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nurturing 21st Century Children

              leisure &

                 travel































         Dehradun



         development of trekking and yatra (pilgrimage) routes and   Uttarakhand owes much of its religious and spiritual
         adventure sports such as river rafting, paragliding, skiing,   traditions to Adi Shankaracharya, the revered saint who
         mountaineering etc, have positioned Uttarakhand in the ‘A’   was almost entirely responsible for the renaissance of Hin-
         list of adventure and wildlife enthusiasts.      duism in the early 9th century. He established a series of
           The history of Uttarakhand dates to the era of the Ma-  dhams and maths — seats of Hindu religion — on elevated
         habharata (1000 BC). In the epic the Pandava brothers are   sites amidst the Himalayas before his death at Kedarnath
         said to have ascended to heaven by climbing the Swarga-  in 820 AD. His samadhi (memorial) continues to lure thou-
         rohini peak in western Garhwal. The Mahabharata also   sands of pilgrims from across the country.
         describes this region as the home of the Kirata, Pulinda   Contemporary Uttarakhand comprises two divisions
         and Tangara tribes. However recorded history is available   — Garhwal and Kumaon, which are further subdivided
         only up to the time of the Macedonian march across the   into 13 districts governed from Dehradun, the state capital.
         Himalayan foothills. Later in 330 AD, the Gupta dynasty   Though remote and mountainous, Uttarakhand has a high
         instituted an imperialist tradition, which was followed by   literacy rate of 70 percent.
         the Vardhanas until 400 AD.
           The downfall of the Vardhana empire led to the emer-  dehradun
         gence of a number of small principalities ruled by local   Sited in the broad Doon valley between the Shiwalik hills
         chieftains. Subsequently during the Turkish invasions of   and the front range of the Himalayas, Dehradun (pop.
         the plains these principalities changed in size and power   690,586) is the admin capital of Uttarakhand. Once the
         as additional waves of migration were experienced. Today,   most scenic and salubrious hill station of north India, it
         if a resident is asked about the history of the region, the   has become a hot and dusty town because of excessive
         answer is more likely to be shaped by myth rather than   commercialisation. Naturalists describe this newly formed
         chronicle.                                       admin capital as a polluted, over-exploited and crowded
           The region was part of the United Province of Agra   city. The name Dehradun is an amalgam of ‘dera’ mean-
         and Awadh which was delineated in 1902 when the   ing camp and ‘dun’ or valley.
         British stepped in to repulse invading Gorkhas. Later the   Dehradun is best known for its education institutions
         British created replicas of little England in the hills of the   established by the British. The most notable among them is
         region. After India gained independence, the United   the Forest Research Institute (FRI), one of the finest
         Province was renamed Uttar Pradesh (1950) and Uttara-  of its genre worldwide. Set amidst vast botanical gardens
         khand remained a part of Uttar Pradesh until this new   with the Himalayas providing a spectacular backdrop, it
         state of the Indian Union was decreed in 2000.   boasts an excellent forestry museum. Other institutions of



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