Interesting Facts about Nainital- By: NEETA SHARMA

Nainital is known all over the world for its splendid beauty. This famous hill station in the Uttarakhand state of India can be a great option if you want to consider scenic beauty and live in a peaceful place. The beauty of the place is attention-grabbing and there are various popular Nainital visiting places too. Moreover, Nainital has some interesting facts that most people are unaware of as it is a storehouse of surprises and fun. So, here I am giving you a list of some Interesting Facts about Nainital.

NAME OF NAINITAL

Nainital got its name from Naina, the presiding deity of Naini Lake. As per the Hindu scriptures, when Lord Shiva was carrying the corpse of Sati after she self-immolated herself incapable to tolerate her husband Lord Shiva’s offense by her own father, the left eye of Sati fell at the spot. Therefore, the lake came to be known as Naini Lake (Nainital Lake), an eye-shaped the lake, as well as the settlement which sprawled around the lake, was named “Nainital”. There is a famous Goddess Naina Devi Temple also near the lake. 

LOCATION

Nainital lies in a set of the valley which contains pear-shaped lake, it is about two miles in circumference, and surrounded by mountains, named Naina (2,615 m) on the north, Ayarpatha (2,278m) on the South and Deopatha (2,438 m ) on the west.

UPPER MALL AND LOWER MALL ROAD

Like every hill station, there are two Mall roads in Nainital as well: Upper Mall Road and Lower Mall Road. These malls roads were constructed during British Times and. The Upper Mall road was for the use of the British and the Lower Mall Road was permitted to be used by Indians. Also, if an Indian went to the Upper Mall Road, he was punished by the Britishers.

FLATS GROUND

An area where is Flats Ground was used to be a lake. In the year 1880, there was a major landslide take place and huge chunks of the mountain surrounding the lake, and the temple was affected too. After that, Naina Devi temple was shifted a few meters away on the banks of the lake and the displaced remains from the mountain were formed into the flat ground.

TALLITAL AND MALLITAL

Many times, visitors confused about these two places in Nainital: Tallital and Mallital. In the Kumaoni language, Talli means Lower and Malli means upper. Hence, the area below the Naini Lake is referred to as Tallital and the area over it is called as Mallital.

FOUNDER OF THE NAINITAL

The founder of Nainital was P. Barron and he founded the place in the year 1841. He was the sugar businessman and the enthusiasm of this person is traveling and collecting the memories of hills. While traveling he stopped a place named Khairna, meeting a boy gave him information on a stunning lake. The local people helped him to arrive there and he was stagnant by its exquisiteness and established a town.

SUMMER CAPITAL OF THE UNITED PROVINCE

During the British Raj, Nainital was the summer capital of the United Province. The Raj Bhawan of Uttarakhand, situated in Nainital, was built for the governor of the United Province. To escape the extreme heat of Lucknow, the Britishers generally escaped to Nainital.

LAKE DISTRICT OF INDIA

 

Nainital is the same as the Cumbrian in Britain and that’s why Cumbrian in Britain called it the Lake District of India. There are many freshwater lakes here such as- Bhimtal, Sattal, NaukuchiyaTal, and Khuraptal. Additionally, Nainital temperature and location were similar to Cumbrian.

Moreover, some other facts about Nainital are: 

• Traditionally, Nainital is older than Christ; it was named as Khadesh and was ruled by Khasis.
• Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) is one of the biggest and oldest observatories in India.

• Nainital  zoo is a high altitude zoo where snow leopard can be spotted or a Siberian tiger, both are critically endangered species.

• Nearby Kilbury Bird Sanctuary in Pangot is full of Laughing Thrushes, Eurasian Jays and Black-Headed Jays.
• In India, Nainital has one of the oldest golf courses; the 18-hole golf course dates back to 1926 and open for the public in 1994.

• Naina Devi Temple is a Shakti Peeth and the holiest site in India.
• Just 22 km from Nainital is Bhimtal Lake, which is named after Bhima.
• From Nainital, the world-famous Jim Corbett National Park is less than 2 hours’ drive.

• Near to Nainital, there is a hill-station known as Mukteshwar. Here, you will find Indian Veterinary Research Institute at 7500 feet.

• There is also Golu Devta Mandir and Kainchi Dham which is in the Nainital district.

 

Post By: NEETA SHARMA 

·