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Kurmanchal
or Kumaon includes
Nanital, Almora,
Pithoragarh and newly created
Bageshwar and
Champawat Districts.
It presents a blend of mesmerizing
view of mountains; marvelous fertile
valleys; Pine, Deodar ,Burash (Rhododendron)
and Oak forests; ancient heritage of temples
and caves and rich
colorful Kumaoni culture and traditions. It is
also called Switzerland of India
for it’s natural beauty and climate. Vivekananda, Tagore, Gandhi, Nehru,
Udai Shankar, Nand Lal Bose, Rahul Sankrityayan, Nicolas Reorich, Guru
Datt and lot of others visited these areas and inspired by the celestial
and scenic beauty of these places.
Some of them were so romantically obsessed with it's beauty that
they visited here again and again in search
of new ideas.
Nature, Music, Art,
Colors, Flowers, Puja, Fast, Ceremonies are
imbibed in the culture and traditions of Kumaon and nature
has bestowed it with all gifts, thus, truly called ‘Rangeelo Kumaon’
means Colorful Kumaon. It provided right atmosphere to Mahatma Gandhi and
Rabindra Nath Tagore to write their famous books 'Anasakti Yoga' and
'Geetanjali' respectively.
People of Kumaon
region also took active part in freedom struggle of India and produced
patriots like Viktor Mohan Joshi, Govind Ballabh Pant and Kumaon Kesari Pt
Badri Datt Pande. Famous 'Chayawadi' poet Pt Sumitra Nandan Pant
and writer Shivani (Gaura Pant) belong to Kumaon. Kumaonis are in armed
forces by tradition and Late General B C Joshi hails from Kumaon.
Mahatma Gandhi spoke highly of the beauty and serenity of the Kumaon hills. In his words " In these hills, nature's beauty of the Himalayas, the bracing climate and soothing green, envelops you. I wonder whether the scenery of these hills and its climate are surpassed or equaled by any of the beauty spots of the world." He wondered why Indians visited Switzerland when they had the Kumaon Hills.
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Travelogue
