Indian Tourist Places

Nainital Today

In and around Nainital: The Naina Devi Temple was destroyed by the landslip of 1880 and later rebuilt. It is located on the northern shore of Naini Lake. The presiding deity of the temple is Maa Naina Devi represented by two Netras or eyes. Flanking Naina Devi are the deities of Mata Kali and Lord Ganesha.

The church of St. John in the Wilderness was established in 1844 and is located on the north end of town (Mallital), about half a mile north-west of the Naina Devi temple. The church was so named by Daniel Wilson, the Bishop of Calcutta, who, after falling ill during a visit to Nainital in 1844 to lay the foundation of the church, was obliged to sleep in an unfinished house on the edge of the forest. (See excerpt from Josiah Bateman on the Literary references to Nainital page.) A brass plaque on the altar is inscribed with names of the victims of the Landslip of 1880.

Governor’s House also known Raj Bhavan and formerly, Government House was built in 1899 and designed in the Victorian Gothic domestic style (also called "domestic Gothic") by the architect F.W. Stevens. Originally built as the summer residence of the governor of the North West Province, it later became the summer residence for the Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces. Currently, Raj Bhavan is the official guest house for the governor of Uttarakhand and for visiting state guests. The complex consists of a two-storied mansion with 113 rooms, a large garden, a swimming pool, and golf links. Obtaining prior permission is must for visiting.

Snow View is situated at an altitude of 2,270 m (7,448 ft) and located atop the Sher-ka-danda Ridge (north by north-east of the town centre), is easily reachable by cable car.Charges for cable car is 100rs. per person, rs.60 for child. charges are for stay for one hour at the point.Timings are 10.00a.m. to 5.00p.m. On a clear day, it offers spectacular views of the snowbound high Himalaya, including Nanda Devi, Trisul, and Nanda Kot. The best time of the year for viewing the mountains is late October and November. (See excerpts from Joseph Fayrer on the Literary references to Nainital page.)

Naina Peak also known as China or Cheena Peak. Naina peak is the highest peak in the town, with an altitude of 2,615 m (8,579 ft). and at a walking distance of 6 km (4 mi) from the north end of the town (Mallital). From atop the peak, one can not only see a broad swath of the snow clad high Himalaya, but also obtain a panoramic view of Nainital town itself. The summit is an invigorating hike from Nainital town; in addition, for the less energetic visitors, ponies can be hired in Mallital or on Snow View.

Tiffin Top also known as Dorothy’s Seat (Tiffin = light meal eaten during the day). This terraced hill top (2,292 m (7,520 ft)) on Ayarpatta hill is a 4 km (2 mi) hike from the town centre and commands a nice view of the neighbouring country side. Dorothy’s Seat is a stonework picnic perch on Tiffin Top built as a memorial to an English artist, Dorothy Kellet, by her husband and admirers after her death in a plane crash.

Gurney House is the former residence, of Jim Corbett, is located on Ayarpatta Hill. The house is now a museum of Corbett memorabilia. The surrounding hillside is rich with deodar, oak, pine and rhododendron.

Outside Nainital: The Jim Corbett National Park (29°32′N 78°56′E / 29.533°N 78.933°E / 29.533; 78.933) in the Nainital district is India’s oldest national park. The park, which is 63 km (39 mi) west by north-west of Nainital, contains a wide variety of wild life including elephant, tiger, chital, Sambar Deer, nilgai, gharial, King Cobra, muntjac, wild boar, hedgehog, common musk shrew (White-toothed shrew), flying fox (pteropus, megabat), Indian Pangolin, and nearly 600 species of birds.

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Educational and Research Institutions: The SchoolsFor well over a century, Nainital has been known for its many schools. Four schools from the British period continue to exist today: Sherwood College[10], established 1869; All Saints’ College[11], established 1869; St. Mary’s Convent High School established 1878; and St. Joseph’s College established 1888. In addition, a number of new schools have been established since independence: Birla Vidya Mandir, established 1947; Sanwal School, established in the 1940s in Mallital; Sainik School, established 1966; St. Amtuls Public School, established 1983; Parvati Sah Prema Jagati Saraswati Vihar, established 1983; and Oakwood School, established 1989.Chait Ram Sah Thulgharya Inter College (CRST) Nainital Mallital.

