Sisters turn childhood vacation home in Pahalgam into homestay that captures Kashmir’s beauty

Pahalgam, Kashmir: For sisters Mahrukh Inayet, 48, and Gulrukh Inayet Parmar, 53, Pahalgam was always the landscape they carried with them. Growing up, when asked to paint a landscape in art class, the two would imagine their vacation home in the valley and draw it — the rolling grasslands, wooden homes with sloping roofs set against towering deodar trees, and the river.

Today, that same home has become Yena’s Lodge, a homestay the sisters opened in 2016. “When you set foot into Yena’s Lodge, you’re also bound to feel as if you’ve just entered a story setting,” Mahrukh said.

Their mother bought the lodge in the early 1970s, and the sisters spent vacations there. One of their fondest memories involves crossing a rickety wooden bridge across the river to reach it. “When I look back at my childhood, I see it as an extremely idyllic time,” Mahrukh said. “Kashmir is gorgeous, and anyone who has grown up here will tell you how much they are in love with the place, not just with the landscape but also with its culture of hospitality.”

It was in that “thriving cultural melting pot” that Mahrukh and Gulrukh grew up. Now, through Yena’s Lodge, they share the quiet of the valley they once painted in art class — the grasslands, deodar trees, and wooden homes — with guests looking to experience Kashmir beyond postcards.

Set in the valley, the lodge reflects what the sisters say nature painted first: a landscape “almost as if nature had dipped her brush into her finest colour palette and painted the masterpiece herself.”