Shimla

Introducing Shimla

Until the British arrived, there was nothing at Shimla but a sleepy forest glade known as Shyamala (a local name for Kali). Then a Scottish civil servant named Charles Kennedy built a summer home in Shimla in 1822 and nothing was ever the same again. By 1864 Shimla had developed into the official summer capital of the Raj. Every summer until 1939, the entire government of India fled here from the sweltering heat of the plains, with all their clerks’ books and forms filled out in triplicate. When the Kalka–Shimla railway line was constructed in 1903, Shimla’s status as India’s premier hill station was assured. The city was even briefly the capital of Punjab until the map was redrawn in 1966.

Strung out along a 12km ridge, Shimla seems poised on the verge of sliding into the valley. A jagged line of snow-covered peaks is clearly visible from April to June and October to November, which coincides with the main tourist season. Honeymooners also come here to frolic in the snow in December and January.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009