Painted Doors

Painted doors ,carved windows ,mud courtyards ,slated roofs with corn and pumpkins drying in the  sun bright faces with beaming smiles and a warmth that has no parallel this is Billekh a small village no different from most other villages in Kumaon ,except that this one opens its doors to you.

 Billekh is at a distance of 37km, from Ranikhet. The first thing that strikes you about this place is the beautifully painted doors and windows of the houses. Considering numbers it is not a small village with around 135 families whose livelihood comes primarily from farming which meets their daily requirements as well as for sale in the local markets. The village surprises you with amenities such as the presence of a post office, a telephone (although workability is highly conditional), a school and their very own medical centre.

 You can have a firsthand experience of village life by being with the village folk.  Waking up at dawn, going to the fields and being part of how the simple day unfolds for these people, it is yours, an experience to take away for life.

You have an option of staying in one of the village houses or you can book up at the forest rest house a cozy two bedroom bungalow built at the very edge of the forest. The village is a 2 kilometers walk from here you can even drive as there is a motor able road however weather plays an important role here as it can get muddy and slushy in the rains.

Kumaoni architecture is simple yet intricately beautiful the main house comprises of a two storey building with a courtyard in the front. The ground floor usually houses the animals while the family lives upstairs. The window panes and door lintels are carved with designs inspired form nature and or the divine.

If you want to experience real India, and how its people have lived for centuries with of course a few changes now thanks to technology ,you have to plan a trip here to know  simple pleasures of a simple life.

Billekh Village

Forestr Rest House at Billekh