The Forbidden Forest

Himalayan Moist Alpine Forest, Perpetual Snow Region 
Govindham Forest, Nanda Devi National Park, Garhwal Ranges


The project looks at the idea of expanding and acknowledging the forest from within and beyond, in both a physical and metaphorical manner. 
From the stories of the dark dense forests came the concept of ‘forbidden’ as a boundary which should not be crossed. 
This was translated into the idea of identifying the Inconspicuous Edges of these Himalayan Alpine forests and its systems which in turn define the fragile ecoregions which should remain unhindered.  

While climbing this steep way up, one crosses many such boundaries of the Forbidden Forest. In doing so, the traveler will be able to see some markers as indicator species along these inconspicuous edges. 
The pause is where one can recognize these specific trees, lichens growing on their barks, flowering shrubs, grasses, and mosses that mark the edge systems of the forbidden forest, making the boundaries ‘conspicuous’ to an uninitiated traveler.