The History of Nainital begins from mythological age. However, much of the ancient history is little known to us due to lack of proper records. This place is referred to in the "Manas Khand" of the "Skanda Purana". The ancient lake which is now called Naini lake was referred there as the Tri - Rishi - Sarovar (the lake of the three sages). Those three sages were Atri, Pulastya and Pulaha. According to the tradition, these sages had gone there on a pilgrimage and statyed there for meditation. At the time of there arrival, there was no water at the lake. Therefore, they dug a hole and siphoned water into it from Mansarovar in Himalayas. Mansarovar is now in Tibet under Chinese occupation. However, there is another mythological reference about Nainital. It is refered to as one of the 64 "Shakti Peeths" of India. According to the story, Lord Shiv was wandering here and there with the dead body of his wife Sati on his shoulder. Wherever the parts of the body of Sati fell, the place became a Shakti peeth. The left eye (Nain) of Sati fell here and at that very place a natural lake was created. This lake is eye shaped. This place became a Shakti Peeth. Naina Devi temple is located at the northern end of the lake. The district and the town derived their name from this lake which is called tal in local language. This place, thus, came to be known as Nainital. After that, we do not have much history about this place until the medieval period. Katyuri and Chand dynasties were ruling this region in medieval period form Kashipur (now in Udham Singh Nagar). It came under British rule in 1815, when they occupied Kumaon and Garhwal regions. Kumaon division was created at that time and a commissioner was appointed. In the year 1839 an English businessman from Rosa, Mr. P. Barron came here by chance. He on hunt and had lost his way. However, he found this place so beautiful that he built a European Colony on its bank. In 1841, Nainital appeared in the issue of the "Englishman Calcutta" which described the so called discovery of a lake in the vicinity of Almora. By 1847, Nainital had become a popular hill resort. On 3rd October 1850, the Nainital Municipal Board was formally constituted. It was the second Municipal Board of North Western Provinces. The wealthy Sah community of Almora were given land there on condition of building houses and help in urbanization of the area. In 1862, Nainital became the summer seat of the North Western Provinces. Now it is a district and residence of the Governor of Uttarakhand, the state carved out of Uttar Pradesh in November 2000.