By Chintamani Kaikini About eight hours drive from Delhi is the Valley of Flowsers National Park at Chamoli Garhwal.
The name sounds like a fairytale name and the valley looks just amazing...as something like 500 species of flowers can be found in this valley which is surrounded by Himalayan mountains and the whole area has been a protected site since the 1930s.It is only open between June to October as the rest of the year it is covered with snow.
A visit to the valley in June, is an enthralling experience for any tourist, as he will be welcomed by the riot of colours set amidst the pristine surroundings of the snow-clad Himalayan ranges.
Actually the Valley of Flowers is a glacial corridor, eight kilometres in length and two kilometres in width and its altitude ranges from 3,200 m to 6,675 m.
This alpine valley is mentioned in both the great epics of India, namely Ramayana and Mahabharatha.
In fact epics record it was in this beautiful vale, that that two famous puranic heroe viz: Bheema of Mahabharatha and Hanuman of Ramayana met.
According to the Mahabharata, Bheema went to the in search of the sacred Sowgandhika flower to gift it to his wife Draupadi.
While searching for the flower, he found that there was a monkey in his path and the monkeys huge tail was preventing Bheema's movement.
Unsuccessful in lifting the tail, Bheema realized that it was the god Hanuman and prayed to Hanuman to lift it.
Pleased, Hanuman obliged and also showed Bheema, the abode of the hallowed flower.
A legend in the Ramayana mentions that Hanuman, brought the Sanjeevani buti (life-giving herb) from the Valley of Flowers, to save the life of Lord Rama's brother Lakshmana, who had been wounded in the battle with Ravana, and that Lakshmana was revived after chewing the herb.
Sikhs -believe that the exotic flora, took root when all 108 Gods and Goddesses showered flowers on their Tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, when he he shed his mortal coils at the shrine of Hemkund nearby.
Thus the "Valley has been host to great heroes/sages".
Although this valley has figured in these legends, it was only in 1932 that modern world knew of its existence.
And the credit goes to the British mountaineer Frank Smythe.
After his expedition to climb Mountain Kamet nearby, Smythe lost his way and landed in the valley.
So overwhelmed was he by the myriad species of flowers and the serenity, that he instantly forgot fatigue and pain and camped in the valley for two days, and later in his book named it as the Valley of Flowers.
Declared a National park in 1982, this valley of flowers National park is located in Chamoli district of Gharwal, about 595 kilometers northeast of Delhi in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The Valley harbours a total of 521 species of vascular plants some of them being rare.
Sixty extraordinary species have recently been added to the existing list of plants, of which four have been recorded in Uttar Pradesh Himalaya for the first time.
Although the Valley of Flowers constitutes only 1.3 per cent of the total geographical area of the Chamoli district, yet it contributes approximately 25 per cent of its flora.
Of the 31 rare and endangered plants found in the Valley, 13 are medicinal plants.
Most of the rare plants grow in unusual habitats such as rocky slopes, forest edges, and marshy meadows.
The species are rare because of restricted habitats, small population size, narrow range of distribution, and overexploitation by people for medicinal uses in the recent past.
The Valley remains in full bloom from May to September.
In May and June, you find carpet of yellow marsh marigold over powering the landscape, with white anemone, violet iris, lavender roscoea purpuria, and yellow and magenta snapdragon liberally sprinkled.
As the monsoon advances, the valley wears pink and red robes of impatiens and bistorta.
Although the rains make the trails slippery and harder to negotiate, there is really no better time than the monsoon to see the greatest variety of flora.
The Valley was included in the list of eight World Natural Heritage Sites selected by UNESCO in 2005.
The beauty of sheer mountain slopes - tough, bare and grey, the delight of delicate flowers swaying in the breeze, smiling at the sun, the force of water smashing over boulders and thundering away or the unmoving rigidity of glaciers as they lie on the slopes, etches deeply into our memories.
Note: Tourists are warned not to break any of the flower stems and taste the sap, as there quite a number of poisonous herbs in this display by Nature.
You are also requested not to dig away any of the herbs/flora to take them back to your home.
Getting There Getting to the Valley of Flowers isn't exactly a cakewalk; as it requires a trek of about 20 Km.
