Mukhem (Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand) - A Tourism Destination

LOCATION

Village Mukhem is a revenue village comes under Gram Pancyat Mukhem. Village lies in Pratapnager Tehsil in Tehri Garhwal District of Uttarakhand State. It is located 64 KM towards north from District head quarters Tehri and 180 KM from State capital Dehradun. A well known tourist destination Mukhem is also consider as a Fifth Dham by local villagers due to temple dedicated to Snake God or Nag Raja.  The temple located at Sem which is 7 kms away from the village Mukhem. Out of total 7 km, 2 km can be covered by the vehicle and 5 km by walk up to the hills. The nearest town Lambgaon is located about 36 kms far from the village .

This serene village lies at slope with the geographical coordinates of Latitude 30.5748 and longitude 78.4414. Situated at an elevation 2903 meter above from sea level, climate of Mukhem remains pleasant throughout year. The maximum temperature during summer ranges from 25ºC to 5ºC. The months of winters begins from October and extend to April. Maximum temperature reaches to 10ºC and goes down to 0ºC or below during winter season, it also receives a particular amount of snowfalls. The densely forested slope receives adequate rainfall generally commencing from mid-June and extending till mid-September. Adequate rainfall is also recorded in winter.

The rich forest area adjacent to the village is basically an Oak forest with a certain proportion of pine, pine, bushes and grasslands. At the higher elevation cedar species is also found in the reserve forest. The inhabitations of local people meet the need of fuel, fodder, small timber and thatch grass from this forest. The main wild animal of this area include the black bear, dear, common leopard, etc. The rich and exotic avifauna of in and around village makes it a birdwatcher’s paradise. Its colorful avifauna comprises, inter alia, several species of thrushes, woodpeckers, barbets, flycatchers, swifts, tits serow, golden eagle, bearded vulture, snow cock, steppe eagle black eagle and the one mustn't forget the peculiar -- and ubiquitous – jet black jungle crow.

 

SOCIO ECONOMIC FEATURES

Mukhem is a medium size village with total 196 families residing. The Mukhem village has population of 1124 of which 531 are males while 593 are females as per Population Census 2011. In Mukhem village, population of children with age 0-6 is 163 which make up 14.50 % of total population of village. Average Sex Ratio of Mukhem village is 1117 which is higher than Uttarakhand state average of 963. Child Sex Ratio for the Mukhem as per census is 1038, higher than Uttarakhand average of 890. Mukhem village has lower literacy rate compared to Uttarakhand. In 2011, literacy rate of Mukhem village was 76.59% compared to 78.82% of Uttarakhand. In Mukhem Male literacy stands at 98.00% while female literacy rate was 57.65%. Nautiyal, Pokhriyal, Bhandari, Semwal, Chamoli, Thapliyal, Joshi, Bhatt, Rajwar are the dominant cast in the village who belong to Hindu Rajput and Hindu Brahman category.  

Agriculture combined with livestock, horticulture and to some extent tourism is main source of the economy of Samma village. There are still 55 families who come below poverty line. The total agriculture land of the village is 36.63.76 hectare. The irrigated land area is about 6.62 hectare which is quite low and remaining cultivable area is rain fed. The amount of land available for cultivation in uttarakhand, particularly in the Mukhem village is very limited as it constitutes about 60% of the total reported area.

As per the focus discussion with the village, 80% families have less than half hectare land. A large cultivable area in village is under marginal holdings, which too is fragmented and scattered. This has impeded the task of making agriculture a profitable occupation. However, the experience of Himachal Pradesh with a similar land holdings pattern shows that agriculture could be made remunerative through its focused development by providing incentives like inputs, extension, developing infrastructure, etc. The main agricultural crops grown in the village are paddy, mandua (ragi), Jhangora (both are small millets) and pulses in the kharif crop season (summer crops), and wheat and barley in the rabi crop (winter crops). Food grains such as paddy and wheat are mostly grown in valley areas that have irrigation facilities, while the other crops are generally grown in the high terraces where irrigation facilities are not available.

Mixed cropping is common in village which helps in maintaining the crop diversity and reduces the risk of environment uncertainty. Productivity of agriculture almost remained stagnant in the village over the past one decade except increase in the case of cash crops.

The area under commercial crops in village is increasing.  There has been a significant growth in the area under fruits and vegetables particularly under the potato and seasonal off seasonal vegetable.  As a result, both production and productivity of vegetables recorded an impressive increase in the village. This has become one of the additional sources of income for the villagers.

Agriculture in village is closely interlinked with animal husbandry and forestry to form a production system.  Marginal and small farmers are heavily dependent on the livestock sector as it is not only a source of milk and draught power, but it's by-products such as  manure help in supplementing farm income. These animals, in turn largely depend on forests for their feed. There has been a decline in the growth of population of sheep, which could be attributed to the reduction in grazing lands. Also, the village observed continuous decline in the growth of cattle population.

ATTRACTION FOR TOURIST IN AND AROUND THE VILLAGE

The key attractions for tourist in and around the village are following.

S.N	Attraction	Description
1	Sem Nagraja Mandir	A well known and famous religious tourist destination Sem Nagraja  is situated just 7 km away from the village. Sem Nagraja   Temple is one of the most revered holy shrines dedicated to Lord Krishna, Balram and Nagraja  and is a prominent Hindu pilgrimage site. It is surrounded by dense Oak forests and enveloped between the valleys of  Talbala sem and prakata sem.  Thousand of devotees visit the shrine specially during the summer  period. Vicinity to the Lambgaon  town also attracts many tourists to the temple round the year.
2	Talballa Sem	Talballa sem  is a located inside the forest at a distance of  4 km away from the village. The beautiful jungle route to the Talballa sem  offers variety of wild life, vegetation and birds.
3	Satranju Saur	Satranju Saur is basically a meadow situated  just 4 kms away from Mukhem village and is a major point of attraction for the tourist.
4	Himalayan view	The tourist can enjoy view of snowcapped Himalayan range from the village itself. The different shades of the valley has its own unique feature, and brings out the charm of the Himalayas in a distinctive way, with snow-clad slopes, green valleys, gushing streams, and an endlessness where tourist can lose yourself, any day.
5	Cultural life of local community	The villages of Uttarakhand are culturally very rich. The peculiar traditional housing pattern, costumes, fair festival, food, folk music and dances, agriculture practices and animal husbandry practices can attract visitors across the world. Villages have a very simple, yet delicious cuisine. The food is nutritious as well as tasty. Coarse grain with high fiber content is very common in Uttarakhand cuisines. Music is an integral part of the Uttarakhand culture. The calm and serene ambiance of this place surrounded with hills and mountains has inspired many musicians to compose great tones. Some of the popular folk songs are `Mandals`, `panwaras` and somber `khuded`, `thadya` and `jhoda`.these folk songs are composed on the beats and nodes of Dhol, damoun, turri, ransingha, dholki, daur, thali, bhankora and masakbhaja. Though, many traditional practices are gradually disappearing from the village. Promotion of rural tourism may revive the traditional culture of the villages.
6	Prakata Sem	Prakata Sem is just 5 kms away from the village and a attraction point for the tourist .
7	Rich biodiversity	The route for the temple passes through beautiful forest full of wild life, flora, birds, waterfall etc. offer unique experience to the visitors.