There are some places which have an ambience of a stable calm and a quiet beauty about them. A beauty which is not declared from the rooftops but which takes one by surprise during a visit to these places. An old hill village neighbouring Dehradun city has always attracted people, locals as well as tourists with its unassuming sylvan charm and a climate that is cold but sunny in winter, delightfully cool in summer and exceptionally rainy in the monsoon.
This introduction to Rajpur does not seem adequate even as I begin to write about it. Words cannot easily capture the landscape of this place, which is a favourite haunt of day dreamers who drive or even walk the 10 kilometres, which take them from the heart of Doon into this forested locality with its exhilarating breeze, winding mountain alleys and constant birdsong.
One can easily say that if anyone is looking for an escape from the mundane or from the hectic pace of life in the city, there could be no place more suitable than Rajpur. It accepts all, the tourists in their swanky cars, the wanderer who chooses to take a leisurely walk into its arms and the spiritual seeker looking for some days of getting in touch with himself amid the resounding silences of this Himalayan hamlet.
Approaching Rajpur, the air gets cooler, the noise gets lesser and the hills seem to be coming closer by the minute.Four kilometres before Rajpur is the Mussoorie Diversion Road on the left . Most tourists take this road to Mussoorie and never get to know what they have missed by not staying on the Rajpur Road and passing through Rajpur to take the Old Mussoorie Road. The Old Mussoorie Road,which was built around 1930, is a route which is two- and-a-half kilometres longer than the new road (from the Diversion).
As one enters Rajpur,there is a road turning to the left. This is the Old Mussoorie Road. It is near this turn that visitors usually park their vehicles and take a breather. And it has always been so since the year 1952 that the Chai Pakora Shop, the very first shop in Dakpatti area of Rajpur Bazaar and the obvious choice for anyone who first arrives in Rajpur.
This little tea shop , which still does not have a signboard, has become synonymous with Rajpur for the people of Dehradun. It was started in 1952 by Sardar Narain Singh Sethi and is looked after by his son Pritpal Singh who was born in 1954 after his father came and settled in Rajpur. This shop is an integral part of the memories of every Doonite as there would hardly be any person from the Doon valley who has not savoured the spicy little aloo and pyaaz pakoras and the crisp hot jalebis at this simple joint.
Not to forget the sizzling samosas with the deliciously tangy imli ki chutney! Film actor Tom Alter, who spent a good part of his childhood in Rajpur, has immortalised this tea shop in his book The longest Race, which had this hill village as its backdrop. It was Rev. James Payne Alter, Tom’s father, who founded the Christian Retreat and Study Centre in Rajpur in 1954.
Till the time when the motor road to Mussoorie was built (around 1930), people went up to Mussoorie by the bridle path, which begins near the Shahenshahi ashram. While some people rode on horses or mules, others preferred being carried in dandies (palanquins). At the time when the “cart road” was the only route to Mussoorie, Rajpur boasted of a club, two hotels (both of which were destroyed in fires), a mule breeding farm and agencies that facilitated travel.
A few small hotels like Rajpur Resorts and Rajpur Heights have come up in the village now. Ashrams like the Ramtirth Mission and Shahenshahi make ideal places for the spiritually inclined to spend a few quiet days in Rajpur. It is not unusual to come across an ascetic enjoying his evening cup of tea at the pakora shop.
Over the years, it has remained quite a favourite with artistes and nature lovers from the Doon valley where they can take refuge and derive inspiration from the awesome beauty of the hills and the vales. Hopefully, Rajpur will always remain what it has been and still is... a tiny hill hamlet which blesses the visitor with its mesmerising calm and whose quality of timelessness has a therapeutic effect on burdened souls.