Spring
The whole hillside turns crimson
It might just feel like this
Whole slopes blaze with buransh and the orchards come into blossom — Kunja at its most colourful.
100+ year heritage home
An old-style Kumaoni house
Beside Jageshwar Dham
Ancient deodar temples
Cedar & pine forest
Deep in the Jageshwar range
5.0 on Google
Loved by every guest
Our Story
Happy Engaging Moments
A hill home, kept by the family for generations
Five generations have lived under this roof. Built more than a hundred years ago, Kunja Village Homestay was — and still is — a real family home: the grandparents who raised it, the parents who kept it, and the children growing up here now.
We never turned it into a guesthouse. We simply opened the doors we already live behind — to share pahadi village life exactly as we know it.
100+ yr
Heritage Home
5
Private Rooms
10–15
Guests
5★
Google Rating
Near Jageshwar Dham, Almora, Uttarakhand · surrounded by cedar, pine, oak & rhododendron
Read our storyStay With Us
Five rooms, five birds
Kunja Village Homestay is a birding home, so every room carries the name of a local bird. Spacious, warm and ready for deep rest or remote work alike — comfort done the pahadi way, for the 10–15 friends who share the house.
Why birds?
Each room takes the name of a bird that lives in these trees — a small homage to the dawn chorus you'll wake to. You don't need to be a birdwatcher to feel at home: this isn't a birding lodge, they're simply the neighbours who were here first.
What every room includes
Signature experiences
Some things you don't visit — you live them, and keep them for years.
These are the quiet, rare things you'll still feel years from now — the kind only a real, lived-in village home can give: its mornings, its work, its hush, its people. The treks and temples are here too whenever you want them; but these are the heart of a stay with us.
Washroom, the pahadi way
For most of these hills' story there were no toilets at all; plumbing arrived only a generation ago. We keep our washrooms a little apart from the rooms, the old Kumaoni way — thoroughly modern now, tiled, spotless, hot water around the clock, yet a short walk that quietly remembers how recently it all changed.
Folded in, like family
You don't stay beside the village; you stay right in the heart of it. Out here there's no such thing as a neighbour — every home is a da's or a kaku's, every door already open. We walk you over for chai, introduce you around, and let real Kumaoni warmth fold you in. It was never a service to sell; it belongs to everyone here.
Plant a tree, leave a root
These mountains give travellers so much — clean air, deep quiet, long green views. Planting a tree is a small way to give a little back. Before you leave we head up the hillside together, put a sapling in the ground with your own hands, and you give it a name. Every year, a photo of how it's grown — a rooted piece of you that stays.
When the village gathers
Village life runs on its gatherings — a wedding, a jagar sung through the night, a pooja, a seasonal fair. If one falls while you're here, you're welcome in it: not a tourist behind a camera, but a guest with a place. You choose whether to join; we handle the introductions and the blessings with the family hosting.
Happy-tourist days
The classic days out, too
Not every day has to be deep. When you simply want to explore, the usual joys are all here — birdsong at first light and a sky full of stars, a tent in the pines and a bonfire as the night comes down.
Coming up? A few honest things to know
The mud road, power and signal in the hills, real wildlife (yes, leopards) and how cold it gets — read this before you travel, and you'll be all set.
A village, not a retreat
Hospitality from a whole village
You don't visit Kunja. Kunja receives you.
Kunja isn't a resort fenced off from the world — it's a living Kumaoni village, and the home sits right in the middle of it. So you don't watch village life from a balcony; you step straight into it.
Chai with the neighbours, the morning milking, the fields at harvest and the festivals that fill the lanes — here you're part of the rhythm by default. Doors stay open, you're waved in for a meal, and somewhere along the way the whole village quietly becomes your host. Not a curated show put on for guests, but ordinary pahadi life that simply makes room for you.
Explore the villageJust be
While you're here, just be yourself
Be yourself
No one's watching you here. Hide away in the den all day, or head out and explore — it's entirely up to you. Just seek what you came for.
No judgement
Nobody's really keeping score. Life in the hills is tough and busy enough; people have far better things to do than judge you.
Laugh with us
Giggle and trade jokes with whoever's around — this place gives you plenty of reason to. Only if it feels right, though; the choice is yours, and we respect it.
Dance, if you like
Put on some pahadi music — a fair bit of it Inder Arya — and dance on the terrace or in the courtyard. Join in if it moves you, or just enjoy the spin from your chair.
The current keepers
Who keeps Kunja Village Homestay today
Five generations have lived under this roof. These are the hands keeping it warm right now — the ones who'll greet you at the gate, cook your meals and look after you while you're here.
Happy Engaging Moments
We built this place to welcome guests the way we'd want to be welcomed — with home-cooked Kumaoni food, warm rooms, and the unhurried rhythm of village life.
Come stay with us
You don't book our home.You're invited in.
Kunja Village Homestay is a family home, not a hotel. There's no “Book Now” button and no public booking — a stay here is something you're invited to, or you earn. It's what keeps the house quiet, personal, and full of people who truly want to be part of it.
Invited
Friends of the house
If our paths have already crossed — through the village, through MNEGI, or the INUK circle — you're family. Tell us when you'd like to come, and a room is yours.
Earned
Not in the circle yet?
Then earn your way in — and there are three easy paths:
- Through MNEGI. Join a photography trip, workshop or collaboration with Manohar Negi and you may find yourself here. Visit mnegi.com →
- Win it with INUK. Earn a sponsored stay through INUK community contests and social wins. Visit inuksocial.com →
- Come with a friend. Know someone in our circle? The simplest way in — a friend bringing you along, just like that.