As at other famous springs, each religion in its turn has left its mark at Pinjor. There are many fragments of ancient Sanskrit inscriptions there, and Abu Rehan mentions its existence in 1080. The old name, Panchpura-the town of the five-is locally believed to be derived from the Pandavas, the five brothers, heroes of the Mahabharata. The legend says that these wooded hills formed the background to the closing scene of the great epic drama, and this Eastern Iliad rings with a strange new reality retold in this corner of the Himalayan foot-hills, where time has little meaning and the charm of leisure still survives the contact with the restless West. Here in the old Mughal palace of Pinjor, perched high above the splashing waterfalls, the sound of some far-off train alone brings back the passing of the centuries.
