (turban), coat (blazer), chola (a long woolen frock), dora, kurta (shirt), pyjama (trouser) for men and luanchadi, cholu, dora and long dupatta, salwar and kameej for women. The woolen cloth needed by the household is usually home spun and woven from the locally available wool, in most cases obtained from the sheep rearing by household themselves on the crude pit looms installed in a corner of the residential house. In some cases, however, mill made cloths also used.
The old head-dress of the men is of a remarkable high-peaked woolen topi, with a flap and peak like formation which Gaddis presume to represent Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva. They cover down their ears with woolen flaps in severe winter conditions. The front is often adorned with dried flowers or beads. Some times with monal and tragopan feathers. But this style of head-dress is fast disappearing. But at present, the old mens mostly use Pagri and some younger generation is seen with woolen cap, with a front band of flaming red or deep green velvet is also in use. The coat is made by woolen pattu and people mostly use it during winter days. The chola is a gown like costume is made of pattu, rough whitish woolen hand-spun cloth, reaching below the knees and when it is worn on the body. It takes 20 to 25 yards of pattu to make a chola. The chola gathered round the waist by a black rope worn in many lines, called dora. In the body of this frock the Gaddis store the most miscellaneous articles; his own meal, tied up in an untended leather pouch, with two or three young lambs just born and perhaps a present of walnuts or potatoes for his master are the usual contents. Originally, Gaddis wore only underwear and kept their legs bare, suthan (trouser) or pajama was introduced later. His woolen trousers are very loose at the knee, to allow free motion in walking, and fitting tight at the ankle over which it lay in folds.
With the passage of time, use of chola is also disappearing among the new generation. It can be seen only on some special occasions, like marriages, fair and festivals. Most of Gaddis younger generation presently wears modern garments made by the machines, like pants, shirts, trousers, sweaters etc. They purchase them from the markets (census of India, 1961). During the marriage, a Gaddi boy wears a very gorgeous dress. It is a long red or maroon colored cotton frock with same colored yolk and decorated with different types of mirrors, frills and pippins. It is called luancha. It is tied on the waist with white and yellow cotton piece, called patka. A red or maroon colored shawl is also taken over it. On the head, they wear a very intricate sehra made by local ladies.
The Gaddis women costume luanchadi is a frock with contrast colored yolk and also decorated with different types of frills and pippins. It requires 20 to 25 meter fabric to make a luanchadi. It is also tied on the waist with a black dora (Indian Journal of traditional knowledge). The Cholu is also made by whitish pattu and it is also handmade and is worn the same way unlike the men's cholu, only reaching their ankles. The head-dress is called gundu (sheet), thrown loosely over the upper portion of the body. Presently, most of Gaddi women, including new generation wear distinctive and attractive dress, purchased from the market. They wear salwar and shirts of various colours. They also put on under garments such as chemise, angi (brassieres) and panty. The main head dress is dupatta of some light cloth of any colour. During the time of marriage, a Gaddi girl wears cholu and luanchari, and on the head they wear a multicoloured large size dupatta. With the development of transport, communication and educated people came in contact with others parts of plains and with the passage of time; a great change has taken place in the dress style of the Gaddis. They are increasingly taking to dress style of the plains. A few years ago, the Gaddis moved about bare footed, except when visiting their relatives, migration to plains during winter or during the occasion of marriages, fairs and festival. On these occasions, however, juttas (men) juttis (women), prepared by the local village shoe maker were predominantly used (Tribal project Report). But presently, the modern type of rubber and leather footwear are used to some extent, purchased from the market. Some like the hiking shoes, a taste developed because of their durability to stand the rough paths. Women have started wearing fancy nylon chappals, and some of them wear them occasionally.

Ornaments
Every region has jewellery that is typical and peculiar to it. Jewellery and ornaments were fashioned by goldsmiths (suniars) all over Ravi River basin in Himachal Pradesh. Though only limited information is available regarding the manufacture and ornament of the craft of pahari jewellery, we do get a few good examples that have survived to illustrate it. Ornamentation like necklace with circular beads, dodmala, karanphul, jhumka, champakali and chandrahar were commonly worn by Pahari women (C.S., Panchani).
