Thirteen districts, each with its own crafts, fairs and stories.
Find a place to visit
From Landour Bazaar to Benog Hill, chapter members lead walks in every season.
Ideas for a day in the hills
Nanda Devi's dola at the Nanda Devi Mela, Kumaon. Photo: 1v2a3i, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Each Nandashtami her dola is carried through Almora, with nights of song and a market of crafts.
What's on this seasonकहाँ जाएँ
Thirteen districts, each with its crafts, its fairs and the work INTACH does there.
इस ऋतु में
Fairs and festivals where Uttarakhand's crafts and rituals come out into the open. Dates follow the lunar and solar calendars, so check before you travel.
Bagnath temple gate, Bageshwar, Uttarayani 2018. Photo: Bharat Chandola, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Makar Sankranti, mid-January, for about a week
Bageshwar, where the Saryu meets the Gomti
A week-long fair on the river banks at Bageshwar, held at Makar Sankranti.
Visit Bageshwar
Children with baskets of flowers for Phool Dei. Photo: Nitin Joshi, CC BY 4.0, cropped
The first day of Chaitra, in mid-March
Villages across Kumaon and Garhwal
Children go from house to house leaving fyoli and buransh flowers on each doorstep, a blessing for the year.
Ramman at Saloor-Dungra, Chamoli. Photo: Arvind Mudgil / UNESCO, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, cropped
April, around Baisakhi
Saloor-Dungra, Chamoli
Masked ritual theatre for the village deity, Bhumiyal Devta. On UNESCO's list of intangible heritage since 2009.
Visit Chamoli
On nowNextINTACH18 May
The Uttarakhand Museum Community
The state chapter brings together the small museums of the Uttarakhand Museum Community.
Nanda Devi's dola at the Nanda Devi Mela, Kumaon. Photo: 1v2a3i, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Nandashtami, August to September
Nanda Devi temple, Almora
A procession carries the dola of Nanda Devi through Almora, with nights of singing and a market of local crafts.
Visit Almora
Aipan with Lakshmi's footprints, Kumaon. Photo: ADITITIWARI 2231119, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Diwali, October to November
Homes across Kumaon
Thresholds and courtyards are drawn afresh in red geru and white rice paste, the two colours of Aipan.
Visit AlmoraFrom 14 November
Jauljibi, where the Kali meets the Gori, Pithoragarh
A trade fair since 1914, long tied to the Shauka traders of the high valleys. Woollens are still sold there.
Visit Pithoragarhसैर
Walks, talks and a community of small museums, from the four chapters.
WalkThe Dehradun chapter's walk round the institute's colonnaded campus, for the Historic Cities Series.
WalkA forest walk in Dugadda with the Kotdwar chapter, through marigolds to the empty houses.
NatureBird-watching where the Kohlu and Khoh rivers meet, one of the Kotdwar chapter's first walks.
MuseumFrom the Rung Museum in Darchula to the Soham Himalayan Centre in Mussoorie.
TalkJoyce Burkhalter Flueckiger on her years of recording the shopkeepers of Landour.
WorkshopTree of Life: a hundred students from ten schools at the college where forestry in India began.
शिल्प
Copper is still beaten in Almora, ringal woven in Chamoli and wool spun on the Bhotia looms of Munsiyari. Start with one of these, or find any craft in the list below.
CraftBaskets, mats and winnowers woven from ringal, the slender hill bamboo of the Garhwal forests.
Ringal weaver, Chamoli district. Photo: Drashokk, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
CraftCarved doorways and brackets of the Rawain and Yamuna valley temples, cut from deodar.
Someshwar temple, Osla, Uttarkashi. Photo: Anjan Kumar Kundu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
CraftWooden masks carved for village ritual. Rudraprayag is also home to Ghimatoli's Pandav Nritya, which INTACH has recorded on film.
Latu Devta mask, Lata village, Chamoli. Photo: Mountain Shepherds, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
CraftThulma blankets, chutka rugs and dan carpets from the Bhotia looms of Munsiyari and Dharchula.
Bhotia weaver, Mana village, Chamoli. Photo: Brahmaputra Pallab, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
हमारा कार्य
What INTACH Uttarakhand has restored, recorded and started across the state.
Graves, wells, lakes and temples, repaired with the people who look after them.
Films, books and research on the dances, buildings and stories of the hills.
Festivals, talks and a community of small museums, held year after year.
शाखाएँ
Four chapters run the walks, talks and conservation work, from the state chapter in Dehradun to Kotdwar, formed in 2025.
The state chapter runs the work that crosses districts: the Uttarakhand Museum Community, Gaja Utsav, the restored Lansdowne Cemetery and the proposed conservation of Shore's Well.
Anjali Bharthari, chapter in-charge
Heritage quizzes for forty schools, teacher workshops with the Forest Department, a city photography competition, and the Historic Cities Series discussion on Dehradun's heritage.
Bharti P Jain, convener · Apurva Gour, co-convener
Walks from Landour Bazaar to Benog Hill, the Landour Lecture Series with the Mussoorie Heritage Centre, and a walk with Geological Survey of India scientists past the fossils of Gun Hill.
Surbhi Agarwal, co-convener
The newest chapter, formed in 2025: forest trails through Saneh and Hanumangarhi, the Old Cart Road towards Lansdowne, and third place in the state heritage quiz in its first year.
Shambhavi Padukone-Rana, convener · N.K. Agarwal, co-convener
सदस्यता
Join INTACH and help look after Uttarakhand's crafts, buildings and old routes. Members join the walks and talks, volunteer at events and support conservation across the state.
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