Monday, May 26, 2014

Great Himalayan National Park

Overview

The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) is located in the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh, India. Initially constituted in 1984, GHNP was formally declared a National Park in 1999, covering an area of 754.4 sq kms. In 1994, two major changes were made in land use around the Park. A buffer zone of 5 km from the Park’s western boundary, covering 265.6 sq km. and including 2,300 households in 160 villages, was delineated as an Ecozone.
Near the Origin of Tirthan River

The second change was the creation of the Sainj Wildlife Sanctuary (90 sq km) around the three villages of Shagwar, Shakti, and Marore. On the southern edge of the GHNP, another Protected Area (PA) was declared, known as Tirthan Wildlife Sanctuary. This covers 65 sq km and is without habitation. More recently, in 2010, both the Sainj and Tirthan Wildlife Sanctuaries were added to GHNP, but will not be formally incorporated until a process known as settlement of rights has occurred. Thus the initiated merger of Sainj and Tirthan Wildlife Sanctuaries with GHNP will be followed by a process of settlement to relocate inhabitants and make the area free of traditional pressures, which may take some time. The total area under Park administration (National Park, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Ecozone) is 1171 sq km, which is together referred to as the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (GHNPCA).
In 2010, an area of 710 sq km of the Parvati river catchment contiguous to the northern boundary of GHNP was initially notified as the Khirganga National Park, adding significant biological diversity, conservation value, and physical protection to GHNP. The boundaries of GHNP are also contiguous with the Pin Valley National Park (675 sq km) in Trans-Himalaya, the Rupi Bhabha Wildlife Sanctuary (503 sq km) in Sutlej watershed and the Kanawar Wildlife Sanctuary (61 sq km), adding additional protection and conservation value and opening up extended wildlife corridors.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Chanchad Villa of 3 idiots - The Chail Palace

Chanchad Villa Of 3 idiots

 

 

 

 

 

History

Created as a summer capital by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala in 1891, the Chail Palace is a grand mansion and a heritage hotel located at a distance of 45 km from Shimla. Set in about 75 acres of land, the Chail Palace has a grandiose setting with spectacular views. A wide variety of cottages, suites and rooms can accommodate every visitor who wishes to delight in this regal palace.


The story goes that Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala had eloped with the daughter of the British Viceroy, which led to the restriction of his entry into the summer capital, Shimla. Owing to this, the Maharaja vowed to build a new summer capital for himself, Chail, which he built as per his requirements.

The Chail Palace is a palace in true sense of the word as every visitor here is treated with royalty. The suites, rooms and cottages are extravagantly furnished with antique furniture and wall to wall carpeting. Also, the architecture here is quite striking. The accommodation ranges from reasonable cottages to the top of the line Maharaja and Maharani Suites. The Chail Palace is surrounded by charming cottages, dense forests, and a 'lover’s hill'. For recreation there is a Children's Park, lush green lawns for leisurely walks, badminton, lawn tennis, and billiards.

The Chail Palace is a true reflection of the Maharaja's flashy personality. Each majestic suite, each beautiful cottage and every warm log hut offers an unforgettable holiday. The palace stands on a hilltop and appears to float in the clouds. Surrounded by pine and deodar trees, the picturesque beauty of Chail is an added adornment to the Chail Palace. This magnificent palace is truly worth a visit. For all you know it'll bring out the Maharaja in you!

110 Years of Pine-Scented Travel



The Kalka-Shimla rail route, offers the charm of old-world travel amidst lofty pines and lush green, misty mountains. This is one of the four narrow gauge rail routes on hill terrain in the country, the other three being the Darjeeling, Ooty and Pathankot-Jogindernagar routes. In fact, the Darjeeling route was used as a model for the Kalka-Shimla route, which was proposed in 1891.
Started during the reign of Lord Curzon in November 1903, mainly to ferry the Bada Sahibs and their families to the then summer capital of Shimla, this rail route features in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering the steepest rise in altitude in the space of 96 kilometers. More than two-thirds of the track is curved, sometimes at angles as sharp as 48 degrees. 

 
The rail journey
 
Flanked by hills on both sides, the rail line, like twin threads of silver, clings to the steep cliffs and ventures boldly over bridges, built over tiny streams that show off their radiance in the sunlight. The cool breeze sweeps across your face as the train makes an arduous climb of almost 4800 feet from Kalka to Shimla in almost five hours.

