Village Nestled in the Himalayan Mountains Survives Because of Cannabis

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap]top a Himalayan mountain at 9,000 feet resides a village of humble cannabis farmers, whose livelihood revolves around the plant, financially and spiritually. This village is just one portion of the thousands of families who survive off of cannabis cultivation in the Himalayas, particularly a valuable type of hashish called “charas.” According to journalist Maria Tavernini, who recently wrote on the farmers in National Geographic, charas were originated by Hindu holy men known as Sadhus, and in the ‘70s, became ingrained in the culture of local villagers. Currently, charas are made the same way as they were back in the ‘70s, farmers rub their hands on live cannabis plants and spend hours collecting the resin from the palm of their hands.

CULTURE got in touch with Tavernini in regards to her discovery of the villagers and how she earned exclusive access to their lifestyle. “We discovered these communities while travelling in India researching for new stories, during spring four years ago, when escaping to the Himalayas to survive high temperatures. We were immediately fascinated by their culture and resilience, their ability to adapt to circumstances, their pureness and the humbleness of their life, where everything still depends on Mother Nature,” Tavernini told CULTURE. Tavernini and her photographer Andrea De Fransiscis spent a total of four years with different villages in different parts of the Himalayas to cover a wide spectrum of farmers during different seasons. While their documentation of the villagers is mesmerizing, it took the duo one year to be granted permission to  photograph them, “We needed to explain to them our project and intentions while, on the other hand, narrowing down the scope of the work and entering deeper into their lives, customs and traditions,” Tavernini stated.

Because cannabis prohibition is alive and well in India, farmers constantly have to move their fields higher up to avoid police raids. But despite occasional raids, the farmers remain loyal to their craft as many have never cultivated a legal crop throughout their lifetime. Villagers produce tons of charas a year to be sold to tourist and Indians from big cities, with charas costing up to 20 dollars per gram and price and demand rising each year, according to Tavernini. Although cannabis grows wild within the Himalayas, farmers choose to live humble lives, with an average field consisting of only 50 plants, which produces 10 grams of charas, a meager price for the strenuous work associated with harvesting the plant.

“Life is challenging in the mountains, although it feels like the time has a different meaning and pace. Women work as much as men, and the feeling is that it’s rather a matriarchal society. Despite many families in the valley thrive on the profitable, illegal business, many villagers still live a very meager, humble life,” Tavernini told CULTURE. While the farmers continue to work hard while remaining humble their connections with the outside world are ever increasing, slowly changing the “purity and closeness of the valley.” “They live between their ages-long traditions and an appealing modernity they just recently managed to get in touch with,” stated Tavernini.

As the Indian government continues to support cannabis prohibition, putting the livelihood of such villages in danger,  Romesh Bhattacharji, former narcotics commissioner of India, stated “Nearly 400 of the 640 districts in India have cannabis cultivation,” adding, “It’s time for the Indian Government to stop being a slave of UN-backed policies: Since 1985, cannabis use and cultivation has only proliferated. Prohibition has failed.”