Capital of India’s ‘lake district’, Nainital was Jim Corbett’s home for many years. Though Nainital has expanded and the surrounding forest that once teemed with bears, tigers and deer has thinned down abysmally, the soul of the place remains. It is still possible to look for traces of Jim Corbett’s town in the modern day resort.

Hindu Mythology has it that the deep green lake is one of the emerald green eyes of Parvati, Shiva’s wife. It is said that the modern Naina Devi Temple at the northern end of the lake is the exact spot where her eyes are said to have fallen off, after Vishnu chopped up her body and scattered it all over the country side to stop Shiva’s cosmic dance of destruction.