Mukteshwar

Mukteshwar is a small Kumaon village in Uttarakhand at 2,285 metres, 50 kilometres from Nainital — quieter, higher, and with some of the best snow-peak views in the entire Kumaon region. The village is named after the 350-year-old Mukteshwar Dham temple, a small Shiva shrine perched on a rocky outcrop with a 180-degree view across the Himalayas from Nanda Devi to Panchachuli. Below the temple, the Chauli ki Jali rock formation — natural climbing cliffs with vertical drops — is where the Indian Mountaineering Foundation trains. The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), established in 1893, is the village's institutional anchor, and the British-era bungalows scattered through the deodar forest remain some of the most atmospheric heritage stays in north India. Fruit orchards — plum, apricot, apple — cover the slopes, and the entire village has a calm, pastoral feel that Nainital has long since lost.