The Nanda Devi Mahotsav will begin formally in lake city Nainital today and conclude on September 7. Though there is no concrete evidence of when this festival was started here, it is stated that it is being held in Nainital since 1903. Motiram Sah organised the festival for the first time after which since 1926 the Sriram Sevak Sabha has been organising this festival.

The facial representations of goddesses Nanda and Sunanda are made from bamboo, Kadli (a tree of the banana family) and organic colours for this festival.

For making the faces of the goddesses, the tree is used to craft the outer appearance of the face. Bamboo is used to craft the eyebrows and also to nail the parts of the representation after which these are painted in attractive colours. After this, the faces are adorned with ornaments including a crown made of silver, a gold ornament for the forehead, earrings, nath (traditional nose ring) and other items. After that the idols are brought to the Naina Devi temple and ritually installed there.

This year, the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar MP and Bharatiya Janata Party state president Ajay Bhatt will inaugurate the Nanda Devi Mahotsav. After the inauguration, a group of devotees will go to Gaulapar for Kadli and on the next day the making of the idol will be started. Apart from the religious activities, preparations have also been made for the fair at the DSA ground.  About 500 stalls and various types of recreational rides have been set up for the fair. The sub divisional magistrate Vinod Kumar held a meeting with officials from various departments of the municipality on Monday evening to ascertain all necessary preparations for smooth organisation of the festival.