Which Himalayan peak is widely known as the “Queen of the Himalayas”?

Nanda Devi is the Himalayan peak widely known as the “Queen of the Himalayas.”

At 7,816 metres, Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India and the highest peak located wholly within the country. It rises in Uttarakhand, in the Garhwal Himalaya, and forms part of a dramatic ring of peaks surrounding the Nanda Devi Sanctuary.

The mountain has strong religious importance in the region. Nanda Devi is associated with a Hindu goddess and is revered in Uttarakhand, where the Nanda Devi Raj Jat pilgrimage is held traditionally every twelve years. The mountain’s name therefore refers both to the physical peak and to a revered regional deity.

Nanda Devi should not be confused with Nanda Devi East, a separate summit in the same massif. The main summit was first climbed in 1936 by Bill Tilman and Noel Odell.