Hidden among the rolling slopes of the Syaldey block in Almora district, the village of Chacha Qurali (चाचा कुराली) captures the quiet essence of Kumaon’s mountain life. Small, simple, and self-sustained, it’s one of those places where time still moves with the rhythm of the hills, slow, steady, and deeply rooted in the earth.
Chacha Qurali is home to around 149 residents living in 43 households. The sex ratio here stands at 1,189 women for every 1,000 men, a figure that reflects a balanced and harmonious social setting. The village stretches across about 71 hectares, surrounded by terraced fields, forested ridges, and winding footpaths that connect homes and hearts alike.
In a place where everyone knows everyone, community life thrives not through numbers but through relationships, where a neighbour’s problem is shared, and a festival is celebrated by all.
Agriculture remains at the heart of Chacha Qurali’s livelihood. Families cultivate crops across small patches of land, their fields shaped by stone terraces that hold both soil and memory.
Most residents depend on farming, rearing livestock, and seasonal labour. Out of the working population, 25 are main cultivators while others engage in marginal or supplementary work, weaving, daily labour, or tending cattle.
Every sunrise brings a familiar rhythm, smoke rising from hearths, women carrying fodder, men ploughing the fields, and the distant sound of children’s laughter echoing through the valleys.
The literacy rate of Chacha Qurali stands at around 77.63%, which is fairly strong for a remote mountain village. Male literacy is notably higher, but female literacy continues to rise each year as more young girls attend school.
Education here is seen not merely as a goal, but as a way forward, a bridge between the wisdom of the past and the promise of the future. Many youths venture out to nearby towns for studies or work, often returning during festivals or harvest season, keeping their ties to home alive.
Set amidst forests of pine, oak, and buransh (rhododendron), Chacha Qurali is wrapped in natural beauty. The changing seasons mark the rhythm of life, spring brings red blooms of buransh, monsoon turns the hills green and alive, and winter mornings arrive cloaked in mist.
The people of the village live closely with nature, fetching water from natural springs, gathering firewood, and tending to animals. Life here is simple, but it is also full, full of patience, gratitude, and quiet strength.
Despite its size, Chacha Qurali has a strong sense of identity. Traditional festivals, folk songs, and age-old customs form the threads of its cultural fabric. During fairs and seasonal celebrations, the air fills with music, dance, and laughter, a reminder that joy doesn’t need grandeur to be felt deeply. Neighbours share harvests, help build each other’s homes, and gather to mark births, weddings, and rituals, the true markers of mountain unity.
Chacha Qurali may not appear on travel maps, but it holds a kind of richness that modern life often forgets, the richness of stillness, connection, and purpose. It’s a place where the past and present coexist naturally, and where people live not in haste, but in harmony. For those who visit or simply hear of it, the village leaves a lasting impression of gentle hills, warm hearts, and a life that feels quietly whole.
Chacha Qurali reminds us that not all progress is loud, and not all beauty is seen in grandeur. Sometimes, it’s in the morning mist over the terraces, in the shared laughter of neighbours, or in the enduring calm of a small Himalayan village, where life continues, soft but strong, like the mountains themselves.
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