Introduction
Dehardun is the capital city of the State of Uttarakhand in North India. It consists of 6 tehsils, 6 community development blocks, 17 towns and 764 inhabited villages. It also consists of 18 uninhabited villages. It is located 230 km north of India's capital New Delhi and the Delhi metropolitan area. Dehradun is renowned for its natural resources and for its educational institutions like Forest Research Institute, Indian National Military College and Indian Military Academy. It is home to many national foundations like the Oil and Natural Gas Committee, Survey of India, and Indian Institute of Petroleum are all located in Dehradun. It is a famous tourist destination.

Deharadun is made up of two words Dehra and doon, where 'Dehra' derived from the word "dera" means camp whereas "doon" is term for valley that lies between the Himalyas and the " Shivaliks". When Sikh guru Ram Rai , son of Har Rai, came to this region along with his followers, he established a camp here for their stay. It was around this time that the city started to develop . This is when the word Dehra was linked to doon , and thus the city was named Dehradun. Some historians also believe that the word Dehra itself has a meaning, it can not be regarded as a term for camping. This term is still used in Punjabi and Hindi

History
The history of the capital of Uttarakhand, Deharadun is linked to the story of Ramayana. It is believed that after the battle between Ravan and Lord Ram, lord Ram and his brother Laxman visited this site. Dhronacharya is also linked to this place.Likewise, Risikesh is mentioned as well in the history when Lord Vishnu heard the prayers of the saints and slaughtered the demons and handed the land to the saints. Evidence such as ancient temples and idols have been found in the areas of Dehradun which have been linked to the mythology of Ramayana and Mahabharata . These evidence are believed to be around 2000 years old. The location, the traditions followed from ancient times and the literature reflect that this region witnessed many events of Ramayana and Mahbharata. Even after the battle of Mahabharata, the Pandavas had influence on this region and the rulers of Hastinapur along with the descendants of Subahu as susidiaries ruled. Ashoka's inscriptions found in the bank of river Yamuna in Kaalsi indicates that this region must have once been wealthy. In the seventh century this area then known as Sudhnagar was also witnessed by a well known Chinese traveler Huen Chang. It was Sudhnagar that later came to be recognised as the name of Kaalsi. In the neighbouring region Haripur, the remainings were discovered from the time of king Rasala that reflects the region's prosperity. Dehradun was seriously aatcked from these regions by Mahmud Ghazni, in 1368 by Taimooralang, in 1757 by Ruahela Njibuddulo and in 1785 by Ghulam Qadir. Chaos continued until 1801 in Dehradun. after 1816, the British Government conquered over dehardun and colonised Landor and Mussorie in 1827-1828. In the 1970s it was involved in the Garhwal Mandal. In 2000 , Uttarakhand (earlier called Uttaranchal) was decolonized from Uttarpradesh and then Dehradun was made the provisional capital city of Uttarakhand state. After becoming the capital of the city there has been continuous development.

Geography
he district is surrounded by the Himalayas in the north, Sivalik Hills in the south, the river Ganges in the east, and the river Yamuna in the west. Some other famous towns located in the foothills of these mountain ranges are Mussoorie, Ssahssradhara, Chakrata, Lahkhamondal and Dakpathar. This district is divided into two major parts, the main city Dehradun surrounded by Shivalik and Himalayas and Jaunsar Bavar, which is located in the foothills of Himalayas. In the north and northwest , it is surrounded by the district of Uttarkashi and in the east by Tehri and Pauri district. In the west, it has Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh and Tons and Yamuna river and Haridwar district and Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district in the south. It is located between 29 ° 58 'and 31 ° 2' 30 "north latitude and 77 ° 34 '45" and 78 ° 18' 30 "east longitude. This district consists of 6 tehsils namely Dehardun, Chakrata, Avicasnagr, Kalsi, Tjonee and Rishikesh, 6 Community Development Blocks namely Vis, Chakrata, Kalsi,Vikashnagar, Shaspur, Rajpur and Doivala, 17 towns and 764 villages. Out of these 746 villages are inhabited whereas 18 districts are uninhabited. The literacy rate in Dehardun is 78.5%. Out of which 85.87% is male population and 71.20% is female population. The total population in the rural area is 601 965, whereas in the urban area it is 677 118.

Education
Dehradun is home to most ancient educational institutions. Doon School and Welham School are the most prestigious schools all over the country. Dehradun is well renowned for IAS training and military services. The Indian Military Academy, a premier institution for training the nation's military officers, is located there. In addition, other national foundations like Oil and natural gas Committee , Survey of India and FFP are also located here. There are lots of forest officials in India who had attended Forest Research Institute in Dehradun. Similarly, University of Petroleum for Energy Studies is one of the best institution in the country which is also located in Dehradun. It is also home to many different religious schools as well as public schools. Yoga, Ayurveda and meditation also have a great influence in Dehradun.
Some key organisations are in the process of doing important work in the field of education. Among which National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH) plays a key role in helping the blind people. It is first such institute in India and also the first press for Braille script. This campus is spread over large area and is located in Rajpur Road. The employees board in the campus itself. In addition, there is also a part of this campus which is located in Rajpur and named Sharp Memorial School for the Blind,which provides education and service to the blind children. There is other institute called Bajaj institute of learning which is built up for people with hearing problems and other disabilities. All these organisations and institutes are located in Rajpur Marg. Uttarakhand government had also built up institute for the mentally challenged children which is called Kruna Vihar All these organisations and institutes support to improve the life of the residents here.

Architecture
In Deharadun there are many beautiful ancient buildings. It is the roof of the houses here that differentiates it s architecture. The roofs here are made slanted because of the heavy rain fall. To avoid the damages of the house and from water getting inside the houses , it is preferred to make it slanted. Also because of the low temperature during winter the houses have fire place for it keep warm. Even though the new technologies have taken over with electronic heatings , it is a tradition here for the houses to have a fireplace. After Dehardun was announced the capital of Uttarakhand there have been lots of progress and also with more houses being built up. Modern architecture has taken over and very less of ancient buildings can be seen today. 100 years before these ancient buildings could be easily seen. There is not much difference in the new buildings. The ancient architecture here is more like British architecture which is represented beautifully.Dehradun is connected with the architecture of a rich tradition. It has many beautiful cultural heritages and many important buildings such as Clock Tower, Forest Research Institute, CNI College, Morrison Memorial Church, Inamullah Building, Jama Masjid, Osho Meditation Center, Indian Military Academy and Darbar Sahib .