Nainital- the glittering jewel
Nainital is one of the most astonishing places you have ever visited. This place gives you such an immense pleasure and antiquity that you would love to visit it again and again. This article will help you a lot to know about this heaven on earth.
Overview of Nainital
Life today has become so busy and full of tension. Everything we do is to come forward and compete with the world. This leads to a great tension amongst the people all over. Each and every person in this world needs some peace to overcome their stress. This peace is there in Nainital, a glittering jewel in Uttarakhand
Nainital is the most popular hill station that people love to visit. At this place people find everything that they want during their holidays. Fun, adventure, peace, relaxation, mountains and valleys everything is provided by this single place. Sitting at the foothills of Himalayas, this place is surrounded by the mountains all around from where the whole valley can be seen. It is situated almost 6400 ft above the sea level. The name Nainital is a combination of two words 'Nan' and 'tal' which means 'lake of the eye'. This is believed to be the historical place where Sati's eyes fell. In winters, this place seems to be like heaven with snow all around. This place experiences a maximum rainfall in the month of December and January. The temperature during this time varies from 13 degree Celsius to -3 degree Celsius. It is just like another heaven on earth. It gives an immense pleasure, peace and antiquity to the people who visit there. Far away from the human interference, only few places are there which is not spoiled by the modern world of pollution and land degradation. Nainital comes under this category.How to reach Nainital
It is not very difficult to reach Nainital as it is accessible with different modes of transport. You can easily reach Nainital either by road or by air. It is connected through the National highway no. 87. Buses from all the cities and villages are available to this superb place. It is situated at a distance of 65 km from Ramnagar, 64 km from Almora and a distance of 400 km from Lucknow. Main trains are also connecting Nainital to different parts of the country. Ranikhet express from Delhi, aAnand vihar ac express from Anand Vihar, Delhi and Bagh Express from Kathgodam are some of the trains which provides a way of transportation to Nainital. The nearest airport in Nainital is situated in Patnanagar which is 70 km away from Nainital.
Note that in the month of May, June and October, the entry of heavy traffic is strictly prohibited on the mall road from 8 am to 10:30 am and 2:30 pm to 10:30 pm.History of Nainital
In 1815, the estates of Kumaon and gGarhwal were occupied by the Britishers. Nainital was seen in the issue of Englishman Calcutta in 1841 where the announcement of a lake was done in the vicinity of Almora. The municipal board of Nainital was formally declared and constituted on 3rd October 1850. After that, Nainital started becoming the summer attraction of the country. After some time it became the summer capital and a sensation. It was also considered as the better place for the education for those British people who wanted their children to study in the environment of fresh air and away from other pains.Famous attractions of Nainital
There are many famous places which attract many tourists round the year. There are some special places which make this place worth visiting and increase the tourism income of the state of Uttarakhand, such as the ones mentioned below.Naini Lake
This lake is situated in the middle of the dream city Nainital. This beautiful city has earned its name from the beautiful Naini lake. The speciality of this lake is that it is eye shaped which attracts many tourists towards this lovely place. Boating is the popular leisurely activity you can enjoy in the Naini Lake. The two ends of this lake are connected by a bridge which consists of many shops and a small post office on it. In fact, this post office is the only one in the world to be situated on a bridge. Bhimtal lake
This lake is the biggest lake situated in Nainital. It is located at a distance of 22 km from the city center. Its name is kept after the name of the Pandav brother Bhim. There are many temples around the lake and you can easily hear the sweet sounds of the bells from the nearest temples.Naini devi temple
The Naini devi temple is an important destination specially for the devout Hindus. It is constructed on the northern shore of the Naini Lake. It was destroyed in a landslide in 1880 and later it was reconstructed in a different and beautiful way. We can get an amazing view of the Naini lake from this temple.St John's church
This church was built in 1844. It is located in Mallital which is in the northern end of Nainital. The foundation of this antique church was laid by Daniel Wilson at this place. It is one of the must-visit places situated in Nainital.Snow view point
