Morni is a village and tourist attraction in the Morni Hills in the

Panchkula district Panchkula district was formed as the 17th district of the Indian state of Haryana on 15August 1995. It comprises two sub divisions and two tehsils: Panchkula and Kalka. It has 264 villages, out of which 12 are uninhabited and ten wholly merged ...

of the northern Indian state of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

. The village lies at a height of above sea level and is located around from

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

and from

Panchkula Panchkula (ISO: ''Paṁcakulā'') is a city and district headquarter in the Panchkula district in Haryana, India. It is a satellite town of the state capital Chandigarh. Panchkula is a border city with Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh ...

city. It is known for its view of the distant

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

, as well as its flora and lakes. The name "Morni" is believed to derive from a queen who once ruled the area two thousand years ago. She was said to be a just and noble ruler. Morni was also a jagir of Raja Mir Syed Muhammad Baquar Ali Khan.

Geography

The Morni Hills are offshoots of the Shivalik range of the Himalayas, which run in two parallel ranges. The village of Morni lies on the mountainside, at above mean sea level. Among the spurs of the hills lie two lakes, the larger of these being about long and broad, and the smaller around either way.

Tourism

The

Haryana Government Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the Haryana Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led b ...

has constructed the Mountain Quail Resort for tourists."Morni hills"
.

Haryana Tourism Haryana Tourism Corporation (HTC) is an agency of the Government of Haryana, India established in 1974. The organisation operates 44 tourist facilities spread across the state of Haryana. These facilities offer visitors lodging, dining, and r ...

. 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2013. There are also many lodges, homestays, and farmstays for every tourist budget along with a motorable road to connect the Morni Hills with the Haryana State Highway near Panchkula. Three further roads connect Morni to

and other nearby towns.

Forts

Morni Fort Museum

There is a two thousand year old fort in the Morni area, which was built by Queen Morni. Local folk songs mention how noble and just was queen Morni. The hills are covered by

pine trees A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

, and are popular

trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey and may involve camping outdoors. In North America, tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain hu ...

locations. The fort also has a museum built in fy 2017-18.http://haryana.punjabkesari.in/hisar/news/cm-has-done-inspection-of-herbal-forests-734137 CM has done inspection of herbal forests, Punjab Kesari, 8 Jan 2018. Forests Department of Haryana has converted the fort into a museum and nature study centre which houses old photographs of the fort, endangered birds and animals, awareness of dangers of plastic, etc.Haryana Samvad
, Oct 2018, p38-40.

Garhi Kotaha Fort

Garhi Kotaha is a fort on NH1 which lies 27 km south of the Morni Fort and 3 km east of Raipur Rani tehsil headquarter. It now lie in ruins since it was partially demolished by the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

after the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

Muslims of Kotaha ruled from Garhi Kotaha Fort with smaller forts at Morni and Massompur.

Masoompur Fort

Masoompur Fort is a smaller outpost fort with thick stone-brick masonry walls on a mud hillock. It is northeast of Massompur village which is 5 km from the main Garhi Kotaha Fort via road passing through Rehana village. It was built to control the access route to Samlotha temple, which lies northeast of the fort, to collect the hefty

jizya Jizya (), or jizyah, is a type of taxation levied on non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The Quran and hadiths mention jizya without specifying its rate or amount,Sabet, Amr (2006), ''The American Journal of Islamic Soc ...

(religious ransom tax) from the Hindu's pilgrimage.Masoompur fort ruins
.

Morni Hill Waterfall

Waterfall, access via a track in the forest, is active in the rainy season.http://tourism.webindia123.com/tourism/hillstations/Morni/index.htm Morni Hills

Morni Pheasant Breeding Center

Morni Pheasant Breeding Center focuses on the breeding of

red junglefowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the a ...

s and

kalij pheasant The kalij pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos''), or simply kalij, is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Nepal, Pakistan to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies ...

s, and regularly releases birds raised in captivity into the wild every year. Red junglefowl had become extinct from most of its range and there are concerns of loss of its genetic purity due to breeding with other related species of fowls. Consequently, in 1991-92 a pheasant breeding center at Morni Hills was established with 6 aviaries and a walk-in a aviary to preserve the wild breed.Red junglefowl

Morni Hill Archaeological Temple Site

Thakur Dwar temple, dedicated to lord

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

William Wilson Hunter Sir William Wilson Hunter (15 July 18406 February 1900) was a Scottish historian, statistician, a compiler and a member of the Indian Civil Service. He is most known for ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' on which he started working in 1869, ...

, 1885,

The Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

. at the banks of Tikkar Taal is built on the site of 10th Century temple. Excavations in 1970 found Hindu sculptures dating back to

Pratihara The Pratihara dynasty, also called the Gurjara-Pratiharas, the Pratiharas of Kannauj or the Imperial Pratiharas, was a prominent medieval Indian dynasty which ruled over the Kingdom of Kannauj. It initially ruled the Gurjaradesa until its vic ...

era (7th to 11th century CE), some of which are housed at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh and some remain in-situ at the Thakur Dwara temple at Morni Hills.Morni Hills Thakur Dwara temple
Bhuri Singh Deota temple, dedicated to the folk deity Buri Singh, is the cliff-temple at Pejarli village at a height of 1870 metres with unbroken scenic view of

Ghaggar river The Ghaggar-Hakra River () is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage at , and as Hakra downstream of the barrage in the Thar Desert. In pre- ...

(Sarasvati). H.A. Rose, 1911, A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province.1934, Gazetteer of the Sirmur State.

Herbal forest

In 2018, Haryana government starting establishing a 50,000 hectare herbal forest with the help of community self-help groups and with the assistance of Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth.

References

External links

Chandigarh to Morni Hills
{{National Parks of India Tourist attractions in Panchkula district Villages in Panchkula district Hill stations in Haryana Sarasvati River Mountains of Haryana Himalayas Highest points of Indian states and union territories Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Archaeological sites in Haryana