Tangible and Intangible Culture of Khatri Community of Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh: A Cultural Study

Culture is a way of life which includes dialect, beliefs, traditions, practices, custom, dress, artefacts, and literature and so on. Simultaneously, Culture is also present intangible as well as tangible form in a society, group or any community. India is known for its rich cultural diversity ranging from North to South and East to West direction. Each and every region and part of India has diverse and unique culture which enriched its glorious past. Likewise, Himachal Pradesh is one of the state of India which is known for its unique culture which includes various communities. The state embedded unique and distinct kind of enriched tribal culture of Gaddis, Pangwalas, Kinnauris and so on. But, after the partition of British India, many other communities from Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan are also resettled in various districts of Himachal Pradesh like Kangra, Shimla, Mandi, Chamba etc. Out of those various communities, the Khatri community is one of them which came from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and resettled in Chamba district which is followed by Shimla district. The Khatri community of Chamba has its unique and vibrant culture which added the colour in the enrich culture of Himachal Pradesh. Therefore, the present study is an to highlights the intangible and tangible culture of Khatri community of Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.