Due to its location on the border between India and Nepal, Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in the country and the highest peak. Until 1808, when western surveyors calculated the height of Dhaulagiri, it was thought to be the highest mountain in the world. Prior to Sikkim’s accession to the Indian Union, it was also the tallest mountain in all of India. It is situated in the state of Uttarakhand, between the Goriganga and Rishiganga valleys on the east and west, and is a portion of the Kumaon Himalayas. Its name translates to “Divine Bliss-Giver.” The mountain is revered as the Uttarakhand Himalaya’s patron goddess.In 1988, UNESCO designated the neighboring Nanda Devi National Park as a World Heritage Site.
Nanda Devi is a two-peaked massif that forms an east-west orientated high ridge extending two kilometers (1.2 mi) in length. Nanda Devi East is the name of the eastern summit; the west top is higher. The two summits are together known as the goddess Nanda’s twin peaks.