The district is named after its chief city Dehra Dun. Dehra appears to be a corruption of dera signifying a temporary abode or camp. During the reign of Aurangzeb, Ram Rai, Guru of the Udasi Sikhs on being ordered by the Mughal king to retire to the wilderness of the Dun, had pitched his tents here in what is now the Khurbura locality of the town and has also built a temple near Dhanawala. Around these two sites, grew up the town popularly known as Dehra. The term dun or doon means the low lands at the foot of a mountain range, and as the bulk of the district lies in such a terrain, it justified the dun part of the name.The city has many beautiful rest houses and good hotels to provide accommodation to the tourist. For many years, it has been one of the best known educational centres in northern India. Dehra Dun is well linked by rail and road with Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Lucknow and Varanasi.
Access
Air - The nearest airport from Dehradoon is the Jolly Grant around 25 km away, on the outskirts of the town. There is a daily flight from here to Delhi, which is the nearest international airport.
Rail - Dehradoon is a major railhead on the Northern Railway line with direct trains to almost all the metropolitan cities of India and some important tourist destinations in Uttaranchal. The Shatabdi Express is the best option for the tourists coming from Delhi and the other good option is the Mussorie Express. The Dehradoon-Mumbai Express connects the city to Mumbai. There are also trains to Varanasi, Kolkata and Lucknow.
Road - Dehradoon is well connected to other cities of Uttaranchal and Delhi with regular bus services. Distances of some major cities from Dehradoon are Agra 381 km, Calcutta 1562 km, Chennai 2365 km, Delhi 235 km, Jaipur 493 km, Lucknow 582 km, and Mumbai 1578 km.
Places of Interest
Tapkeshawar Temple
Sahastradhara
Laxman Siddh
Malsi Deer Park
Chandrabani
Sai Darbar
Tibetan Temple
Robber’s Cave (Guchhupani)
Lachhiwala
Bhagirathi Resort
Santala Devi Temple
Tapowan
Asan Barrage Water Sports Resort
Dakpathar
Rajaji National Park
The district is situated in the northwest corner of the state.
It is bounded on the north and to some distance in the north-west by the district of Uttarkashi, In the east by the district Tehri Garhwal and Pauri-Garhwal. In the south by the district of Saharanpur(Uttar Pradesh), the southern tip touches the boundary of district Haridwar. Its western boundary adjoins the Sirmour (Nahan) district of Himachal Pradesh with the rivers Tons and Yamuna separating the two.
Lies between 29 degrees 58’ and 31 degrees 2’ 30" north latitudes and 77 degrees 34’ 45" and 78 degrees 18’ 30" east longitudes.
Total area of the district is 3088 sq kms.
Altitude is 640 mts.(2100 ft) above sea level.
I wish all, to atleat visit once in life this beauty of Uttranchal and enjoy the heaven on earth only.