Monday, 15 September 2014

UTTRAKHAND

Naini Lake

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The meaning of 'tal' is lake and the town of Nainital is named after this lake. The lake is pear shaped and is surrounded by green mountains. It's the key attraction of this hill station. The lake attracts lots of tourists who come and enjoy boating, yachting or paddling in the lake. As night descends the lake reflects the lights from houses and hotels surrounding the lake making it appear magical.
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: False
  • Honeymoon: True
  • SeeBeach: False

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Naina Devi Temple

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The Naina Devi temple is an essential place of worship in Nainital. Situated atop the Naina hill, it attracts lots of devotees each year. It is believed that Goddess Sati's eyes fell at the exact same spot where this temple is built. The temple can be reached by climbing to the top of the Naina hill. Apart from the main idol of Maa Naina Devi, inside the temple there are two idols, one of Mata Kali Devi and the other of Lord Ganesh.
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: False
  • SeeBeach: False

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Naina peak or China peak

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Placed at an altitude of 2611 m, it is the highest peak of Nainital. About 6 km from the town, a horse ride or trek can take you to the Peak. The Naina Peak gives magnificent panoramic view of the snow capped Himalayas and an excellent view of the Nainital city.
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: False
  • Honeymoon: True
  • SeeBeach: False

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The Mall Road

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The Mall road stretches from the north end to south end of the lake and is the famous and busiest road of the town. The road has many street shops, shopping centers, banks, hotels, restaurants etc. During peak season vehicles are not allowed to enter mall road so that commercial activities keep going on smoothly.
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: False
  • Honeymoon: True
  • SeeBeach: False

    Dorothy's Seat

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    Placed on Ayarpatta hill at 2292 m, Dorothy's seat is dedicated in the memory of Dorothy Kellet. After her death in a plane crash, her husband built a memorial for her at this place. As her favorite spot, the hill spot was chosen and stonework was built here, hence the name 'Dorothy's Seat'. The local name for this spot is Tiffin Top as it used to be popular for picnics during the British Raj. From here the visitors can view the beautiful green neighboring countryside. 
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: False
  • Honeymoon: True
  • SeeBeach: False

    Snow View Point

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    Located at an altitude of 2270 m, one can reach here by foot or taking an option of the ropeway. From the top one can see the breathtaking views of snow capped mountains and can also visit the small temple dedicated to Dev Mundi. Further ahead is the Gadhan Kunkyop Ling Monastery.
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: False
  • Honeymoon: True
  • SeeBeach: False

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The Governor's House (Raj Bhavan)

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Built for the Governor of North West Province, currently it's the residence of the Governor of Uttarakhand and also serves as a guesthouse to state guests. A prior permission is mandatory for the stay. It's a well maintained beautiful property with swimming pool, golf links and a grand garden.
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: False
  • Honeymoon: True
  • SeeBeach: False

    Nainital Zoo

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    One km from the bus stand, the zoo stands at an altitude of 2100 m and is a favorite destination among tourists. Some animals the zoo contain are the Snow Leopard, Himalayan Black Bear, Barking Deer, Siberian Tiger, Palm Civet Cat, Silver Pheasants, Rose ringed Parakeet and many other Himalayan birds.
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: False
  • Honeymoon: True
  • SeeBeach: False

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St. John's Church

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Built in 1847, the church is an important tourist attraction and is one of the oldest buildings in Nainital. A brass memorial is placed there in the memory of the people who died in the infamous landslide.
  • Hill Station: True
  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: True
  • SeeBeach: False

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Badrinath Temple

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 Badrinath Temple, also called Badrinarayan Temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu which is situated in the town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand, India. The temple and town are one of the four Char Dham and Chota Char Dham pilgrimage sites. The temple is also one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Badrinath—holy shrines for Vaishnavites. It is open for six months every year, between the end of April and the beginning of November, because of extreme weather conditions in the Himalayan region. The temple is located in Garhwal hill tracks in Chamoli district along the banks of Alaknanda River at an elevation of 3,133 m (10,279 ft) above the mean sea level. It is one of the most visited pilgrimage centres of India, having recorded 1,060,000 visits.
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  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: False
  • SeeBeach: False

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Mata Murti Ka Mela, which commemorate the descent of river Ganga on mother earth, is the most prominent festival celebrated in the Badrinath Temple. Although Badrinath is located in North India, the head priest, or Rawal, is traditionally a Nambudiri Brahmin chosen from the South Indian state of Kerala. The temple was included in the Uttar Pradesh state government Act No. 30/1948 as Act no. 16,1939, which later came to be known as Shri Badarinath and Shri Kedarnath Mandir Act. The committee nominated by the state government administers both the temples has seventeen members on its board.