The Gaddis are very particular about their jewellry. During the ancient time, the Gaddis of Bharmour and Holi had worn animal bones ornaments (Dainik Jagarn, 2013). The only available evidence to the ornamentation is the metal and stone sculptures dating back to seventh century A.D onwards. The female figurines in pahari miniature paintings are depicted with elaborate ornamentation like chiri, jhumka, toke, gojru and chanderhar commonly worn by gaddi women. During old day silver was considered sacred in the Gaddi community, but for nose they wear only gold ornaments as they had some bad notion for wearing silver in nose. So, most of jewellry was of silver and with mina work over it. In mina work, pattern of jewelrywork was filled with colour. The jewelry had peculiar motifs and designs (Heritage of Gaddis Tribe, 2008).
Traditionally, heavy jewellry has been in vogue but in the late there is a growing tendency among the people to use comparatively lighter ornaments according to the taste of wearer. Previously, all the jewelry of the Gaddis was made manually, but now with changed trends, it has replaced with machine work. The community has a total dependence on local market for the jewelry. There is no particular caste distinction as to the use of gold or silver. If the scheduled caste can afford the luxury of gold ornaments, there is no opposition whatsoever from the upper castes. Economy is sole deciding factor. Even tinsels are often used by the poor people. Some of the ornaments worn by the Gaddi women are:- The main head ornament of Gaddi women is chaunk. It is small bowl like ornament worn on the hair over the top. Every newly-wed girl wears it. It is a must in the list of ornaments given at the time of wedding to the bride. Along with the central chaunk, it is customary to have a pair of small chaunks which are fastened just behind the ears. Floral or other pattern are embossed on it and it is fastened on the top of the head with the help of a dori (a small red colour rope). Average weight is 4 to 12 tolas (Census of India, 1961). This is a silver ornament but well to-do Gaddis to have golden chaunk weighting 2 to 3 tolas. Chiri, a flat and round silver sheet beautifully studded with small stones, mostly imitation and fastened with a chain in the hair graces the fore-head. The weights of chiri are approximately 140 to 150 grams. Mantikka is also an important ornament made of gold and worn on forehead. It is like the shape of chiri and its average weight is 9 mashes to 2 tolas. These are considered as an important ornament for a married lady. A pair of clips is generally worn to keep the hair place. These are connected with silver connections, which fall over the plate, where clips are fixed on the both side. Each clip weights approximately 20 to 25 grams. Pher is a set of four to five small ear rings worn in the upper part along with golden bali or jhumkas, dhaku-jumku, bunde, kante and tungni. Tungni is like a part of tops fastened together. A hook is fixed in between these two tops. Balu is a big sized nose-ring held by a chain attached to the hair by a hook to relieve the stain on the nose. Generally it is made of gold. It is one of the important items for bride. Loung is a large type of koka studded with many imitation stones and tili is a small nose top. Loung and tili, mostly made of gold are deemed essential for married women. For the neck they would have various types of traditional necklaces like kapoor ki mala, a rosary of coloured beads of somenhard substances, jo-mala, a silver necklace containing beads, chanderhar, a silver heavy type of necklace weighting 30 to 40 tolas and champa kali, a silver necklace of thin silver cylinders each about 1 inch to 1 I/2 inch in length. Each cylindrical piece is pointed at the end. There is a hook in the centre and it is tied around the neck by means of thred. Two silver wires are also attached breadth wise in the centre. It is also tied around the neck by a thread. Presently, they also wear mangalsutar and chains made of gold, in their neck. These ornaments are generally hanged with the cholu or luanchari and worn in marriages and fairs.
