The Ridge, Shimla

The Ridge road is a large open space, located in the heart of Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, India. The Ridge is the hub of all cultural activities of Shimla. It is situated along the Mall Road, which is the famous shopping center of Shimla. Most major places of Shimla like Snowdon, Mall, Jakhoo hill, etc. are connected through the Ridge.It runs east to west alongside the Mall Road, and joins it at the Scandal Point on the west side. On the east side, The Ridge road leads to Lakkar Bazaar, a wooden crafts market. It's the major landmark and the most easily recognized face of the hill station. When winter sets in and when the country had its first major snowfall of the year, most news papers printed photos of the ridge submerged in clumps of fresh snow.Prominent landmarks on the Ridge are a neo-Gothic structure of Church from 1844 and a tudorbethan styled library building built in 1910. There are three statues on the ridge; that of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, and Dr. Y.S. Parmar, the first chief minister of Himachal Pradesh.The biggest hillstation of the world, at one time the base ridge of Shimla had the thickest forest of the area, now the green slopes are covered with firs, pines, the Himalayan oak and carmine rhododendron trees, among which are dotted red-roofed chalets, half-timbered houses and Gothic Government buildings are visible from The Ridge.