The kasauli distillery know as the Mohan Meakin after Indias independence, N.N. Mohan acquired a majority stake in Dyer Meakin Breweries. He took over the management of the company in 1949 and the company name was changed to Mohan Meakin Breweries in 1967. Later Colonel V.R. Mohan took over as Managing Director.
Later the manufacturing activities of the company were diversified into other fields including breakfast cereals, fruit juices and mineral water under the leadership of Brigadier (Dr.) Kapil Mohan . Subsequently the word brewery was dropped from the company name .
Today, Mohan Meakin’s principal brands are Old Monk Rum and Golden Eagle Beer. Its other products include Diplomat Deluxe, Colonel’s Special, Black Knight, Meakin 10,000 and Solan No 1 whiskies, Asia’s original beer, Lion, is still sold in northern India.
In 1820, Edward Dyer moved from England to set up the first brewery in kasali which came to be known as Dyer Breweries . The Kasauli brewery launched Asia’s first beer, Lion, which was very poplar amongst the British rulers and troops stationed in the hot climate of India. The brewery was later shifted to Solan as there was an abundant supply of fresh water there. The Kasauli brewery site was converted to a distillery, which is still operatational. later H G Meakin, moved to India and bought the Solan Breweries from Edward Dyer . After the First World War, the Meakin and Dyer breweries merged.
The Lawrence School , established in 1847, situated at a height of 1750 metres and spread over an area of 139 acres, heavily forested with pine, deodar and other conifer trees.It was founded by Sir Henry Lawrence, and his wife Honoria.On the 15th of April 1847, a group of 14 boys and girls camped at the top of the foothills of the Himalayas. They lived under canvas for some weeks anxiously waiting for the first buildings to be completed before the arrival of the monsoon. Sanawar is a co-educational boarding school, affiliated to CBSE and has students of varying backgrounds from different parts of the sub-continent. It provides an environment that encourages a questioning mind and gives students many avenues for expressing their creativity and building their skills.
A toy train ride gives you the most scenic splendour in Kasauli. The toy train is one of the three such trains still functioning , the other two in ooty and darjeeling . It is said a local holy man guided the british surveyers where to lay the rail track.You can travel by taxi to Dharampur bus stand below which is the Dharampur railway station true for you through the dense pine forests and tunnels and the heritage Barog tunnel.
Plan your trip in such a way that you can catch the down train from Shimla at Barog station. The ride can be dream come true. You can board the local toy train up to barog station. Here you can deboard the the train. After taking a walk around the Heritage Barog station and the tunnel you can board the down train upto Dharampur station. If you wish to trek upto the Barog bus stand and catch a local bus to kasauli, this could be another option. This can be a nice way to enjoy your holiday in kasauli.
The Kalka–Shimla Railway is a narrow gauge railway mostly through mountainous route from Kalka to Shimla. It is known for dramatic views of the hills and surrounding villages. The Kalka–Shimla Railway was built in 1898. to connect Shimla, the summer capital of India during the British Raj, with the rest of the Indian rail system. At the time of construction 107 tunnels and 864 bridges, were built throughout the course of the track. The Chief Engineer of the project was H.S. Herlington.
The locomotives used during the earlier period were manufactured by Sharp, Stewart and Company, and larger locomotives were introduced which were manufactured by Hunslet Engine Company. The diesel and diesel-hydraulic locomotives were started operation in 1955 and 1970 respectively.
The railway was declared a heritage by the Himachal Pradesh government in 2007, and in 2008 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongwith the other Mountain Railways of India. When you are in kasauli you must not miss the toy train ride. One can take a taxi from kasauli to dharampur .
Toy train
From dharampur one can board the toy train upto barog station. It is a one hour ride through the pine forest and long tunnels.It can be a lifetime experience. One can get down at barog station and trek to the main road which is 0.4 kms from the station. From the main road one can board a bus or taxi back to kasauli.
The 94.5 Kalka-Shimla rail track has 102 operational tunnels on the route. This track, was functional on November 9, 1903, and is a masterpiece of the engineers who dared to bore a number of 107 tunnels and also a lesson to learn for us that how a railway line could be laid through a mountainous terrain without harming the trees and beauty of the hills. The two of the longest tunnels on this track are at Barog and Tara Devi.
The tunnels once again were renumbered in 1930 and from 107, their number was reduced to 103, and this was further came down to 102 when tunnel no. 46 near the Solan Brewery had to be demolished. All the tunnels were built between 1900 and 1903. The longest tunnel on this track is the Barog tunnel (no 33). It is named after Barog, a British railway engineer.
112 YEAR OLD STEAM ENGINE RUNS ON THE KALKA SHIMLA RAIL TRACK
Today on Tuesdat 13 March 2018 at 9:33 AM IST Steam locomotive engine was witnessd running on the kalka shimla rail track. As a part of Glorious Trains of india tour , visitors from england took a ride in this steam engine train from shimla to kaithlighat. There were three crew members to run this engine. The driver started the engine, then the first fireman put the coal in the cabin and slowly the steam engine moved forward.
As a passenger of this ride Stephen Gad, Haslon John and Clair shappy are retired officers said that their ancesstors also had travelled by this steam engine.
They were here to cherish the old memories of their parents.
CLEANLINESS DRIVE ON THE KALKA SHIMLA RAIL TRACK ON 12 MAY 2018
Amrita Shergil the famous indian painter was born in Budapest, Hungary.Her father Umrao Singh Shergil Majithia, a Sikh aristocrat and a scholar in Sanskrit and mother Marie Antoniette Gottesmann, a opera singer from Hungary. Her mother came to India as a companion of Princess Bamba Sutherland the granddaughter of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. . Her younger sister was Indira Sundaram ,mother of the contemporary artist Vivan Sundaram. She spent most of early childhood in Budapest.
In 1921 her family moved to Summer Hill, Shimla in India, and soon began learning piano and violin, and by age nine she along with her younger sister Indira were giving concerts and acting in plays at Shimla’s Gaiety Theatre at Mall Road, Shimla Though she was already painting since the age of five she formally started learning painting at age eight.
She was greatly impressed and influenced by the Mughal and Pahari schools of painting and the cave paintings at Ajanta.Sher-Gil married her Hungarian first cousin, Dr. Victor Egan in 1938 and moved with him to India to stay at her paternal family’s home in Saraya in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Thus began her second phase of painting which equals in its impact on Indian art with the likes of Rabindranath Tagore and Jamini Roy of the Bengal school of art.
amrita shergil
Sher-Gil’s art has influenced generations of Indian artists from Sayed Haider Raza to Arpita Singh and her depiction of the plight of women has made her art a beacon for women at large both in India and abroad.[30] The Government of India has declared her works as National Art Treasures. Amrita Shergil has a house in kasauli which is a heritage building in kasauli and is looked after by Vivan Sundram now.
