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Dehradun is the winter capital and largest city of Uttarakhand, India, set in the Doon Valley between the Shivalik hills and the outer Himalaya and famous for the Forest Research Institute and as the gateway to Mussoorie. Its top sights are the institute's Greco-Roman main building, the Clock Tower, Robber's Cave, Tapkeshwar Temple and Mindrolling Monastery.
The city takes its name from the dera, or camp, that Baba Ram Rai, eldest son of the Sikh Guru Har Rai, set up in the doon valley in the mid-17th century; his Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib still stands at its heart. In the early 19th century Dehradun came under Gorkha rule, and after the Anglo-Gorkha War, which opened with the siege of Nalapani in 1814, it passed to the British.
Under British rule Dehradun grew into an administrative, military and research centre, home to the Forest Research Institute, the Indian Military Academy and the Survey of India. It has served as the capital of Uttarakhand since the state was formed in 2000, and visitors use it as a base for Mussoorie, Rajaji National Park and the Asan wetlands.
The Forest Research Institute in Dehradun began in 1878 as the Forest School and was re-established as the Imperial Forest Research Institute in 1906. Its Greco-Roman main building by C. G. Blomfield, opened in 1929, is a National Heritage site on a 450-hectare campus below the outer Himalaya.
The Clock Tower Dehradun, also called Ghanta Ghar or the Balbir Clock Tower, is the six-faced landmark at the heart of Dehradun. Built between 1948 and 1953 in memory of Lala Balbir Singh, it had its foundation stone laid by Sarojini Naidu and was inaugurated by Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Khalanga War Memorial near Dehradun recalls the Battle of Nalapani, the first battle of the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814 to 1816. British East India Company forces besieged the Gorkha-held Nalapani fort from 31 October to 30 November 1814, in the war that brought Dehradun under British rule.
The Kipling Trail is the old walking route from Dehradun up to the hill station of Mussoorie, named after the English novelist Rudyard Kipling, who is believed to have walked it in the 1880s. It begins at the Shahanshahi Ashram in Rajpur and is being revived by hikers who prefer it to the road.
Mindrolling Monastery near Clement Town in Dehradun is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma school, re-established in India in 1965 by Khochhen Rinpoche and a small group of monks. It houses the Ngagyur Nyingma College, and beside it rises a 190-foot stupa inaugurated in 2002.
Tapkeshwar Temple in Dehradun is a Shiva temple on the bank of the Tons River, built over a natural cave named Drona Cave where water drips onto the shivalinga. Legend says Shiva fed milk to Ashwatthama here, and a fair lasting over a week is held at the temple every Mahashivratri.
Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib in Dehradun is the shrine of Baba Ram Rai, eldest son of Guru Har Rai, who settled here in the mid-17th century and gave the city its name. With help from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, it was built with minarets and domes that make it resemble a mosque.
Lakhamandal is an ancient Hindu temple complex of Shiva in the Jaunsar-Bawar region of Dehradun district, 128 km from Dehradun beside the Yamuna. Its Nagara-style temple dates to about the 12th or 13th century, and its graphite lingam is said to shine when wet and reflect its surroundings.
Robber's Cave, known locally as Guchhupani, is a river cave about 8 km from the centre of Dehradun, said to have sheltered robbers hiding from the British in the late 1800s. About 600 m long, its very narrow limestone gorge carries a stream, and it is a 1 km walk from Anarwala village.
Asan Barrage is a 287.5 m barrage 28 km northwest of Dehradun, where the Asan River meets the Eastern Yamuna Canal. Its reservoir, Dhalipur Lake, is popular for bird watching, with 53 species including 19 migrants from Eurasia, and in 2020 it became Uttarakhand's first Ramsar site.
Rajaji National Park is a national park and tiger reserve spread over 820 km2 of the Sivalik Hills in the Dehradun, Haridwar and Pauri Garhwal districts of Uttarakhand. It was formed in 1983 by merging the Chilla, Motichur and Rajaji sanctuaries and is known for its elephants and tigers.
Mussoorie is a hill station 26 km from Dehradun at about 2,000 m in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalaya, popularly known as the Queen of the Hills. Founded as a resort in 1825 by Captain Frederick Young, it looks out over the Doon Valley to the Himalayan snow ranges.
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