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Dehradun: The capital of Uttaranchal this scenic hill station is known for its natural beauty and for the many fine institutions located here. The Forest Research Institute, Dehradun has a fascinating campus with a museum and with many rare plants in its spacious grounds. There are many historic schools in Dehradun and other public buildings that are worth the visit. Caves, springs, and other sites of natural beauty abound around Dehradun.
Mussoorie: Called "Queen of the Hills", this beautiful hill station is a popular getaway for people seeking respite from the summer heat of the plains. With its Mall, picturesque bungalows and cottages, institutions of learning, nature walks, water falls and greenery, Mussoorie is an evergreen getaway.
Nainital: Set around Nainital Lake, this ever-popular hill station has scenic vistas, beautiful trails for walkers, boating on the Lake and hospitable people. It is said that G. W. Traill, Commissioner of Kumaon and Garhwal, the first European to set eyes on it in 1823, kept the discovery of this scenic spot strictly to himself because he felt that crowds would violate the sanctity of the place.
Rishikesh: Located in the northern part of Uttar Pradesh. It is 238 km northeast of Delhi and 24 km north of Haridwar and on the right bank of the Ganges, at its confluence with the Chandrabhaga stream.
Rishikesh abounds in temples. Most of the pilgrims who pass through Rishikesh on their way to the Himalayan shrines of the Char Dham pause for a holy dip and puja at Triveni Ghat, in the central part of the town. The river here looks especially spectacular during aarti (evening worship) when diyas or oil lamps float on the water. Nearby is the Bharat Mandir, Rishikesh's oldest temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
The Neelkanth Mahadev temple is believed to be the site where Lord Shiva had drunk the venom that came out during the churning of the ocean. In the 1960s, the place came into limelight as the place where the pop group Beatles met their guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Corbett National Park: Set up in 1936 as India's first national park and possibly the finest, the Corbett National Park was first delimited in consultation with that great hunter and conservationist, Jim Corbett. The park spreads over some 920.9 square km at an altitude of 600 to 1100 metres about the foothills of the western Himalayas in the districts of Nainital and Pauri Garhwal. In its eventful 64-year life, it has grown considerably in size and now includes the Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary as a part of its 1,319 sq km of reserved forest area.
Apart from tigers, leopards as well as other cats such as the leopard cat, jungle cat, and fishing cat are also found here. The sloth bear, Himalayan black bear, dhole, jackal, yellow throated marten, Himalayan palm civet, Indian grey mongoose, common otter, porcupine, and black naped hare are the other attractions of this area. It is possible to see elephants all over the park.
Valley of Flowers: In 1931, Frank Smythe, a mountaineer, lost his way and chanced upon this valley with its colorful fairyland of flowers. Entranced, he named it the Valley of Flowers. Ringed in by snowy, cloud bedecked mountain summits standing sharply against the blue sky, the waterfalls flashing white against the mountainsides, nothing is more striking than the valley's absolute bloom of stunning perfection. On what is a lifeless, frozen wasteland of snow for most of the year, a multi-hued, fragrant, six miles long carpet of exotic flowers unrolls itself, from mid-July till the end of August. As far as the eye can see, down the length of the valley, up the lower mountain slopes, there are flowers and flowers, and still more flowers. More than a thousand Himalayan varieties of flowers, ferns and herbs are massed in the valley in all their frail beauty and scented sweetness. The valley with its dazzling assembly of flowers plays host to gorgeous butterflies and dainty flying creatures by day and to millions of glow worms by night. It is a sight that has to be seen to be believed.
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