Kasauli

Kasauli is a cantonment and town, located in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The cantonment was established by the in 1842 as a Colonial hill station, 77 kilometres (48 mi) from Shimla, 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Chandigarh Tricity and lies at a height of 1,800 metres (5,900 ft).

Baptist Church

Kasauli Baptist Church is a 1923 brick and wood building situated close to the Sadar Bazzar. According to The Indian Express it is "considered a unique example of colonial architecture of the British era". In 2008 the church was damaged by a fire which destroyed all internal furnishings.

Central Research Institute

The Central Research Institute (CRI), originally the Pasteur Institute of India, was established at Kasauli in 1904 under its first director Sir David Semple, as an institute working in the fields of immunology and virological research. The CRI works as a World Health Organization ‘Collaborating Centre’, and as an immuno-biological laboratory producing vaccines for measles and polio, and the DTP group of vaccines. It also provides a Master of Science programme in Microbiology.

Christ Church

Christ Church was previously an Anglican church, inaugurated on 24 July 1853. Since 1970 it has been under the auspices of the Church of North India (CNI) in the diocese of Amritsar. The church contains Spanish and Italian imported stained glass windows depicting Christ, Mary, Saint Barnabas and Saint Francis.

The Parsonage was built in 1850 for priests of the Anglican church.

Gurudwara Shri Guru Nanak Ji

The Gurudwara (Sikh house of worship and hospitality) Shri Guru Nanak Ji is located in the Gharkhal bazaar near Kasauli^. A further Sikh Gurudwara lies on the Kasauli-Mashobra (old Hindustan-Tibet) Road near the Air Force Radar Station.

Kasauli Brewery

The Kasauli Brewery and distillery, founded in the 1820s before the establishment of the Kasauli cantonment, is the oldest extant distillery for 'scotch whisky' in Asia. The Kasauli brewery is also known as Mohan Meakins.

Kasauli Club

The Kasauli Club was established by civilians and service personnel in 1880, as the Kasauli Reading and Assembly Rooms. It gained its present name in 1898 when a limited liability company and constitution were established; its first director was Sir David Semple of Kasauli's Pasteur Institute. At the time the Club was for the exclusive use of the British Raj, and held social meetings, tea and dinner dances, and galas. In 1915 regimental officers at Dagshai, Solan and Subathu could be admitted as honorary members. At Independence in 1947, plans to sell the then loss-making Club failed.

The Club was originally constructed of wood and plaster, and was typical of hill architecture. In 2001, after a 2000 restoration, it was destroyed by fire, losing "elegant, old-world furniture, [and] precious and rare books". By 2005 it had been redesigned and rebuilt in stone, and plans were put forward for a new attached gymnasium.
It is currently located within Indian Army premises and managed by a regular Indian Army Officer as Club Secretary, aided by civilian staff.

In April 2012 the Kasauli Club hosted a two-day Rhythm and Blues Festival as a benefit concert for "seriously ill children".

Education

Educational institutions in or near Kasauli are the Lawrence School Sanawar, The Pinegrove School, St. Mary's Convent School, all co-educational, and the school at Kasauli's K.V. Air Force Station. These schools are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education.

Dagshai

Dagshai is one of the oldest cantonment towns in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is situated on top of a 5689 feet (1734 mtr) high hillock that stands sphinx-like astride the Kalka-Shimla Highway at a point about 11 km from Solan. It was founded in 1847 by the East India Company by securing free of cost five villages from Maharaja of Patiala aka Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. The name of these villages were Dabbi, Badhtiala, Chunawad, Jawag and Dagshai.

                 The new cantonment was named after the last named village, as it was the largest and most strategically located.

The name Dagshai, according to a popular local legend was derived from Daag-e-Shahi. During the Moghul times a Daag-e-Shahi (royal mark) was put on the forehead of the criminals and sent packing to the then Dagshai village.

                There is a very small civilian town, and the two schools take up most of this hilltop station. There are no hotels in Dagshai, but the place has a lot of picnic spots with grand views. From some spots one can see the entire Panchkula and Chandigarh lights at night. Also, one is able to see Timber Trail Heights and Timber Trail Resorts, Parwanoo There is a railway station on the Kalka Simla line at Kumar Hatti, from where Dagshai is about 1.5 kilometers uphill. The next towns in the direction towards Simla are Barog and Solan. Solan is some 11 km from Kumar Hatti by road, and Dagshai is some 3 km from Kumar Hatti. From Kumar Hatti there is also a road to Sarahan and Nahan.

          
               The Dagshai Central Jail now being used as office for Junior Engineer and Godown by the Military Engineering Service (MES) was built in 1849.

                  
              This jail came into limelight when a number of Irish freedom fighters were executed here prompting Mahatma Gandhi to rush to an on the spot assessment of the situation. Four revolutionaries of Kamagata Maru were also executed at Dagshai. Presently this jail is being maintained by MES under GE S/H Kasauli. now it has been converted into museum .

                  Built by the British as a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients, it has a British era graveyard overlooking a valley. It is on the same height as Lawrence School Sanawar near Kasauli, and is a short drive from Dharampur on the Chandigarh Simla highway. It is some 65 kilometers from Chandigarh. Unlike Kasauli it is to the right of the highway while driving towards Simla. There are two roads up, both steep. And after snow, snow chains are a must to drive up to Dagshai or getting down from it. There is an army unit stationed there, a residential only Army Public School, Dagshai and a private school called Dagshai Public School.

Barog : The straightest tunnel in the World

 Barog tunnel is the straightest tunnel in the World

                      Barog is a small village in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Barog was settled in the early 20th century during the building of the narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway. It is named after Barog, an engineer involved in building the railway track in 1903. Barog, the engineer, was responsible for designing a tunnel near the railway station. He commenced digging the tunnel from both sides of the mountain, which is quite common as it speeds up construction.

However, he made mistakes in his calculation and while constructing the tunnel, it was found that the two ends of the tunnel did not meet. Barog was fined an amount of 1 Rupee by the British government. Unable to withstand the humiliation, Barog committed suicide. He was buried near the incomplete tunnel. The area came to be known as Barog after him.

Soon another tunnel was built by H.S. Harrington, Chief Engineer in Railways at that time. This tunnel is the longest of the 102 operational tunnels on the route of the Shimla-Kalka Railway, which is 1143.61m long. Barog station is immediately after the tunnel.