| a bit of
history |
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at the heart of
himalayan village sonapani is an old natural spring.
the water from this natural spring is perceived to
have medicinal properties. and this perceived
quality of water in what has given this place its
name - sonapani. 'sona' in hindi means 'gold' and 'pani' is water.
welcome to the land of golden water!
the story dates back to the days of the british raj. while crossing this ridge, some british army officers from nearby cantonment happened to drink the water from this natural spring, and they fell in love!
they were so enamoured by the water that in the later half of 19th century and early 20th century, water from this natural spring was supplied to the british officers of the nearest army garrison (almora) on ponies and horses.
one of these officers was captain kushal singh burathoki, a very decorated soldier of the 3rd queen alexandra's own gurkha rifles. on retirement, when the british offered him land of his choice for his post retiral days, he opted for this piece of land. in the middle of no where, it was indeed the charm of this water and nature's brilliant display of its beauty that
drew captain burathoki towards this land. he named it 'sonapani estate' and then lived here happily thereafter, farming and hunting!
the house he built, a 100 years old stone structure, now serves as our
office and staff quarters. |
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|
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hundred year old stone house built by captain burathoki
now serves as our office and staff quarters. in the
olden days, the ground floor was used to keep cattles,
their feed and fuel wood. |
| the 3rd gurkhas |
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beyond some bald statements, such as the fact that this unit was raised in the year 1815, after the conclusion of
the first campaign of 1814-1816 nepal wars, details of the early history of the battalion is shrouded in mystery.
this battalion was initially known as 'the kumaon battalion' and later got the name 'the 3rd gurkhas'.
it was this battalion that captain burathoki served,
fighting wars from nepal to afganistan. his bravery
was acknowledged and he was decorated with the
'order of british india', 'indian order of merit' and 'sardar
bahadur'. he also served as the honorary magistrate of
almora. |
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