Wednesday Walk- A walk to Khalanga war memorial

This Sunday we planned to go for a long walk, somewhere surrounded by trees beautiful paths and a peaceful atmosphere. And when we talk about such places in Dehradun, Balbhadra is one of the most famous for scenic walks.

The distance from our house to Khalangra Gate is 5 kilometres. We walked 2 kilometres from our house to the main road so that we could take an auto from there. We took an auto for about 3 kilometres because there are a lot of vehicles on the road in the afternoon. The walking route has many beautiful wall paintings that represent our culture of Uttarakhand.

We got off the auto at the Balbhadra Khalanga Gate, where a lovely 8-kilometre-long path begins. This one-way road ends at the Balbhadra Khalanga War Memorial.

As soon as we started walking, we noticed a lot of vehicles coming and going on this road. That surprised us as this road is very peaceful. Then we saw some girls dressed in Gorkha traditional attire. So we understood that today’s walk would not be as peaceful as we expected. Our curiosity grew, and speaking to an uncle, we learnt that today is the Balabhadra fair.

The funniest part is that I wanted to attend this fair for the last 5 years. Every year, I was usually outside of Dehradun, so I always missed it. Despite being in Dehradun, I had completely forgotten about it. But finally got to see it. to see the fair.

From the Khalanga entrance gate, the first 2.5 kilometres have a residential area, some cafes, and a Tibetan colony. After that begins a dense forest, where walking usually feels very peaceful.

A little further, we met an uncle who asked us if we were going to see the fair, and confirmed that we were quite late and that the fair was almost over. We felt a little disappointed, but since we had come for a walk anyway, we thought it best to keep walking. We walked 3.5 kilometres. By the time we reached, the traditional dance had already ended. Food stalls, traditional clothes, jewellery, and decorative items were still open. Many people were eating and shopping. My niece bought a handmade flower that lights up. She also received a complimentary keychain.

The variety of food was amazing, although we didn’t eat anything because we had carried our own food and had not expected a fair deep inside the forest.

This one-day fair is held in memory of the warriors. This was the 51st fair, and this war was fought by the Gorkhas. That is why there is a Khalanga Memorial here.

After spending some time there, we walked back to the Khalanga entrance gate. It was already dark when we reached the Khakanga entrance gate. From here we took an auto to reach home. Today's walk was not peaceful because of the heavy traffic heading towards and returning from the fair, but we got some idea of what this fair looks like, and we would love to come again next year. In total, today we walked around 16 kilometres.

About Khalanga war memorial and the History (This I have copy from the board of the picture I am sharing here so that it can be readable) – cultural notice board Nalapani/Nalgarhi Fort is one of the 52 Garhs of Garhwal Region as brought out by many historians and earliest documented by Atkinson in the year 1884. These were built during late medieval period by the then 64 independent chieftain on the highest cliffs as a military outpost so as to keep watch over the invaders.

The intervening period after decline of Katyuris around 12th century AD and emergence of Pal Dynasty in the 16th century AD saw the development of these 'Garhs'. In the beginning of 16th century, Ajay Pal, chieftain of Chandpurgarhi had unified the fragmented territories/Garhs of the erstwhile Kedarkhand and renamed as Garhwal.

Fortress of Nalapani is situated at an elevation of 1020 yards ASL and overlooking valley of Dehradun to the SW and Song River valley to the east. Walls of the fort are following the contour of terrain. It has three distinct layers of defense system in the form of three layers of fort walls. Walls are made of cut to size stones with clay and lime.

Beginning of 18th century saw Nepalese army aggression and occupation of Kumaon, Garhwal and Himachal Pradesh. East India Company and the British allied forces planned to occupy northern region up to lower Himalayan ranges, thus leading to the first Anglo-Gurkha battle in the year 1814. Battle was fought here in Nalapani and well known as "Battle of Khalanga". During this battle, British allied forces for the first time experienced considerable loss of man, material and time thereby jeopardizing their strategic plan and gaining Pyrrhic victory.

Disclaimer: The photoraphs clicked on my phone One Plus 13s, and the content translated in google translate from Hindi to English. One paragraph I have copy fro the board which I mentioned above also so that its readable for readers.