Discover nature at Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand

From Delhi: Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand

Let this December be one of discovery, take your kids to Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand.

Origin: Established in the year 1936 as Hailey National Park, Corbett has the glory of being India's oldest and most prestigious National Park. It is also being honoured as the place where Project Tiger was first launched four decades ago.

Landscape: Spans over an extent of 520 square kilometres, its whole area comprises hills, marshy depressions, riverine belts, grasslands and a large lake. For a memorable experience, stay in the National Park for a night or two.

Safaris: Nature watch and wildlife viewing in the park is done in an open four wheeler Jeep and on elephant back (seasonal).

Bird Watchers Haven: At Corbett National Park more than 600 species of birds are found, to name a few: Peacock, pheasant, pigeon, owl, hornbill, barbet, lark, myna, magpie, minivet, patridge, thrush, tit, nuthatch, wagtail, sunbird, bunting, oriole, kingfisher, drongo, dove, woodpecker, duck, teal, eagle, stork, cormorant, falcon, bulbul, flycatcher, redstartandgull, and many more.

‘The Beatles’ come back to life in a corner of Uttarakhand'

After two decades of neglect, state forest department reopens Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ashram in Rishikesh, where the band spent three months.

With the Ganga flowing quietly behind it, this abandoned ashram in Rishikesh has received many pilgrims over the years. They have picked their way through the thick undergrowth to reach the dilapidated Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ashram that once briefly housed the Beatles.
Now, the pilgrims can look forward to a new temple.

Uttarakhand’s Forest Department, under whom these premises fall, has converted the ashram into an eco-friendly tourist destination, offering bird walks and nature trails. Abandoned since 1997, it was thrown open to public on Tuesday.


It was in February 1968 that the Beatles turned up in Rishikesh to learn transcendental meditation from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The now-derelict, igloo-shaped Chaurasi Kutiya cottages was where they were holed up, lost in meditation and music. They are said to have written 48 songs here in just seven weeks, many of which made it to their famous White Album. Ringo Starr is said to have left within 10 days after his stomach couldn’t cope with the spicy food, followed by Paul McCartney three weeks later. John Lennon and George Harrison stayed on for eight weeks. Legends about the band continue to echo in the premises. It is said that Lennon wrote ‘I am so tired’, during his stay with the Maharishi, after being deprived of booze, drugs and tobacco, and getting little sleep. All did not end well with the trip, as the group and their friends were particularly left troubled by the onslaught of monkeys and mosquitoes. Perhaps, they would have approved of the refurbishments. The ashram, which falls in the Rajaji National Park, has been given a facelift and sports clean floors and new toilets. “We have cleared the floors and walls of all creepers and have removed cobwebs and garbage from the meditation cells and halls. We are introducing a nature and bird walk. Later, we plan to open a cafeteria,” said Rajendra Nautiyal, ranger of the Rajaji National Park’s Gauri Range. But the biggest draw remains the artwork on the walls of the yoga hall. In 2012, Canadian artist Pan Trinity Das came here and with the help of a bunch of travelling artists, painted colourful strokes of pop art and black-and-white portraits of the Beatles alongside those of spiritual teachers, including Yogi and the Dalai Lama. On another wall are splashed the lyrics of the Beatles’s ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘Let It Be’. Das called this hall the Beatles Cathedral Gallery and the name has stuck. But the 30-year-old wonders if he will be able to paint now under the supervision of guards and officials.

Speaking to The Indian Express over phone from California, the artist said, “I haven’t been invited for the opening but I wonder if we will still be allowed to paint. Earlier, we could directly gain entry inside the forest without any supervision and permission and paint but I doubt if it will be the same.” On their part, the forest officials have decided not to touch the art work, except for repainting some walls that have been overrun by graffiti. “No one will be allowed to draw on the walls anymore. But an artist can take permission and paint since it’s the artwork here that is its biggest draw,” said Nautiyal. Uttarakhand Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal, who was the chief guest on the opening, said, “This is our state’s treasure and its opening is an important landmark for us. We plan to include a yoga learning centre and meditation classes at a later stage. Our aim is to ensure that visitors don’t simply come for the Beatles connection but to learn the magic of nature, meditation and yoga.” The entry fee for Indian tourists is Rs 150, and Rs 600 for foreigners. The backpackers are clearly not happy. “Earlier, nobody had to buy tickets but Rs 600 is too much for us. It’s what we would pay for three nights in a hotel here,” said Patricia Gonzalez, 33, from Spain.

source: The Indian Express / 11-Dec-2015

Uttarakhan promotes winter tourism

As per a report by BD Kasniyal in The Tribune, winter tourism is being promoted in Uttarakhand to take tourist activities beyond the spots established by the British over 150 years ago when they felt the need of cool places for their families and VIPs. Since the state came into existence in 2000, winter tourism has also been associated with places other than popular tourist places such as Nainital, Mussoorie and Kausani. “We have a clear policy of winter tourism. We take tourists who come to Uttarakhand to view Himalayan peaks or bask in the sun and escape the foggy conditions in the plains,” says Dinesh Gururani, adventure tourism officer, Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN).

