Nainital

Nainital, the queen of Indian lakes, is a beautiful lake surrounded by hills. The name Nainital is believed to be associated with ancient myths of India. The lake is also known as Tri Rishi Sarovar. The three Rishis (sages) dug large hole on the spot where present lake is located upon not finding water in nearby area. They filled the hole with water from the holy lake of Mansarovar of Tibet. It is also considered as a mini Mansarovar. It is believed a holy dip in the lake water is equal to the dip in the Mansarovar Lake.

Another myth says; while the charred body of Sati (wife of lord Shiva) was being carried away by lord Shiva all around the universe being tragic in the demise of his beloved wife, left eye fell on earth and which later came to be known as Nainital.

Situated at an altitude of 1,938 metres (6,358 feet) above sea level, Nainital is one of the favourite holiday destinations of Indians. Not only the scenic beauty of Nainital is famous in India and other countries like Nepal and other south Asian countries, the schools and colleges in the Nainital area are renowned for their quality education.

Nainital has been a holiday destination since the British time. People basically flock to Nainital during the summer to escape the heat of the plains.

Nainital offers multiple opportunities to its visitors. Boating, horse riding and other site seeing are the basic activities that Nainital provides. The pedal boating on the pear shaped lake is truly amazing at a very low and reasonable rate. One can even use the traditional oar boat to boat around the lake and enjoy the long spread lake.

At an altitude of 2,270 m is the Snow View which is easily reachable by cable car. In a clear weather day the snow view mountain provides its visitors with great view of Himalayas.

China or Cheena peak is the highest peak in the town, with an altitude of 2,615 m. The view of snow clad high Himalaya and the panoramic view of Nainital town itself from the peak is truly amazing. The summit is at a walking of 6 km from the town (Mallital) and it is an invigorating hike from Nainital town. Less energetic visitors can hire ponies to get to the peak.

Tiffin Top, the terraced hill top (2,292 m) on Ayarpatta hill is at 4 km (2 mi) hike from the town centre. It gives a nice view of the neighbouring country side. Tiffin Top is built as a memorial to an English artist, Dorothy Kellet, by her husband and admirers after her death in a plane crash.

Bhimtal (the lake with Aquarium Island), Sat Tal (the seven lakes), Naukuchiya Tal (the lake with nine corners) and Khurpa Tal are some of the interesting lakes worth visiting nearby Nainital.

Governor’s House, Naina Devi Temple, church of St. John, Hanuman Garh are other religious and governmental monuments worth visiting in Nainital.

How to reach Nainital?

Nainital is well connected by roads. The supply town Haldwani is at a distance of 34 kilometres. Private taxis and government buses frequently ply to Nainital. One can get tour package buses from the major cities of India like Delhi, Lucknow etc. Buses even carry passengers from Dehradun and Haridwar daily.

The Kathgodam railway station at a distance of 29 km is the nearest train station. One can get the trains for major cities of India. The capital Delhi is at a Distance of 276 kilometres from Kathgodam. Trains carry lots of visitors from the cities like Kolkata, Dehradun, Haridwar and Lucknow.

Pant Nagar airport at a distance of 65 km is the nearest airport where one can get flights to and from Delhi.

India

The incredible India with an ancient history of 5000 years is truly fascinating to the visitors. It is a subcontinent which has an ancient civilization; a land enhanced by the richness of its different culture is an incredible location to visit. The great India is full of cultural beauty. One can truly enjoy the traditions of different human civilization in a country. The picturesque valleys, topography, high mountain peaks and holy rivers along with the faith associated to Hinduism incredibly surprise its visitors.
The all around the year festivals and local fairs very warmly welcome the guests with the best hospitality and open heart smile. The shopping of centuries old crafts and artistic skill in India is an adventurous journey. The country famous for its spices has varieties of food surprise to its visitors. One will really love the Indian spicy foods.
The centuries old Mahabharat war location to the modern silicon valley lies in the vast India.
A visit to India and stay in India will be really enjoyable and comfortable. Just near India is Nepal where you get good Nepali Food.

