Morni

Highest pointElevation1,220 m (4,000 ft)ListingList of Indian states and territories by highest pointCoordinates30°42′N 77°05′E / 30.700°N 77.083°E / 30.700; 77.083GeographyLocationPanchkula district, HaryanaParent rangeShivalik Hills of HimalayasClimbingEasiest routeHike / scramble

Morni is a village and tourist attraction in the Morni Hills at the height of 1,267 metres (4,157 ft) in the Panchkula district of the Indian state of Haryana. It is located around 45 kilometres (28 mi) from Chandigarh, 35 kilometres (22 mi) from Panchkula city and is known for its Himalayan views, flora, and lakes. The name of Morni is believed to derive from a queen who once ruled the area two thousand years back. She was said to be a just and noble ruler. Morni was also a jagir of Raja Mir Syed Muhammad Baquar Ali Khan.

Geography

The Morni Hills are offshoots of the Shivalik range of the Himalayas, which run in two parallel ranges. The village of Morni lies on the mountainside, at 1,220 metres (4,000 ft) above mean sea level. Among the spurs of the hills lie two lakes, the larger of these being about 550 metres (1,800 ft) long and 460 metres (1,510 ft) broad, and the smaller around 365 metres (1,198 ft) either way.

Tourism

The Haryana Government has constructed the Mountain Quail Resort for tourists,^[1] besides there are also lots of lodges ,Homestay and Farmstay for every budget along with a motorable road to connect the Morni Hills with the Haryana State Highway near Panchkula. Three further roads connect Morni to Chandigarh and other nearby towns.

Forts

Morni Fort Museum

There is a two thousand year old fort in the Morni area, which was built by Queen Morni. Local folk songs mention how noble and just was queen Morni. The hills are covered by pine trees, and are popular trekking locations.^[1] The fort also has a museum built in fy 2017-18.^[2]

Forests Department of Haryana has converted the fort into a museum and nature study centre which houses old photographs of the fort, endangered birds and animals, awareness of dangers of plastic, etc.^[3]

Garhi Kotaha Fort

Garhi Kotaha is a fort on NH1 which lies 27 km south of the Morni Fort and 3 km east of Raipur Rani tehsil headquarter. It now lie in ruins since it was partially demolished by the British Raj after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.^[4] Mir Muslims of Kotaha ruled from Garhi Kotaha Fort with smaller forts at Morni and Massompur.^[4]

Masoompur Fort

Masoompur Fort is a smaller outpost fort with thick stone-brick masonry walls on a mud hillock. It is northeast of Massompur village which is 5 km from the main Garhi Kotaha Fort via road passing through Rehana village. It was built to control the access route to Samlotha temple, which lies northeast of the fort, to collect the hefty jizya (religious ransom tax) from the Hindu's pilgrimage.^[4]

Morni Hill Waterfall

Waterfall, access via a track in the forest, is active in the rainy season.^[5][6]

Morni Pheasant Breeding Center

Morni Pheasant Breeding Center focuses on the breeding of red junglefowls and kalij pheasants, and regularly releases birds raised in captivity into the wild every year. Red junglefowl had become extinct from most of its range and there are concerns of loss of its genetic purity due to breeding with other related species of fowls. Consequently, in 1991-92 a pheasant breeding center at Morni Hills was established with 6 aviaries and a walk-in a aviary to preserve the wild breed.^[7]

Morni Hill Archaeological Temple Site

Thakur Dwar temple, dedicated to lord Krishna,^[8] at the banks of Tikkar Taal is built on the site of 10th Century temple. Excavations in 1970 found Hindu sculptures dating back to Pratihara era (7th to 11th century CE), some of which are housed at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh and some remain in-situ at the Thakur Dwara temple at Morni Hills.^[9][6]

Bhuri Singh Deota temple, dedicated to the folk deity Buri Singh, is the cliff-temple at Pejarli village at a height of 1870 metres with unbroken scenic view of Ghaggar river (Sarasvati).^[10][11]

Herbal forest

In 2018, Haryana government starting establishing a 50,000 hectare herbal forest with the help of community self-help groups and with the assistance of Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth.^[3]

