Chail Hills

Chail hill station of Himachal Pradesh acts as a honeymooners paradise. Chail lies at a hieght of 2,250 metres above the sea level.Bhupinder Singh, Maharaja of Patiala, when was facing an exiled from Shimla, he decided to create his own summer capital, which was Chail. Nature is at her exuberant best and words like pollution and deforestation is no where in mind of the citizens of Chail.The unmatched natural greenary with soundless calm beauty adds to the immortal memories of the tourists. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (Chail) - Chail was the summer capital of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. In 1891, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala incurred the wrath of Lord Kitchener and was send in exile.He was banned to enter into the summer capital of the British Raj, Shimla. Thus,to avenge the dishonour Maharaja Bhupinder Singh decided to build a better summer capital than Simla. The little village of Chail was perfect. It lay surrounded by magnificent deodar forests, Shimla was in direct vision and most important, the hill of Chail at 2226 m was somewhat higher than British-controlled Shimla.The architectually magnificient palace of Maharaja is now used as a tourist hotel. WEATHER Chail has a natural air conditioned weather and the tourist find this place to be suitable to visit all throughout the year.Even during the summer the temperature doesn't rise to much, the autumn in all its colours is really fasinating.During autumn the fields and the forests are covered with a cloak of russet and gold,in winter it is nothing less than a paradise. The weather conditions are so perfect that even in the winter when there is snow fall there is an unusual featured warmth present avoiding the inconvinience of the people. COMMUNICATION AVAILABILITY (Chail) Chail is about 46 km from Simla and around 86 km from Kalka. It is roughly 382 km from the Indian capital (Delhi). From Kandaghat, it is an about 90 mins journey by road to Chail. To reach Kandaghat one has to take Kalka Simla rail route.Due to the gorgious valley forest beauty the best enjoyable travel should be in a toy train.It takes five hours from Kalka to get to Kandaghat.Thickly forested tracks, hairpin bends and long tunnels add to the unforgetable memories of the tourists. For the foreigners there is an option to travel by air upto Simla and proceed to Chail. ACCOMMODATION The unavailability of good hotels does not affect the tourists much.Chail is a very small town and small hotels numbering 6 to 7 depicts the simple life of this place. The scanty accomodation facility is compensated by the scenic beauty of this place.Even the market is not developed and hardly a few shops are available. Only luxurious accomodation is present in the palace which was owned by the Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. This is now owned by the government. The small fasinating huts of the local inhabitants adds to the propelling scenic beauty of this place. From within these huts one can watch the clouds settle down on the valley. SIGHT SEEING With the eye catching snow-capped Shivalik peaks in the background and the beautiful orchards and pine valleys around reminds the visitors of the unchanted beauty of this place.The place is a perfect search by the Maharaja as the summer capital as compared to Simla. Chail is famous in the history for having the highest Cricket and golf fields. The ground surrounded by tall trees is a beautiful spot in itself. The River Sutlej winding its way between the mountains, the flawless beauty of the valleys makes the tourists go mad aboput the scenic beauty of this place. This is a perfect place for the artists.The painters and poets are influenced by the calm natural beauty.The silence is perfect and natural beauty unmatched to make even a comman man to become an artist.The snow covers the valley and remains there until the beginning of the spring.once the spring starts the flowers come out in full bloom. This is the perfect time for the artists to spend countless hours to admire the prlific natural beauty of this god gifted place. The palace of Maharaja is on Rajgarh Hill,which is surrounded by three hills. On the third hill, Sabba Tibba, is the small township of Chail. The maharaja had planned this palace as a retreat, necessary things he need for luxurious living, and therefore, he built cricket, golf grounds,hunting and fishing lodges, which becomes a printed memory on the minds of the tourists.