Almora(India)

Situated at an altitude of 1650 metres above sea level, Almora is a popular hill station of Uttarakhand, India.
The cultural capital of Kumaon region, Almora, is in the shape of a horse shoe. The Almora town is famous for its traditional outlook. The forts, the historical monuments and the royal courts are still present here. The town has maintained the same original look of the ancient time by constructing the new houses in traditional style. The roads are also paved with slate stones which give it a classical look.
Almora was ruled by Chand Dynasty for almost a millennium. It was never discovered and developed by the British regime in India.
Overlooking the snow capped peaks of the Himalayas; the town is encircled by two rivers, Kaushik (Koshi) and Shalmali (Suyal).
Almora can be said as travellers’ paradise because of its picture perfect lofty height, view of the green valley, misty mountain, fruit-laden orchards, countless temples and most of all the smiling faces of the people.
Almora has been attracting people ever since the history. The famous writer, Rabindra Nath Tagore, spent the memorable summer at Almora. The internationally known dancer Uday Shankar fell in love with the place and set up the cultural academy here. Moreover, the films star Guru Dutta, artist Zhora Sehgal, sitar maestro Ravi Shankar visited this place and become earnest lovers of the Almora town.
The famous Govinda Vallab Pant Public museums, Nanda Devi temple, deer park are the other places worth seeing at Almora besides the natural beauty of the place itself.
Many historical caves and temples are situated rear by Almora. “Lakhudiyar” meaning one lakh (100 thousand) caves is in 20 km distance from Almora. The prehistoric rock paintings are discovered within the caves.
Jageshwar, in a distance of 34 km is another place with ancient history. A group of 125 temples, most of which are dedicated to Lord Shiva and a few to different Goddesses. Jageshwar is considered as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas.
Just 8 kilometres away from the town is the temple of Chitai. This temple is dedicated to Golu Devta and people write letters to the God to fulfil their desires and in return they hang bells in the temple premises. Surrounded with dense fur and pine trees along with ringing bells in the hilly air of Kumaon hills, the temple can be considered as a piece of heaven.
Kalimath (temple dedicated to Kasar Devi), Gannath (temple dedicated to Lord Shiva), Binsar (temple built by King Kalyan Chand and dedicated to Lord Shiva at an altitude of 2420 metres) and Katarmal (the second important Sun temple in India) are the places for absolute peace of mind and soul in Almora.

How to reach Almora?
Almora is well connected by roads with the major cities of India. The capital Delhi is 380 km from Almora. The queen of lakes, Nainital, is just a 66 km drive from Almora. Private taxis and jeeps are the main transportation to move around locally and the Kumaon region. One can even hire motorbikes and take an adventurous tour of Kumaon hills.
Driving to Almora is little bit tiring for those who don’t have the habit of driving in the mountainous terrain. But the journey is quite interesting because of the sceneries of the green Kumaon valley.
The nearest airfield from Almora is at Pant Nagar (127 km) from where one can find flights to and from Delhi.
Kathgodam is the nearest rail station for Almora at a distance of 88 km. One can get trains for major cities like Delhi, Deheradun, Kolkata, Lucknow, Gorakhpur etc.

Bhimtal(INDIA)

The place Bhimtal gets its name from a story associated to it. As the story goes...... one of the characters of the greatest Hindu epic, Mahabharata, named Bhim was roaming around in the hills of the Kumaon region with his wife. While moving around the jungles, she felt thirsty and asked for water to her husband, Bhim. The powerful Bhim hit the ground with his mace (Gadhha) and water arose from the ground; ultimately the water turned into a lake. That is how the name Bhimtal meaning “Bhim” as the character Bhim and “Tal” as the lake was formed.
Surrounded by roads and tall trees on the three sides and a dam on the eastern side, Bhimtal, is a very beautiful place to visit all around the year. The cool temperature during the spring and summer & a little bit cold temperature during the autumn and winter make the place worth visiting all around the year. However, people from the plains mostly flock to Bhimtal during the summer season.......[for more detail visit the link below]
http://bhimtalinfo.blogspot.com/

Dehradun(INDIA)

Situated at the foothills of the Himalayas at an altitude of 635 metres above sea level, Dehradun is the capital of new Indian state Uttarakhand (formerly known as Uttaranchal).

The fast emerging modern Indian city Deharadun , has a legendry history. According to the Mahabharat, the teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas, Guru Dronacharya, set up his shelter (Ashram) or “Dera” here and the Dron Ashram eventually came to be known as Dehradun. Similarly, “Dehra” means camp in Hindi language. Most possibly the military camps established here during the Anglo-Gurkha war at Dehradun originated the name Dehra Dun.

