Bir

Why this icon Paragliders launch from Billing and land in Bir, India's paragliding capital. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Zostel HomesZostel Plus

The story

A tandem wing glides out from the Billing ridge on a clear October morning: a traveller sits in front of the pilot, arms spread wide, with the Dhauladhar behind and Bir's tea rows and white stupa far below.

Why this picture

Bir is India's paragliding capital: tandem flights launch from the Billing meadow (about 2,400 m) and land at Chowgan on Bir's edge (1,525 m), with the passenger seated in front and the pilot behind, both in helmets. October and November bring the clearest skies and the competitions; griffon vultures circle in the same thermals. Below lie the Kangra tea gardens and the white stupa of Bir's Tibetan colony.

The sky wears a faint Khovar, from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.

The motion

The pair swings a little under the wing; vultures circle in the thermal; far wings drift; the prayer flags flutter; the sun's rays turn; the pines sway. A 16-second loop.

Colour

Orchid #AA5EA5

Valley Blue #4F87C7

Blush #F6ADCD

Bir takes Orchid #AA5EA5, one of the three Valleys colours — with its icon in white on it.

Another moment in Bir

A second scene: another true moment at Bir, drawn in the graphic vocabulary with the animals and city symbols that belong there. Wide for screens, tall for a phone held upright.

The story

Sunset at the landing field in Chowgan, Bir: half the village has come out to watch the sun go down behind the Billing ridge as the day's last tandem wing comes in low over the grass, a traveller in front of the pilot; the white Chokling stupa stands beyond the tea rows, a grey langur walks among them and a village dog stands in the grass.

Why this moment

The Billing flights come down at Bir's landing field in Chowgan, which is also the village's best-loved sunset point: half of Bir meets there to watch the sun go down, and the last paragliders of the day fly at sunset. Chokling Monastery's white stupa is a few minutes' walk away in the Tibetan colony, Kangra tea grows round the village, grey langurs live in the Dhauladhar foothills and the field has its village dogs. September to November is the flying season.

The motion

Two far wings spiral down over the ridge; a flock of crows crosses the sky; the setting sun's fan of rays breathes; the pair swings a little under the wing; the pines sway; a villager waves. A 16-second loop.

In the picture

Its files

wide: wide second scene, SVG wide second scene, Animated SVG wide second scene, PNG
tall: tall second scene, SVG tall second scene, Animated SVG tall second scene, PNG

Also in the kit's zip, in its own folder.

Bir in symbols

Beside its icon, the things that are Bir, drawn in the Brand Manual's city language: a monument in the city grey with its openings cut, the things of the place in flat landscape colours. Each comes in colour and in the city grey. Every place's symbols

Chokling Monastery's white stupaMonument
Chokling Monastery's great white stupa in Bir's Tibetan colony, its golden spire over the tea and paddy where the gliders land: drawn as plain architecture, no images, no flags.
SVG Grey SVG PNG
Kangra tea: two leaves and a budOf the place
Kangra tea, grown round Bir and Palampur in the Kangra valley (GI, 2005; mostly black, some green): a sprig of two leaves and a bud, and a clear glass of its amber liquor.
SVG Grey SVG PNG

Also drawn for Bir 9

Detailed icons from the library that name Bir among their places: one drawing, on the page of every place it belongs to. Those drawn for Bir alone come first. Every detailed icon

Say hello to Bir's Zobus

Zobu in Bir's own dress, on the palette. Hover or tap one and it waves. Each comes still and alive — idle, hello and hop — for stickers, stories and the app.

Every destination's Zobus →

Female
Still Idle Hello Hop Face Wave
Male
Still Idle Hello Hop Face Wave

The animals of Bir

Animals and birds the research behind Bir's picture names, drawn in the Brand Manual's animal style, in colour and in the city grey. All the animals of India

Grey langurSemnopithecus entellus
SVG Grey SVG PNG

The kit

Everything Bir needs: its profile, its cover, wide and tall, its icon, tile, display picture and lockup, its loop and the symbol becoming it, its second scene, its city map, its city symbols and its Zobus — every file ready to download.

46 files in one zip, the cover, its second scene, its symbols, its Zobus and its city map included

Profile

Bir’s page as a story, 1080 × 1920: its cover, its tile, its name, its line and its verbs — for stories, status and a phone’s lock screen.

SVGOther formats

Cover, wide

1600 × 900, for screens: a page’s top, a slide, a share card. The still is the loop’s first frame. The animated SVG loops in 16 s; where it shouldn’t move, use the still.

SVG Animated SVG PNG

Cover, tall

900 × 1600, composed for a phone held upright: stories, reels, a lock screen. The animated SVG loops in 16 s; where it shouldn’t move, use the still.

SVG Animated SVG PNG

Tile

The icon in one colour on Bir’s own — for a grid, a story, a sticker.

SVG PNG

Icon

An object: flat landscape colours. Transparent; the mono takes any one colour.

SVG PNG Mono SVG

Loop

Points twinkle behind the peak, or clouds drift past. 7.2 s, seamless.

Animated SVG Lottie JSON

Motion

The symbol becomes Bir and turns back — a Lottie loop for stories, the app and the web.

Lottie JSON

Display picture

Circle-safe: the colour, the icon and the name — for chats, socials and the app.

SVG PNG

Lockup

The horizontal lockup, with Bir under the wordmark — for signage, email and merch.

SVG

City symbols

Bir’s symbols, each in colour and in the city grey, as SVG and PNG — in the zip’s symbols folder.

See them with their files

Zobus

Bir’s Zobu pair, still and alive (idle, hello, hop), waving still and as a face (a profile picture) — in the zip’s zobus folder.

Female SVG Male SVG

Also made for Bir 5

The rest of what the library holds for Bir: the pattern of its region, the card its links share, each opening its own file or gallery.

The map we made for Bir

Seven things to do around Zostel Plus Bir, each in its true direction with its distance and time from the door — a map made for your phone.

Paraglide down from BillingBilling take-off · 14.8 km · 35 min drive
Trek up to a hidden waterfallGunehar waterfall · 4.1 km · 55 min hike
Taste Kangra tea at sourceBir Tea Factory · 1.1 km · 14 min walk
Eat momos down the laneTibetan Colony · 1.2 km · 16 min walk
Walk to the stupa at sunriseChokling stupa · 1.1 km · 15 min walk
Watch the gliders land at sunsetLanding site · 1.3 km · 17 min walk
Wander a slate-roofed villageKeori village · 1.5 km · 20 min walk

Download the phone map (PNG)Download the phone map (SVG)

1080 × 1350, for a phone or a story. Distances and times from Zostel Plus Bir, measured on OpenStreetMap routing. Map for representation purposes only.

On the map

Bir is in Himachal Pradesh, India — one of the 84 places where Zostel is live.

Region: Himachal Pradesh
Country: India
Where: 32.04° N, 76.72° E
Landscape: Valleys

Make its poster Every place

Bir · Himachal Pradesh · India

Fly off Billing. Land in Bir. Look back up.

The story

Why this picture

The motion

Colour

Another moment in Bir

The story

Why this moment

The motion

In the picture

Its files

Bir in symbols

Also drawn for Bir 9

Say hello to Bir's Zobus

The animals of Bir

The kit

Also made for Bir 5

The map we made for Bir

On the map