Gaddis men also wear ornaments but not as many as their women-folk do. The traditional men ornament is kantha, a necklace having a number of gold or silver beads weighting from 3 to 6 tolas, nanti, a small ear-ring made of gold; bala, a big ear-ring in the centre of the ear, also made of gold; silver buttons in chains worn in the shirt, silver studs for sleeves and one or two finger rings generally made of silver and occasionally of gold, with some cheap stone or a silver four anna piece. Thus Gaddis love jewellry. Both men and women wear different type of jewelry of them some made by gold and some silver. They wear jewelry both for their taste and also as a means to impress the other people of their financial position.

Housing and Furniture
In the urban areas of Chamba and Dalhousie, houses are of common design, made of dressed stones and wood.In the construction of the houses, timber is used in great quantity due to its easy availability.The houses are generally two to three storeyed buildings with separate kitchen and cowshed.The design of the houses is not uniform.The design of the house depends upon the location of site.In the rural areas, majority of the houses are single storeyed, but in the high hills some of them are two/three storied.In single storey houses, roofs are generally flat, made of shingles on which clay is spread and is pressed hard.The walls of the houses are generally built of stone and wood.Timber mainly comprising of Tauni and Kail and occasionally Deodar is also used.Doors are made of kail.In most of the houses provision of ventilation and light is very limited.Generally, the shape of the houses is square or rectangular. With the opening of roads and availability of raw material, the construction of houses has also undergone a change and well to-do families have started the construction of houses where provision of light and ventilation is also made.In addition, facilities of separate kitchen, bath and toilet are also made.
There are not many houses in the rural areas where modern furniture is available.Charpai, mats of paddy straws, kharchas and asans are the common items of household furniture in the interior.Two or three wooden boxes or steel trunks are found in each house for keeping valuable things and clothes.These items of furniture are being replaced and the use of table, chair and modern cots are being found in the houses of persons belonging to the service community or economically better placed families.Household utensils which were mainly of brass and bronze have been replaced by aluminium utensils.The stainless steel utensils are also fast replacing the aluminium utensils.With the availability of electricity facilities in the rural areas as well as shortage of fuel wood the use of heaters for heating as well as cooking purposes is becoming popular. L.P.G. is also used extensively for cooking purposes in urban and rural areas of the district.Radios and transistors which were found with a few people 20 years back are now most commonly seen in the villages.Almost every household now has possessed television sets (Census report, 2001).
In a mountainous area like Bharmour, the village is not laid out in a systematic way and a number of factors seem to have determined the pattern of settlement. Large tracts are covered with dense forest, while the slopes are often so steep as to render farming operations impossible. The permanent villages of the Gaddis on an average lie between an altitudes of 7000 to 10000 feet above sea level. They are small sized villages ranging from 30 to 200 families. Inhabitants of most of these villages are exclusively the Gaddis. They are generally situated on hill tops. The houses are mostly kacha with sloppy roofs. The winter inhabitants of the Gaddis are usually situated below an elevation of 6000 feet on the broad and slightly sloping ground. Each village stands in the midst of its own area of cultivation. On the flat, the houses are all on the same level, but on the higher areas they are arranged in tiers one above another. The houses are not systematically planned. Houses have been built wherever a place is available. In large villages the houses of the higher castes are clustered together, away from the houses of the lower castes (Punjab State Gazetteer, 1904).
Generally the houses are square or rectangular in the shape and are not uniform. Sometimes there is a mushroom growth and sometimes the houses are a little spaced. The favourite aspects are towards the east, facing the rising sun, but at some places this feature is disregarded. Each house has an open courtyard called khalada or khal paved with thick slates and is enclosed by a parapet wall about two to three feet high. In fair weather cattle, sheep and goats may be tethered in the courtyard. This is also used for dry the grains, cutting firewood and other domestic chores, besides serving as a gathering place for the women to sit and gossip (Census of India, 1961). The household of Gaddi is generally two to three storeyed structures with a verandah on all storeys. The ground floor of the house consists of one room called obra. The obra is mostly used for keeping the cattle, but if big, it is partitioned, one portion being used for cattle's and the other for storing grass, woods and agricultural implements etc. If the obra becomes too small for the livestock, then additional space provided by constructing cabinet called ora of rough and uneven planks of woods, just outside the obra.