The available tangible evidence of the history of Dehradun dates back to 300 BC. The rock inscriptions discovered in 1860 at the northern outskirts of the Dehradun city, Kalsi, indicate 14 edicts of King Ashoka.

Dehradun is believed to be known as Kedar Khand in the ancient Vedic times. It also used to be referred as Dronpuri because of the Guru Dronacharya’s Ashram (shelter).

It has been revealed that many rulers from different dynasties like Katyuris of Garhwal, Sikhs, Mughals and Gurkhas of Nepal ruled the gorgeous valley of Dehradun subsequently.

Most promisingly, the evidences of the brave Gurkhas are still prevalent in the Dehradun area. Khalanga, where one can see monument recalling the story of the bravery of the battle between the British and the Gurkhas is in Dehradun only. In the battle of Kalanga lieutenant Allis and general Gillespie of British force were killed.

The Nalapani Killa (Fort) lies in the north east of Dehradun (approximately 15 km) where the British force fully equipped with modern guns and cannons became unable to win the Gurkhas with arrows, Khukuris (Swords of the brave Gurkhas) and catapults. Being tired of the battle, the British force treacherously blocked the water supply to the fort. After fighting for days without food or even water, the 70 brave Gurkhas out of 670 managed to come out of the fort with bare Khukuris in their hands in command of Balabhadra Kuwar and managed to escape into the hills at night. The British force couldn’t stop itself from praising the gallantry of Gurkhas after getting the fort filled with the dead bodies of mostly women and children.

Writing “In memory of our brave enemy.........” on the walls of the fort with blood, the British Force regretted on their win.

Besides the brave history associated with it, Dehradun used to be the summer camp for the Viceroy’s bodyguards during the British regime in India. The British also established many military academies and research centres in Dehradun. The Forest Research Institute (In 1906), Royal Indian Military College recently known as Rastriya Indian Military College (in 1922) and Indian Military Academy (in 1932) all were established by the British.

In the modern day, Dehradun is the centre for education and military cantonment. Century Old Catholic and Protestant convent schools are still famous for quality education. Over 300 high schools including the famous Doon School which is considered to be the best public School in India are found in Dehradun only.

The legendry place has many interesting sites for its visitors. A picturesque picnic spot at a distance of 11 kilometres from the Dehradun city centre is Sahastra Dhara. Sahastra Dhara means the “1000 springs” and water here has a fall of about 9 metres and it leaves an incrustation of lime on all it touches. Being accumulated for more than a century, the lime particles have formed a projecting ledge and below a sort of cave. From the roof of the cave falls a perpetual shower. The cave and the shower provide a breathtaking view. A sulphur spring is also present at Sahastradhara. Visitors often take bath considering the sulphur water as a cure for skin infections.

Another worth visiting location in Deheradun is the Robber’s Cave. The beautiful cave formed by a natural rift in a mountain is 8 km away from the Dehradun city. The last one kilometre distance is to be walked to reach this natural cave. In the darkness of the cave flows a very cold stream of water gushing down the mountain. The darkness of the cave along with the sound of the fast flowing stream gives an unforgettable moment to anyone who visits it.

The temple of Tapkeshwar Mahadev Dehradun, is the next location with its ancient and natural importance. The temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is 5.5 km from the city bus stand and is well connected by road. The temple is named Tapkeshwar as water droplets originating from a rock fall on top of the Shivling placed in the temple. Situated under a unique formation of natural rock, the temple of Tapkeshwor is a kind of unique temple in Dehradun(India).

In a distance of approximately 5 km from Deheradun is the beautifully surrounded Tapovan. It is famous for its auspicious nature relating to Hindu mythology. One can find hermits doing all sorts of penance to appease the God in the premises of Tapoban(Dehradun). It is believed that Guru Dronacharya had done penance in the area.

Perched on the hill, 1000 feet over the bank of river Rispana is the Kalanga Monument. Located on the right side of the Deheradun-Sahastra Dhara road, the monument recalls the story of the bravery of the battle between the Gorkhas and the British. It also represents the history of the Garhwal Rulers.

A temple dedicated to Lord Buddha, situated on Rajpur Road adjacent to Sai Durbar is the Tibetan Temple of Dehradun. The temple is famous for its rich Tibetan culture and ambience.

