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.
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 )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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