Khunt Heritage Village

Studio Bardo

Khunt is a village in the Almora district, famous for being the birthplace of Indian freedom fighter Govind Ballabh Pant. The village is full of beautiful houses built in vernacular as well as evolved forms of vernacular with colonial influence which form a part of its cultural heritage. Unfortunately many of these lie abandoned or in dismal states.

Under an NMHS funded project, we were brought on board as consultants by Professors at Shri. Venkateshwara College (Delhi University) to restore the houses and retrofit them as homestays to encourage rural tourism

Steps taken under tight budget constraints:

• Repair of roofs, walls, flooring and other structural elements as needed
• Retrofitting the premises with modern toilets and hot water facilities
• New furniture to provide comfortable stay for guest
• Retrofitting of electrical grids to improve lighting within the houses and make available charging points for guests
• Plug-in rainwater harvesting solution to overcome water shortage in all the houses
• Re-plastering with mud in traditional ways and repainting of the houses