Mashobra

Mashobra
—  town  —
Mashobra Location of Mashobra in Himachal Pradesh and India
Coordinates	31°08′N 77°14′E / 31.13°N 77.23°E / 31.13; 77.23Coordinates: 31°08′N 77°14′E / 31.13°N 77.23°E / 31.13; 77.23
Country	India
State	Himachal Pradesh
District(s)	Shimla
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 2,146 metres (7,041 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 171 007 • Telephone • +0177 • UN/LOCODE • INSHI • Vehicle • HP-03, HP-51

Mashobra is a town in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. It is connected to the state capital Shimla (earlier Simla) through the historic Hindustan–Tibet Road built in 1850 by Lord Dalhousie.

Geography

Mashobra is located at 31°08′N 77°14′E / 31.13°N 77.23°E / 31.13; 77.23.^[1] It has an average elevation of 2,146 metres (7,041 feet).

The retreat

Mashobra is notable for housing one of the only two Presidential retreats in India. The other retreat is Rashtrapati Nilayam in Secunderabad.

The president visits Mashobra at least once every year, and during this time his core office shifts to the retreat at Chharabra, in the vicinity of Mashobra. The building housing the retreat is a completely wooden structure originally constructed in 1850.^[2]

In May 1948, before returning to London at the end of his mission as viceroy and then governor general of India, Lord Mountbatten and his wife Lady Edwina spent a few weeks in this retreat. The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru paid them a visit, which is documented in the biographies of Lady Mountbatten.

Other places of interest

Mashobra is also popular as a tourist destination.^[3][4] Wildflower Hall at Chharabra, now a property of Oberoi Hotels, has been residence to Lord Kitchener as well as Lord Ripon during the British Raj.^[5] Pankaj Mishra is a famous writer/poet who lives in Mashobra. ^[6] At 3 km from Mashobra is Carignano, a beautiful picnic spot that was a villa of Chevalier Federico Peliti,^[7] an Italian photographer in India from the times of Queen Victoria, who named it in honor of his native town Carignano near Turin in Italy. The villa was transformed to a weekend resort in 1920 and is also referred to in one of the novels by Anita Desai.^[8]

Flora and fauna

Mashobra is part of Shimla Reserve Forest sanctuary and catchment area. The natural vegetation comprises pine, oak, cedar or Himalayan deodar, and rhododendron, as well as maple and horse chestnut. The wildlife consists of monkeys, baboons, jackals, kakkar (barking deer), and the occasional leopard, as well as numerous bird species such as the Himalayan eagle, pheasants, chikor and partridges.

Educational Institution

Himalayan International School at Chharabra is a major residential school in Mashobra.

References

1. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Mashobra
2. ^ "Official mention and description in Rashtrapati Bhavan site". Archived from the original on July 2, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060702011303/http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/presidentialretreats.jsp. Retrieved July 5, 2006. 
3. ^ "Travelogue in TIME". November 8, 2003. http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/journey/india.html. Retrieved July 5, 2006. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Travelogue in Outlook magazine". Archived from the original on November 9, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061109223834/http://www.outlooktraveller.com/aspscripts/mag_art.asp?magid=116&page=1. Retrieved July 5, 2006. 
5. ^ "Oberoi hotels website about Mashobra". http://www.oberoihotels.com/india/shimla/oberoiwildflowerhall/travelguide/discoverwildflowerHall.asp?leftinfo=11&leftitem=2. Retrieved July 5, 2006. 
6. ^ "Pankaj Mishra". http://himachal.us/?p=558. 
7. ^ "Federico Peliti's 19th Century India". http://people.na.infn.it/~peliti/Federico/index.htm. Retrieved April 17, 2010. 
8. ^ "Far away from crowds". http://travel.hindustantimes.com/travelogues/i-never-fancied-the-crowded.php. Retrieved April 17, 2010.