With the mighty Himalayas in the background and the Ganga and Yamuna hemming it in, Roorkee in Uttaranchal is a town set amidst glorious natural beauty. This beauty comes attached to commendable human ingenuity. The country’s first aqueduct (Solani aqueduct), its first major irrigation work (The Upper Ganges Canal project), the first steam engine (the Jenny Lind, later named Thomason)and the first specialty engineering college (erstwhile Thomason College, now the IIT Roorkee)have all found genesis in its sylvan surrounding.
While the British East India Company was responsible for these feats, today the town is a thriving educational hub and gateway town to the much visited pilgrimage town: Haridwar and further up the Doon Valley the tourist hubs; Dehradun and Mussoorie. Its idyllic setting is a great way to discover some of the history associated with this town.
The best of both worlds wait to greet you in Roorkee. Here the vast plains of north India peter out at the foothills of the majestic Himalayas. As you pull in to Roorkee railway station, a model of the first steam locomotive greets you. The Jenny Lind ran on a 10 km line from Roorkee to Piran Kaliar village in 1851, 2 years before the first passenger train would run between Mumbai and Thane. The locomotive rail paths are still intact today; testimony to an era of superb quality and expert workmanship that now seems to have vanished. The locomotive and its two wagons primarily transported material for the construction of the Solani aqueduct, which can still be seen today. This enduring marvel has been the subject of many an architecture and engineering student’s thesis due to its extraordinary construction. The aqueduct diverts the waters of the Solani river into the Ganges Canal and is so well built, that when the government decided to replace it with a modern aqueduct in 1984, the cost to demolish it turned up to be higher than the cost to build a new aqueduct. Today you can see both the 165 year old original and the new concrete aqueduct lying along the canal.
The Old Cemetery, under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India is spread over 7.6 acres with its entrance gateway built in the Gothic style of architecture. Various ornate graves dating back to the mid 19th century can be seen here and make great subjects for tombstone rubbings. Sarkar Sabir Pak in Piran Kaliyar village, is a peaceful little shrine dedicated to Sufi saint Hazrat Alauddin Ali Ahmed and comes alive during the annual 15-day spiritual fair (Urs) on his death anniversary. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) houses many heritage buildings and is worth a visit. For those willing or eager to take a dip into spiritual waters, 30 km away from Roorkee lies Haridwar, a veritable mother lode of temples and aartis with the holy Ganga flowing through it.
Roorkee is a university town and has several modes of transport. Hop on to one of the many private mini buses that ply its streets along well known routes, or book a private car to travel to places further away from the main township.
On a daily basis there are approximately 16 flights that operate at Dehradun Airport.SpiceJet and Air India are the most popular airline brands that fly frequently to this airport.
Besides flying you can also reach Roorkee through train.Roorkeeis one of the most popular train stations in Roorkee.On an average about 79 trains pass through Roorkee on a daily basis.Saharanpur to Roorkee, Haridwar to Roorkee, Ambala to Roorkeeare some of the most popular routes to Roorkee with 111, 110, 91 trains weekly respectively.
By road Roorkee is surrounded by Sultanpur Adampur, Haridwar, Saharanpur which are 16.01 km, 16.15 km, 20.76 km away respectively. These places are ideal spots for people to plan their short weekend break.
Roorkee has a total of 13 hotels.There are 13 hotels in Roorkee with the popular ones being Hometel Roorkee, Motel Polaris, Hotel Center Point Roorkee, Hotel All Seasons, Hotel Sagar, Hotel Deep Residency etc.