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Ranikhet is
situated in the northern part of the state of
Uttaranchal, in the northern region of India. It
is situated in the Kumaon hills and is located
on an altitude of 1824 m above sea level. Ranikhet is 59 km from Nainital and 50 km from
Almora. The weather in Ranikhet is alpine.
Summers (April-June) are mild and winters are
cold (November-February). It experiences
southwestern monsoon rains in July-September and
experiences snowfall in winters.
All the four
seasons have something special to offer at
Ranikhet. Therefore, it can be visited at any
time of the year. Winters are cold and the
entire region experiences snowfalls during the
months of December and January.
According to
popular belief, Ranikhet got its name when Rani
Padmini, queen of Raja Sukherdev, the local
ruler, saw this place and was struck by its
beauty. She was so captivated by the place that
she decided to stay there, and the place came to
be known as Ranikhet (literally, queen' s
field). The region around Ranikhet was ruled by
local Kumaoni rulers and later came under
British rule. The British developed Ranikhet as
a hill station for their troops and stablished a
cantonment in 1869. Ranikhet is still a
cantonment town and is the Kumaon Regimental
Center.
Places to Visit >>
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Jhula-Devi :
Jhula- devi is a temple of goddess
Durga . It is 800 century old temple
and it is said that if a person asks
for something he gets it and on
fulfillment of his desire ties a
bell in the temple. Very close to
jhula devi is the Ram Mandir temple
of Lord Ram which runs under the
close observation of Moni Maharaj. |
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Chaubattia Garden :
Chaubattia Garden is a world famous
Apple garden famous for breeding
apples plants one can get apples and
other fruits during fruit season and
a stroll amidst apple groves. One
can also buy honey and fresh fruit
juice from the sales counter at the
outlet. A visit to the research
laboratory is a worth watch. One can
also have a spectacular view of
Himalayas from here. |
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Hairakhan Temple :
4
Kms from Ranikhet Town at
Chiliyanaula is the Hairakhan Temple
which was established by Shri
Hairakhan Maharaj who is said to be
incarnation of lord Shiva. One can
have a very good valley and
Himalayan view from this place. The
GD Birla Memorial School is very
close to this place. |
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Binsar Mahadev :
15 Kms. From Ranikhet town lies the
Binsar Mahadev Temple which has a
beautiful stream flowing close to
it. Apart from a Shiva temple, an
ashram, Binsar Mahadev also has a
lovely cedar forest surrounding it. |
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Dronagiri & Pandavkholi :
52 kms from Ranikhet lies the 1100
century old Dronagiri Temple. It is
said that during Ram Rawan battle
when Laxman got injured by
Meghnath's arrow Hanuman was send to
got Sanjiwani Buti from Himalayas on
his way back a part of it fell at
this place were the present
Dronagiri stands. 5kms ahead of
Dronagiri is the famous cave of
Pandavkholi which finds its
description in the famous book
Autobiography of a Yogi of Lahiri
Mahashay fame it is also said that
pandavas stayed here during exile, a
beautiful meadow stands atop of the
hill were pandavas meditated which
can be reached by a good mild trek
of 4 kms were Path Bhraman Sangh of
Ranikhet has setup an ashram for
meditation lovers one can go and
stay at the ashram. From here one
can get a commendable and close view
of the Himalayas. |
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Baijnath Temple :
Baijnath is a temple which has a
black stone Idol Goddess Parvati
which is and exquisite work of art.
This place is about 70 kms from
Ranikhet ahead of Kausani. This
place is on the back of river Gomti
in the Garuda valley. At this place
one can enjoy feeding large number
of fishes but don’t get tempted by
their size for fishing is strictly
prohibited. Katarmal(Sun temple)-
Katarmal is about 25 kms from
Ranikhet. A beautiful trek leads you
to one of the two sun temples of the
country, first one being Konark. Now
if anyone don't feel like trekking
can also drive very close to the
temple. This beautiful temple is a
12 century creation and the ancient
idol of Sun God is presently kept at
the national museum Delhi this
temple is now protected and
preserved by the archeological
survey of India. |
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Dwarahat :
37 kms from Ranikhet dwarahat is a
prominent tourist attraction of
Kumaon ones the power centre of the
katyuri rulers in 16th century it
became a part of chand dynasty and
it has 11th century old temples
which attract lot of tourist for
their exquisite architecture. It has
become more known due to presence of
the YOGDA ASHRAM of Swami
yogananadji's fame. |
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Jageshwar :
Jageshwar 80 kms from Ranikhet is
the famous cluster of 128 temples
the prominent of them being one of
the jyotirling Jageshwar and the
Mahamrityunjay temple which is the
only temple of this incarnation of
Lord Shiva in the world . |
Accessibility :
By Air :
The nearest airport is
Pantnagar 119 Km away
By Rail :
The nearest railway station
Kathgodam 80 km, is directly connected by rail
to Lucknow, Bareilly and Agra.
By Road :
Ranikhet is connected by
road to many places. |