He says winter tourism not only gives an opportunity to residents of villages situated along a particular mountain track to earn money by providing home stay facilities to tourists but also provides a market for local goods and vegetables. “When all tribal families come down from their high Himalayan villages to lower valleys, it is winter tourists who can purchase their craft goods. The tribal families mostly reside along track routes which tourists travel on during the winter,” says Lila Bangal, a tribal craftswoman at the Jauljibi market who also runs a cooperative federation to promote tribal craft.

Gururani says that it is winter tourism that can give a new shape to tourism market as different from traditional tourism. “Villagers living along the track to the Chadika temple in Pithoragarh, the old Sherring Road in Champawat and the Binsar track in Almora can benefit from winter tourism as tourists can purchase local vegetables and craft. As these tracks require more than a day to trek from the base camps, tourists need food material that they can buy from villagers,” he says.

Officers at the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Corporation (UTDC) at Dehradun say the government is promoting winter tourism as it wants every region to be covered under the tourist circuit. “To run tourist activities throughout the year, we are promoting trekking, river rafting, kayaking, hand gliding and mountaineering, besides recently introduced cycling as part of winter tourism. New tourist destinations are being developed in all parts of the state so that jobs for local villagers and youths could be generated throughout the year,” says an officer at the UTDC. Munsiyari in Pithoragarh district and Kapkot in Bageshwar district have shown the way for winter tourism as tourists who trek to Milam and the Khuliya Top provide much-needed source of livelihood to residents of Lilam, Dhapa, Balanti, and Bhujani villages and those living along the Milam route. Otherwise, these villagers will be without a job for over six months.

“As the number of trekkers has grown during the winter, we hope to stay in our high altitude villages to earn our livelihood amid chilling cold and heavy snowfall. Otherwise, there is no hope of employment in this part of Himalayas during the winter,” says Balwant Singh Khati, a restaurant owner at the Khati camp on the Pindari track route in Bageshwar district. (Source: The Tribune)

Travel Biz / Monday, 07 December, 2015,

Thomas Cook buys Kuoni India for Rs 535 crore

Move aimed to grow inbound tours business, expand in foreign market

Fairfax-owned Thomas Cook has acquired Swiss tour operator Kuoni Group's business in India and Hong Kong for about Rs 535 crore as a part of its strategy to scale up the inbound tour business and expand in foreign markets. This is the company's second acquisition in a week. Last week, it acquired Luxe Asia, a destination management company in Sri Lanka.

While travel industry sources say Thomas Cook would become the largest tour operator in both inbound and outbound segments post the deal, senior executives in the company said it was incorrect to claim the number one rank. In FY14-15, Thomas Cook reported standalone revenue of Rs 500 crore and net profit of Rs 33 crore.

In January, Kuoni Group had announced its intention to sell tour businesses in India and other parts of world to focus on online travel, destination management and visa processing services. Initially, the Swiss company planned to retain its destination management business (inbound travel) in India, but even that is being sold to Thomas Cook.

Thomas Cook will run Kuoni's business in India and Hong Kong independently and will take over its 1,800 employees and offices in both the locations.

“The Kuoni brand is licensed to the acquirer for one year in India and for five years in Hong Kong. All other brands such as SOTC, Sita and Distant Frontiers are transferred with the business,” Kuoni said.

Thomas Cook said it will finance the transaction with equity infusion, internal accruals and debt.

Kuoni was founded in 1906 and entered India in 1997 by acquiring SOTC Tours, which was one of pioneers of foreign tours in the country. Three years later, it took over Sita World Travels, a specialist in inbound tours. Sita is said to be the largest inbound tour operators in India and with this acquisition, Thomas Cook can move up to the top rank in the inbound market, a source said.

“Also like other companies, Thomas Cook faces challenges from online travel companies that are growing at a fast rate. This acquisition also allows the company to face the challenge,” the source added.