The nearest major town is Joshimath in Garhwal, which has convenient road connections from railheads such as Hardwar and Dehradun, both about 270 Km from Joshimath.
From Joshimath, a vehicle can be hired to take you to within 17 km of the park, to the settlement of Gobindghat.
The route from Joshimath to the Valley of Flowers goes along the main road to Badrinath; roughly midway along this road, a minor road branches off to Gobindghat, the roadhead for the Valley.
From Gobindghat, a trek of 14 km brings hikers to the tiny settlement of Ghangaria, beyond which, the toll gate to the National Park is about 3 km.
-(Maharaja Features) Home Is Where The Theatre Is By Mukesh Khosla Feel like a night out at the movies? All you have to do is to walk across to another room in your house and watch the film of your choice on the big screen in your own mini theatre.
No more rushing through your dinner, no more driving to the movie hall, no more parking hassles, no more battling your way through to the ticket counter, no more glum faces at seeing the "HOUSE FULL" sign! Now all you have to do is to move into the special screening room in your own home, select a movie of your choice, pop some corn, open a can of beer/cola/juice and make yourself comfortable in the cool confines of your own mini theatre.
Though Sony has patented Home Theatre some Indian companies too are offering top-of-the-line theatres that can be installed in the home.
These combine the latest in video and audio technologies and play movies in a surround sound environment.
"A mini theatre is a movie hall in your own home," says Dr.
Himanshu Kumar an acoustic interior designer and founder of Mini-Theatres, an audio-video consulting firm specializing in customized theatres.
"The basic requirement is a dedicated room that will be fitted with perfect acoustic interiors, special lighting and comfortable seating to give a feel of a real theatre in miniature format.
The thrill of watching a movie at home on a big screen with surround sound is unrivaled.
It is the ultimate in entertainment." Room Size One of the most important aspects that have to be taken into consideration is the size and shape of the room.
For instance the acoustic will not be top quality in a cubicle or circular room.
Moreover the room should not be adjacent to the bedroom of old people or school going children as a late night movie would be disturbing for them.
There should preferably be no windows in the room.
The door should be on the opposite side of the screen.
The size of the room depends upon personal requirements.
If it is only for family use then a 15 feet by 20 feet room would do that can fit in around ten comfortable chairs.
If it meant to entertain guests then of course a much larger room would be required.
"The first theatre that I made was around 16 years ago in Ahmedabad, where we converted the basement of a bungalow into a theatre.
Though it took us seven months to build it, once it was made everybody loved it.
And since then, there has been no looking back," says Dr.
Though a number of modern mini theatres use large TV screens, the real aficionados still prefer a proper movie screen with front projectors as used in a commercial theatre.
These can also project television programmes through a cable or a dish connection.
The size of the screen will vary according to the height of the ceiling and size of the room.
Most mini theatre companies offer screens between eight feet (96 inches) and 40 feet (480 inches).
Compare this with a normal television which is 22 inches or 29 inches and then you will realize the difference.
Overall Cost However, overall costs are quite another matter.
Such signature installations can cost anything beyond Rs.10 lakhs to a crore of rupees.
As a thumb rule a mini theatre at home would cost around Rs.4000 per square foot floor area that would include electronics, automation, seating system, acoustics, lighting and wall surface treatment-in fact the works.
So a small theatre in 15 feet by 25 foot room would cost around Rs.15 lakhs.
Kumar says there are no thumb rules as far as the cost is concerned as theatres at home are customized and a lot depends upon the choice and affordability.
The cost break-up for a theatre costing Rs.15 lakhs would be: Equipment worth around Rs.
5 lakhs; acoustic customization and lighting around Rs.
7 lakhs and the rest for seating and air conditioning.
"This is a very general break up and there could be dramatic changes in the cost if there is carpeting, folding chairs, setting up of a bar or a pop corn counter and other such luxuries to give your guests and yourself a real theatre experience," explains Dr.
But then costs are hardly a consideration for people who get a customized theatre installed in their house.
After all not many can afford to splurge a few million to watch their favourite movie in their own personal theatre.
-(Newsmen Features)
