TIME-OUT
Rediscovering Ranikhet
GUSTASP and JEROO IRANI
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Those days, this mountain town was the place one went to, in order to view the Himalayas in their snowy splendour. Forty years later, though much has changed, it still has the air of a manicured hill station.
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SPECTACULAR: The road to Ranikhet passes through jaw-dropping landscape. PHOTOS: GUSTASP and JEROO IRANI
THE temple dedicated to Goddess Kali swooned in a grove of mighty deodars. We stumbled upon it on our way to Ranikhet in the Kumaon region of Uttaranchal. We removed our footwear, ascended a few steep steps and came upon a priest clad in saffron who sat in a wheelchair, and seemed to be in a deep trance.
The statue of the goddess in the sanctum was small and was heavily garlanded with bells and gold borders — offerings made to the goddess for boons granted. Childless women conceived when they supplicated the Goddess; a sickly child grew strong and robust; unfaithful wives trod the straight and narrow when cuckolded husbands prayed for divine intervention.
But stranger still was the genesis of this Kumaoni temple which was at one time just a little shrine smothered by a rampant forest, related a young disciple of the physically challenged Guruji Mahen Shri Pashupathi Bharati. The guruji was wandering in these parts in search of spiritual solace when he felt a prick in the sole of his foot. Closer examination revealed a rusted nail that was embedded there and subsequent negligence led to gangrene and amputation of his leg. Rather than despair over the misfortune, the guruji knew that it was a divine omen from Goddess Kali who had bid him to stop his wanderings and build her a new temple at this very spot. And so he set about erecting the shrine brick by brick, tile by tile with donations from tourists and pilgrims, related the disciple who spoke with impassioned fervour of his mentor.
We left the magical little Kumaoni temple filled with a sense of spiritual well being and a dream-like sensation, even as a little bird trilled on an unseen green bough. We were once again on our way to Ranikhet.
The journey
Our journey had started at Kausani fairly early that morning, careening down curvaceous roads that twisted around bulging mountains, some mantled with forests, others with terraced mustard fields that rippled yellow like the waves of a golden sea. We passed the occasional kamikaze truck driver hurtling down the narrow mountain roads; and forded green rivers that were spanned by metal bridges. Our car zipped down roads bordered with trees daubed in a million shades of green, gold and rust occasionally spiked with the blood red hues of rhododendron flowers. In the distance small hamlets teetered on mountain ridges, seemingly ready to tumble off their precarious perch. Green wheat fields undulated on slim ridges and there was an air of explosive lushness about the landscape.
OLD WORLD CHARM: Once there, expect to see quaint structures like this colonial bungalow.
We arrived in Ranikhet, located 1,830 m above sea level, encircled by tall pine trees and soaring deodars, commanding views of the Himalayas glistening white in the distance. Discovered and built by the British in 1869, the hill station wowed Lord Mayo the then Viceroy of India who seriously contemplated shifting the army headquarters from Shimla to Ranikhet. Even today, we discovered after a two-day stay, Ranikhet has the air of a manicured hill station, with wide open spaces, a high altitude golf course and offers the tourist the gift of long walks in the surrounding forests. The Kumaon Regimental Centre dominates the town with its vast lush grounds which also house a museum and a memorial.
Down memory lane ...
For us, the trip to Ranikhet was a walk down memory lane for we were returning to this idyllic corner of the country after a gap of 40 years, having been there as children. And while much had changed, there are parts of Ranikhet that seem to have been bypassed by time. In those days, Ranikhet was the place one went to, to view the Himalayas in their snowy splendour. That was the time when Almora, Binsar, Chaukori and Munsiyari were not part of the traveller's lexicon. In fact, Ranikhet along with Nainital, is part of this extended circuit that offers visitors different views of the Himalayan range.
Accommodation was scarce at the time and we had stayed at a guest house owned and run by an Anglo Indian lady of ample girth whose calls of "Koi Hai? (Is anyone there)?" rang through her tranquil cottage each time she wished to summon her recalcitrant staff. Each day at the crack of dawn we would sit out in the garden in cane chairs waiting for the first rays of a timorous sun to gild the Himalayas. Our young hearts would pump with excitement even though we watched nature's pyrotechnics every morning ... a slow burst of colour would kiss the distant peaks with pink lipstick till the very heavens seemed to haemorrhage. The sight never failed to fill us with awe.
... and now
Forty years later, our early morning sortie into the garden of our hotel fronting the peaks did not yield the glorious vista of yesteryear. The Himalayas chose to play truant and were blanketed in mist. Later that morning we walked in the verdant embrace of the forests around Ranikhet and stumbled on quaint British estates with red sloping roofs and green gardens bordered with flowers of every hue. Some had been converted into country house style hotels and one called Rosemount Hotel had been restored with great sensitivity, its warm wood panelled interiors glowed in the light of crackling fireplaces. Its café au lait façade basked golden in the evening sun, and splendid lawns with heavy wrought iron garden furniture make viewing the Himalayas a treat there.
On our walk, multi-hued birds fluttered overhead in the green forest and deodar trees tall as totems from some pantheon of forest gods vied with the pines to needle the sky. Locals exercising their dogs of indeterminate breed (all hill dogs look handsome with their husky-like fur coats) acknowledged our presence with warm smiles.
That evening we sat by a crackling fireplace, warming our chilled fingers, revelling in the fact that the weight of history and the rush of modernity had not crushed the spirit of Ranikhet. We recalled a legend told to us by a local, of a Kumaoni queen Rani Padmini who, enchanted with the mountains and green glens of a tiny hill hamlet, requested her king, Raja Sukherdev to build her a grand palace there. They then named it Ranikhet or queen's meadow. The palace has vanished but the place continues to lure tourists in search of sunny solace; who explore the surrounding forests of wonder, mystery and enchantment and hike down the mountain trails to stumble on scenes straight out of a Van Gogh painting.
Fact file
This is a year-round destination but March to April are good months to visit as also the months of October and November when the snow-mantled peaks preen with unfailing regularity for the visitor.
There are lots of excursions that one can embark on, to picnic spots in the area.
By way of accommodation, there are the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam properties, Chevron Rosemount Hotel, Trishul Lodge, Majhkhali (on the outskirts of Ranikhet), West View Hotel (in a pine grove) and a number of other options as well.
Contact: Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd, Ph: 05942 236356 or visit: www.kmvn.org
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