‘Mussoorie, Nainital remain best tourist destinations for N Indians

This New Year, majority of Delhiites plan to take a shorter holiday trip nearer to their home and likely to reduce their budget by 40 per cent than last year due to inflation, as per the quick survey undertaken by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)-Social Development Foundation. 

The survey reveals that Mussoorie and Nainital will remain the best tourist destinations for North Indians as tourists can enjoy sight seeing and also visit religious centres in Haridwar and Rishikesh nearer to Mussoorie and Nanda Devi which is nearer to Nainital.

According to the ASSOCHAM survey, about 62 per cent of the respondents have planned to go on a vacation to destinations like Jaipur, Agra, Mussoorie, Shimla and Nanital though increased cost is likely to result in shorter trips in locations closer to home, ASSOCHAM secretary general DS Rawat while releasing the survey. He pointed out that last year, over five lakh tourists had visited various tourists destinations like Mussoorie, Nanital, Shimla, Kullu-Manali, Kashmir, Goa, Mysore and Thiruvananthapuram to celebrate their Christmas and New Year eve’s holidays.

“However, Mussoorie and Nanital will remain the best tourist destinations for North Indians as tourists can attain twin objectives — sight seeing and religious tourism. Around 82 per cent of the respondents

said that Jaipur is their first priority followed by Agra. Mussoorie, Shima and Nanital are third, fourth and fifth respectively

LIKHAI wood carving tradition

LIKHAI IS THE ornate wood carving tradition which was an integral part of the hill architecture in Kumaon. This carving is found primarily on structural elements of dwellings which are embellished with folk,religious and Tantric motifs.Hard tun wood(toona celiata) is used.Temples are carved from deodar,tree of the gods-a durable wood,with high resistance to insects and dry rot.Likhai has low and high relief carving done combining many stylized plant and geometrical motifs into a single window,door,pillar or lintel.

The intricacy of carving on the doorway is indicative of the owner;s status.Door jambs sometimes have up to 14 rows of carvings-swans,parrots,lotuses and serpentine creepers,carved on separate panels and joined in a step formation.Often,a carving of a deity adorns the lintel.In Munsyari many houses have Tibetan motifs like the three-flower motif,the arch and dragons.Some of the finest wood carvers also come from Munsyari.In Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts of Garhwal the carving is mainly confined to temples.These stone structures have wooden facades carved with narrative scenes from Hindu and folk mythology.The style resembles that of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.Likhai,embedded in the architectural and traditional wisdom of the Kumaon region,is a dying art today.Rising costs and unavailability of good quality wood along with changing architectural perferences have adversely affected the craft.

AIPAN-RITUAL FLOOR PAINTINGS

 AIPAN IS A ritual of Kumaon,drip-drawn on the floor and walls where religious ceremonies are to be performed.The symbolic white patterns differ for each ceremony and social occasion.Traditionally,aipan on the threshold are freshly made every morning.the ground is first prepared by smearing it with a liquid mixture of clay,cowdung and straw.When it dries,a coat of geru,red clay,is applied and allowed to dry.the artist,a woman,swiftly draws out the prescribed motif in rice paste using her ring finger,anamika,and moving out from the centre.The rice paste drips onto the ring finger from the other fingers.The aipan is drawn freehand,from memory.Aipans are drawn on floors walls on the chauki on which a deit is placed the threshold.in the courtyard ,on pots containing the tulsi plant and on winnows.They are drawn for ceremonies of birth,marriage,death and thread ceremonies,and for the various festivals throughout the year.

The central part of the aipan is considered ceremonial and has a prescribed motif while th outer part is decorative and can be extended or reduced to fit an important element without which the aipan is considered unfinished.Aipan for a dead person is without dots on the 12th day.Three days later it is rubbed out with mud and a new one made with the dots.The aipan on the floor of the prayer room and the deity`s seat has Tantric motifs,called peeth or yantra,related to the deity.The Kitchen walls are painted with animal motifs.Wedding aipans are made from turmeric,vermilion and charcoal.Entrances to homes are decorated with good luck patterns,many times just vertical white lines.These are now being painted on greeting cards,wall hangings and other products.

Bamboo Baskets Ringaal

RINGAAL IS A small bamboo,varying between three and five metres in lenghts,found in the hills of Uttaranchal.The pithy stalk is flattened.The outer skin is made into splits and interlaced into carrying baskets,containers,mats and winnows.Ringaal varies according to the altitude at which it grows.The ghad ringaal or kathin ringaal from which baskets are generally made grows in the lower altitudes (3000 to 5000 feet) in both Kumaon and Garhwal.The finer dev ringaal which splits cleanly in found at higher altitudes in Kumaon.Farmers fetch the ringaal from the forest in October to November and weave baskets in the winter when there is not much work in the fields.The warp splits are beaten to remove the pith and flattern them.The ribs are only partially cleaned.The weave has spokes and grows spirally,strengthened at the base and rim with extra weft twined weave called tyal.The tyal splits face outwards accentuating the difference in weave with textural contrasts.Some baskets are ornamental with complex weaves and open weaves.

Dvaks are made from two baskets fitted into each other,the finer one inside,and bound at the rim with reeds.Winnows are woven in a close weave twill pattern.Mats are made by weaving spliced ringaal in a basket weave pattern.In traditional two-storey houses,the flooring is made from a ringaal mat plastered with mud.Ornamentation by way of colour use splits blackened with pine bark smoke.Pink bark is heavy in oil content and gives off a shine as well.

Tamra shilp kumaon almora

Gagar

TAMTAS,coppersmiths,fashion vessels from sheet copper for daily and ritual use.Copper,called tamba in Sanskrit,is regarded sacred by the people of the Himalayas.Every temple has an object made of copper and every house has a copper pot to store water.The metal is known to have medicinal properties and keeps water pure.Copper smithery is a hereditary tamtas work from home.The craftsmen buy the sheets from contractors who procure them from rolling mills in Jagadhari in Haryana. Copper was initially extracted by the tamtas from local mines,a process which was a closely guarded secret.Pots are formed in two halves and joined with brass solder.The sheet is formed by drawing it over a swage stone.The finished vessel is heated until red-hot and immediately buried in a pit of rice husk and acid.It comes out shining.The rim or mouths are finished by beadingd and handles are riveted on. 

lota

water filter

The surface is fatigue resisted by peening.The concentric peening acts are ribbing and strengthens the walls.The cultural influences,Tibetan adn Shaivite,in the region are reflected in the motifs and forms of the vessels.The same vessel is made in various shapes for the Kumaoni,Garhwali,and Nepali customer.The tamtas also specialize in another kind of decorative were called Ganga-Jamuni in which brass and copper are used together.The two metals have different melting points and joining them is a specialized task.

taula

• Taula,The pots have been ribbed and peened to strengthen the sheet body.
• Water Filter
• Water Jug engraved with a punch.
• Degchi,vessels used for cooking rice.
• A swage stone on which sheets are formed.
• Gagar,a water pot.Every household in the region posses at least one gagar.
• Gagar,a water pot.
• Copper jugs.