Mussoorie

Mussoorie town

Mussoorie: Cool and exhilarating in summer and then mantled in casual snow for winters; inviting all the year-round; the perfect spot for a magnificent scenery; a quiet walk; an evening out and a cool night’s sleep.  It is situated between high mountains to the north and the flat Doon valley below.  From a particular hilltop, on a clear day one can see the Ganga and Yamuna trailing their way from the hills into the plains.

The town started to develop during the first decade of the nineteenth century when Captain Young constructed the first building near Mullingar.  In 1826, Landour became a sanatorium for British troops, and the entire area covering the township was taken on lease from the Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal for the nominal sum of Rs 1120.  The Municipal Board came into being in 1873.  In 1880, the ex-Amir of Afghanistan, Yakub Khan was placed under detention here in the Bellevue Estate.  During 1884, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught chose Mussoorie as their summer residence.  By this time several Indian princes had been attracted to this place and they built their own summer residences here.  Gradually schools and  public institutions also developed and it became a popular summer resort, first for the princes and Britishers and later for the tourists.

 Like Dehradun, Mussoorie too is known for its public schools, many of them started by the Britishers. Prominent among them are the Wood Stocks, Wynberg Allen, St. Georges, Hampton Court etc.  If Dehradun is famous for the IndianMilitaryAcademy, Mussoorie boasts of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Indian Administrative Services. 

During summers, the Mall is packed with merry crowds of holiday makers. 

Long queues are a normal feature at the booking booths of the ropeway that takes visitors to the 2142 mtr  top of the famous Gun Hill for a panoramic view of the snow-clad Himalayas. A morning stroll along the winding Charleville Road takes one to the pine-scented HappyValley and the Tibetan township. Located here is a cliff-hanging Buddhist Shrine with ceremonial trumpets and acolytes reciting ancient scriptures.  In the Himalayan twilight, one can also see  the twinkling lights of Dehra Dun far off in the valley below.