Almora

Almora was founded in 1568 as the capital of the Chand rulers and sits on a horseshoe-shaped ridge at about 1,640 metres, its old core built around the Lal Bazaar, a paved street of carved wooden shopfronts running along the spine with lanes dropping off it. Nanda Devi temple in the town gives its name to the September fair. The Chitai Golu Devta temple outside the town is hung with thousands of brass bells and handwritten petitions left by people asking the local deity for justice. Almora has drawn writers and seekers since the early twentieth century, and Kasar Devi ridge above it has a long association with that.

History

The hills around Almora appear in accounts as old as the Mahabharata, and before the Chand dynasty the region belonged to the Katyuri king Bhaichaldeo, who gave part of it to Sri Chand Tiwari. Almora was founded in 1568 by King Kalyan Chand as the seat of the Chand kings of Kumaon, first called Rajapur and Alamnagar; its name is said to come from bhilmora, a sorrel used to clean the vessels of the sun temple at Katarmal (Wikipedia, Almora).

Highlights

• Lal Bazaar - a paved bazaar street of carved wooden shopfronts.
• Chitai Golu Devta - a temple hung with thousands of bells and written petitions.
• Nanda Devi temple - the town shrine and its September fair.
• Kasar Devi ridge - the hill above with long-standing counterculture associations.

When to go

March to June and September to November; the Nanda Devi fair falls in September. The monsoon brings landslides on the hill roads. Winter is cold with the clearest mountain views.

Before you go

The town is congested and traffic on the ridge is difficult. Himalayan views from the town itself are limited; the better ones are from Kasar Devi and Binsar above.

Nearby

Kausani lies north; Jageshwar is northeast.

Key facts