Da Mall Magazine

25/03/2024

Water Catchment Wildlife Sanctuary Shimla🌲🌲🌿 🚶🏻

A true paradise for hikers and nature admirers !!!!

Shimla is blessed with limitless species of flora and fauna gifted by the Mother Nature.Water Catchment Sanctuary is spread over an area of 10.25 sq km and there is no zoning done in this sanctuary. The altitude of the sanctuary ranges from 1900-2620 m.The actual owner of this sanctuary area was the Rana of Koti. The land was leased to Shimla MC (Municipal Corporation) in the year 1878. In 2009, Shimla Wildlife Division got the charge of the place. It's truly a must visit for shimla people and tourists. 🌿🌿🌲🌿🌲

29/02/2024

'मलाणा: पॉलिटिकल सिस्टम ऑफ अ हिमालयन कम्यूनिटी'
हिमतरू प्रकाशन समिति कुल्लू तथा भाषा संस्कृति विभाग, हिमाचल प्रदेश के संयुक्त तत्वाधान में आयोजित तीन दिवसीय (28 फरवरी 2024 से 01 मार्च 2024) "कुल्लू साहित्य उत्सव - 2024" में उपलब्ध।

Amazon link: https://amzn.eu/d/0Pnw4yA

25/02/2024

Experience the heritage of Himachal through our artisanal creations.🧣

Step into the enchanting world of Bhuttico Shawls Kullu, where tradition meets craftsmanship! 🏔️

Discover the allure of authentic handwoven treasures, from timeless Kullu shawls to exquisite Dohru and Pattu, all crafted with pure wool – our hallmark of quality and comfort. ✨

Bharat Tex 2024 Global Textile Expo. Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

19/02/2024

Today is the day when the daily publication of the Amrita Bazar Patrika (ABP) started back in the year, 1891. From that day onwards it became a daily newspaper. ABP was one of India's oldest newspapers, founded in 1868. It was originally published in Bengali script; it evolved into an English format published from Kolkata and other locations with time.

The Da Mall Magazine Archives presents a glimpse of a letter to Dr. Mulk Raj Anand from T.K. Ghosh regarding the celebration of Amrita Bazar Patrika’s 100th anniversary celebrations in 1967.

19/02/2024

The handloom sector of Himachal Pradesh holds a unique position in the world of handloom textiles in terms of its history, heritage, process, design and material use.

With the advent of powerloom and machine made textiles and availability of ready to wear economical clothing in variety of style, colour, design, the handloom sector in India came under tremendous pressure.

However, the cultural roots, affinity to the heritage and the efforts and initiatives by the Governments both at the Centre and at the state helped the handloom sector survive and grow in many parts of the country.

The situation in Himachal is no exception. Incidentally the handloom of Himachal has got a very strong backward linkage due to its attractiveness as a crowded tourist destination and secondly due to the rising eco consciousness of the customers around the world.

Da Mall Magazine

𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙮𝙡𝙚 & 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙈𝙇𝘼

18/02/2024

राजकुमारी सुदर्शना चुंडावत अमेट राजघराने से ताल्लुक रखती हैं।

26 वर्षीय सुदर्शना चुंडावत मुंबई के मशहूर सोफिया कॉलेज से बढ़ी हैं। उन्होंने सोशल साइंस में मास्टर्स डिग्री हासिल की है। साथ ही इंटीरियर डिजाइनिंग का कोर्स भी किया है। सुदर्शना को हस्तशिल्प और फोटोग्राफी का भी खासा शौक है। वह क्राफ्ट और हेरिटेज को संरक्षित करने के लिए काम करती रही हैं।

अपनी खूबसूरती के लिए मशहूर सुदर्शना सिंह को साड़ियों का भी शौक है। उनके कलेक्शन में एक से बढ़कर एक साड़ियां है। तमाम मौकों पर साड़ियों में नजर आती हैं।

सुदर्शना कहती हैं कि मेरे परिवार की महिलाएं सीजन के मुताबिक साड़ी पहनती रही हैं और मैं यही देखते हुए बड़ी हुई हूं। उदाहरण के लिए फगनिया, जो फाग या होली महीने में पहनी जाती है। लहरिया जो सावन और भादों में पहना जाता है। सुदर्शना कहती हैं कि मैं कहीं भी और किसी मौके पर साड़ी पहन सकती हूं, चाहे कोई पारंपरिक मौका हो या पार्टी।

राजकुमारी सुदर्शना कहती हैं कि मेरे पास कई स्पेशल साड़ियां है। इनमें से कई मेरी मां ने शादी के वक्त मुझे दी थी। सुदर्शना सिंह के कलेक्शन में शिफॉन से लेकर चंदेरी, लहरिया बंधेज या बंधानी, कोटा डोरिया जैसी साड़ियां हैं। इसके अलावा राजस्थान का पारंपरिक पोशाक तो है ही।

Da Mall Magazine

𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙮𝙡𝙚 & 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙈𝙇𝘼

16/02/2024

Simla was a hill station in the Himalayan foothills popular with convalescents. It then developed into the summer capital of the British administration in India. There was a variety of clubs in Simla to help the Europeans pass their time pleasantly. The oldest was the United Services Club founded in 1844, with membership restricted to commissioned military officers, army or navy chaplains, members of the Indian Civil Service and judges. Indians and women were not permitted to join, although guests were admitted. The Club boasted a racquet court and rooms for playing billiards and cards, as well as a reading room and a library packed with books for members to enjoy.

