Mashobra

Mashobra

Mashobra is a town in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. It is connected to the state capital Shimla (erstwhile Simla) through the historic Hindustan–Tibet Road built in 1850 by Lord Dalhousie. Mashobra has an average elevation of 2,146 metres (7,041 feet). Mashobra is also a tourist destination. Wildflower Hall at Chharabra, now a property of Oberoi Hotels, has been residence to Lord Kitchener as well as Lord Ripon during the British Raj. Pankaj Mishra is a writer/poet who lives in Mashobra. At 3 km from Mashobra is Carignano, a picnic spot that was a villa of Chevalier Federico Peliti, an Italian photographer in India from the times of Queen Victoria, who named it in honor of his native town Carignano near Turin in Italy. The natural vegetation comprises pine, oak, cedar or Himalayan deodar, and rhododendron, as well as maple and horse chestnut. The wildlife consists of monkeys, Langurs, jackals, kakkar (barking deer), and the occasional leopard, as well as numerous bird species such as the Himalayan eagle, pheasants, chikor and partridges.