The third edition of the colourful three-day Rajpur Nature Festival gets underway on Saturday at the Christian Retreat Centre in Rajpur, Dehradun. The Christian Retreat Centre, a popular place in Rajpur, has been an ideal backdrop for the fest as it was for the very first such festival held in 2014.
A variety of activities such as nature walks, a bicycle rally, art and cultural activities, panel discussions on topical issues along with competitions for schools will feature in this annual celebration of the beauty of the Rajpur area of the Doon valley.
The festival aims to draw attention to Rajpur, a microcosm of greenery and serenity. This greenery and serenity was once found all over the valley but is now, sadly, vanishing. A Hike to Rispana Valley (from Rajpur post office) will set the festival going.
A Nature walk, a Butterfly Trail and Heritage Walks will be important features of the fest . A Photography Exhibition titled Flora and Fauna of Rajpur and its surrounding hills, an Uttarakhand Nature and Heritage Stamp expo in association with Doon Philatelicc Club, an exhibition by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and a painting competition of school children on “Wildlife of Rajpur and its surrounding areas” will be part of the annual event.
Master puppeteer Ram lal Bhatt will interact with children. A panel discussion will be held on the role of the Tibetan community in conservation of Rajpur and Doon valley. A film on Rajaji National Park will also be shown on the first day of the fest.
The Fest makes an effort to revive the love for natural beauty and activities related to nature and the arts. It has been organised by Rajpur Community Initiative and the Forest Department (Ecotourism) along with other local partners. Reenu Paul, who has worked tirelessly for the festival, says that the festival is the SOS message sent by the Rajpur community to fellow citizens of Doon Valley to come and show solidarity with their group in their struggle to conserve this last remaining green patch of the city. She adds that the festival aims to attract attention to relevant and crucial issues through photography exhibition, panel discussions, film screenings and puppetry.
This fest is aimed at making people aware of the tremendous importance Rajpur holds as a treasure house of natural beauty and serenity. Rajpur is one of those places which have an ambience of stable calm and a quiet beauty about them. It was Rev James Payne Alter, Tom’s father, who founded the Christian Retreat and Study Centre in Rajpur in 1954.
The peepal (Bodhi) tree, planted by Gandhiji in 1929, still stands tall at the retreat centre which is an idyllic retreat and hosts religious and educational programmes for groups from all over the country and abroad. Till the time when the motor road to Mussoorie was built (around 1930), people went up to Mussoorie through the bridle path which goes from near the Shahenshahi Ashram upto Jharipani. It was the only way to reach Mussoorie. While some people rode on horses or mules, others preferred being carried in “dandies’ (palanquins).
At the time when the “Cart Road” was the only route to Mussoorie, Rajpur boasted of a club, two hotels (both of which were destroyed in fires), a mule breeding farm and agencies that facilitated travel. Some of the agencies like Smith Rodwells, Ellenborough and Chapmans were established for transporting baggage and attending to the many wants of the travelers. The opening of the motor road to Mussoorie killed the hotels and agency business in Rajpur.
In the early days of British occupation, Rajpur had a sanatorium for invalid soldiers. When the sanatorium was opened in landour around 1827, Rajpur remained a staging post on the journey to Mussoorie .
It is hoped that this annual festival will grow with time and help people realise what a wonderful place Rajpur is and how it needs to be looked after.