Exploring Uttarakhand in in an eco•friendly manner, it is one of the leading tourist destinations in the World
Come to Uttarakhand to experience the best of hospitality people, Nature, culture and peace.
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.
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.
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)
