It is situated on a remote plateau by the torrential Malana river, at a height of 2,652 metres (8,701 ft) above sea level.

According to the 1961 census, the language speakers were then 563, but today the population of Malana is at least three times as large as 40 years ago.

The locals claim it was one of the oldest democracies of the world, with a well-organized parliamentary system, guided by their devta (deity) Jamlu rishi.

G. M. Young and Penelope Chetwood recount a tale about an orthodox Brahmin priest, who visited Malana, and tried to educate the locals about the pedigree of their god, but had to leave while confessing to not knowing who Jamlu was.

[citation needed] The economy of Malana was traditionally based on making baskets, ropes and slippers from hemp.

Hence the physical/lingual uniqueness cannot be proven, given the inaccessibility of the Malana people, except for the trade of Marijuana / Hashish in the Parvati valley.

The social structure of Malana in fact rests on villagers' unshaken faith in their powerful deity, Jamblu Devta.

A Brahmin priest (pandit) brought Jamlu's supposed true lineage (said to be Jamadagni) to the village of Malana, written on a piece of parchment.

The villagers suggested that he lay it on the temple to see if Jamlu recognizes it, whereupon the spirit of the god supposedly incarnated into a crowd of men (called 'Ra Deo') and started to rave and gibber which bewildered the Brahmin.

Neither of them would say what happened inside the temple, but the Brahmin supposedly tore up the parchment and left, confessing to not knowing who Jamlu was.

[8] Young believes that the Brahmin in the story (if it was factual) actually succeeded in his goal of incorporating Jamlu into the Hindu pantheon, despite the contempt of it shown by the villagers.

Jamlu is sometimes referred to by the alternative name of "Jamdaggan", and his supposed older brother Gaiphan, is also called "Jagamdamb", both are seemingly variants of Jamadagni.

Young in 1911, involving the origins of religious images allegedly sent to Malana by Akbar the Great of the Mughal Empire.

But being unable to make the long and strenuous journey, Akbar instead sent a golden statue of himself, his horses, and his elephants in his stead.

The images were said to be paraded to a grove, where a small stone is embedded on the ground to mark the place where Jamlu waited to receive the emperor's homage.

This myth is however disputed without substantial historical evidence[3] and because there are those who claim that it is the valley of Kalash, in Pakistan that is actually the area in which Alexander the Great's soldiers took refuge.

This legend is also inconsistent with the legendary descent of the local people from Indo-Aryans who would pre-date Alexander the Great's soldiers by approximately a thousand years.

[21] In order to make Malana Cream the live cannabis flower is rubbed between the hands repeatedly, pulling out the resin to generate a layer of sticky hashish across the palm.