Kasauli largely remains untouched by civilisation. During off-season (November-February) it is still possible to walk kilometers without running into other people (unlike its neighbouring towns).
The Pasteur Institute, founded in 1900 by Sir David Semple, is the oldest in India, producing anti-rabies vaccines and also treating sufferers. Now called Central Research Institute.
Popular Anglo-Indian author of children's literature, Ruskin Bond was born here. The Irish rugby international Andy Mulligan was born in the town in 1936.Kasauli is also home for some months of the year to famous authour Khushwant Singh. Rahul Bose the Famous Bollywood actor occasionally visits his house in Kasauli.
Environmentalists like Baljit Malik have given respite to
Kasauli from becoming a concrete jungle like other hill
stations in India.
Legend has it that Kasauli came into being when Lord Hanuman, on his way to getting the Sanjeevani herb, stepped here for jumping on to the Sanjeevani hill. At Kasauli there is a Hanuman Mandir atop the 300 m high hillock, called Monkey Point.
Most of the British left India at independence but a few remained. Among them in Kasauli was a couple, Major (retired) Robert and Mary Hotz. They ran a hotel and had a very pretty daughter, Sandra. In the early 1960s, Britain’s famed film director, Sir David Lean (“Bridge on the River Kwai”, “Dr Zhivago”, “Lawrence of Arabia”) was filming in Kasauli when he ran into Sandra, which was not a difficult thing to do, Kasauli being such a small place. Though she was barely out of her teens and he two decades her senior, they fell in love and got married. I am sure the charms of Kasauli had something to do with it.
The most happening place in Kasauli is the junction of Upper and Lower Malls,now
called Pine Mall, it is a tibetian market with shops selling daily commodities,
Fast foods (Momo's) and souvenirs for tourists. Kasauli is home to a
Prestigious club called the Kasauli club which was established by the British in 1880.
Prominent among the town's architecture is Christ Church (located near the bus station) 1.3 kms walk from Kasauli regency and
an Educational institute of world fame The Lawrence School, Sanawar 1.5 km
from the hotel.
Along with all this, another famous educational institution of the town is the St. Mary's Convent School Kasauli. Students from many parts of the country study here. The school is Co- Educational but boarding facility is provided only to the girls.
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