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 "NAINITAL" was founded in the year 1841 by Mr. P. Barron, a European merchant and an enthusiastic hunter from Rosa, near Shahjahanpur. Mr.P.Barron was the first European who took great fancy to this land. Moved by the beauty of the sparkling lake he wrote: "It is by far the best site I have witnessed in the course of a 1,500 miles treak in the Himalayas."
In due course it became the summer capital of then United Province dotted with lakes, Nainital has earned the epither of Lake District of India.
It is very less is known about the history of Nainital. This region was called "Khasdesh" in ancient times and "Khasis" ruled this region before Christ was born.
Massive Distruction Faced By The Region
Nainital suffered a drastic reversal on 18 September, 1880. The hill at the northern end of the lake on which stood the Victoria Hotel, was washed away by two days of incessant rain.
Landslides crushed houses in their path, burying people alive. Soon after, the hill over the Victoria Hotel collapsed, crushing a rescue team of soldiers and civilians.
More than 150 people died in the landslides, after which the area was flattened, and is now known as the Flats
The town became the summer headquarters of the colonial administration of the province. It was a popular retreat for the residents of the plains. Being popular with the British, the town developed a British character with several European schools, barracks, a sanatorium and a racecourse, of which this is a view.
MYTHOLOGY ABOUT NAINITAL
Once the Nainital area had many lakes and it was called the City of 60 lakes or Chakta The Nainital Lake finds mention in the Manas Khand (chapter) of the Skanda Purana (scriptures) as the Tririshi Sarovar, i.e., the lake of the three sages (or rishis). Atri, Pulastya and Pulaha. Legend has it that in the course of their pilgrimage the three sages arrived here, only to find the place without water. Meditating on the sacred and bountiful sanctum lake of Tibet namely Manasarovar Lake, they dug a hole here. So great was the power of their tapasya (meditation) that the hole soon filled with water.
According to a legend King Daksha held a great Yajna but did not invite Parvati and her consort Shiva. Parvati could not bear this direct insult, in her great fury Parvati gate-crashed into the Yajna ground and leaped into the high flames of Yajna fire to end her life and later Lord Shiva retrieved her half-char |
