Raithal – A mini Paradise in the mountains of Uttarkashi

Raithal a small beautiful village is tucked in the slopes of the Himalayas in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand.

If anyone is looking for some offbeat stay among mountains, a peaceful stay, get some great views this is an ideal place.

Snow-capped mountains, old houses, beautiful trails to go up the majestic Himalayas, visit old temples is what this village has to offer.

Walk around the Raithal village lanes with colorful houses

See the day-to-day village life, interact with the super friendly villagers. One of the unique things about Holi @ Raithal is it is celebrated not with colors but with butter and curd milk. The festival is to celebrate the cattle folk as well as shepherds back to the village after months of rearing and grazing in higher meadows of the Himalayas.

Panchpura – A 500-year old traditional Garhwali house that belongs to Rana Gambhir Singh which was the initial house’s in Raithal. It is a 5 storied house which survived 3 earthquakes.

Panchpura – One can go into the house and climb all the way to the top. The small door’s, old windows, rooms give us a view of how homes were 500 years ago. One can sit in those old balconies and enjoy the view of Raithal

Old staircase of Panchpura. The staircase is quite uniquely crafted out of wood.

Granary in the Courtyard of the Panchpura – It was used to store the grains. The wooden door to this granary was attached to a bell of the house through an iron chain. So, whenever anyone tried to open the door, the bell at house will start ringing indicating someone is there.

The unique roof of Panchpura if we see is light slabs of stones. We can see the Granary and Haveli in the same view.

Someshwar Temple at Raithal: Dedicated to Lord Shani and Shiva. A small walk from Panchpura will get you to this temple.

Raithal has homestays both traditional and new, small cottages, hostels where one can choose to stay. But one place definitely stands out of all the stays which is Raithal Retreat. Run by a mountaineer, an alumnus of NIM Naveen it is a beautiful cottage on the slopes.

Raithal Retreat – A beautiful cottage to stay on the slopes away from the village

Raithal Retreat – To reach this cottage one has to trek for 20minutes away from the village but worth every step.

With Naveen of Raithal Retreat – Our Host

Amazing organic food by our hosts Naveen and Bipin

Most of the vegetables are locally grown at Raithal. One of the main livelihoods of the villagers is farming. We see walnut trees, apple farms, vegetables on the slopes. Most of the food served is fresh out of the farms.

We must have traveled the Himalayas through the years but never got hot packs and heaters 🙂 . Thanks to our hosts. A must in this sub-degree temperatures. The temperatures dipped to sub-zero during our stay. Raithal get a good amount of snow in winters and in summers is green with meadows.

Campfire at our cottage Raithal Retreat. We had an almost full moon, great view of the stars, the snow capped mountains in the distance slightly showing in the moonlight like a white outline, freezing cold where any water outside turned into ice. In this set up a warm fire is all we need 🙂

Trails around Raithal which one can take.

Local Woman carrying firewood from the slopes. This is a common sight all through the trails. Generally they collect it through the day and keep it on the slopes and early in the morning they go up and get them down.

Raithal is the base for the famous Dayara Bugyal trek. One can use local help can do this trek which gives a great view of the Utharakand famous meadows.