Rohtang Pass (Rohtang , lit: རོ་ (Ro)- corpse(s), ཐང་། (thang)- plain/field ) is a high mountain pass (elevation ) on the eastern end of the Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around from Manali in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh, India. Geography The pass provides a natural divide between the Kullu Valley with a primarily sanatani culture (in the south), and the arid high-altitude Lahaul and Spiti valleys with a Buddhist culture (in the north). The pass lies on the watershed between the Chenab and Beas basins. On the southern side of this pass, the Beas River emerges from underground and flows southward and on its northern side, the Chandra River (flows from the eastern Himalayas), a source stream of the river Chenab, flows westward. Overview The pass is open from May to November. It is not particularly high or difficult to cross on foot by Himalayan standards, but it has a well-deserved reputation for being dangerous because of unpredictable snowstorms and blizzards. This pass is an ancient trade route between the people on either side of Pir Panjal. The local name for this pass is a generic name of pass. There are many other passes in Lahaul and Spiti which have specific names (Kunzam La, Baralacha La, etc.). This is suggestive of the fact that this must have been the oldest and most frequented pass in the region, or the fact that it is the main pass leading from one cultural region to another, quite different one, to the north. The name Rohtang comes from Persian/ Farsi words Ruh+ Tang which means pile of dead bodies. The former National Highway 21 (NH 21, now numbered NH 3), the road through the Kullu Valley, terminates at Manali. The road northwards over the Rohtang Pass to Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district and on to Leh in Ladakh is not a national highway. Nonetheless, the Leh-Manali Highway has become very busy during the summer months as an alternate military route since the Kargil Conflict in 1999. Traffic jams are common as military vehicles, trucks, and goods carriers try to navigate the tight roads and rough terrain, compounded by snow and ice at certain points and the large number of tourist vehicles. Several episodes of the History Channel's Ice Road Truckers series spinoff IRT Deadliest Roads dealt