Category Archives: Tourist Information

Kalari cheese, not to miss in Pahalgam

This Traditional Kashmiri Cheese Is One of the Most Unique in the World. A traditionally ripened Himalayan cheese indigenous to the state, Kalari is made of cow or goat milk and has a stretchy and dense texture, with a mild mozzarella-like flavor. This cheese is also called the milk chapatti or maish krej in Kashmiri. The picturesque town of Pahalgam also offers surprise culinary delights that will leave food lovers in awe. For all the turophiles out there, Pahalgam is a must-visit destination.
Home to a local cheese factory that creates traditional cheese Kalari from cow and goat’s milk, a variety of Himalayan cheese can be found in this scenic town. The pastoral nomadic communities rare the cattle and provide this milk to the locals, who in turn make the mozzarella-like Kalari. Kalari, or Himalayan cheese, is the specialty in Pahalgam and the cheese factory here attracts tourists and also food connoisseurs from across the globe. The founder, Chris Zandee from the Netherlands, and his manager Gulaam Hassan, have helped the Gujjars increase milk production and taught them how to maintain herd hygiene. This has helped raise the price of milk to respectable levels, economically empowering the shepherds who used to otherwise depend on loans to run their winter pantry.
The cheese comes in unique like walnut, cumin, mustard and black pepper, and chili to fenugreek. The other cheese dishes that are a must-try in Pahalgam are milk chapati or maish krej. One of the most famous dish is the Kalari Kulcha, it’s a cheese calzone in essence, except it’s a lot more. Kalari has a unique salty flavor that when eaten with vegetables, enhances the taste massively leaving you wanting more. It can be used in other dishes too and is a staple for all Kashmiris.
Today, the main ingredient for making cheese – milk – is still available in plenty thanks to pastoralists like Gujjars and Bakarwals. They are the nomadic shepherds of the Kashmir valley who move their herds of dairy cattle and their own settlements up and down the mountains based on the changing seasons.

Its cold in Pahalgam – with power shortage

May 28th kind of broke the records -when the plains were hot hot at 45 Degrees, it was actually snowing in Pahalgam! Prior to this, the last know day in May when it actually snowed in Pahalgam was May 12th.

Before you visit Pahalgam, plan your trip by checking the weather forecast here.

However, with tourists thronging Kashmir to escape the heat wave in plains of India, the fall in temperature at Pahalgam ended up giving a tough time to visitors. Tourists complained of non-availability of power supply as the town remained mostly under darkness for past many days. Continuous rain has also limited people’s movement.

Around 12000 tourists are presently at Pahalgam and most of them are complaining of poor infrastructure including lack of power during nights. The incessant rains have added to their woes as most of the hotels and huts are devoid of heating system. Use of generators during the night helps, but then created a noise problem.

Some bright sun during the days is beginning to help – however the temperatures remain particularly low.

If you can’t happen to take the cold, you may also want to try out using a Kangri with a shawl or phiran. The Kangri is the earthen pot that is filled with smoldering charcoal and ashes on top, and kept under a shawl that then provides a small amount of continuous warmth. This is what the locals use to beat the cold in the worst of times. Beware however, it can be serious fire hazard if you are not careful, or happen to doze off!

2010 Amarnath Yatra Registration

  • Registration to Start June 8
  • e-registration is unlikely this time
  • Registration slips in seven colors, separate colors for all seven days of the week
  • registration will last about 76 days
  • pilgrims taking aerial route will have to trek seven kms
  • First batch of the yatris is scheduled to have darshan on July 1 from both the tracks
  • Last darshan will be performed on August 24

123 branches of Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited (JKBL) will start registration of Shri Amarnath ji shrine pilgrims, tentatively from June 8 to 10 all over the country. The registration process will last 76 days during which a maximum number of 4.10 lakh pilgrims will be registered for annual Amarnath Yatra. Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), like the previous year, has entered into an agreement with Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited (JKBL) for registration of 4.10 lakh pilgrims-2.5 lakh each from Baltal and Pahalgam tracks.

The agreement has been finalised and the process of registration will begin most likely from June 8 or latest by June 10.The registration will continue up to August 22 for Pahalgam (Chandanwari) route and up to August 23 for shorter Baltal track. Annual pilgrimage to Shri Amarnath ji shrine is scheduled to begin from July 1 and will conclude on August 24 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan. The yatra will last 55 days.

Highest number of 26 J&K Bank branches will register the yatris in New Delhi. Fourteen branches have been designated for registration in Mumbai and 13 in Jammu and Kashmir. Seventy branches will offer registration to pilgrims in rest of the country including Chandigarh zone, Chennai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad etc. 5000 pilgrims will be registered every day by the J&K Bank branches including 2500 each for the two tracks-Baltal and Pahalgam. As the registration will last about 76 days, the Bank will register a maximum of 4.10 lakh pilgrims. Depending upon rush for the pilgrims in some zones, more yatris can be registered on some days to complete the quota of 4.10 lakh. The Bank has printed 4 lakh tickets but could add 10,000 more, if the situation warranted.

To ensure that the pilgrims registered for a particular day undertake journey on the scheduled date, the Bank has this time published registration slips in seven colors, separate colors for all seven days of the week. On Monday, white color slips will be issued for Pahalgam route and craft paper for Baltal track. On Tuesday, it will be red color for Pahalgam and white for Baltal while on Wednesday the pilgrims will get ground orange slips for Pahalgam and red for Baltal route.

Colors will be changed to yellow for Pahalgam and ground orange for Baltal on Thursday while it will be green for Pahalgam and yellow for Baltal on Friday, blue for Pahalgam and green for Baltal on Saturday and craft paper for Pahalgam and blue for Baltal on Sunday.The color slips will help the security and police personnel on duty to ensure that only the registered pilgrims and that too of the same date undertook journey to have darshan of holy Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva. The J&K Bank will notify its branches designated for the pilgrims through advertisements in newspapers nation wide to ensure that the aspirants could get to know of their nearest branch for registration.

The e-registration is unlikely this time, sources said, adding the decision to do away registration, sitting at home, might have been taken as a security measure. Last year, a number of pilgrims had registered themselves via internet. First batch of the yatris is scheduled to have darshan of holy Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva on July 1 from both the tracks. Last darshan will be performed on August 24 on the occasion of Shravan Purnima. As reported, the administration has decided to make tight security arrangements, almost at par with last year, for the yatra. IGP Kashmir Farooq Ahmed and IGP Jammu Ashok Gupta will supervise security arrangements in their respective zones. The deployment of para-military personnel will start from June 15 and it will be completed well ahead of scheduled date of start of yatra.The State has requisitioned nearly 75 additional companies of para-military from the Centre which were expected to start reaching here before June 15. Rest of the security will be met through internal resources including para-military deployed in less sensitive areas and local police.The SASB has already decided that air services for this year’s yatra will be operated from Baltal as well as Pahalgam but only up to Panjtarni, which means that the pilgrims taking aerial route will have to trek seven kms to reach the holy cave shrine.

River Rafting in Pahalgam – 2010 Status Update

For the story on this topic from previous years and the issues involved, see here.
Rafting started in Pahalgam from April 1 onwards. There are 12 companies or agencies providing the service – so the visits should see some healthy competition working in their favor.
For the ride in the meandering waters, the starting point is Yaner, some 5 kilometers before Pahalgam. There is unfortunately no structures set up so far and people have to arrange their own means of getting to Yaner. Which could be a great opportunity for Sumo or taxi operators. Or may be slowly the rafting companies would start providing this service to take back to and fro from the rafting site.
The president of Rafting Owners Association is Muhammad Ibrahim.