If one delves into the history of Dehradun it goes back to the days of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It is referred in Mahabharata that the great teacher of Kauravas and Pandavas Guru Dronacharya had his abode here. Guru Ram Rai the eldest son of the seventh Sikh Guru “Guru Har Rai” came here and during 1675 and started a settlement here and the present city of Dehradun was around his abode. Dehradun has briefly been part of Gurkha Kingdom (present-day Nepal) too. It went to Gharwal kingdom when Gurkhas lost the Anglo-Nepalese war during 1815 with the British East India Company and since then it has become the part of Gharwal under colonial era as well as independent India. In present days it is serving as the capital of Uttrakhand state.

Since the colonial days, Dehradun has been the center for premier education. It boasts of some of the premier educational institutes such as Doon School that has given this country one prime minister several misters and some of the finest bureaucrats, Indian Military Academy which produces able officers for the Indian army and other premier institutes like Forest Research Institute, Institute of Petroleum, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Wildlife Institute of India. On a ridge above Dehradun is the hill station Mussoorie which is home to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration which trains new entrants to the elite IAS services.

Tucked between two of the holiest rivers of India Ganga (on the east) and Yamuna (on the west) in the foothills of the western Himalayas in the “Land of Gods” Uttrakhand, Dehradun or the ‘Doon Valley’ is known for serene nature with a milder climate. An unusually wide long valley within the Shivalik range Dehradun is famous for some of the most premier education institutes, its proximity to some of the very important Hindu pilgrimage, hill stations, and trekking destinations in Western Himalayas, and agricultural produce like fine quality basmati rice which is named after the place.

Being a fertile valley one can grow almost everything here however a particular variety of rice ‘Dehradun Basmati’ initially grown here has found fame universally for its quality and flavor.

If you are a bird lover then you certainly cannot give Dehradun a miss. Dehradun and surrounding areas boasts of very interesting birdlife.

Apart from its own attractions, Dehradun can be used as the base for hikes in surrounding hills and some of the very beautiful trekking destinations of western Himalayas.