About Tehri Garhwal
Tehri Garhwal is named after the old Tehri town — now submerged beneath the Tehri Lake created by the Tehri Dam (India's highest dam at 260.5m). The new Tehri town sits above the lakeline. The district is known for adventure sports on the lake, peaceful hill stations and the sacred Devprayag confluence.
Top Places in Tehri Garhwal
Tehri Lake – Adventure Hub
The Tehri Lake (42 sq km) is India's largest man-made lake and has become a major water sports destination. Activities include: jet skiing, kayaking, banana boat rides, paragliding from the lakeside and bungee jumping at Tehri. The Tehri Lake Festival (November) is a major annual event.
Kanatal – Forest Camping
A quiet hill retreat at 2,590m, 78 km from Dehradun — surrounded by dense deodar forests with Himalayan views. Several well-equipped campsites offer team-building activities, bonfires and star-gazing. Perfect weekend getaway from Delhi/Dehradun. Snow in winter (December–February).
Dhanaulti – Apple Orchards & Snow
A small hill town at 2,286m on the Mussoorie–Chamba road. Known for eco-parks (Eco Park I & II with deodar forests), apple orchards and proximity to Surkanda Devi. Very peaceful with minimal tourist infrastructure — a genuine off-beat stop.
Surkanda Devi Temple
A Shakti Peeth temple at 3,030m — 3 km trek from Kaddukhal village near Dhanaulti. Panoramic views of the Garhwal Himalayas from the summit. Most accessible from late April to October.
Devprayag – The Holy Confluence
At the southern tip of Tehri Garhwal — the sacred confluence of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers that forms the official start of the Ganges. A small, atmospheric pilgrimage town with the Raghunath temple at the confluence. The colour difference between the two rivers (one green, one blue) is visible at the meeting point.
Chamba – Garhwali Town
A pleasant market town and transit point on the Rishikesh–Gangotri highway. Gateway to Kanatal (15 km), Dhanaulti (20 km) and the Tehri Lake (35 km).
History of Tehri Garhwal District
Tehri Garhwal carries perhaps the most complex and poignant political history of any Uttarakhand district — shaped by the split of the medieval Garhwal kingdom, over a century of princely-state rule, and the submergence of its historic capital beneath Asia's largest earthen dam reservoir. The district's history is literally underwater: the old city of Tehri, which served as the capital of the Tehri-Garhwal Princely State for 189 years, now lies beneath the waters of the Tehri Lake.
The origins of Tehri Garhwal's separate political identity lie in the aftermath of the Gurkha invasion of 1803. When the Gurkha army defeated and killed the last Garhwal king Pradyumna Shah, his son Sudarshan Shah fled to the British East India Company seeking help. After the Anglo-Gurkha War (1814–16), the British returned the western portion of Garhwal (west of the Alaknanda) to Sudarshan Shah as the Tehri-Garhwal Princely State, while retaining the eastern portion (British Garhwal) under direct administration. Sudarshan Shah established his capital at Tehri town on the Bhagirathi river in 1815.
The Tehri-Garhwal Princely State ruled for 189 years under the Parmar dynasty, a succession of kings who navigated the complex relationship with British suzerainty while maintaining their own court, culture and administrative traditions. The state was known for its scenic beauty and strategic location at the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Bhilangna rivers. The sacred Devprayag confluence — where the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers merge to form the Ganges — sits at the southern border of what was the princely state, giving it a spiritual significance that the Tehri kings carefully cultivated.
The princely state was not without turbulence. In 1930, a peasant uprising led by Sridev Suman — demanding the abolition of begar (forced labour), basic democratic rights and improved land tenure — became one of the most significant peoples' movements in Himalayan India. Suman was arrested and died in prison in 1944 after an 84-day hunger strike. He is remembered as a martyr of the Garhwali freedom movement and the state's most beloved figure of resistance.
After Indian Independence in 1947, Maharaja Manabendra Shah of Tehri-Garhwal acceded to the Indian Union in 1949, ending the princely state. The region was merged with UP and eventually became part of Uttarakhand in 2000.
The most dramatic chapter of Tehri's modern history is the construction of the Tehri Dam (1978–2006) — India's highest dam at 260.5 metres — which submerged old Tehri town and 37 villages, displacing over 100,000 people. The dam was controversial from the start, opposed by environmentalists (including Sunderlal Bahuguna of the Chipko movement, who conducted a 74-day fast in protest) and seismologists who argued the location in a high seismic zone was dangerous. The reservoir filled to create the 42-square-kilometre Tehri Lake, which now serves as a major source of drinking water for Delhi and generates 1,000 MW of electricity. The displaced communities remain a continuing subject of debate about dam-displaced peoples' rights in India.
How to Reach Tehri Garhwal
- By Road from Rishikesh: Dehradun–Rishikesh–Chamba–New Tehri (80 km to Tehri)
- By Road from Dehradun: 78 km to Kanatal, 90 km to Dhanaulti, 100 km to New Tehri
- Nearest Railway: Rishikesh (80 km) or Dehradun (90 km)