Kotdwar
Kotdwar is called the gateway of Garhwal. Kotdwar is a flat land town, here there is only one railway station in Garhwal district.
Kotdwar city is situated on the right side of Khoh river. Near it is the fort of Mordhwaj. At this place there are ruins and ruins of old bastions.
From Kotdwar via Dugadda and Lansdowne, one can go to Srinagar after Pauri and Pauri, and the route from Kotdwara to Dehradun passes through the city of Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh.
The distance from Kotdwar to Najibabad is around 25 km. Although the development of Kotdwar had started only after the arrival of the railway in 1890, but the actual settlement started mainly after the formation of the municipality in the 50s.
If you come to Kotdwara to roam from Delhi, then both Garhwal Express and Mussoorie Express can be a good option for you.
If you want to come by roadways, then Delhi to Kotdwar direct bus service is available from Kashmere Gate all the time, you can go from Haridwar to Najibabad route.
Major tourist and religious places near Kotdwara
Kanva Ashram
Kalagarh
Siddhbali Temple
and dugadda
Kanva Ashram
Kanva Ashram is situated 10 km from Kotdwar in the middle of Hemkut and Manikoot mountains of Shivalik range.
Kanva Ashram is a very important site from the historical and archaeological point of view on the banks of Malini river.
Presently it is also known as Chowki Ghat, Kanva Ashram used to be the center of Vedic education and cultural propaganda in ancient times.
It is here that the great poet Kalidas ji had received education and while staying at this place, he composed Abhigyan Shakuntalam.
There is a description about Kanvashram that the girl born as a result of the courtship relationship between Vishwamitra and an Apsara named Menaka left Maneka in the forest near Kanvashram.
Maharishi Kanva, absorbed in penance, heard the cry of the child, when he got up from his penance and reached there, he saw that a beautiful newborn girl Shakunt was found surrounded by birds.
Maharishi Kanva brought the girl to the ashram and named her Shakunt. Being surrounded by birds, she named the newborn girl Shakuntala and brought her up in the ashram itself.
One day Maharaja Dushyant went to Maharishi Kanva’s ashram and saw Shakuntala there, he was impressed by her sanskars and beauty and he married Shakuntala to Gandharva.
Shortly after marriage, Shakuntala gave birth to a very beautiful and stunning child. The childhood of this brave boy was spent playing with lion cubs and gaining knowledge in “Kanvashram”.
When this child grew up, this child unified this huge plot and ruled this kingdom and this child later came to be known as Chakravarti Emperor “Bharat”.
Our country was named Bharatvarsha after the name of this great mighty Chakravarti emperor.
If you want to come here, then you will get to see the beautiful natural beauty of Hemkut and Manikoot Mountains here.
Along with this, being on the banks of the Malini river, the beauty of this ashram increases even more. In this ashram, statues of Maharishi Kanva, Bharat, Kashyap etc. have been installed in a small temple located on the left side of the Malini river.
Here along with India monuments, many sculptures of archaeological importance are preserved here, it is very ancient, if you want to see the divinity and grandeur of this place, then you must come here.
Kalagarh
Kalagarh Dam is located in Kalagarh, 48 km from Kotdwar. Kalagarh is an ideal place for nature lovers, here there are lush green dense forests and wild animals all around.
Kalagarh Dam is built on the Ramganga river, this dam is a scenic spot. Ramganga river is one of the holy rivers of India. Ramganga river is known as Rathvahini in Puranas.
Jim Corbett National Park is on the banks of Ramganga, it was declared as Hailey National Park to protect the animals which have become extinct since 1936.
This is the first park and animal Bihar park under the tiger project, where tigers, cheetahs, lions, leopards, guldars, deer, nilgai, jackals, Asian elephants, bears, wild boars, cobras, pythons etc. are seen
The construction work of Kalagarh Dam started in 1961 after independence. After 13 years, its construction was completed in 1974, this dam is built on the Ramganga river.
Owned by the Hydroelectric Corporation of Uttarakhand state, 198 MW of electricity is produced from this dam, the name of Kalagarh Dam comes in Asia’s largest earthen dam.
At the time of construction of earthen dam in Kalagarh, there was no division of Uttarakhand state and Uttar Pradesh state.
After the division of both the states, this dam is surrounded by the border of the state of UP and Uttarakhand.
If you want to come here to roam, then Kalagarh is an ideal place for husband lovers, here you will get to see the forest full of natural beauty and other animals, birds etc.
Siddhbali Temple
Siddhbali Temple is a famous temple of Hanuman ji, it is located just 2 km away from Kotdwar.
This temple is located in Kotdwar town of Pauri Garhwal district on the banks of Khoh river. From here the view of Kotdwar city is very beautiful, although Siddhbali temple is a temple related to Hinduism, but followers of all religions come here to visit.
It is said that after doing penance to a perfect man, Hanuman ji appeared here and he got siddhi and he installed a huge idol of Hanuman ji here, hence the name of the place was Siddhabali.
After that, when a Muslim officer was traveling from here in his horse during the British rule, he suddenly fell unconscious from the horse. While stating that when I was unconscious, I had a dream that Hanuman ji’s temple should be built on the samadi of Siddha Bali, after that Hanuman ji’s temple was built here.
Devotees whose wishes are fulfilled in the Siddhbali temple, come here and organize a Bhandara, this tradition is going on in the temple of Siddha Bali Baba for a long time.
Here Bhandara is organized on Tuesdays and Sundays. The temple of Siddha Bali is open from 5:00 am to 2:00 pm, after that again after 1 hour from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The temple of Baba Siddha Bali remains open for the devotees to visit till noon.
Dugadda
Dugadda, located north of Kotdwar town, was settled in the 19th century by Pandit Dhaniram Mishra on his farm.
Which was a major commercial and political center of Garhwal during the British rule, the credit goes to Dugadda Nagar for awakening the spirit of forced labor, Dola Palki movement, establishment of Arya Samaj and attainment of Swaraj in the Garhwal region.
After the arrival of late Mikundilal barrister to Garhwal, this city remained a major stronghold of the freedom movement in the political field as well.
Chandrashekhar Azad also stayed here for a few weeks, resident of Nathopur Dugadda, who was his companion, with the inspiration of Bhavani Singh Rawat, lived in Dugadda Nagar with young friends in 1930 and took pistol training in the forest near here.