Plan your trip · Jim Corbett
What's on in Jim Corbett
The dates that matter most in Corbett are the days the zones open. The festivals around them are Kumaoni, and a few change what you can do on the day.
Nothing dated is confirmed for Jim Corbett right now, so here is the year instead — the fixtures that come round annually, and what each one means for a visit.
The year in Jim Corbett
Jim Corbett's calendar is the park's: safaris run through the dry months and stop for the monsoon, and the weeks that sell out first are the school and festival holidays. Broadly, Oct – Mar and Apr – Jun is the time to come, and safari permits for the holiday weeks go early.
Most of these follow lunar calendars and move by weeks from year to year, so treat the windows below as the season rather than the date, and confirm the year’s dates before you book around one.
Signature to Jim Corbett
Park season
🗓️ mid-October to June, by zoneBijrani opens in mid-October and Dhikala in mid-November, both until mid- to late June; Jhirna, Dhela and Garjia run safaris all year, weather permitting.
Planning: Permits are sold only on the official portal and go early for holiday weeks; overnight forest-lodge stays stop from mid-June to mid-November.
Nationwide
Diwali
🗓️ October–NovemberThe biggest holiday of the year — lamps, sweets, fireworks and a week of visiting family. Cities are lit up and markets stay open late.
Holi
🗓️ MarchColoured powder and water, thrown at anyone within reach, mostly through the morning.
Navratri and Dussehra
🗓️ September–OctoberNine nights of fasting, music and dance, ending with Dussehra. What it looks like changes completely by region — garba in Gujarat, pandals in Bengal, processions in the south.
Eid al-Fitr
🗓️ shifts ~11 days earlier each yearThe end of Ramadan. The old quarters of Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Bhopal are at their best in the evenings through the preceding month, when food streets run past midnight.
Makar Sankranti and Pongal
🗓️ mid-JanuaryThe harvest turn, marked with kites in the west and north and four days of Pongal in Tamil Nadu.
Zone openings
Mid-October, when Bijrani reopens after the monsoon, and mid-November, when Dhikala and its forest lodges open, are the two dates that shape the year. Bookings open well before. The first weeks after each opening are popular with photographers who want the forest while it is still green. From mid-June the core zones close again, and overnight stays inside the reserve stop.
Wildlife Week: early October
India marks Wildlife Week in the first week of October. The tiger reserve usually runs events around it, and has held photography exhibitions at this time. Check the reserve's site for the year's plans.
Kartik Purnima at Garjia: October or November
The Kartik full moon brings the biggest fair of the year to the Garjia Devi Temple. People come from across Kumaon to bathe in the Kosi and climb to the shrine. The road north of Ramnagar is slow all day. If the temple rock is closed for repairs, darshan may be arranged from below, so check the arrangements locally.
Uttarayani: mid-January
Makar Sankranti is Uttarayani in Kumaon, and families make ghughute, fried sweets shaped like birds and drums, for children to feed to crows the next morning. It falls in the cold, busy part of the safari season.
Holi: March
Holi in Kumaon starts weeks early with sung Holi gatherings, then ends with colour on the day. The Corbett Museum at Kaladhungi is closed on Holi itself, and many drivers and guides take the day off, so plan safaris around it.
Harela: July
Harela marks the start of the rains in Kumaon with the planting of saplings. It falls in the monsoon, when only the zones that stay open all year are running.
Navratri
Both Navratris, in spring and autumn, bring crowds to Garjia Devi. Weekends in these weeks are the busiest days at the temple.
Questions
Jim Corbett — FAQ
When is the Garjia fair?
On Kartik Purnima, the full moon of Kartik, which falls in October or November. It is the busiest day of the year at the temple.
Is the Corbett Museum open on Holi?
No. The museum at Kaladhungi is open daily except for the day of Holi.
When do Corbett safari bookings open for the season?
Bookings for each zone open on the official portal ahead of the season. The reserve posts the dates on its site, often a month or more before the zone opens.