Scandal Point

The story of why this point was named Scandal Point is an intriguing one. This captivating tale involves two significant personalities of the time- Maharaja of Patiala, Maharaj Bhupinder Singh and the British Viceroy's very own daughter. The British Viceroy, Lord Kitchener, had his entire family move to India during their reign. This made the family very uncomfortable, especially his daughter, who was very reluctant to move. However, after throwing a lot of tantrums and putting in efforts to try and convince her father, the viceroy's daughter had to give in and move to Shimla.

Lord Kitchener was on good terms with the Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh and the king would often visit the viceroy's abode. There, he met the Kitchener's daughter and immediately fell in love with her. Both, the king and the viceroy's daughter, got well acquainted with each other. They started meeting more often and spending more time together, and eventually, fell in love. When Kitchener found out about this, he was infuriated. The couple wanted to get married, but this was not acceptable by the British Viceroy. He ordered his daughter to stop seeing the king and tried to break them off. Both the lovers could not stand to be apart from each other, and they decided to elope.

The couple met at, what is now the Scandal Point, and ran away together in 1892. This remained the talk of the town for years and went down in history as one of the first alliances between the British and the Indians. Enraged by their misconduct, Lord Kitchener swore that he would ruin the king's life and expelled the Maharaja from Shimla. However, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was confident in his love, and he constructed the summer capital of his kingdom from scratch in Chail, only 50 miles away from Shimla.

The story behind the Scandal Point has been in the talks of many for years, and many seem to have a different understanding of the story. For example, many tourist guides say that the Viceroy's daughter didn't really elope with Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, but in fact, the Maharaja kidnapped Kitchener's impressionable daughter from the Scandal Point.

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was popularly known as a charismatic womaniser. He was a smooth talker who would easily woo women he was interested in and had been married quite a lot of times. They say that there was, in fact, no involvement of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh in the scandal and that his name was only dragged into this because of his marred reputation.

The timeline and sequence of events suggest that Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was only twelve months old when all of this supposedly happened! It is true that Lord Kitchener had banished Bhupinder Singh from Shimla who then built his summer capital in Chail, but the reason for banishment is not certain. The initials on the summer capital in Chail read RS- Rajinder Singh, Bhupinder Singh's father. Rumour has it that Rajinder Singh secretly had an English wife, which was probably from where all these stories were created.

The best time to visit the Scandal Point would be between March and June. The climate is very pleasant and usually varies between 15 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius. The days are bright, and the skies are clear which allows you to explore the point and its surroundings freely.

Months between July and September experience the seasonal showers. Shimla experiences heavy rainfall and occasional landslides during monsoons. However, the monsoons bring out the lush side of this hill station and make it all the more beautiful and alluring.

The winters start from October and go on till February. The climate is biting cold, and the temperature goes as low as -2 degrees Celsius. This may not be the best time to visit the Scandal Point.

Located near the Mall Road, the Scandal Point can be reached via foot as vehicles are banned throughout the Mall Road. To reach the Mall Road from the main road down the hill, there is a lift operated by the Himachal Tourism Development Corporation. It is located at a distance of 1 km from the bus stop and 1.5 km from the railway station. The lift has two parts, and a common ticket of INR 8 has to be purchased for it. After coming out of the first lift, you need to walk on a wooden plank at the end of which you will find a second lift that will take you up to the Mall Road. The lift operates from 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM.