Which is the highest peak in the Kumaon Himalaya?

Question

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Correct — B, Nanda Devi. At 7,816 m it is the highest summit of the Kumaon Himalaya, the longitudinal division of the Himalaya that runs from the Satluj river in the west to the Kali river in the east. It is also the highest mountain lying entirely within India — Kangchenjunga (8,586 m) is higher but sits on the India–Nepal border. Nanda Devi rises inside the Nanda Devi Sanctuary in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, ringed by a near-continuous wall of high peaks that kept it unclimbed until 1936.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Kamet (7,756 m), near the Tibet border in the Zaskar range, is Uttarakhand's second-highest peak — genuinely high, but about 60 m short of Nanda Devi.  (c) Trishul is a group of three peaks on the rim of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary; its highest summit, Trishul I (7,120 m), is far below Nanda Devi. Its fame is historical — in 1907 it became the first 7,000 m peak ever climbed.  (d) Badrinath is best known as the Char Dham shrine on the Alaknanda. The peak of that name belongs to the Chaukhamba massif (about 7,138 m) and is lower than both Nanda Devi and Kamet.

Concept: The Himalaya is divided longitudinally by the rivers that cut across it: Kashmir/Punjab Himalaya (Indus to Satluj), Kumaon Himalaya (Satluj to Kali), Nepal Himalaya (Kali to Teesta) and Assam Himalaya (Teesta to Dihang). Each division has a marker peak, and Nanda Devi is the marker for Kumaon. Note that this physiographic 'Kumaon Himalaya' is wider than the Kumaon administrative division of Uttarakhand — it covers Garhwal as well, which is why Kamet, Trishul and the Chaukhamba/Badrinath peaks all fall inside it.

State PCS 2026 Q1 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q1 — Geography PYQ with Answer