In the late 1880s the New Club opened as a rival attraction. It had well-built premises with spacious rooms and a fine dining room with an excellent dance floor. Popular smoking concerts were held, where members of the Viceregal Council enthusiastically joined in the choruses. However the United Services Club was stung into action by the competition. Extensive improvements were made, and private pressure was brought to bear on government officials to support the older club. The New Club was forced into liquidation and the buildings became a hotel.


Men could also belong to one of several Masonic lodges which held meetings in Simla. The oldest of these was the Himalayan Brotherhood founded in 1838.

An area of flat land known as Annandale became the ‘public play-ground at Simla’. Picnics, fairs and dances were held there, as well as horse races, gymkhanas, and dog shows. Sports included polo, cricket, football, archery, rifle-shooting, golf, and croquet. In 1911 there was a Simla Winter Amusement Club offering badminton, a skating rink, and toboganning.

Amateur dramatics were very popular. In the late 1830s Emily Eden watched performances in a ‘small and hot, and somewhat dirty’ theatre in Simla. She wrote of a falling-out amongst the gentlemen actors: ‘One man took a fit of low sprits, and another who acted women’s parts well, would not cut off his moustachios, and another went off to shoot bears near the snowy range’.

A major event of the Simla season was the annual Fine Arts Exhibition. In the 1860s there was said to be ‘a galaxy of amateur talent in water-colour painting then at Simla’. Money prizes were offered and pictures were sent in from all over India.

The Simla United Services Club closed in 1947 and its collection of books was dispersed. A large number went to the House of Commons and the Empire Society, and the fiction was taken by the Punjab Club. There were thousands of non-fiction books on a wide variety of topics, some perhaps predictable, others less so. Alongside works on history, government, politics, war, military and naval strategy were books about hypnotism, crime, psychology, psychotherapy, feminism, witchcraft, and spiritualism. The homesick reader of A lonely summer in Kashmir could seek solace in one of a number of works on life back in Britain, such as The Glory of Scotland, Irish bogs, The England I love best, or A dull day in London.

Margaret Makepeace
India Office Records Cc-by

Further reading:
Edward J. Buck, Simla Past and Present (Calcutta, 1904)
India Office Private Papers: MSS Eur D 957 List of books in the reading room and library of the United Services Club Simla, 1947
India Office Private Papers: MSS Eur D 1236/4 Simla Winter Amusement Club 1911-1912

Bear’s grease, bonnets, bellows, biscuits and Bibles - a merchant in Simla in the 1850s

Posted by & for Da Mall Magazine Archives

30/12/2023

Mukesh Agnihotri Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

10/12/2023

Sheer wastage of land & infrastructure.

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

While the Dhalli heliport has been non-operational for more than two years after its completion, the state government has decided to set up another heliport to

26/10/2023

🏔🐆🌨

Himachal Pradesh is home to 75 snow leopards, reveals a first-of-its-kind five-year systematic effort at a large regional scale in the Himalayan range where the incredible ‘Ghost of the Mountains’ live and are elusive by nature.

23/10/2023

The project once completed will offer an ultra-modern city equipped with cutting-edge infrastructure and advanced seismic technology.

23/10/2023

🏔🌲🚂🍂🌳⛰️

The Himalayan Queen toy train on the Kalka-Shimla track has been halted for 2 months, with the special train set to replace it for the period

18/10/2023

🧭⛰️🌲🏔🧭

As we gaze out from Shimla, the majestic beauty of various hilltop mountains—from Shali Peak to Dhauladhar, and from Tara Devi to Kufri Hills—it...

14/10/2023

📿

With the World Cup here, many of you might have already booked your tickets to the matches in Dharamsala. But while you’re there, add these sites to your itinerary

09/10/2023

🚋 Kalka Shimla Railway 🛤

Kalka-Shimla Train Route: On July 8, 2008, UNESCO designated the Kalka-Shimla railway as a World Heritage Site for mountain railways in India.

22/09/2023

Train services resumed on the Kalka-Solan track, a UNESCOworld heritage site, after 72 days on Wednesday with two trains plying on the first day.

08/09/2023

Shimla, Sept. 06 Ritanjali Hastir Someone wisely said that a country that sells shoes in...

19/07/2023

We'll tell you about Kasol tourist places,Best things to do in Kasol, and how easily you can book bus tickets online.

29/06/2023

Theog is a scenic destination in the Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh, ideal for nature lovers seeking a break from the city's bustle. It is 27km from Shimla but offers tranquility, outdoor activities such as trekking, and serves as a gateway to nearby popular destinations such as Narkanda. Loca...

13/06/2023

A few hours from Shimla, the orchard paradise is Himachal’s best-kept secret

12/06/2023

Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, is a picturesque hill station that will captivate you with its natural beauty and old-world charm. Nestled in the lap of the majestic Himalayas, Shimla offers a delightful escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. With its pleasant weather, colonia...

11/06/2023

An apparently ancient rock inscription is lying unattended in a Mandi village. An epigraphist claims that the inscription dates back to the fourth or fifth century.

11/06/2023

Police said 'Mission Junk-Free Roads' started this weekend and so far, more than 500 vehicles have been removed on the Taradevi-ISBT stretch

10/06/2023

This initiative is a centrally sponsored scheme that aims to boost infrastructure facilities in the northern border regions and provide these villages with modern amenities on par with cities.

07/06/2023

List of famous things to buy in Shimla

07/06/2023

Shimla. The Sukhu government of Himachal Pradesh has given a gift to the lovers of drinking alcohol. The authorized bars of Himachal Pradesh will now remain open till 1 am. The decision was approved in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu at the State Secretariat in c...

07/06/2023

List of famous things to buy in Manali