The rail line begins its climb almost immediately after its departure from the Kalka railway station. The toy train chugs along the line, whistling through the deodar, pine, ficus, oak and maple woods at a speed of 22 km an hour. As the journey begins, one is taken in with the change in vegetation, and the majestic glory of the railway stations and Gothic-style bridges en route. The most refreshing part of the journey is the experience of sitting by the window, breathing in the cool breeze and taking in the greenery, smell of fresh dew on the vegetation, the chirping of birds and the sight of cattle grazing around the track, especially if you are travelling in either of the two early morning toy trains.

Most of these railway stations on the route are will also mark 100 years of their existence. Painted in white and blue, these railway stations built in the Gothic style take you back in time. Their picturesque location, names of most of the 18 stations and their history — Taksal (where most of the kings of the era had their mint), Koti, Barog — keeps you busy en route. The awed traveller is also forced to think about the splendid engineering and architecture of these railway stations, built in the early days of the mechanical period. The Barog railway station has, for instance, been constructed in such a way that a kuhl is running beneath the building.


The memorabilia of the Raj can be found at most of these stations. Wall clocks, which have to be wound with a key, of SW Benson 1903 make, still adorn the walls of Station Masters of the Summer Hill and Barog railway stations. Though these clocks are now defunct, they still find a place of pride because of their nostalgic value. Similarly, semi-porcelain hand-painted crockery, also made in England, and some furniture (dressing table, chairs) have also been well preserved at the Barog Railway Station. This crockery — an incomplete tea set, rice plates, jugs etc. — have been kept under lock and key as exhibits and are seldom used.


Even as the world has moved into the computer age, ancient systems still work here. Ancient communication and track control system, called Neals Token Instrument System, is still in use on this rail section. Block phones are also used to establish links between two stations. Lanterns, like the ones used in the last century, are still being used to signal the trains to stop or move.
The first main station is at Dharampur, at a height of 4,900 feet and at a distance of 20 miles from Kalka. The gradient here is very steep, and in order to achieve the flatter gradients required by the Railways, the line develops into three loops at Taksal, Gumman and Dharampur. After leaving Dharampur, the rail line gains on the road route by taking short cuts and tunnels so that up to Tara Devi, the distance by rail from Kalka is almost one-fourth mile less than the distance by road.

Twenty four miles from Kalka, the railway line is 5,200 feet above sea, where it falls to 4,900 feet at Solan, and further to 4,667 feet at Kandaghat (36-and-a half miles from Kalka), where the final ascent to Shimla starts. From Tara Devi, the rail line goes round the Prospect Hill to Jatogh, winding in a series of curves round Summer Hill and burrows under the Inverarm Hill to emerge below the road on the south side of Inverarm, and thus reaches Shimla.

Interestingly, all the 18 stations on this route are located next to bridges. These railway stations were built here for the benefit of the labour employed for constructing the bridges, which could take rest here. Some of these stations have now been abandoned because they were financially unviable. Though many of the small stations have a sale of less than Rs 500 a month, only a few, like Jabli, have been abandoned. Others like Koti, which have a sale of less than Rs 100 a month, cannot be closed because of their operational importance, inform railway officials



One of the most interesting features of the Kalka-Shimla route is the absence of girder bridges. There is only one 60-foot plate girder span in a pinewood near Dharampur and a steel trestle viaduct, which replaced a stone gallery in 1935. The remaining 866 bridges, representing three per cent of the line, carry the rail track over the ravines and between the hill spurs.

Multi-arched galleries like ancient Roman aqueducts have been used to take the tracks over the difficult terrain, which would otherwise have been difficult to cover. These stone masonary arched bridges, which use lime stone, have as many as four storeys, each storey having an arch and each arch having a different configuration. In fact, the Railway authorities are now making efforts to get the UNESCO to declare three of these bridges — Bridge No 541 (between Kandaghat and Kanoh), Bridge No 226 (between Sanwara and Dharampur), and Bridge No 493 (near Kanoh) — as World Heritage sites.

Most of the 102 tunnels (the 1930’s renumbering, with numbers going up to 103, has not been changed till date though tunnel number 46 does not exist any more) too have a history of their own. An interesting feature about these tunnels is that till today, whenever these tunnels have to be illuminated for maintenance, plain mirrors are used to catch the sunlight and reflect this light inside the tunnel.

Gone are the days of travelling in the rickety coaches with wooden berths. In their place stand freshly painted coaches which provide the comfort of chair cars. Another coach, Shivalik Queen, provides privacy in the form of coupes. For those looking for royal luxury, the Railways provides Shivalik Palace, a separate luxurious compartment with beautiful interiors, provision of sleepers and comfortable sofas for relaxing. This also has a well-equipped kitchen and an attendant to serve foods and drinks, along with an attached bathroom. The other option for tourists is to take the rail car which takes lesser time than regular trains to reach Shimla.

