Royal Enfield Takes On “The Great Himalayan Exploration”

[advrider]

Royal Enfield named their adventure motorcycle the Himalayan, after the mountain range between India and Nepal. Some of the most epic riding in the world exists here. While riding is a worthy goal in itself, Royal Enfield wants more. They have teamed up with UNESCO to encourage riders to explore not only the Himalayas themselves, but also the numerous cultures that exist there, and report what they find. They’re calling this “The Great Himalayan Exploration.”

There are many small communities that live in the Himalayas, with their own unique practices and cultures. The rugged terrain has kept them isolated from India’s booming mainstream civilization, as well as each other in some cases. Adventure motorcycles are the perfect tool for tackling this terrain, and visiting these communities to learn more about them and their “Intangible Cultural Heritage” (ICH).

“According to UNESCO, the ICH of a country can be defined as ‘practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills that communities, groups, and in some cases individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage,'” says the Royal Enfield website on this project. “With this project, we invite you to ride along and experience the culturally charged atmosphere of pristine lands as we navigate our way around their wealth of ICH practices. The collaborative effort aims to be a platform for Himalayan communities to tell their own stories and create an alternative repository for their living and intangible legacies—some of which may soon be lost in the face of modernity.”

You Can Help

While we will all be able to follow the journey and read about what they find, Royal Enfield is also recruiting riders to take part in this exploration themselves. You can fill out a form on their website to be considered to join the Great Himalayan Exploration and take part in this project.

It’s great to see Royal Enfield doing more than just slapping the Himalayan name on one of their motorcycles. Rather than appropriation, they’re genuinely interested in these mountains and the people who live there. It’s also great to see them considered to be a part of India’s ICH rather than separate from it, as Native Americans and First Nations people were thought of for many years.

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