“Our acquisition of Kuoni’s tour operating and retailing businesses in India & Hong Kong as well as the Indian inbound business reaffirms our belief in the India market potential, as also our strategic intent to explore viable geographies, including the larger Asia opportunity,” said Prem Watsa, chairman & CEO of Fairfax Financial Holding.

The deal gives Thomas Cook the scale and will help in better contracting and improve margins. I would expect the company to focus on high end luxury travel and Kuoni handle the mass tours business,” said Rajiv Duggal, former managing director of Kuoni India.

Source : Business Standard news

NANDA DEVI NATIONAL PARK (नन्दा देवी सुनन्दा देवी)

 The Nanda Devi National Park — a national park and Biosphere reserve protecting Nanda Devi peak and its surroundings, in the state of Uttarakhand, northern India.

It is a 630.33 square kilometres (155,760 acres) park, within the Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nanda Devi is the second highest mountain in India and the highest entirely within the country (Kangchenjunga being on the border of India and Nepal).

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks

Nestled high in West Himalaya, India’s Valley of Flowers National Park is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty. This richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, brown bear and blue sheep. The gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park. Together they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya, praised by mountaineers and botanists for over a century and in Hindu mythology for much longer.

he Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks are exceptionally beautiful high-altitude West Himalayan landscapes with outstanding biodiversity. One of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the Himalayas, Nanda Devi National Park is dominated by the 7,817 m peak of Nanda Devi, India’s second highest mountain which is approached through the Rishi Ganga gorge, one of the deepest in the world. The Valley of Flowers National Park, with its gentler landscape, breath-taking beautiful meadows of alpine flowers and ease of access, complements the rugged, inaccessible, high mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi.

 Nanda Devi (Hindi: नन्दा देवी ) is the highest mountain in Uttarakhand, the second highest mountain in India, and the highest located entirely within the country (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal); owing to this geography it was considered the highest known mountain in the world, until computations on Dhaulagiri by western surveyors in 1808. It was also the highest mountain in India before Sikkim joined the Republic of India. It is part of the Garhwal Himalayas, and is located in the state of Uttarakhand, between the Rishiganga valley on the west and the Goriganga valley on the east. The peak, whose name means "Bliss-Giving Goddess",^[4] is regarded as the patron-goddess of the Uttarakhand Himalaya. In acknowledgment of its religious significance and for the protection of its fragile ecosystem, the peak as well as the circle of high mountains surrounding it—the Nanda Devi sanctuary—were closed to both locals and climbers in 1983. The surrounding Nanda Devi National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

Sunanda Devi (Hindi: सुनन्दा देवी) previously known as Nanda Devi East is the lower of the two adjacent peaks of the highest mountain in Uttarakhand and second highest mountain in India; Nanda Devi is its higher twin peak. Nanda Devi and Sunanda Devi are part of the Garhwal Himalayas, and are located in the state of Uttarakhand. The graceful peaks of twin mountains are visible from almost everywhere in Kumaon. The first ascent to the Sunanda Devi peak in recorded history appears to be in 1939 by Jakub Bujak and Janusz Klarner. The elevation of Sunanda Devi is 7,434 m (24,390 ft) and its prominence is 260 m (850 ft).

Nanda Devi National Park lies in eastern Uttarakhand, near the Tibetan border in the Garhwal Himalaya, 300 km northeast of Delhi

Nanda Devi National Park along with the Valley of Flowers National Park are some of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the Himalayas. It is dominated by the peaks of Nanda Devi and Sunanda Devi of India’s second highest mountain which is approached through the Rishiganga gorge, one of the deepest in the world. No humans live in the Park which has remained more or less intact because of its rugged inaccessibility. It has a very diverse flora and is the habitat of several endangered mammals, among them the snow leopard, serow, himalayan musk deer and bharal.

Source: internet Wikepedia / Unesco word heritage site

The famous Sem Mukhem at Tehri Garhwal

Sem Mukhem temple is located in tourism zone 4 of UNWTO Uttarakhand Tourism Development Master Plan (2007-2022). The subproject area is in Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand State.

The district of Tehri Garhwal is one of the largest districts of Uttarakhand.

Some important tourist locations in the region are Buda Kedar, Khatling Glacier and popular hill station Chamba. The subproject site is mentioned in almost all tourist guides of Uttarakhand.

It is considered as an important tourist location in Tehri Garhwal. It is one of the important tourist locations for tourists visiting NewTehri and Tehri reservoir.