Monday, February 18, 2013

About Scandal Point Information-Shimla

The scandal Point is the spot from where one can view the beautiful valleys of Shimla. It is a very popular spot and tourists never miss to spend some time here while they are walking round the Mall road.




Scandal Point History

The spot derives its name from a historic incident when the Emperor of Patiala had kidnapped the daughter of the Viceroy of India from here. As the incident was very shameful and was against the pride of the nation, the spot was named as Scandal point.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Gaiety Theatre: Remains of an Era




Imagine Shimla at the height of its glory. A horse drawn wagon pulling up the Ridge road or the graceful ladies all dressed in bonnets and stylish umbrellas sauntering the Mall road; the well brought up gentleman discussing politics and literature in a coffee house on a rainy day. These are wishful reminiscences. So many things have changed. But some things remained just the way it was then.




Gaiety Theatre from the Ridge road





 Gaiety Theatre from Mall road



    The Gaiety Theatre was recently renovated





The Viceroys seat (Middle balcony) inside Gaiety Theatre









A tourist from England told me that she still feels there are a ‘lot of English left in the Town’.  She even met an old shopkeeper, who speaks with old fashioned British accent, which has become a rarity even in England. And there are important buildings which have survived from the time Shimla was once the summer capital of the British Raj. Gaiety Theatre is one such buildings that brings back the old and grandeur memories of those bygone eras.
Gaiety Theatre was part of the large town hall complex. Designed by the renowned English architect Henry Irwin the theatre was built in the gothic style. It was first opened in 1887, which was Queen Victoria’s jubilee year. The theatre can accommodate more than 300 people. There are special seats for the Viceroy, Army officers and the Indian Rajas. The room is acoustic, which means even a slight snap at the centre of the stage can be heard from any corner of the room. Though minor renovations have been done, nothing much has changed. The screen on the stage which was designed by Henry Irwin is still being used today.
 Gaiety theatre has a rich history. It was the centre for entertainment and socialization. Viceroy Lord Lytton wrote and staged a play called ‘Walpole’. Many officers actively took part in writing or acting on stage. Rudyard Kipling a bright star in literary world acted in ‘a scrap of paper’. The locals have carried on the traditions after the British left. There are lots of Dramatic societies in Shimla today. Renowned Bollywood actors and singers have performed here too. Most recently Michael Palin, a renowned name in entertainment shot inside the theatre for his travel documentary ‘Himalaya’.
 Lately, a lot of renovation has taken place. The place looked dashing and grand. It is the only Gothic theatre in Asia and among six such theaters in the World. Spare the time to visit this wonder when you visit Shimla, You’ll take back more than you can imagine.



Saturday, February 16, 2013

Clarkes Hotel







A quaint little toy train is one of the many modes of transport that will bring you up to Shimla. Once the imperial summer capital of the British Raj, Shimla is today well known as the preferred year around holiday resort. This capital of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, is located at an average altitude of 7250ft. The city is famous for its buildings styled in imperial architecture dating from the colonial era.
Located on the Shimla Mall Road, Clarkes Hotel is an oasis of calm on the bustling promenade. This heritage hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Shimla and is known for its architecture dating from the colonial era. The hotel is within walking distance of Shimla attractions – Gaiety Theatre, Groton Castle, Museum, Rothney Castle, Viceregal Lodge, Churches and other Colonial era buildings.

Clarkes Hotel embodies the elegance and charm of yesteryear, with modern conveniences of today. The hotel maintains the highest levels of service and has all the amenities, facilities and levels of comfort you would expect from a hotel of this class

Viceregal Lodge , Shimla



Located on the Observatory Hill at the western end of the Shimla ridge (4 km), the Viceregal Lodge is a humongous structure ringed by tall pines. It was built in 1888 as the residence of Viceroy Lord Dufferin. It can be reached by taxi or bus within 5 mins.

Located 2 km further west of the Himachal State Museum, it is now called Rashtrapati Niwas. The Lodge houses the Indian Institute of Advanced Study and is the only building in Shimla that occupies a hill by itself. Exploring the whole place will take around 1 hour.

The architecture of the lodge is brilliant. A grand staircase which springs from the right and spirals up three full floors marks the hall. A grand fireplace faces the main entrance. Verandas and terraces surround the entire building at different levels which allures tourists and make the lodge totally immaculate.