Placidity in the greens

The sun rays enter those dormers with fresh breeze dancing on its dulcet music. The dew on leaves seems more than any opulence of the world, with perennial grass welcoming the new dawn, the new morning.

Almora, in the lap of ineffable mountains, in the arms  of dense forest and the heart of nature is the best place to find solace.  The early morning “Adrak Ki Chai” with lots of chortling can fill every heart with joy and pleasure. The knock on the doors, the banging windows as if the morning is summoning the people to come out in the fresh air.

The empty streets with people looking out from their small windows, as if enjoying their golden freedom. The gable and pitched roof houses, roads with cobbled stones on the main market speaks about the history of Almora. The wooden houses with beautiful “nakashi” on them gives a unique flavor to the visit to Almora. 

From the beautiful temples to dense forests, from Nanda DeviMela to auspicious Rajyatra, from the dawn till dusk, everything is perfect for photo freaks. Oozing with the odour of pine and pink blossoms, the dusk tinged the horizon with roseate hues and the little town is beguiled from pink flowers to the glorious blue.

The Kasardevi temple, a perfect point where you can find solace has hundreds of stairs that helps you vent out your impurities from your heart. The place is surrounded by a large area of forests and exotic restaurants. The Mohan’s café with its beautiful architecture is at the topmost hill of the town. The others include Alhito café, House of Blues with continuous tintinnabulation of music is always ready to soothe your ears. The Chettai mandir where the mellifluous sound of thousands of bells reach to every written letter to God. The Bright End corner, famous with the name of sunset point serves the best coffee along with the red sunset.

The Binsar which is 23 kilometers from the main market is a seat to dense forests with various species of birds and home to leopards offers the beautiful view of ‘The Himalayas’ as of they are very close to us. Near Binsar, is the deer park for spotting various species of deer and the  ‘Dhokane waterfalls’.

The famous Nanda Devi temple which is the holy temple of all the Almorians is the place where you will always find people, some worshipping, some roaming, with lots of laughter making the place lively. The fair which is organized every year for six days in the month of Bhado (Hindi calendar) is definitely not a thing to miss. The other peaceful places but worth visiting are ‘The Himalayan Tea’, ‘Mirza café’, ‘The chocolate factory’, ‘Simtola Eco park’.

Almora is located in the kumaun region of Uttarakhand with amazing delicacies such as Bhatt Ki chutkani, Bhatt ke dupke, palak ka kaapa, saah, gehed ki daal, badi Ki sabji, maddue ki roti, chais and phana. The famous sweets of Almora are Bal mithai and singaudi.

This beautiful place is cherished with even more beautiful and helping people. They are always ready to help each other. The market is divided according to the goods they sell that make it very easy to buy the things you wish to. Usually spoken language is Kumauni but for the comfort level of others they speak Hindi too.

The breathtaking dances of Kumaun is worth watching every time. The women of the small town dressed in ‘Pichaura’ and ‘nath’ (nose ring) do the Jhoda and fill the empty voids with colors. The men of the town, dressed in all white do the Cholia, in which stunts are performed and music is played using traditional instruments that fill zest and enthusiasm among the people. The festival of Holi is celebrated with dance and music in which women go to each other houses and sing songs and this festival is celebrated for seven days.

The greenery, the sky turning marigold and tangerine, filled my heart with a different feeling. Contentment. Happiness. The darkness, the stars and the moon invades the night sky. It invites people to explore this little town that belongs to nature, where every trespasser is welcomed to find peace.

I would want to come to this place again to find the same peace that Swami Vivekananda found in those trees and in those placid zephyrs.