Bhimtal is a town as well as a Nagar Panchayat in the district of Nainital in the Indian state, Uttarakhand.It is located at a height of 1370 m above sea level and lies 22 km distant from Nainital.The interesting part about this place is the Bhimtal Lake having an island at its centre.Apart from tourism, Bhimtal has been declared as a smalldistrict headquarters as majority of the offices of thedistrict administration got shifted to newly built Vikas Bhawan, which is a building complex meant for offices of district administration.

History

Bhimtal is regarded as an ancient place which got its name from Bhima in Mahabharata.There is an old temple of Shiva called as Bhimeshwara Mahadev located at the embankments of lake of Bhimtal. People believe that Bhimtal came into existence when Bhima came to this place during the banishment i.e. vanvas of Pandavas.The current temple came into being in 17th century, with the order of the then king, Baz Bahadur, a ruler of dynasty of Chand.

Bhimtal is believed to be an older place than Nainital as the Nainital city got established just 150-160 years ago. It remained a place for halt for the travellers of that region going from hills to the plains or the other way round.There is a possibility of this route being the popular old silk route.

Places of Interest

Close to the temple Bhimeshwar, lies a small hill called as Garg Parvat, that remains the source for the Gargi river, also called as Gola Nadi in that particular region.

At a distance of 2 km from Bhimtal lies the Tal of Nal Damyanti, which is a little natural lake. People believe that the king Nala’s palace got drowned into this particular lake.So it is regarded as a sacred place for the people living in that region.

At a distance of 5 km from Bhimtal there is a popular group of lakes called as Sattal, a tourist destination especially for the people who love natural splendor.There is a clear water in lakes and is abounded by thick and dense forest and the sounds of birds that one get to hear here is a lovely experience.There is a hill found in the proximity of this lake called as Hidimba Parvat.The name of Hidimba Parvat was taken from the demon,

Hidimba in Mahabharata.There is a monk as well as an environtalist named as Vankhandi Maharaj, who lives here and has also formed a sanctuary for providing natural habitat to the wild animals found around the hill.Thgis area is popularly called as Vankhandi Ashram.

There is a Karkotaka hill whose name was taken from a cobra which is mythical and named as Karkotaka.This hill is popular for a Nag temple found in this region and every year on the occasion of every Rishi Panchami, millions of people come to visit this temple for worshipping Karkotaka Nag Maharaj.It is one of the popular nag temples located in the Uttarakhand region.

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Demographics

According to the Indian census of 2001, Bhimtal has a large population where males are found 54% of the total population while females constitute 46% of the total population. The mean literacy rate of Bhimtal is 78%, which is much more than the national mean literacy rate of 59.5%. There are 81% of the male literates found here while the female literates constitute 75% of the total population. There are children below age of 6 years which constitute 11% of the total population.

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