Path: Introduction - Visit the mills; catalogue - Gharats in India
Mills in Alto Aragón

Village mills in India

The same type of small watermills like the ones of Ainielle, Paúles, Aso de Sobremonte and many more are still very much alive in several parts of the world. There are believed to exist a few hunderd thousand of such mills in the Himalayas. The examples shown are from the Indian Himalayas in the Nainital region (Uttar Pradesh). The watermills there are called gharats and have many things in common with the mills in Altoaragón.

Pictures: XII.2004

Pangot Bajun

The mill with stairs leading to the channel
The supply channel with valve;
the mill in the depth

The construction of the wheel is easier than the wooden wheels in Aragón where the blades needed much work to shape them rightly (e.g. Javierre de Olsón). Here a flat piece of timber placed under a certain angle will do the work.

Entrance to the mill.
Open chute.
The drain.
Pangot Bajun

Read more:
Ghosh Abhik, Banerjee B.G., Vasishat R.N. & Sinha A.K. - 2008 - Reinventing the watermill in the Himalayas:
the Gharat in history, tradition and modern development.
ISBN: 81-7211-248-3
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