See also

TopicsDistricts and
divisions

Ambala division	Ambala Kurukshetra Panchkula Yamunanagar
Faridabad division	Faridabad Nuh Palwal
Gurgaon division	Gurgaon Mahendragarh Rewari
Hisar division	Fatehabad Hisar Jind Sirsa
Karnal division	Kaithal Karnal Panipat
Rohtak division	Bhiwani Charkhi Dadri Jhajjar Rohtak Sonipat

Major citiesCultureEconomy

Places of interest
Sarasvati civilization (Indus Valley Civilisation)	Adi Badri Balu, Kaithal Banawali Bhirrana Farmana Jognakhera Kanwari Kunal Lohari Ragho Mitathal Rakhigarhi Siswal Sothi
Archaeological	National monuments State monuments
Baoli (Stepwells)s	Kaithal (Bhai ki Baoli) Fatehabad (Rania,_Sirsa#History"Rania) Gurgaon (Akhara Baoli, Badshahpur Baoli, Dhumaspur Baoli) Maham in Rohtak (Choron ki Baoli) Narnaul (Alijaan ki Bawdi)
Buddhist and Hindu sites	Buddhist mounds (Agroha Mound, Sugh Ancient Mound) Buddhist stupas ([Adi Badri, Haryana
Haveli	Nangal Sirohi Hemu Ki Haveli in Rewari Noor Mahal in Karnal Gurugram: (Sikanderpur, Mohammadpur Jharsa, 12 Biswa haveli in Gurgaon gaon, Mahalwala haveli in 8 Biswa of Gurgaon gaon)
Forts	Asigarh Fort (Hansi) Badhshapur Fort Buria Fort Chhachhrauli Fort Dhosi Hill Fort Fatehabad Fort Farrukhnagar Fort Hisar-e-Firoza Fort Kotla Indor Fort Jind Fort Kaithal Fort Gajpat Singh Fort at Karnal Loharu Fort Madhogarh Fort Mahendragarh Fort Meham Fort Nahar Singh Fort at Ballabhgargh Pinjore Fort Raipur Rani Fort Fort of King Saras of Sirsa Tosham Hill Fort
Hills	Dhosi Hill near Narnaul Kotla Hill in Mewat Indor Hill in Mewat Madhogarh Hill near Mahendragarh Mahendragarh Hill Morni Hills in Yamunanagar Tosham Hill in Bhiwani
Caves	Chyvan Rishi Cave at Dhosi Hill Tosham Hill Caverns Nar Narayan Cave in Yamunanagar
Historical	Bhima Devi Temple Complex at Pinjore Dhosi Hill Farrukhnagar Kalayat Ancient Bricks Temple Complex Mughal Bridge at Kernal Harsh ka Tilla at Kurukshetra Nahar Singh Mahal Narnaul Pataudi Palace Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple Surajkund Tomb of Saikh Taiyab at Kaithal Tosham rock inscription Yadavindra Gardens State Protected Monuments Monuments of National Importance
Protected areas	Abubshahar Wildlife Sanctuary Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary Chhilchhila Wildlife Sanctuary Kalesar National Park Khaparwas Wildlife Sanctuary Khol Hi-Raitan Wildlife Sanctuary Morni Nahar Wildlife Sanctuary Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary Sohna Sultanpur Lake Bird Sanctuary
Endangered wildlife breeding	Chinkara Breeding Centre Kairu, Bhiwani Crocodile Breeding Centre, Kurukshetra Deer Park, Hisar Kalesar Elephant Rehabilitation Centre Pheasant Breeding Centre, Morni Pheasant Breeding Centre, Berwala Peacock & Chinkara Breeding Centre, Jhabua Sparrow Conservation Centre, Pinjore Vulture and Sparrow Conservation and Breeding Centre, Pinjore
Zoos	Bhiwani Zoo Hisar Deer Park Rohtak Zoo Pipli Zoo
Herbal parks	Shatavar Vatika Herbal Park, Hisar Ch. Surender Singh Memorial Herbal Park, Tosham Ch. Surender Singh Memorial Herbal Park, Kairu Ch. Devi Lal Herbal Nature Park
Lakes	Badkhal Lake Blue Bird Lake at Hisar Damdama Lake Karna Lake Tilyar Lake at Rohtak
Dams	Anangpur Dam Hathni Kund Barrage Kaushalya Dam Masani barrage Ottu barrage Palla barrage Pathrala barrage Tajewala Barrage
Rivers	Chautang Ghaggar-Hakra River Markanda River Najafgarh_drain Sahibi River Sarasvati River Yamuna
Religious	Adi Badri, Haryana Sarsvati udgam sthal Agroha Dham Baba Thakur Banbhori Devi Brahma Sarovar Bhuteshwar Temple Jayanti Devi Temple Jyotisar Kartikeya Temple Markandeshwar Mata Mansa Devi Mandir Nada Sahib Naugaja Peer Pindara Temple Sannihit Sarovar Sita Mai Temple Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple Sheetla Mata Mandir Gurgaon St. Thomas' Church at Hisar
Offices	High Court Legislative Assembly Raj Bhavan
Public places	Kingdom of Dreams Mall of India The Oberoi
Extreme corners	Easternmost point: Kalesar village Yamuna riverbank in Yamunanagar district Westernmost point: Chautala–Sangari border road crossing in Sirsa district Southernmost point: Kol Gaon hill in Ferozepur Jhirka tehsil of Gurgaon district Northernmost point: Khokhra village riverbank north of Chandigarh–Baddi river bridge in Panchkula district
Highest and lowest	Highest point: Karoh Peak in Sivalik Hills of Panchkula district Lowest natural surface elevation point: Deepest underground cave: Coldest avg temp: Karoh Peak in Sivalik Hills of Panchkula district Hottest avg temp: Hisar Wettest avg rainfall: Morni hills in Sivalik Hills of Panchkula district Driest avg rainfall: Bhiwani
Oldest	Oldest archaeological site: Rakhigarhi 4700 BC or 6700 years old Indus Valley Civilisation in Hisar district Oldest archaeological mine site: Kaliyana hill Indus Valley Civilisation stone mine (3000 BC or 5000 years old) west of Charkhi Dadri

