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Annadale
Ground : No
Other landmark in Simla can revive more pleasant memories than
the famous playground and race-course by the name of Annadale,
located in a deep wide valley in the suburban village of Kaithu,
simla west. This playground rests on a small patch of table-land
about a three-quarters of a mile in circumference.
The spur on which it stood was a sort of valley-flat which was
greatly extended and improved. Now misnamed Annandale,
the original name of this place was Annadale and this name is
derived from a small story about it. The story is that Captain
charles pratt Kennedy, one of the first incomers to this place,
was so struck by the beauty of the valley that he saw, that be
named after a young lady to whom he was so deeply attached in
his young boyhood days. Her name was Anna and he combined it
with the word 'dale' meaning a valley, thus calling the valley
as Annadale. this spelling appears in the early lithographs of
Simla done about the year 1840. Annandale, since its inception
in the 1830s was the haunt of Anglo-Indian playful activities,
amusements and entertainments. It was the favourite place for
picnic parties, fetes and fancy-fairs, birthday-balls,flower and
dog shows, army tatoos,races and gymkhanas,polo matches and
other tournaments in 1888 which became a regular annual feature
and which still bears his name although the venue of this
tournament is now shifted to Calcutta.
An ambitious
improvement scheme was launched by Lord William Beresford, the
Military Secretary to Lord Dufferin, and his keen interest in
the expansion of Annandale ground gave the 'Cricketers a new
pavilionand a polo field for the
polo fans.' The cutting of a big piece of the hill cost nearly
Rs 80,000 to which handsome amounts were contributed by the
Indian Rajas. In the old regime there was a general committee
for the maintenance of the ground and funds were derived from
the rents paid by the gymkhana, polo and cricket clubs, race
committee and other voluntary organisations. Presently there are
no more races and the field is utilised as a helipad and for
army exercise and parades, sports and occasionally for other
kinds of assemblages like Dussehra festival celebrations. The
very first fancy fair was held in Annandale in
the year 1839.
Scandal
Point : Scandal
Point is the hub of the town's social life. Behind this, stands
the wide timber-framed Post-Office in Spartan brick and the
building of the Church of Scotland, St. Andrew's. Arguably the
Scandal Point still echoes the sentiments expressed by
Harrop,"The transmitters of gossip are ever at work and savory and
unsavory secrets of our society are flashed to the uttermost
limits of Simla with all the speed of wireless." There used to
be a mechanical equestrian statue here. It was a clever piece
of mechanism, which smiles, salutes and slaps its horse
occasionally, when it shows signs of undue activity and
restlessness.
The Road to Shimla : In
the early days of Simla settlement the visitor to Simla required
Herculean strength to cope with the hardship of uncomfortable,
cumbersome and exhausting travel. By the 1860's the East India
Railway had come only upto Ambala (Umbllah) from where one had
to proceed by four wheeled 'Dak Garry' or Mail Wagon to Kalka,
at the foot of Simla hills. These Carriages were mainly drawn by
horse but at times bullocks or even elephants were utilised to
pull them across the bridge-less River Ghaggar. From Kalka
another eight hours of gruelling journey by 'Tonga', a two
wheeled horse carriage, brought the visitor to Simla.The tonga
was a greater affliction than the Dak Garry. It was a
crude,uncomfortable but strong two-wheeled cart drawn by one or
two Kabul ponies, harnessed in curicle style passengers sitting
back to back, and luggage strapped on to the sides over the
wheels,with the pathan driver at the reins. It accommodated 4 to
6 passengers. The other modes of transport of earlier days were
bullock-carts, mule-trains, camels and horses, 'dandy' (a sedan
chair slung on poles and carried by bearers) and 'jampan' or 'doli'
which was a covered type of curtailed tiny box-like compartment,
carried like the dandy. the janpan was described by one sufferer
as 'a jolting, back aching abomination'
The
Combermere Bridge : The
Combermere Bridge on the mall is the oldest British landmark of
Shimla. In the words of Captain Mundy, A.D.C. to lord Combermere
(1928),"Lord Combermere amused himself, and benefitted the
public by superintending the formation of a fine, broad,level
road round the mount Jakhu, about three miles in length...worked
entirely by Hill men...and skillfully done..and when finished,
will be a great acquisition to the loungers of Shimla.This is
the present Jakhu round, a favourite woody walk around JakhuHill."
Across a deep ravine, a quarter of mile from the town, his
lordship erected neat 'Sangah', or a mountain bridge of pines;
and under it a capacious stone tank was constructed to obviate
the great scarcity of water." The bridge still bears the name of
Combermere and it was the first step towards the improvement of
Simla.Present day bridge was built in 1971-72. Today Combermere
Bridge is a busy spot surrounded by the lift to cart road,
Indira Gandhi Khel Parisar, Fruit vendors and Pram Wallahas.
Seven Hills : Shimla
is surrounded by Seven Hills , These hills offer a wide variety
of trails to visitors to explore. The seven Hills are :
i) Prospect
Hill in western Shimla, which has the Kamna Devi temple.
ii) Summer Hill
in western Shimla, where the campus of Himachal Pradesh
University is located.
iii)
Observatory Hill in western Shimla, where the Indian Institute
of Advanced Study is found.
iv) Inverarm in
western Shimla, where the State Museum is located.
v) Bantony in
central Shimla, which has the Grand Hotel.
vi) Jakhoo in
central Shimla, which is crowned by the temple dedicated to Lord
Hanuman.
vii) Elysium in north-western
Shimla, which holds Auckland House and Longwood and reaches out
towards the Bharari spur.
Bhalku and
Kalka-Shimla Railway : The
95 kilometer long Kalka-Shimla Railway track, a unique feat of
engineering, was laid under the guidance of Bhalku Sirmauri. He
guided the engineers showing them the line, the track should
take. Legends is that the track was revealed to him by the Devta.
Railway line was laid exactly on the trace shown by him. It was
built under the supervision of H.S. Harington, Chief Engineer.
With the growth in the simla population,permanent and floating,
the M.C.C. (Motor Car Co.) was not found capable enough to cope
with the growth transport of passengers,luggage and the
provisions of everyday consumption which had to be brought in
from the markets in the plains and a necessity was felt to find
a better alternative means of transport.So a Mountain Railway
Project was planned in 1847. The narrow gauge track (2ft. 6 in.
gauge) runs through picturesque mountain scenery ascending from
2800 feet to 7000 feet. From Kalka (at 640 m) the track rises to
Simla Railway Station (2060 m) through 103 tunnels and passes
through 800 bridges and 900 curves. Barog tunnel 2.8 Km long is
the longest tunnel.
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