Kedarnath Temple

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Kedarnath Temple is one of the holiest Hindu temples dedicated to the god Shiva. It is on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini river in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand in India. Due to extreme weather conditions, the temple is open only between the end of April (Akshaya Tritriya) to Kartik Purnima (the autumn full moon, usually November). During the winters, the vigrahas (deities) from Kedarnath temple are brought to Ukhimath and worshiped there for six months. Lord Shiva is worshiped as Kedarnath, the 'Lord of Kedar Khand', the historical name of the region.
  • Hill Station: False
  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: False
  • SeeBeach: False

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The unstable temple is not directly accessible by road and has to be reached by a 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) uphill trek from Gaurikund. Pony and manchan service is available to reach the structure. The temple was built by Pandavas and revived by Adi Sankaracharya and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest Hindu shrines of Shiva. Pandavas were supposed to have pleased Shiva by doing penance in Kedarnath. The temple is one of the four major sites in India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage of Northern Himalayas.

Gongotri Temple

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 Gangotri, the origin of the River Ganges and seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four sites in the Chota Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. The original Gangotri Temple was built by the Gurkha general Amar Singh Thapa. The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and acquires the name Ganga (the Ganges) from Devprayag onwards where it meets the Alaknanda. The origin of the holy river is at Gaumukh, set in the Gangotri Glacier, and is a 19 km trek from Gangotri.
  • Hill Station: False
  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: False
  • SeeBeach: False

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The simple shrine of Gangotri temple has special significance for Hindu pilgrims. It's considered to be one of the holiest places in India as it's regarded as the spiritual source of the ever powerful Ganges River. Set amidst rugged mountains and forest, Gangotri attracts almost 300,000 pilgrims a year. Every evening towards 8 p.m., an aarti (worship with fire) is held at the temple.
 

Yamunotri Temple

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 Yamunotri Temple is situated in the western region of Garhwal Himalayas at an altitude of 3,291 metres (10,797 ft) in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Yamuna and has a black marble idol of the goddess. The Yamunotri temple is a full day's journey from Uttarakhand's main towns — Rishikesh, Haridwar or Dehradun. The actual temple is only accessible by a 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) trek from the town of Hanuman Chatti and a 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) walk from Janki Chatti; horses or palanquins are available for rent. The hike from Hanuman Chatti to Yamunotri is very picturesque with beautiful views of a number of waterfalls. There are two trekking routes from Hanuman Chatti to Yamunotri, the one along the right bank proceeds via the Markandeya Tirth, where the sage Markandeya wrote the Markandeya Purana, the other route which lies on the left bank of the river goes via Kharsali, from where Yamunotri is a five or six hours climb away.
  • Hill Station: False
  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: False
  • SeeBeach: False

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Yamunotri temple has a shrine dedicated to the goddess. There is also an 18th-century temple at Gangotri, it was built by Amar Singh Thapa, it was damaged and re-innovated in the 19th century. The temple has been destroyed twice by snow and floods before being rebuilt. It is located on the backdrop of Bandarpunch. The temple is part of the revered Char Dham pilgrimage circuit.

Corbett National Park

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Jim Corbett National Park is situated in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Jim Corbett National park is the oldest national park in India which got established in 1936 as Hailey National park. After India's independence the park was named as Ramganga National Park but later in 1956, it was renamed after Jim Corbett – the famous hunter turned conservationist and author, who played a major role in the establishment of national park. Jim Corbett National park is one of the renowned Wildlife Sanctuary in India.
  • Hill Station: False
  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: False
  • SeeBeach: False

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The park contains 488 different species of plants and wide variety of wild life including elephant, tiger, chital, Sambar Deer, nilgai, gharial, King Cobra, muntjac, wild boar, hedgehog, common musk shrew, flying fox, Indian Pangolin, and around 600 species of birds. Jim Corbett National Park covers an area of 521 square kilometers.
Corbett National Park acts as a protected area of critically endangered Bengal Tiger of India. Corbett National Park is one of the best managed and protected areas in the country and attracts thousands of Indian and Foreign visitors each year. Corbett National park is in the foothills of Himalayan belt and has various geographical and ecological characteristics with splendid landscapes. There are four gates which lead us to Jim Corbett National Park and they are amdanda gate, dhangarhi gate, khara gate and durga devi gate. If you are an adventure freak, bird watcher, angler, or animal lover then Jim Corbett National Park is the ideal place for you.

