Almora

Almora is a town of about 36,000 (2011) in the Kumaon mountains of the Himalayas in eastern Uttarakhand. Most of the town sits on a crescent-shaped mountain ridge about 5 km long, and most of it is above 1,800 m. The rivers Kosi and Suyal flow around Almora providing a natural barrier. Unlike Shimla, Ranikhet and Nainital, which were developed by the English, Almora is a hill station totally developed by the Kumaoni Indians. Almora is an agricultural base and also a trade centre. Almora was the seat of power of the Chand Dynasty who ruled the land of Kumaon for almost one thousand years. An interesting fact about the discovery of Almora is that unlike other hill stations, it was not discovered and developed by the British. The Katyuri Dynasty ruled the region around Almora from the 9th century AD, till it made way for the Chand dynasty. Raja Balo Kalyan Chand made Almora as his new capital in 1560 AD, when he transferred his capital from Champawat to Almora.