Koti Banal- A Kohinoor hidden in the Himalayas

 This long pending blog post covers two trips to Koti Banal- one made in February with my parents and the other done in March during the Holi holidays with my mother and her two students- Harshul bhaiya and Ekangsh bhaiya.

  

Koti Banal is a beautiful hilly village in the heart of the Himalayas. The village is full of ancient houses made in such a way that they have withstood many past earthquakes successfully and will withstand many more in the future- I hope. Such houses are called pherols. They are mostly four and at times even five stories- imagine a five storey house in the hills and withstanding earthquakes since centuries. Hard to imagine isn't it? I too thought like that before -multi story houses and earthquakes don't go together, till i visited Koti Banal.

I enjoyed the second trip more as we stayed in the houses of the villages and I had Harshul and Ekangsh bhiayas for company. While my mother and her two students were busy studying the buildings and making sketches, taking measurements, I had a great time playing with the village boys and patting the calves of the village.

  Last night we even had campfire. It was a great experience.

 We stayed in  a house in front of this magnificent pherol. If you look carefully, you can see us brushing our teeth. .

I just loved the calves of Koti Banal- so young, sweet and playful. Wish I can spend some time with them again.