Sunday, December 11, 2016

PHOTOGRAPHS OF A RECENT VISIT TO MUSSOORIE AND DHANAULTI IN UTTRAKHAND ( INDIA )



                                                                           


LIBRARY CHOWK MUSSOORIE ...

( All Photos Autar Mota )

In the first week of December 2016, We felt like the fag end of Autumn season in Mussoorie . We drove to Mussoorie and Dhanaulti in a car. Mussoorie ( 35 Kms from Dehradun Town ) was just an hour's drive from Dehradun . And Dehradun - Mussoorie road appeared to be ever busy. Cars, scooters, load carriers, Tourist buses and many more modes of transport. No snow . Yes night time at this Hill station was chilly and cold . We went to Dhanaulti as well. Dhanaulti is like Patni Top. Silent and residential. Mussoorie is about 6500 feet from sea level. Situated at the Foothills of Himalayas , it is also called as QUEEN OF HILLS .

I am told that the town derives its name from a Local Plant or Shrub called MANSOOR that grows wild in this area .Locals call this town as MANSOORI.

                                                                                                  



                                                                      ( Mall Road )

                                                                             
                                                                             




                                 ( Apple Juice from Sopore kashmiri sold  in Mussoorie  )
                                                                                               ( Gun Hill Top )


                                                                  ( Old Building on Mall Road )


                                                            ( Displayed on a roadside wall on Mall Road )





Captivated by beauty of the hills , Lt. Frederick Young of East India Company was the first person who  built a hunting lodge on the Camel’s Back Road along with F.J. Shore, the Magistrate of Doon in 1823. Frederick also organized the first Gurkha Regiment at Mussoorie. He introduced  potato farming to this area .

Mussoori has shops , Hotels , Tourists and Bicycle Rickshaws everywhere. It has a very old library housing around 45000 Books. The ghosts of that era linger on in the architecture of the churches, libraries, hotels and summer palaces. The British Raj Story is clearly visible in  the architecture of some old church, library  hotels buildings  and summer Houses . During monsoon, the town is often enveloped  in cool and  silvery white  clouds.


I am informed by a resident that first Beer Brewery in India was established at Mussoorie in 1850.

Nehrus were frequent visitors to Mussoorie . Vijaylakshmi Pandit built a Bunglow at Rajpora Road in Dehraun wherein her Daughter Nayantara Sehgal stays presently. There are so many Tibetans who have settled in Mussoorie .
 You have a chair car lift that takes you to Gun Hill view point from Mall Road. Many shops sell Handicrafts on Mall Road. You get reasonably good and tasty Indian and continental variety of foods in  some Restaurants  over here .During monsoon, the town is often shrouded in clouds.
There are some very Good  Boarding schools in Mussoorie  initially established for children of British officers .   Educational Institutions   like  Woodstock School  ,Wynberg Allen School  , St. George’s College , St. Claire’s Convent ,Oak Grove school, Mussoorie Public School, Convent of Jesus And Mary  School Guru Nanak Fifth centenary School and many more  are reputed and well known schools in North India .


 Well Known Writer Ruskin Bond no longer comes to Mall Road nor to Dehradun Town . Age has brought some immobility for him. He is otherwise alert , fit and busy with his work. .He stays at nearby landour Bazaar . So does actor Tom Alter belong to this place. Tom Comes to his hometown  quite often. Both Tom Alter and Ruskin Bond are easily accessible .You have a well maintained road from Dehradun to Mussoorie ( 35 Kms ) .

From Mussoorie , Dhanaulti it is about 32 Kms to be covered by a narrow Hilly road. Dhanaulti is a small sleepy  Hill Resort  like Patni Top of Jammu ( J&K ).It is cool due to a thick cover of  Deodar  Tress .  I also found  Chestnut , Himalayan Oak ,  Pine  and Himalayan cypress trees in this area .

                                                                                                 








                                                                                                  
 So long so much...

( Autar Mota )


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CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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