7 famous tourist places of Himachal Pradesh and how they got named

As we all know, one of the most precious things to someone is his or her name. Every name has an interesting story  and history behind it , which makes that place even more interesting. Today we will see 7 famous tourist places of Himachal Pradesh and the story behind their names.

1) Annadale

Annadale is one of the most famous tourist places of himachal pradesh which is located in Shimla, here you can also find an army museum which is one of the best  museums of himachal. 

It has 2 interesting stories behind its name. According to the first theory: during the British Raj, when they first saw this place they found it quite similar to Annandale valley of Scotland so they decided to name it after the Scottish place.

According to another story, there was a British Officer who saw this land and got mesmerized by its beauty, so he decided to named this ‘Dale’ (which means an open river valley in a hilly area) after his love interest ‘Anna’ and hence the name came “Annadale”.

2) Khajjiar,

Khajjiar is located in Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh. It is well known for its green garden and lake inside it. There is a temple in this area which is dedicated to Khajji nag a serpent God. Which is the reason this place is called Khajjiar. Apart from this name Khajiar is also known as mini switzerland, due to its resemblance to the landscapes of Switzerland. Khajjiar looks wonderful during snowfall as it is one the best places to experience snowfall in Himachal Pradesh.

3) Shimla, one of the most famous tourist places of Himachal Pradesh

Capital of Himachal Pradesh also has an interesting story behind its name. According to one theory, there was fakir who used live in his house on Jakhu Hill. His house was made of blue Slate, which appeared as a blue house. So the name came shyamalya  (Shyam + aalaya), where shyam means of dark blue or black and aalaya means house. 

According to another theory, Shimla is named after Goddess Shyamala, (which means Blue lady) refers to Goddess Kali.

4) Kheerganga

Kheerganga is located in Parvati valley of Kullu, it is accessible by a beautiful trek. And it is also famous for its hot springs. According to legends when lord Kartikeya (Son of Lord Shiv) lost a race against his brother shree Ganesh, he came to Parvati Valley and started meditating. Mata Parvati decided to flow a river full of milk so that his son would not have to worry about appetite. When the meditation of Lord Kartikey completed, then Lord Parshuram converted this river of milk to water, but the name stayed as “kheerganga”.

5) Manikaran

Manikaran is one of the famous tourist places of himachal Pradesh. It is also famous for its hot springs. This place has spiritual importance for both Sikhs and Hindus. According to a Hindu legend, once mata parvati lost her Earring in this streams, which was captured by the Sheshnag, he returned this earring by hissing up a gush of hot water. Which is believed as the reason of hot water in this stream and it also gave this place its name “Manikaran” which means jewel of ear.

6) Dharamshala

Dharamshala is ranked top in the list of famous tourist places of himachal pradesh. If you split the name Dharamshala you will get two words, one is Dharam and other one is Shala that means place. So Dharamshala means a place of Dharam. Dharamshala is also known as home of Dalai lama. Nearby by tourist place are Bhagsunag, Triund trek and  HPCA cricket Stadium.

7) Palampur

Palampur is another place worth visiting in Kangra. The name consist of 3 word which are pani, which means water. The second one is Alam, which means environment and the third one is pur. So it means a place where there is plenty of rainfall. Palampur is only 1 hour away from Dharamshala. It is famous for its Tea gardens.

Hope you enjoy this list of 7 famous tourist places of Himachal Pradesh and how they got named. If you liked the list, share with your family and friends. And comment your favourite destination in Himachal Pradesh.