The Emerald Green Eye of Kumaon as Nainital
is also popularly known as got its name from a legendary
mythological story. King Daksha held a great 'Yajna' but did not
invite his daughter Parvati & her consort Shiva. Parvati
could not bear this insult and in great fury gate crashed into
the Yajna and leaped into the high flames of the fire to end her
life. It is believed that when Lord Shiva retrieved her
half-charred corpse, the eyes of Sati dropped in the lake while
her body was being carried to Kailash Parvat. Hence, the lake
was given the name of 'Nainital' or Naini Lake.
The name "Naini" is derived from a temple to the
goddess 'Naini Devi" built on the upper edge of the lake
which was destroyed in the landslip of 1880. It was subsequently
replaced by a modern structure. The word "Naini" means
'Eyes' and 'Tal' means 'Lake'.
Recent History
Nainital was founded in the year 1841
by Mr. P Barron, a European merchant and an enthusiastic hunter.
Mr. Barron was the first European who took great fancy to this
land and moved by the beauty of the sparkling lake he wrote: "It
is by far the best site I have witnessed in the course of a
1,500 mile trek in the Himalayas."
Lake District
Nainital is known as a lake district
because of a string of closely located lakes, Bhimtal, Sat Tal,
Naukuchiya Tal and of course the Naini Lake are all in close
proximity.
