Thanedar (sometimes spelled Thanadar) is a village in Southern Himachal Pradesh, India. At 2,400 m, it is 445 km from Delhi and is about 3-hr drive from Shimla.

Understand

The pretty orchard country of Thanedar and Kotgarh is famous for being home to one of the first apple plantations in the country. It was here in Kotgarh in 1916 that Samuel Stokes, a social worker from Philadelphia, brought the first apple saplings, the place he adopted as his home. The area around Thanedar is also the orchard region of Himachal Pradesh, where cherries, strawberries and apples etc. abound.

Get in

Thanedar is slightly higher than Shimla, and the road linking the two runs almost near the crest of the mountain with a gradual ascent. One is constantly treated to a bird's-eye view of different valleys as the road twists and turns from one spur to another.

See

What gives Thanedar is its awe-inspiring view of the snowy peaks is its location on the ridge. Below Thanedar is the Sutlej Valley and beyond it is the snowy Kinner Kaillash massif. The Narkanda ridge, a short distance away, is the watershed between the Sutlej on the north and the Giri River in the south.

• 1 Tani Jubbar lake (6 km away). 
• 2 Hatu Peak. At 3,352 m  
• 3 St. Mary’s church, Kotgarh. 
• Parmjyotir Temple. Built by the Stokes. 

Further afield

• The orchard towns of Kotgarh and Narkanda are nearby. The latter is also popular for its ski slopes.
• Khadrala and Baghi with their dense forests and Kumarsain with an interesting wooden palace are also easily accessible from Thanedar.

Sleep

• Banjara Orchard Retreat. Nestled among acres of apple trees. 

Go next

• Rampur
• Sarahan
• Chindi