Snow view point is situated at a height of 2260 m from the sea level. As its name suggests, it is one of the coldest places situated in Nainital. It gives you the awesome view of all the snow covered mountains, peaks and valleys. This place is mostly visited in the month of October and November. Your journey to Nainital is incomplete without a visit to the snow view point.Naina peak
We have already discussed about the Naini Lake and the naini Devi temple. Naini Lake is situated besides the Naina peak. It gives immense pleasure while looking beautiful Nainital from this Naina peak. It is the highest peak of Nainital and is situated at a distance of 6 km away from the town. It is also known by the name of China peak. It is a delight for the trekking lovers.Nakuchia lake
Nakuchia Lake is the name which is kept because this lake is known to have nine corners. The specialty of this lake is situated in its serenity as it is far away from the human interference. Taking a round across the nine corners of this lake or boating around gives an immense pleasure to the visitors. This place provides peace and antiquity to the tourists which are the first and last purpose of people to visit the hill stations.Pangot
This is the most famous place for the bird lovers. It provides the breathtaking views and scenes of the birds which attracts many people towards it. Only a very few places are there in India which the bird and animal lovers love to visit. This place provides many beautiful birds with different features.Nainital fairs and festivals
Nainital is a place full of life and colors. People enjoy each and every moment of their lives. After the harvesting season, there is full enjoyment, dance, rejoicing and celebration. The most popular festivals which are celebrated in Nainital are mainly Basant Panchami, Shivratri, Janmasthami, Deepawali, Samvatsar, Holi, Batsavitri, Nandastmi and Rakshabandhan.
Other than these festivals, there are many fairs organized on different occasions. On the auspicious occasion of Basant Panchami (around 14th January , the Uttaraini fair is organized in Chitrashila near Ranibagh. There is a tradition of feeding crows on this occasion with a very famous song which is sung by everyone. The other vary famous fair is Somnath fair in Kakrighat on the last Monday of Baisakh. On 16th July and 17th July Harela mela is observed in Bhimtal which is very popular and people from different parts of the country visit during this occasion. These are the occasions which bring the people together and teach them to stay in unity and brotherhood.Nainital Cultural Traditions
There is a special cultural tradition in Kumaon which has a deep history inside. This tradition is of colorful ornamentation on Aanchal clothes. There is a special dress namely Pichora and also known as Rangwali which is worn by all the women. This dress is a piece of muslin cloth which is 3 meters in length and one and half meters in width. This dress is yellow in color and then it is printed with design using the wooden sticks and the print is of red color. At the center of the dress there is a sign of swastika with the other signs of moons, stars, bells and conch shell. During the festivals and different occasions of the place, women decorate the floors and walls of their houses with beautiful colors, designs and patterns. For the purpose of decorating, women use the household things such as paste of rice mixed with ochre. The special room where the worship is done is decorated with specific things called peeth and yantra. These are the diagrammatic representation which consists of many permutations and features.
This is quite an exhaustive article about Nainital and its importance as a prime tourist place in Northern India. Undoubtedly, Nainital is one of the best tourist places in the Northern India and is famous for its lake and surroundings. The road to Nainital is very well-maintained and takes hardly one and half hours to reach Nainital from the nearest railway station, that is, Kathgodam. It is very common for the people of Delhi and adjoining areas to visit Nainital even if they have only one or two days of holidays in hand.
About 40 years back people used to visit Nainital only in the summer and during the winters it was like a deserted place. We could see only a few local people roaming here and there in connection with their shopping or other household work. within a few years that changed and tourists started to visit the place all around the year whether it was winter or rainy season or autumn or summer.
I remember all those things because in 1972, I was doing my post graduation from the Government Degree College in Nainital. As hostel accommodation was not available for everyone, we used to take a room on rent in the local hotels at very cheap rates but we had to vacate that just at the end of March when tourists started to pour in.
There was a cinema hall where we used to have English pictures changing every week and we could watch a good number of movies during the time. Another attraction at that time was a skating rink just at the side of the lake in Mallital area and a billiard-playing centre located on the Mall Road. They were the great attractions for the students as well as the tourists who were leisurely staying in Nainital for a couple of days.