Queen of Hills – Ranikhet

In the lap of snow-capped Himalayas, between the Kingdom of Nepal and the Indian region of Garhwal lie the Kumaon hills, the home of Kumaonis and surrounded by picturesque hills, is the queen of hills, Ranikhet – the abode of the Kumaon Regiment.

Ranikhet is at 318 km distance from my home in NCR and as per google maps, it will take 7h 25m to cover that distance. I had bad experiences regarding the roads in Uttarakhand and the drivers there. So, we started our journey at the midnight. But for a change, the roads are nice this time. Also, due to the night hours, there are not many vehicles. The only challenge we faced is the dense fog, as it is the month of January. This delayed us by 2 hours. We reached our resort, Chevron Rosemount, at 9:30 am. A bungalow built in 1870’s and founded as a hotel in the year of 1900. The stone facade, balconies, gorgeous window arcs and wrought iron grills of the hotel structure are reminiscent of the Colonial era. Preserved and maintained in its true glory, the hotel can rival any modern luxury hotel in terms of facilities and hospitality. The hotel has been declared a heritage property by the Government of India. The best part of hotel is every major attraction of Ranikhet is within 10 km distance from here.

We are in dire need of rest after this long journey. We had our lunch in the hotel. The food is good but the ambiance makes it awesome. Having lunch while sitting in front of the snow covered Himalayan range is not common view for many of us in NCR. After lunch, we left to explore Ranikhet. First, we reach Rani Jheel, a completely man-made lake. The lake was empty, not worth to visit. After that, we go Mankameshwar Temple, which was constructed by Kumaon Regiment. Opposite to the temple is a Gurudwara and a Tweed factory. Tweed factory is a hand-loom production center of woolens, run by the Kumaon Regiment for the rehabilitation of soldiers injured in the line of duty and for army widows in beautiful church once upon a time. Then we went to KRC Museum which is five minutes walk from Mankameshwar temple. The museum illustrates the history of the Kumaon Regiment. On display are some rare as well modern weaponry’s, details of the valiant officers of Kumaon and the wars in which the regiment was involved and some memorable photographs and souvenirs. Major Somnath Sharma, the first recipient of Param Veer Chakra, the highest gallantry award of India, belongs to the Kumaon Regiment. Photography is not allowed there due to security reasons. But one must have to visit there to learn the history of our brave forces. From outside of the museum, you can view the uninterrupted 1500km range of Himalayas. After that, we spent some time in Sadar Bazaar before coming back to the hotel.

Next day, we went to Jhula Devi temple. The temple gets this name because the idol of the goddess Durga is sitting in a Jhula (swing). The temple is situated in Chaubatia. The temple is 800 years old. It is believed that Chaubatia was a dense forest and house of dangerous wild animals which attacks the people and their domestic cattle who live there. To get rid of these attacks, villagers started worshipping Goddess Durga. Then, one day Goddess Durga gave darshan (visit) in the dream of one of the villager and told that if villagers dig a particular place they will find an idol of Goddess. As per the prediction, villagers found the idol and they installed the idol at that place and started worshiping that every day. After that, the terror of the wild animals was end. Today, that place is known as Jhula Devi Temple. Near to Jhula Devi temple is Chaubatia gardens. Chaubatia garden is acclaimed for its fruit orchard, Research center and the fascinating view of the Himalayas. The best time to visit is April when the trees are filled with fruits. In the garden, you found Scorpion Grass. If you touch that, you will feel like getting the electric shock and the effect stays for some hours. We collected some pine flowers from the garden as a souvenir. While returning from the Chaubatia garden, we spent some time in the pine forest. The ground was filled with yellow threads fell from pine trees giving an eye soothing effect to the place. Ending the journey with such refreshing memories is always give you a reason to come back again.