ANDRETTA ICONS OF INDIA

An idyllic village in the heart of Himachal Pradesh is - at a passing glance indistinguishable from the rest of the state. But this village has been the muse and home to many of Indian's most acclaimed artistic minds as experienced by Dipayan Dutta

- Dipayan Dutta

Hidden away in the heart of Himachal's Kangra valley, set to the tea gardens and the snow-covered peaks of the Dhauladhar range is a little-known and seldom talked about town called Andretta. The name itself all but gives it away. This quaint little hamlet is anything but just another Himalayan village, despite being visually indistinguishable at first glance. This little town though, forgotten in time, was the melting pot for some of the most acclaimed minds in theatre, art and pottery over the last century. To this day Andretta stands out as something of an epicentre for many a cultural renaissance.

This was not a story worth telling unless experienced first hand. So we loaded up the Hyundai Verna and set off to find the idyllic creative paradise. It stood out that such a significant cultural and social brewing had gone almost unnoticed and it was our duty to unearth this icon that has been sitting in plane sight for the better part of a century.