Government and politics
Elections	Elections in Haryana 1991 1996 1998 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019
Chief ministers	Banarsi Das Gupta Rao Birender Singh Bansi Lal Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Bhajan Lal Devi Lal Om Prakash Chautala Hukam Singh Bhupinder Singh Hooda Manohar Lal Khattar
Governors	Dharma Vira Birendra Narayan Chakraborty Ranjit Singh Narula Jaisukhlal Hathi Harcharan Singh Brar Surjit Singh Sandhawalia Ganpatrao Devji Tapase Saiyid Muzaffar Husain Burney Hari Anand Barari Dhanik Lal Mandal Mahaveer Prasad Babu Parmanand Om Prakash Verma Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai Jagannath Pahadia Kaptan Singh Solanki
State agencies	Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Debt Conciliation Board Doordarshan Haryana Foreign Investment and NRI Cell Forests Department, Haryana Department of Economic and Statistical Analysis, Haryana Department of Environment, Haryana Department of Excise & Taxation, Haryana Department of Finance, Haryana Department of Industries & Commerce, Haryana Department of Industrial Training & Vocational Education, Haryana Department of Institutional Finance & Credit Control, Haryana Department of Labour and Employment (Haryana) Department of Land records & Consolidation, Haryana Department of Revenue and Disaster Management, Haryana Department of Rehabilitation, Haryana Department of Higher Education (Haryana) Department of School Education, Haryana Department of Elementary Education, Haryana Haryana Board of School Education Haryana Civil Medical Services Haryana Environment Protection Council Haryana Land Record Information System Haryana Power Generation Corporation Haryana Police Haryana Roadways Haryana Seeds Development Corporation Haryana State Directorate of Archaeology & Museums Haryana State Legal Services Authority, Haryana Haryana Tourism Corporation Haryana Urban Development Authority Haryana Waqf Board State Counselling Board, Haryana Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam

Sports
Venues	Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium Nahar Singh Stadium Tau Devi Lal Stadium Sector 16 Stadium Mahabir Stadium
Associations	Haryana Archery Association Haryana Cricket Association
Teams	Haryana cricket team Haryana football team Bhiwani Boxing Club