Shimla - शिमला

The Queen of the Hills

Shimla, also known as 'the queen of the hills', is the capital cityof the Indian state, Himachal Pradesh. Its well developed facilities, easy accessibility and numerous attractions make it one of India's most popular hill resorts. Placed in the tower ranges of the Himalayan mountains, it is surrounded by pine, deodar, oak and rhododendron forests.

At an altitude of 2,159 m above sea level, Shimla is in the southern part of Himachal Pradesh. The town is surrounded by forests of oak, pine, fir and rhododendron.

Once the summer capital of the British Raj, Shimla is now the capital of Himachal Pradesh. Shimla (formerly called Simla) lies about 350 km from Delhi. Shimla was a small village, which was part of the Nepalese kingdom before the British discovered it in the 1890's. Shimla derived its name from 'Shyamala'- the goddess Kali, whose temple existed in the dense deodar forest that once covered Jhaku.