kalsi ( gate way of jonsar bawar)

Perched amidst downy highlands and intimidating precipice, lays a sleazy township with magnificent vistas of the valley i.e. Kalsi. It is amongst the newly explored tourist destinations near Dehradun in the state of Uttaranchal, India. Positioned on the bank of the effervescent Yamuna, Kalsi is known for its exceptional grandeur as well as being a popular heritage site.

Brief History of Kalsi:

According to historical evidences, the place was a part of the kingdom of Mauryan emperor Ashoka who ruled India from 269-232 B.C. A few wrecked pieces of pillars, railings, broken bits of pottery and some sculptures were found in the region by the Archeological survey of India. The most important discovery was a bulky rock about 10 ft long, 10 ft wide and 8 ft thick at the bottom at the banks of River Yamuna. The rock has now been preserved by the Archeological survey of India. The rock has a set of 14 inscriptions in Brahmi and Prakrit language. Since King Ashoka was a follower of Buddha's teachings and a preacher of non-violence himself, he spread the message of ahimsa and peacefulness. He appointed an array of ministers who were assigned this job of writing inscriptions on rocks and pillars along the significant pilgrimage and trade routes throughout India. Probably, this was his way of spreading his generous thoughts.

Kalsi is a tiny village in the backdrop of Himalaya en route Chakrata from Dehradun and flaunts an alluring serenade of innate and artistic beauty. An untainted, unexplored and uncharted implicit heaven for exhilarating adventure, Kalsi offers an exquisite amiable charm which surpasses every description. The major attraction of Kalsi is the vivacious River Yamuna which disposes off its insistent temperament in this region and takes along the affluent history of Kalsi steadily. River Yamuna attains calm and tranquility at Kalsi only. An unfamiliar milieu in the foothills of the Himalayas, Kalsi was once a chief township in the Jaunsar Bawar area. Subsequently, it was decrepit into a deserted tiny rural community. The astounding sheathe of land, fostered by the unspoiled stream of River Asan and the confluence of unruffled Yamuna with its offshoot stream, River Tons at Kalsi extends numerous breathtakingly beautiful landscapes of the Doon valley.

Apart from its historical legacy, Kalsi is fast gaining popularity as a tourist destination. It offers an extensive range of adventurous sports which interests everyone like white water rafting, angling, para sailing and kayaking.

A report by archeologist survey of India :

THE INSCRIBED ROCK EDICT OF ASOKA (KALSI)

Location Geo- Coordinates

Lat. 30 ° 32' N: Long 77° 53' E

NOTIFICATION NO.: UP-3119-M/367 :23-11-1909

The site of Asoka's inscriptions at Kalsi the only place in north India where the great Mauryan emperor has inscribed the set of the fourteen rock edicts (res). The language of these edicts is Pali and the script Brahmi which reflect Asoka's humane approach in his internal administration, his fatherly concern for the moral and spiritual welfare of his subjects, and his commitment to non-violence and abandonment of warfare. For this Asoka proclaimed certain restrictive and prescriptive policies. The essence of the restrictive policies are restraint in worldly amusement, in gratuitous slaughter or non destruction of animals, in participating in despicable and useless beliefs and practices, and in glorification of one's own faith. That of prescriptive ones: self-control, purity of mind, gratitude, and firm attachment service to parents and ascetics, alms to brahmins and sramanas (ascetics), seemly behaviour towards friends, relatives, acquaintances, servants and slaves, concordance in religious matters.

To implement his policies Asoka put restraint in killing animals for the royal kitchen, established hospitals and planted medicinal herbs for both human beings and animals. He did not only within his empire but also in the neighbouring kingdoms: Chodas, Pamdiyas, Satiyaputras, Kerlaputras upto tambapamni (srilanka) in the south, and of hellenic kings in the west. He appointed dhamma mahamatra-s (overseers of the sacred law) for the promotion of righteous conduct, and replacing sound of trumpet signalling war used sound of dhamma (righteousness) whereby he claims to have gained dhamma vijay (victory by means of righteousness) even in the kingdoms of his contemporary hellenic kings, namely, antiochus (i) theos of Sriya, Ptolemy (ii) Philadelphia of Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, magas of Cyrene and Alexender of epirus. Thus, these inscriptions bear testimony to the facts that what Asoka preached also practiced. That is why he is acclaimed as one of the greatest emperors in the world.