Shimla

The Jakhu Temple has an interesting legend behind it. It is said that a deadly arrow injured Lord Rama's brother Lakshmana when he was fighting the battle with the demon king Ravana. A priest diagnosed Lakshmana and said that he needed a particular Sanjeevani herb from the Himalayas to cure Lakshmana. Hanuman was sent to get that herb from he lofty mountains. Upon reaching the Himalayas, Hanuman couldn't make out as to which herb was the Sanjeevani. So he dug up the entire mountain and flew back to where Lakshmana was lying injured.
After Lakshmana was cured, Hanuman went back to place the mountain in its original site. He rested on top of the Jakhu hill for sometime. It is said that the top of the hill got flattened due to Hanuman's weight! The temple has been built around the place that is supposed to have the footprints of Hanuman.

The monkeys here are extremely aggressive. We were told to leave all our belongings like cell phones, purses, scarves keys etc.in the car, because the monkeys will try to snatch them from you. They even go into your pockets if they think you have something in there...We witnessed a monkey trying to pull a purse off a lady's shoulder as she was screaming for help.

In 2008 a 108Ft statue of Hanuman was placed here. This statue can be seen from different spots all around the Shimla mountains.

We were given sticks by the hotel we stayed at just so we could keep the monkeys away from us. Kabir wanted to poke one of the monkeys and boy was he surprised when the monkey tried to attack him...Sahana was so amused she wanted him to do it again!! Here you can see Kabir trying to provoke the monkey sitting up on the green tin roof...

Just to show you how big this statue was...
my height is shorter than the length
of one of Hanuman Ji's feet 

These are the beautiful mountains
of Shimla that are so densely populated

The winding roads going up to Shimla were not easy to maneuver but we made it, although a few of us lost their lunch on the way up...not saying who....

Here we are at Mall Road which is the
downtown hot spot in Shimla.
Of course Sonie had to go shopping!!

I just had to take this picture!

This is a shot of the beautiful, luxurious, heated, indoor
swimming pool at the Oberoi Cecil Hotel in Shimla!
You almost don't want to step in it, it was so beautiful!

This is a shot of the lobby of the Oberoi Hotel we stayed at!!

Rohit and Sahana standing outside our room

And here is Sahana, claiming the little Diwan for her bed!!
Yeah right!! She did not sleep in it one night!! She spread out on
the huge kingsize bed like she always does...

Here Sahana is getting ready to jump in to the beautiful pool!

Daddy and Sahana enjoying a relaxing swim
after a long day of sight seeing and shopping!