Shimla has many of the internationally recognized hotels and one of the breathtaking views of the country. But other than that, there are many other facts that many of the people don’t know about this beautiful city. Here are a few of them-
Initially, during the year 1806 while the Britishers were in India, Shimla was a small village, which was used to be known as ‘Shyamala’ which meant blue female that is the Indian goddess Kali. Britishers used to spell Shyamala as Simla and after independence; it started being called as Shimla.
The Barog tunnel of the Kalka- Shimla railway also known as tunnel No-33 is considered to be the longest tunnel with the length of 1143.61m. Apart from being the longest tunnel, it is even considered as a haunted one. There is a story revolving around this. Colonel Barog was in charge of the making of this tunnel. While in the process of the making, he miscalculated and realized that the alignments of the tunnel were wrong. Because of this, the British government fined him and the other workers were also furious. Out of frustration, Barog shot himself and then his body was buried in front of the incomplete tunnel. And it is believed that since then Barog hasn’t left that place.
The ‘Queen of Hills’ has the only natural ice skating Rink in the whole of South East Asia. It is situated at the Lakkar Bazaar in Shimla. Being a natural ice skating rink, the weather condition plays an important role in it. The natural ice skating rink was found by the Britishers in 1920.
This beautiful hill station, Shimla, is located on seven hills. These seven hills areProspect hill, Summer hill, Observatory hill, Inverarm hill, Bantony hill, Jakhu hill, Elysium hill.
The MTB Himalayas, a mountain biking race, is annually held in Shimla, which is considered as the biggest biking race in South East Asia. The race begins from Shimla and passes through Kullu and Mandi district, and ends in Shimla. It was started in 2005 and it takes a span of 8 days in order to cover 500 km for the bikers.
Tattapani village near Shimla is famous of its hot sulphur spring. This is claimed to have medicinal benefits for the skin. This hot Spring water comes out from the side of Satluj River. If one is uncomfortable in having a bath in the river, then there are tons of local shops near this who provide bath tub arrangements.
Before Britishers entered India, Shimla was a part of Nepal. To be more precise, it was under the Kingdom of Prithvi Narayan Shah. So much earlier than Britishers, Shimla was ruled by Nepalese.
