Eight Indian Cities from Shimla to Jigani in Order of Recorded Latitude, North to South

Shimla sits at a recorded latitude of 31.103333 degrees north, the most northerly stop on this trail. The atlas describes it as the capital and largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, declared the summer capital of British India in 1864, and later the capital of East Punjab before it became the capital of Himachal Pradesh.

Panipat has a recorded latitude of 29.3875 degrees north. The atlas describes an industrial city in the Indian state of Haryana, about 95 kilometers north of Delhi, famous as the site of three major battles in 1526, 1556 and 1761, and known as the city of weavers and the textile city for its wool and cotton milling.

Sarnath has a recorded latitude of 25.381111 degrees north. The atlas describes a town northeast of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh where the Buddha is said to have given his first teaching, and where around 250 BCE the emperor Ashoka erected the Lion Capital, later adopted as the State Emblem of India.

Khajuraho has a recorded latitude of 24.852796 degrees north. The atlas describes a city in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh that holds the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples in India, with the Khajuraho Group of Monuments a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.

Bhavnagar has a recorded latitude of 21.765 degrees north. The atlas describes the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat, founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil, capital of a princely state that was the first to voluntarily join the Indian Union, and the city where Shamaldas Arts College, founded in 1885, stands.

Valsad has a recorded latitude of 20.633333 degrees north. The atlas describes a city in southern Gujarat that serves as the administrative headquarters of Valsad district near the border with Maharashtra, known with its surrounding district for mango and chikoo orchards and lying close to the Arabian Sea coast.

Navi Mumbai has a recorded latitude of 19.03 degrees north. The atlas describes a planned city in Maharashtra, conceived in the early 1970s as New Bombay to relieve overcrowding in Mumbai and renamed Navi Mumbai in 1995, which hosts Jawaharlal Nehru Port and opened Navi Mumbai International Airport in December 2025.

Jigani has a recorded latitude of 12.46 degrees north, the most southerly stop on this trail. The atlas describes a satellite town in Anekal taluk in South Bengaluru, Karnataka, known as the granite hub of Bengaluru, with an established industrial area and the ruined Varadaraja Temple founded in the 14th century by the Hoysala king Veera Ballala III.