Besides the places with natural, holy and legendry importance, Deheradun is full of many researches, survey and other locations worth visiting once or even more. The

1. Forest Research Institute (first research institute established in India) ,Dehradun

2. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology,Dehradun

3. Survey of India,Dehradun

4. Indian Military Academy,Dehradun

5. The Zoological Survey of India,Dehradun

6. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC),Dehradun

7. Rastriya Indian Military College (RIMC),Dehradun

8. Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP),Dehradun and

9. Indian Council of Forestry and Research & Education (ICFRE),Dehradun

are some of the places one will really enjoy visiting.

HOW to Reach Dehradun

Dehradun is well connected by road to all the major parts of India. The Indian capital New Delhi is 230 km from Dehradun. One can get government and private buses for Dehradun from most of the major cities. One can use taxis and jeeps to move around to the nearby areas of Dehradun. The holy city Haridwar is at a distance of 52 km. Dehradun serves as a gateway to the queen of hills, Mussorie.

The Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun is well connected by private airline services to and from the Indira Gandhi International Airport Delhi.

In case of rail route, Dehradun is very well connected with important cities of India. Some of the major train routes from Deheradun are:

ü Dehradun –Haridwar-Ujjain

ü Dehradun –Haridwar-Howrah (Kolkata)

ü Dehradun –Haridwar-Delhi

ü Dehradun –Haridwar-Mumbai

ü Dehradun –Haridwar-Varanashi

Haridwar(INDIA)

Haridwar is one of the most ancient pilgrimage centres in India. The ancient holy place gets its name from the location it is situated at and the belief associated with it. It is the gateway to the 4 main shrines (Char Dham) situated in the upper reach of Himalayas, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri and Badrinath.

Similarly, here at Haridwar lies the “Bramha Kunda” where thousands of pilgrims take holy bathing believing that a dip here will wash away their sins and get salvation (Moksha) enabling them to reach the heaven where Lord (Hari) lives. In other words, it is a doorway to the heaven with the name Haridwar meaning “Hari” as Lord and “Dwar” as Door.

Situated at the point where the sacred river Ganges reaches the plains, Haridwar, consists many temples and the hermitages (Ashrams). In the ancient scriptures the place is described with the name of Mayapur. A visit to Haridwar will be like stepping into a celestial world.

The evening Aarati of Haridwar (the fire ritual) on the river banks of river Ganges is the most fascinating view for all (Hindu, Christian, Buddhist or Muslim). Hundreds of tiny lights (Diyas) floating down the river along with the sweet aroma of incense & the flowers mixed with repeating sounds of “OM” by the priests on the Ghats (holy river banks) of Haridwar gives a lifetime experience to anyone.

Besides the spiritual and holy importance of the place, Haridwar is a paradise for nature lovers. It is an ideal destination for wild life and adventure sports. The place is an entry point to the white water rafting at Shivpuri and it also offers incredible trekking in the mountains. A part of the Rajaji National Park (Chilla) lies within the boundaries of the district where one can have amazing experience of wild flora and fauna. One can watch a herd of elephants roaming majestically in the jungle or may find oneself excited by wildlife of many kinds including Jungle cats, Samber, Barking deer, wild boar, Ghurals, Langoor, sloth beer, woodpecker, king cobra, leopard, Himalayan yellow throated Marten, tigers etc.

Elephant safari is truly amazing in the Doon valley with a bio diversity of 23 species of mammals and 315 avian-fauna species.

Getting to Haridwar is quite simple. One can use either of the transportation medium like air, road or rail whichever is convenient.

The nearest airfield is the Jolly Grant Airport (Deheradun) which is 41 kilometres away. Many private airlines provide service to and from the Indian capital Delhi which is just at a road distance of 214 kilometres from Haridwar.

The rail service is the cheap and best to use in India. Haridwar is well connected with all the important cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Varanashi, Kolkata, Ujjain, Haldwani and Deheradun.

In case of road access, Haridwar itself lies on the Indian National Highway Number 58. Many private and government buses plus the small taxis and jeeps carry thousands of people to and from Haridwar every day.

Road distance to some of the important places of India from Haridwar:

o HHaridwar-Delhi-214 km

o Haridwar-Nainital-286 km

o Haridwar-Badrinath-325 km

o Haridwar-Ambala-168 km

o Haridwar-Agra-386 km

o Haridwar-Kedarnath-250 km

o Haridwar-Deheradun-52 km

Auto rickshaws, tempos, tangas (horse ridden carts), cycle rickshaws, private buses and taxis can be used as local transport in Haridwar.