
Bird Watching : Observe Birds in open fields & deep forests

23rd Saturday-25thMonday: December 2017 (3days/2night)
You are cordially invited to the Chotti Haldwani festival at the heritage village of the great hunter turned conservationist ‘Jim Corbett’. The festival is a unique celebration of nature, heritage and culture woven together by the community of Chotti Haldwani.
“If we don’t bestir ourselves now, it will be to our discredit that the fauna of our province was exterminated in our generation and under our very eyes, while we looked on and never raised a finger to prevent it”- Jim Corbett
Jim Corbett purchased Chotti Haldwani village a hundred years ago in 1915 to develop it as a self sustainable model Kumaoni village. His experiences are described in his book My India. The festival each year commemorates the efforts of the community to realise the dream of conserving forests and taking the legacy of Jim Corbett forward. The 102nd Chotti Haldwani festival will be organized at the village and the surrounding forests by the community of Chotti Haldwani (CGVS) along with our supporting partners.
Activities
Registration
Programe
Day 1: 23th December 2017
0930-1130 : Inauguration at the Jim Corbett Museum
Guided tour of museum & souvenir shop
1500- 1700: Jim Corbett Heritage Village walk /cycling tour
1800-1900: Cultural performances by community
Day 2: 24th December 2017
0730 -0900: Bird watching
1000-1400: Nature walking to Corbett fall (Picnic lunch)
1800-1900: Shadow Puppet show and screening of film
Day 3: 25th December 2017
0730-0930: Baur canal walk (tea at FRH & visit to art gallery)
1130-1230 : ‘Apan’ rangoli workshop
1500-1600 : Closing ceremony & Tribute to Tom Alter
Looking forward to seeing you for the festival.
Corbett Gram Vikas Samiti
Contact:
Mob: Mohan Pandey +91-9411324204, Inder Singh Bisht: +91-9012308933
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: Jim Corbett Heritage Village
Should you wish to make a donation
(Tax exemption certificate is available on request)
आज कॉर्बेट ग्राम विकास समिति, छोटी हल्द्वानी द्वारा पर्यटन विभाग के साथ मिलकर भारत सरकार का पर्यटन पर्व 5 – 25अक्टूबर मनाया गया जिसमें यहां के स्कूली बच्चों ने भाग लिया इस अवसर पर नगर पंचायत अध्यक्ष, एस. डी. एम. कालाढूंगी, राजस्व विभाग से पटवारी जी तथा पर्यटन विभाग से उप निदेशक कुमाऊँ उपस्थित थे।
कार्यक्रम के दौरान कॉर्बेट ग्राम विकास समिति द्वारा बच्चों को नेचर / हैरिटेज वॉक कराया गया साथ ही कॉर्बेट के सहयोगी मोती सिंह के घर पर ग्रामीण महिलाओं ने अपने पारम्परिक परिधान में पर्यटकों के स्वागत पर झोड़े गए।
The village of Jim Corbett, the hunter turned conservationist, celebrated its 101styear festival after the grand celebrations on turning 100 last year. It is a novel example in bringing together communities including women and children and spreading the message of conservation. This year too a host of activities were lined up starting on Christmas day. These included cycling, trekking, nature walks, bird watching, talks and workshop on aipan craft. The celebrations began with the ceremonial garlanding of Corbett’s bust at his house which has been turned into a museum was done by the Mr. Pushkar Kathura, Nagar Panchayat President. The 100+ festival as it was called was formally inaugurated by Mr. Kapil Joshi, Director, Forest Training Academy, Haldwani. The trainees of the FTI who were present at the inauguration walked the Jim Corbett heritage trail and saw the exhibition of local products. The next day was also activity packed. Trainees of the State Forest Service College were also present in the festival. The visitors identified 50 species of birds on a single bird trail. Trained bird guides Mr. Rajesh Bhatt and Mr. Mohan Panday accompanied the visitors and assisted them in identifying birds. The Baur canal trail and the trek to the Chuna Khan waterfall mesmerized everyone.
Evenings were occupied with screening of a film on Jim Corbett’s legacy, folk dance performances “Jhora” by the community, folk songs on nature, shadow puppet shows by the village children, stalls of traditional food and local handicrafts. The workshop on traditional art of Kumaoni rangoli called ‘aipan’ was a great draw for the visitors. The visitors were hosted in 10 homestays run by locals in Chhoti Haldwani village. Dr. Ajay Rawat of Kumaon University also interacted with the visitors and briefed them about the forest heritage of Uttarakhand the various forest movements in the state. Ms. Kehakasha Naseem, DFO Terai East also interacted with the visitors on her experiences with community based tourism.
Thus ended the 2 day festival hosted by the Corbett Gram Vikas Samiti of Chhoti Haldwani which is a collective of fans of Jim Corbett from his very own village. This festival at Chhoti Haldwani is one of its’ kind in the state of Uttarakhand. This unique festival is an effort where the works and profits are equally shared by the community. The festival generates no waste using no bottled water or plastic. It was celebrated with great gusto and organized with each other’s cooperation and witnessed by over 1000 villagers. It was supported by Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation and Uttarakhand Forest Department including the Eco tourism wing. The communities of Chhoti Haldwani reiterated their faith in realizing Jim Corbett’s dream in making their village into a model self-sustainable village with a mandate of conservation.