Himalayan Folklore by Tara Dutt Gairola

Himalayan Folklore is a collection of legends of Garhwal, Almora and Nainital regions of the Himalayas as narrated by the bards or Hurkias as they are locally called and collected by Rev. E.S. Oakley and Tara Dutt Gairola, the authors. The Hurkias, a sub-caste of Doms, were the family bards of all kings and heroes. Mr. Oakley's collection covers a wide range of folklore literature of the Himalayan hills compiled by him over a period of forty years and also contains his learned notes on the same. Some of these stories come from the collection of Rai Pandit Ganga Datt Upreti Bahadur also who had made extensive researches in the subject during his offcial career as Senior Assistant Commissioner in the Garhwal District in the latter part of the 19th century. The Himalayan folklore, while based on the common principles of human nature, has peculiar characteristics and charm of its own due to the natural environment of the Himalayas which contain some of the highest mountains of the world and the high reverence in which they are held by Hindus.