Chail is a

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

Solan district Solan district is one of the twelve districts of the Himachal Pradesh state in northern India. The city of Solan is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district occupies an area of 1936 km2. History The territory of the p ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is from Solan city and from

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

. It is known for its salubrious beauty and virgin forests. The Chail Palace is well known for its architecture: the palace was built as summer retreat by the

Maharaja of Patiala The Maharaja of Patiala was a maharaja in India and the ruler of the princely state of Patiala, a state in British India. The first Maharaja of Patiala was Baba Ala Singh (1695–1765). Yadavindra Singh became the maharaja on 23 March 1938. H ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, on the land allotted to him by the British for former's assistance in the

Anglo-Nepalese War The Anglo-Nepalese War (1 November 1814 – 4 March 1816), also known as the Gorkha War, was fought between the Gorkhali army of the Kingdom of Nepal (present-day Nepal) and the British forces of the East India Company (EIC, present-day Indi ...

. The cricket ground and a polo ground which is there at an altitude of 2,444 m was owned by erstwhile royal family of Patiala. It is the world's highest cricket ground. Chail is also frequented by hikers as it offers wonderful views of the lower Himalayas. It has good trekking points from Junga, Kufri and Ashwani Khad at Solan. Many Eco camps are held here. There are many camping sites for campers and hikers, so camping in Chail is most sought after activity for enthusiasts.

History

In 1891, Maharaja Rajendra of

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

incurred the rage of Lord Kitchener. It led to the restriction of his entry in the Indian summer capital,

. This incensed the Maharaja and he vowed to build a new summer retreat for himself. So he rebuilt the place (Chail) as per his requirements. After accession to the Indian Union,

donated most of his buildings to Chail Military School and Government of India.

Geography

Chail is situated at an altitude of 2,250 m. The place is surrounded by the forests of

chir pine ''Pinus roxburghii'', commonly known as chir pine or longleaf Indian pine, is a species of pine tree native to the Himalayas. It was named after William Roxburgh. Description ''Pinus roxburghii'' is a large tree reaching with a trunk diameter ...

and gigantic deodars. Shimla, Solan and Kasauli can also be viewed at night from here. Chail is pleasant in summers and cold in winter. Average annual rainfall is about 150 mm.

Attractions

* Rastriya Military School, Rastriya Military School Chail is one of the five Rastriya Military Schools of the country. Where approx 300 cadets from all parts of country are groomed to be the future leaders of country. *

Chail Military School Rashtriya Military School Chail (or Chail Military School) is a residential school in Himachal Pradesh, India, established after the First World War in 1922 with a donation of 250,000 from King George V’s patriotic fund. The school's origins ...

, situated in ancient buildings made by Maharaja of Patiala. *

Cricket Ground Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by strikin ...

- Surrounded by thick forests of deodar, a well maintained Chail Cricket ground is the highest cricket ground in the world. It was built in 1893. The ground is located at an altitude of . Chail served as the summer capital of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh (who was an avid cricket lover). It is used as the school playground by Chail Military School. During school vacations it is also used as a

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

ground. There is a basketball court and the same cricket ground is used for playing football as well as basketball. In one corner of the ground there is a historic tree on which the Military School has constructed a tree house. *

Chail Gurudwara {{Use Indian English, date=February 2017 The Chail Gurudwara is a Sikh temple which was established at Chail in 1907. It was constructed by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. After partition of Punjab, the building was taken over by the govern ...

is also one of the main attractions of this place, it was the first building to be constructed by the Maharaja and after that the palace was built. The Gurudwara was built in indo-western style in 1907, the high wooden roof is its main and highlighting feature. *

Chail Sanctuary Chail Sanctuary is located at Chail, a hill station which is home to sambar, goral and cheer pheasants at Blossom and Jhaja. Barking deer and kalijin are seen during dusk and dawn. The best time to visit is from March to October. It covers 110 ...

(3 km)- The sanctuary was notified on 21 March 1976 near the town in district Shimla and covers an area of about 10,854.36

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s. The Chail sanctuary has 'ghoral', 'kakkar', 'sambhar', 'red jungle fowl' and 'khalij' and 'cheer' pheasants. Machan like sighting posts have been built at Khuruin. * Kali ka Tibba is situated at the top of a hill its also known as Kali Devi Temple. It attracts a lot of pilgrims and tourists from all across the world. * Lover's Point * 'Stone Kumbd' - Shiv Mandir * Visitors can also trek approximately 10 km from Junga, (District Shimla) to Chail. Junga is approximately 10 km from Sadhupul. *

Sadhupul Sadhupul is a small village in (dhalta) Himachal Pradesh between Solan Solan is a city in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and the district headquarters of Solan district. It is located south of the state capital, Shimla. Solan has ...

- Sadhupul is a small village in Himachal Pradesh between Chail and Solan. It has a river restaurant near a small bridge spot constructed over the river "Ashwini". This bridge collapsed on 23 August 2014 by an overloaded truck. A New bridge has been constructed and dedicated to people in January 2018. A Water Park and Cafe at Sadhupul was opened on 30 June 2017. *The 30 km road from Chail to Kufri winds with a lot of twists and turns through the deodar forests and is very lonely and dangerous as it is just a single road, in fact all roads leading to Chail are single roads which are difficult to motor as the widths are very less and have a lot of turns. One must never drive here during night and should avoid during the day as well, no wonder that very little vehicles are found on these roads. There are many small villages on the way and eateries that serve local food and chai (Indian sweet tea).

Access

Roadway A carriageway (British English) or roadway (North American English) consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally. A carriageway generally consists of a number of tra ...

s- Chail is well connected by road from Chandigarh, Delhi and Shimla. From Shimla via Kufri the distance is 45 km and via Kandaghat is 49 km. Kalka is 86 km from Chail. Regular buses ply between Chail and major cities like Shimla, Chandigarh and Delhi. * Airport- The nearest airports are at

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

(120 km) and

. Shimla Airport is located at Jubbarhati which is 37 km from Kandaghat. *

Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s- Kalka-Shimla railways, the narrow gauge line is good for coming to Chail. Toy train runs on this World Heritage Site. Nearest railway station to Chail is

Kandaghat Kandaghat is a small town and tehsil (sub-district), near Solan city in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India which is on the Kalka-Shimla National Highway No. 22. The road to the famous tourist destination of Chail turns from Kanda ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Chalal at The Visual Yatra
* Detail Info taken fro
Adventure Activities at Chail
* Few More to perform at Himachal (Chail
Activities in Himachal Pradesh
Hill stations in Himachal Pradesh Tourism in Himachal Pradesh