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The
Park and Kullu region offers excellent opportunities for bird watching,
wildlife viewing, religious pilgrimages, cultural tours, and their creation.
There are options of rafting, climbing, fishing, attending a village festival,
viewing local architecture, and sacred groves. The Park itself has two
facilities for tourists: a tourist center at Sai Ropa and an Information
Center at Larjee.
The Sai Ropa Tourist Center
Sai Ropa located five kms away from Banjar and 5 kms before the Gushaini
entrance to the Park. Nestled
in the pine forest, the Tourist Center spreads over a 3 hectares (six
acres) area. It is also the headquarters of Tirthan Wildlife Range Office
from where entrance tickets to the Park can be obtained. The Center has
a Forest Rest House, a building housing two dormitories (20 beds in all),
a photo exhibition, a conference/ training room with projection facilities,
and a hall with photo exhibition about the Park. Outside, there is a 520
m long "Biodiversity Trail" which has trees and medicinal plant
species transplanted from the Park; a pergola (gazebo) with Tirthan river
view; a demonstration site for vermicomposting; a butterfly enclosure,
and a solar energy site.
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The Larji Information
Center
Larji caters to the tourists coming to GHNP. It has a hall with training
and projection facility for tourists, school children, and the village
community. It is well located for orientation from Neuli or Gushaini.
A small hall has Park educational displays. Park brochures, posters, and
entry ticket to the Park can be obtained here. The headquarters of Jiwanal
Range Officer is also located here. In the open area of the Center, there
is a pergola (gazebo), and information displays.
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Local Architecture
The
majority of the buildings in the Ecozone of GHNP are made of wood, stone,
and mud in the traditional hill style and blend in well with the environment.
They typically have expansive upstairs verandahs with arched facades and
slate roofs. Many also have intricate external carvings. This is one of
the few places left in the region where the majority of buildings are
made in the traditional style.
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Religious Sites
The GHNP region has a distinct cultural mystique. The remote villages
still have Devta or deity institutions which local people respect. The
Ecozone villages of Lapah and Ghat Seri have sacred tree groves. Almost
every village has a temple and community ground. Some of the old temples
are of great architectural interest to the tourist. These include: the
Pagoda style temple of Manu Rishi; Thakur's tower in Shenshar valley;
the temples of Gushaini and Galiard with their wooden carvings in Tirthan
valley. However, modern television culture and market forces are now visible
in the villages and are affecting the ancient institutions of Devta and
village councils.
Pilgrimage Sites
These sites are located at high altitudes accessible only in Summer and
Fall months. Leather articles are not allowed in the immediate vicinity.
Three important sites include:
Raktisar, at the headwaters of the Sainj river,
Hanskund, at the headwaters of the Tirthan,
Sirikhand Mahadev, a lake on the southern
border of the Park.
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Festivals
Village melas (fairs or festivals) occur year-round. They
are colourful, multiple-day celebrations where the village gods are brought
together for a consultation. One can watch the human spokesperson for
the god (gur) go into a trance and tell local stories, answer questions,
and interact with the village community. Local songs and dances are also
performed and villagers dress in the best traditional costumes. Respectful
observation by outsiders is welcomed. The following are popular seasons
for melas.
Late Winter
In February, the four-day festival of Fagli is celebrated in the villages
near edge of Park (Pekri, Nahi, Tinder, and Phredi). This is a secular,
joyous festival with masked dances. There is also a one-month festival
from mid-January onwards in which families visit their relatives and special
food is eaten.
Spring-Fall
April village fairs are held in Tinder, Bathad, and Chipni; in May at
Banjar; in June at Shangarh; in August at Galiard and Mashiar, and in
September at Goshaini and Nahi. They offer excellent shopping opportunities
for local craft and other items.
Fall
In October the Dushera Festival is a unique event when approximately three
hundred villages bring their local deities (devtas) by road to camp at
the fairground of the city of Kullu. This provides an opportunity for
observing the variety of local deities, rituals associated with the festival
and shopping for various local handicraft as well as other items of interest.
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