Hyderabad, Aug. 23 -- Do you know which village was once called the "last village of India" and is now proudly known as the "first village of India"? The answer is Mana, a tiny Himalayan settlement in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, located close to Badrinath.

For years, Mana was described as India's last village because of its location near the Indo Tibetan border. But its identity changed when a Border Roads Organisation signboard declared it the "First Indian Village."

The change also gave travellers a new reason to look at this remote Himalayan settlement not as the end of the country, but as its beginning.

A village above the clouds

Situated at around 3,200 metres above sea level, Mana feels like a picture painted across the moun...