Auli

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Auli is an important ski destination in the Himalayan mountains of Uttarakhand, India. Auli, also known as a 'bugyal' or Auli Bugyal, in the regional language, which means meadow, is located at an elevation of 2500 to 3050 meters above sea level. Auli is less known ski destination than Shimla, Gulmarg or Manali. It was only in the recent time, after the creation of new state Uttarakhand (formerly Uttaranchal) carved out from Uttar Pradesh, Auli was marketed as a tourist destination. The state is called "Dev Bhoomi" which means "Land of Gods" as there are important pilgrimage destination in this state mainly the 'Char Dham' (Gangotri-Yamunotri-Kedarnath-Badrinath). Auli lies on the way to Badrinath. Auli is surrounded by coniferous and oak forests, with a panoramic view of the lofty peaks of the greatest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas. The slopes here provide enough thrill to professional skier and novice as well. The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited (GMVNL) a govt agency which takes care of this resort, and Uttaranchal Tourism Department conduct winter sports competitions at this place to encourage skiing in India.have imported snow beater to maintain slopes. Auli also boasts the Asia's longest - 4 km - cable car (Gondola). It also has a Chair Lift and a Ski-Lift. Apart from Skiing there is an interesting trek route also. There is a training facility of Indo-Tibetan Border Police. A small temple having connection to great epic Ramayana is also present. Best time to visit is last week of Jan to first week of March for skiing. Though weather is highly unpredictable.
  • Hill Station: False
  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: False
  • SeeBeach: False

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Auli is the most popular skiing destination of Uttaranchal state. Auli is situated in Chamoli district of Garhwal region covering elevation from 2,519mts to 3,050 mts above sea level. Auli is a "bugyal" which means meadow in the regional language. Auli is often compared with best ski resorts of the world by the foreigners. Auli also hosted the First SAF Winter Games in the year 2011.  Auli is blessed with invigorating views of the splendid mountain range, the Himalayas. The slopes of Auli provide enough thrills to professional skiers and novices alike.

Kainchi Dham

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Many hundreds of people visit the temples here every day, in season. Each year, during the June 15th Bhandara, reportedly, more than one lakh (100,000) people are fed. 
Kainchi is a term used for two sharp hairpin bends of the motor road in local dialect hence the name. It has NO relation with scissors.
Founded by the famous Maharaj Neem Karoli Baba in 1962 and is very well maintained and kept neat and clean. 
The concept of this place came into existence in 1942 when Maharaj Neem Karoli along with Shri Poornanand of the Kainchi Village proposed building an Ashram here dedicated to Sombari Maharaj and Sadhu Premi Baba who used to perform yagnas in this very place. Later in 1962, their dream materialised and the forest from this area was cleared and a rectangular platform was constructed. After due permission from the Forest Conservator, Maharaj Ji acquired the lease of this land and constructed a Temple devoted to Lord Hanuman over that rectangular platform and adjacent to it is the Kainchi Temple and an Ashram built for devotees.
 

  • Hill Station: False
  • Religus: True
  • Honeymoon: False
  • SeeBeach: False

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The Hanuman temple is built over the platform mentioned above. His devotees started coming from different places and a chain of bhandaras, kirtans, bhajans started. The Pran-Pratishtha of idols of Hanumanji and others was performed on 15th June in different years. Thus, 15th June is celebrated every year as Pratishtha Divas when a large number of devotees come to Kainchi and get Prasad. The number of devotees and the associated vehicular traffic is so large that the district administration has to make special arrangement to regulate the same. Accordingly some changes have been made in the whole complex so that people do not face any difficulty in movement.
Kainchi temple is of a special importance in each and every devotee's life. It was here that Ram Dass and other westerners spent a lot of good time with Maharajji. All devotees should pay a visit to this temple at least once. 
There is also a cave beside the temple where Baba Neem Karoli used to spend his time praying and is considered a sacred area.

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