The Ridge, Shimla

The Ridge, Shimla
The Ridge, Shimla, covered in snow as seen from 'Scandal Point'.
Elevation	2,205 m (7,234 ft)

The Ridge road is a large open space, located in the center 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 Sanjauli Snowdown (IGMC), Mall Road, Jakhu Temple, Oakover, Kali Bari, Annadale, 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 newspapers printed photos of the ridge submerged in clumps of fresh snow.

Prominent landmarks on the Ridge area is Christ Church, a neo-Gothic structure built in 1844 and a Tudorbethan styled library building built in 1910. There are four statues on the ridge; that of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Dr. Y.S. Parmar the first chief minister of Himachal Pradesh and the recently established statue of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The biggest hill city 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.