Temple of Nag Raja (the Serpent King) at Sem Mukhem located in Pratapnagar block of Tehri Garhwal district. The temple is held in high esteem by the people of the area.

People consider it as the fifth dham after Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

The famous Sem Mukhem Mela (fair) is held once in every three years in the last week of November. The fair attracts lakhs of devotees from different parts of the State and beyond, who take blessings after offering prayers.

VIPs including the Chief Minister usually attend the fair. A temporary helipad has been constructed for this purpose.

Sem Nagaraja temple is situated near the village Mukhem in Pratapnagar block of Tehri district, of Garhwal region in Himalaya. Transport facilities are available up to Mukhem village.

The temple is situated at the top of a hill involving 2 km trek from a fair ground located at foothill.

This district is considered to be one of holy place in the state, and it is located in the foothills of the Himalayan mountain range. There are many places that one can visit during trip to Tehri Garhwal, as there are numerous temples in the region and also many old forts built during 823 AD –886 AD.

It is believed that in the Dwapar Yug brave Gangu Ramola used to live at Garh Mukhem. On hearing about his strength, Krishna took the guise of a Rishi to test him. The lord sought alms at his home but Ramola’s wife said that the alms would be given after he returned home from the forest. Angered at this, Lord Krishna turned Ramola and his 180 buffaloes to stone, which can still be seen at the site.
She realized who the Rishi was and sought her husband’s life back from Krishna, who refused to concede and gave her water instead. Later the Lord lost himself in meditation at this naturally beautiful area.

Now, once in every three years, lakhs of people throng with musical instruments to the fair held here. The normal tourist season is in the month of April, May and June. Mule service is available during festivals on demand. Accommodation is presently provided by the Temple Priests / ‘Pandas’ of the village Mukhem. Apart from that, there is one Ashram of Swami Kulananda, where minimum boarding and lodging is available. Devotees can stay in this ashram (only dormitory facilities are available for 20 persons).

Source : Internet / Asian Development Bank / UNWTO reports

Pics by : Dharam Singh

Explore Uttarakhand

27th September, World Tourism Day 2015: One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities

World Tourism Day Official Message by UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai

"Tourism is more than just about reaching a destination – tourism has a global reach. Every time we travel, we become part of a global movement that has the power to drive positive change for our planet and all people.
This 27 September, let us celebrate the value of the 'One Billion Tourists' and work together in making tourism a true instrument of opportunity and inclusion. Let us all turn the power of one billion into a genuine force for good."
(The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.)

Uttarakhand welcomes all tourist on the occasion of World Tourism Day

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board is the highest body to advise Government on all matters relating to tourism in the State.

Its mission is to place Uttarakhand on the tourism map of the world as one of the leading tourist destinations, and to make Uttarakhand synonymous with tourism.

The UNDP and Government of India have established a program for development of Endogenous Tourism based upon India’s rich cultural heritage and traditional crafts and 32 villages across 20 states are identified for development of alternative models for rural tourism. To support this, leading tourism officials of Uttarakhand launched a campaign under the slogan “10,000 rooms in 1000 villages”.

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Master Plan 2007 - 2022

- The aim of this Tourism Development Master Plan Study is to support the Government of India in their endeavour to promote high quality sustainable tourism infrastructure, facilities and products in the prime tourism zones of Uttarakhand State

Uttarakhand is located approximately 250 km from New Delhi, Uttarakhand is easily reachable by road and rail service.

Uttarakhand Places

• Almora
• Bageshwar
• Bhowali
• Binsar
• Chamba
• Chaukori
• Deoprayag
• Devalgarh
• Dhanaulti

• Gopeshwar
• Gwaldam
• Harsil
• Kailash Mansarovar Yatra
• Kausani
• Khirsu
• Lansdowne
• Lohaghat
• Munsyari

• Mussoorie
• Nainital
• Nanakmatta
• New Tehri
• Panch Badri
• Panch Kedar
• Panch Prayag
• Patal Bhuwaneshwar
• Pauri

• Pithoragarh
• Ranikhet
• Rudraprayag

Uttarakhand is also a major destination for adventure sports lovers. Many national and international competitions of Skiing, Mountaineering, Water rafting, Rock climbing etc. are held annually. The many thrills the state has on offer range from treks to white water rafting to paragliding to biking are sufficient to entice the adventure-bound souls to explore and experience the newer highs.

- Dharam Singh
Source : internet and facebook page of
United Nations World Tourism Organisation / Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board