Shimla
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 India
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| State : | Himachal Pradesh | ||
| District : | Shimla | ||
| Location : | 31 ° 6 ′ N , 77 ° 10 ′ E | ||
| Height : | 2103 m | ||
| Residents : | 169,578 (2011) | ||
| Website : | shimlamc.gov.in | ||
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Shimla ( Hindi शिमला Śimlā [ ˈʃɪmlɑː ]; formerly also Simla ) is the capital of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and the district of the same name at an altitude of 2103 m .
The city ( Municipal Corporation ) , located in the south of the district on a ridge of the central Himalayas, has around 170,000 inhabitants (2011 census). The associated airport is about 20 km from Shimla (Shimla Airport, IATA: SLV, ICAO: VISM). Shimla is a university town.
The name was named after the Hindu goddess Shyamala Devi , a reincarnation of the goddess Kali .
history
The place used to belong to the Kingdom of Nepal and was called Shyamala. It was taken over by the British in 1819. From 1834 to 1939, the entire respective colonial government of British India (first from Calcutta at that time , later from New Delhi ) moved to the cool heights of Shimla in the summer months. Until the construction of the railway, this move took place as a caravan with two-horse Tongas , which covered the journey through the hilly landscape from Kalka to Shimla in eight hours . Since 1903 the place has been connected to the railway network with the Kalka-Shimla route .
During the British colonial period, it was traditionally reserved for the Viceroy of India , the British Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army and the Governor of the Panjab to use a carriage and later a car in Shimla, while the rest of the colonial society used rickshaws to transport people and bullock carts to transport goods . With them, the luxury goods for the colonial society were also carried to legendary banquets to celebrate elegant balls in the style of Victorian society .
Shimla was the scene of the British-Chinese-Tibetan negotiations in 1914, which resulted in the Shimla Convention on the border between Tibet and British India along the McMahon Line .
After independence and after the Bangladesh war , the Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed the Shimla Agreement here in 1971 , in which the armistice line in Kashmir between India and Pakistan was established as the " Line of Control ".
The Mall
The main pedestrian mall, The Mall, sits on the ridge and offers good views of the city and the Himalayas. Until the First World War , The Mall was forbidden territory for Indians. Banks, tea rooms and shops belonging to the British colonial society were located here. After World War II , Indians were also allowed to enter The Mall, provided they were not wearing Indian clothing. The architecture of Shimla is characterized by buildings in the British style of the 19th century. An octagonal bandstand from this period is on The Mall. The second oldest Protestant church in India, Christ Church, is at the east end of The Mall; it was built from 1846 to 1857 and has a Tudor tower whose bells were cast from cannons captured by the British.
The Jakhu Temple, which is dedicated to the Hindu god Hanuman , is located at the highest point in the city .
climate
Shimla has a warm, temperate climate . The annual mean temperature is 14.2 ° C. The average annual precipitation is 1480 mm.
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Shimla
Source: WMO ; wetterkontor.de
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sons and daughters of the town
- Elsie Mackay (1893–1928), British aviation pioneer, actress and member of British high society
- Mary M. Kaye (1908-2004), British author
- John Hunt, Baron Hunt (1910-1998), British officer
- Idries Shah (1924-1996), writer
- Anupam Kher (born 1955), actor
- Preity Zinta (* 1975), film actress and model
