History
According to an ancient belief, Nainital was the site where one of Parvati’s eyes fell. When Parvati, the wife of Lord Shiva, the Hindu Destroyer of the Universe, died, Shiva was filled with grief and carried her corpse wherever he went. Parts of Parvati’s body fell on Earth, and her eye fell in Nainital, forming a large crater that became Naini Lake. In fact, Naini Lake derives its name from the Hindi word, naina, which means ‘eye’.Nainital remained ‘undiscovered’ till 1839, when a sugar maker called P Barron found the huge lake amidst forested mountains. Following an intuition, Barron met the local chief, and tried to convince him to relinquish his claim on the region. But Barron had to handle this cleverly.He took the chief for a boat ride on the lake, and offered him two options: either he give up Nainital, or drown in the lake. The chief’s common sense prevailed, and he signed a deed right then, abdicating his control over Nainital. The British built villas around the lake, and made Nainital their summer capital, along with Mussoorie.
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Geography and Climate
Nainital is located in the Kumaon hills and the weather is very pleasant throughout the year except during winter months. The temperature is not very high at any time but in winters it becomes very cold. The climate of Nainital is regulated by the lake here which showers rain almost every afternoon. The months of January to March are marked by the snowfall which is for a very short time. It is advisable that contact any local person before going to Nainital to watch snowfall.Nainital has temperate summers, maximum temperature 27 °C (81 °F); minimum temperature 10 °C (50 °F)
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Economy
Nainital had a population of 38,559. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Nainital has an average literacy rate of 81%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 86%, and female literacy is 76%. In Nainital, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.
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Flora and Fauna
The hilly region is covered with Sal ,Pine ,Oak, Buruns, Kaphal and other trees growing unto 6000 ft. along with Deodar , Surai etc. at higher altitudes .There are small tracts of cultivated lands and fruit orchards etc. in between the forests in this region .In its Tarai and Bhabhar belt a number of medicinal trees, shrubs and herbs grow like Vijayasar, Arjun, Bhilwa, Varun, Gambhari, Kutuj, Tejpatra, Priyangoo, Danti, Sarivah, Shwet Sarivah, Brahmi, Satwahi, Patha, Bhringraj, Punarnava, Kamal and Kamalni, Gokhru, Anatmool, Marodfali, Talwarfali, Ashok, Kaliyali, Pipli, various species of Mentha and so on.Presbytis schistaceous (Himalayan Langoor) , Invus rhesus (Monkey),Urssus Tibetans (Rich),Martes flavigula (Black capped Marten), Hysrix leucura (Indian Porcupine) ,Sus Indicus (Wild pig) ,Cervulus aurens (Barking deer) , Pteromys petaurista (Brown flying squirrel) , Nemorhoedus goral (Gural).
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