Kumaon University: Nainital is home to one of the two campuses of Kumaon University[12] (the other being Almora). The university was founded in 1973 when it incorporated the Dev Singh Bist (DSB) Government College (commonly called "the Degree College"), which had been founded in 1951, with the mathematician Dr. A.N. Singh as its first principal.

ARIES (State Observatory): The 50-year old State Observatory at Nainital was reborn in 2004 as ARIES, the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational-Sciences, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The Observatory, which had come into existence in Varanasi in 1954, was moved the following year to Nainital, under its more transparent skies. In 1961 it was moved once again to its present location—Manora Peak (1,951 m (6,401 ft)) —a few km south of the Nainital town. ARIES’s main objective is to provide national optical observing facilities for research in astronomy, astrophysics, and the atmospheric sciences.

Libraries: There are a number of libraries in the Nainital area. Among them are the Durga Lal Shah Municipal Public Library, on the Mall, founded in 1934;[13] the Uttarakhand Academy of Administration, Library and Documentation Center, Mallital;[14] the ARIES Observatory Library;[15] and the Kumaon University Library, Nainital.[16]

Environmental DegradationIn recent years, academics, geologists, concerned citizens and the judiciary have become alarmed at the rate of new construction in Nainital and its effect on the Naini lake. As a result, efforts have been undertaken to check the deterioration of the lake and its surrounding ecosystem. De-silting of the lake and afforestation of the catchment area have been initiated; however these measures have not been sufficient to cope with the ever increasing pressure on its fragile ecosystem. The number of tourists, and with them the number of vehicles entering the town, is rapidly increasing and this, if not checked, could turn Nainital into a disfigured and despoiled town.

For example, it has been noticed that hundreds of fish die in Naini Lake every winter, the last such event having occurred in January 2006. Naini Lake is 20 m (66 ft) deep, but, according to experts, the level of oxygen in the hypolimnic layer (the bottom, colder, stagnant, and constant temperature layer) is much lower than is required to sustain fish—and this is mostly due to pollution, which includes illegal dumping of garbage. The problem gets exacerbated during winters when the polluted and nearly anoxic (i.e. lacking oxygen) water from the bottom, moves up to the surface on account of the lower temperature of the surface water. Fish die due to low oxygen content in this altered surface water. According to Rakesh Kumar, once District Magistrate of Nainital, "The main problem is trying to syphon off the water from the hypolimnic layer, 6 m (20 ft) from the bottom of the lake. Once that is done, we can increase the oxygen content in the lake using aeration methods. That is the only permanent solution."

Nainital in Literature: Among the major authors who referred to Nainital in their writings were Rudyard Kipling, Munshi Premchand, and Jim Corbett.

Famous people with links to Nainital

• Elsie Inglis, Scottish physician and social reformer
• Jim Corbett, hunter of man-eating tigers, author, conservationist and namesake of Jim Corbett National Park
• Percy Hobart, British major general and military engineer
• Govind Ballabh Pant, statesman and leader of India’s independence movement, first Indian Premier of British India, the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the first Home Minister of India
• Orde Charles Wingate, British general and commander of the Chindits in Burma during World War II
• Sam Manekshaw, Indian Army Chief of Staff during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
• Som Nath Sharma, India’s first Param Vir Chakra award winner
• Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Indian leader and politician, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, and former Finance Minister of India.
• Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood actor.
• Naseeruddin Shah, art films and Bollywood actor
• Danny Denzongpa, Bollywood actor
• Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
• Krishna Chandra Pant, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India
• Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay
• Lalit Modi, Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman and RCA President

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[Edited with additions from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nainital]