List of hill stations in India

The hill stations are high-altitude towns used, especially by European colonialists, as a place of refuge from the summer heat. They are prevalent in Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, particularly India.

The Indian subcontinent has seven principal mountain ranges and the largest of all is the Himalayas that lies in the northern part of India. The famous peaks and ranges include the Kangchenjunga range in the Eastern Himalayas which frames the hill stations of Darjeeling and Gangtok as well as the Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand. Then there is Shivalik range that also lies within the same region has some famous hill stations that include Dalhousie, Kullu, Shimla, Nanital and many more.

Most of the hill stations in India were developed by the British, around a central mall, to get respite from the oppressive summer heat. Many have picturesque lakes as their focal point, making them excellent places for boating activities.

Most of the hill stations in India are located in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya in the Himalayas and in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in Western ghats. Some of the hill stations in India are listed below by state.

Since all these hill stations are world famous they are frequently visited by tourists on a summer vacation tour. Due to this almost all of the above hill stations are well connected by rail, road and air services to major Indian cities.

History

The British Raj, and in particular the British Indian Army, founded perhaps 50 of the 80-odd hill stations in the Indian subcontinent; the remainder were built by various Indian rulers over the centuries as places of leisure or even as permanent capitals. They established the stations to escape the blistering heat of the long Indian summer.

Purpose

Several hill stations served as summer capitals of Indian provinces, princely states, or, in the case of Shimla, of British India itself. Since independence, the role of these hill stations as summer capitals has largely ended, but many hill stations remain popular summer resorts.

Andhra Pradesh

Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh

Assam

Chhattisgarh

Gujarat

Haryana

Himachal Pradesh

Khajjiar, Himachal Pradesh, also known as mini Switzerland of India.
Skiing in Manali, Himachal Pradesh

Jammu and Kashmir

Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir

Jharkhand

Karnataka

Shola Grasslands in Kudremukh, Karnataka

Kerala

Munnar, Kerala
Thekkady, Kerala
Rolling meadows of Vagamon, Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

Pandav Caves Pachmarhi

Maharashtra

Lonavla, Maharashtra

Meghalaya

Nohkalikai Falls, Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya

Mizoram

Nagaland

Odisha

Punjab

Rajasthan

Sikkim

Tamil Nadu

Emerald Lake, Ooty
Kodaikanal
Meghamalai

Uttarakhand

Nainital Lake City, Uttarakhand

West Bengal

The 'Toy Train' in Darjeeling, West Bengal

References


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