The obra has a sort of verandah in front of it, and a staircase called poudi leads to the first floor called obri. The obri is built on the same specification as the ground floor and used for storing grains and woolen clothes etc. The floor is made of one inch thick wooden planks with thick mud plastering. The second floor is known as bhor. Similarly a staircase in the first floor leads to the second floor. The size of the room and the passage is exactly similarto the one in the first floor with the difference that here the passage is provided for 3 by erecting a wooden partition. The bhor has also a verandah running full length in front of it. Generally, it is open but often a portion of it is closed to store hay for the livestock. Verandah is made of wood and is used as work place, to bask in the sun or to smoke a few leisurely puff of tobacco on the hooka. The third storey, on the top of the bhor, is mandeh. In the households that have three floors mandeh becomes the living room with bhor relegated as store-room. The mandeh is used for sleeping and cooking. Each floor or part of a floor above is occupied by a separate Chula (fireplace) with a separate elementary family. Immediately after the son becomes married his wife is entitled to a fireplace of her own and it is unusual for married brother's wives to occupy the same fireplace. Traditional joint families are unusual (Census of India, 1961).
In winter because of the warmth resulting from the cooking, the households are saved to some extent from the bitter cold prevailing in the region. A loom is fixed in a balcony. In one corner is the hearth and nearby a platform is used for keeping the utensils and other household goods. The houses do not have windows or ventilators save for small round or rectangular holes in the walls called tohlu to let in some light and to keep out the cold. Probably for the same reason there is no chimney for smoke escape. It is a common sight to see the walls and the timber inside the blackened not so much with age as with the carbon deposited by the swirling smoke. A slate in the roof over the top of the kitchen is usually moved a bit to one side to make a temporary outlet for the accumulated smoke. It is replaced in its original position whenever it rains or snows (Census of India, 1961). Some of the Gaddis also fixed bee hives in the walls of their houses. The hives is a long of wood, hollowed from end to end, and laid across so that one end is outside, and the other projects a little into the interior. In the outer end is a small hole by which the bees come and go, and the inner end is closed with mud, but can be opened at any time to extract the honey.

CONCLUSION
Maize and wheat are the staple food of the people of this basin. Earlier people of this basin used to take rice occasionally in past, but now a day's rice are used daily. Chamba and Bhattiyat tehsils are main producer of Rice in this basin. Bharmour tehsil of this basin used Cheena and inferior types of millets. Previously, the diet of Gaddis was simple and did not permit them much variation. Wheat and barley are the main Rabi crops and as such were also used in the form of chapatteis either single or mixed with kodra and maize. Some coarse grains bhares and phulan are also grown and consumed in the form of chapatteis while choula is boiled like rice and taken. In Ravi River basin in Himachal Pradesh, the entire basin peoples wear western type of dresses. In winter season all the people of this basin wear woolen garments but in summer season they wear cotton garments. Just as in other parts of the hills, the common people mostly wear woolen garments. The costume of the Gaddis, both men and women is characteristics and striking, and they can be easily recognized because of their traditional costume. Their costume includes topi (cap), pagri (turban), coat (blazer), chola (a long woolen frock), Dora, kurta (shirt), pyjama (trouser) for men and luanchadi, cholu, Dora and long dupatta, salwar and kameej for women. Every region has jewellery that is typical and peculiar to it. Jewellery and ornaments were fashioned by goldsmiths (suniars) all over Ravi River basin in Himachal Pradesh. The houses are generally two to three storeyed buildings with separate kitchen and cowshed. The design of the houses is not uniform. The design of the house depends upon the location of site. The permanent villages of the Gaddis on an average lie between an altitudes of 7000 to 10000 feet above sea level. They are small sized villages ranging from 30 to 200 families.