Pradhanpat Waterfalls in Deogarh

Bike ride to Pradhanpat Waterfalls in Deogarh district was planned long back and finally on this Sunday we did bike to this place. There are two roads to go to Deogarh..one via Barkot (about 130 kms) and another through Kuchinda (about 150 kms). But we did choose the later as road through Barkot is almost non existant...courtesy Mining Dumpers....After having a good breakfast at Badgaon which is about 45 kms from Kansbahal. There was a small chowk called Gariamal on SH 10 from where we took left turn to Kuchinda.Passing through some of the dense forests and small ghats that I have seen in recent times we reached Bamra and then Kuchinda.Here we met the NH 200 and moved towards Deogarh at a brisk pace.



Another waterfall...Pradhanpat under my belt

First view of waterfall was enough to make us say "its worth biking 165 kms to see this waterfall".Falling from a height of almost 100 feet it actually sprayed water to near by onlookers.This place is sorrounded by hills on all side and place was really dark.



Pradhanpat spraying water to vistors delight



Pradhanpat waterfalls...testing my photography skills

One good thing that we found at Pradhanpat was that district tourist officials have really taken care about the place and made all kind of arrangements like cement benches and small bridges etc.Good to see that some people are working hard in keeping the place up to the mark.



At a small shrine near waterfall...with Anna and Prithi

As anna was feeling hungry,we had to leave little bit early and drove back on NH 6 looking for a good dhaba( 18 kms on NH6 and then 40 odd kms on NH 200).If you plan by any means to drive down to Pradhanpat then make it a point to have lunch at Kuchinda.There was not a single dhaba on the whole 50 km stretch from Deogarh to Kuchinda where you can get good food.Feeling hungry,we drove the bikes at full throttle towards Kuchinda.



Driving on SH 31 from Bamra to Kuchinda was a pleasure



Weekly "haat(market)" at Bhojpur near Kuchinda

13 kms from Kuchinda we stopped for a minute to have a look at the local weekly "haat"(market) at Bhojpur where all kind of things starting from Onions to Cattle was being sold.

After having lunch at Kuchinda we drove towards another waterfall Gudguda which has been covered in another section of this blog....

Category › Deogarh , Orissa , Pradhanpat

Chatia Temple- Future Home of Lord Jagganath

It is said that end of Kalyug is inevitable. But that has some connection with Chatia Temple in the district of Jajpur. Situated beside NH 5 and about 35 kms from Cuttack is Chatia Temple. It is said that there is a sword inside the temple premises and it is slowly coming out of the ground .Over the period of years it has come out to some extent. The day it comes out completely , Lord Jagannath along with brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra will come to Chatia on a black horse leaving behind Puri and destroying the evil society. This phase of Lord Jagannath will be known as “Kalaki Avatar” and will mark the end of “Kalyug”.

Chatia Temple in Jajpur


A closer look of Chatia Temple......The future home Lord Jagannath

Though, I was not fortunate enough to enter the temple(one cannot enter any of Lord Jagannath’s temple after having non veg food and unfortunately I had non vegetarian lunch earlier) and see this different look of the almighty but felt that this needs to be published in my Blog.This along with some other anecdotes related to Jagannath Swamyji will be covered in an all together different series.After all he is the God of whole world..Lord Jagath+Nath

Category › Chatia , Jajpur

Gadachandi(Gadchandi) in Kendujhar

Continuing my drive in southern parts of Kendujhar after photographing Gudguda Waterfalls and Ghatgaon temple, I halted at Anandpur. I had heard of this place called Gadachandi earlier but lot of research on net did not come of any help. Hardly any information available on net. Asked one of local petrol pump owners about the road to Gadachandi. Its around 35 kms on the road towards Bhadrakh from Anandpur. After driving through for around 15 kms one can have glimpse of the southern parts of famous Boula Mountain Range of Eastern Ghats. These are actually the southern parts of Hadagarh Sanctuary.From a chowk called Chenapati, one needs to take a left turn towards Gadachandi. The same road leads to Hadgarh dam and Boula Mines owned by TATA group(I was told so).






Stream flowing down near the Gadchandi temple

After reaching the place one can feel the coolness of the bushy trees of the Boula Hills.The place is absolutely superb for Rock climbing as the hill is almost vertically steep. There are lot of caves around and one needs to have experts while trying hand out in rock climbing. Some steps beside the stream leads to the
place where Chandi thakurani(Goddess) is worshipped. The temple is actually a part of the cave in the lower parts of the Boula Hills. From a near by rock a perennial stream flows down creating a beautiful scenery. Perfect picture setting. I always ask a question that why our Oriya Movie makers never try to shoot some sequences in these places.Perhaps one needs the passion of someone like Dwarka Divecha who roamed around India to select location for Sholay and finally zeroed on in a place called Ramnagram( between Bangalore and Mysore).



Stream flowing out of the Rocks near the Temple



Man.. I am tired




Southern Parts of Boula Hills

I was very tired driving through out the sunny day. So just fell flat on one of the rocks. Wished that I could stay for some more time but sun was about to set. We drove back to Baitarani Road my maternal uncle’s place via Jajpur Road.

Category › Gadachandi , Kendujhar

Maa Tarini Temple at Ghatgaon

Maa Tarini is the Forest Goddess that every Oriya retorts to in the time of need…when all hopes fade away, one goddess will come to your rescue-Maa Tarini of Ghatgaon (Ghatagaon).
Anecdote is that King of Kendujhar was bringing Tarini Maa from Puri to Kendujhar. But Goddess in the beginning of journey warned the King that if King will turn back and look at the Goddess then she wouldn’t proceed further. So, the journey started. King was riding a horse and Goddess was following her to Kendujhar. King could make out from the Jhum Jhum sounds of the Goddess’ ornaments that she was accompanying him. Suddenly near thick forests of Ghatgaon, the sound stopped. King stopped over there and turned his head to see whether Tarini Maa was there or not. This was the mistake he committed. Tarini Maa vanished. She made Ghatgaon her new home. This way she came from Puri to Ghatgaon.

Main Entrance of Maa Tarini Temple,Ghatagaon

Situated amongst thick Sal forests on NH 215 and about 70 k.ms from Panikoili and 40 kms from Kendujhar is Ghatgaon. It’s in Anandpur Subdivision.

NH 215 passes through the thick forests of Kendujhar


Inside the temple-Maa Tarini

There are few things quite famous about Ghatgaon- Nadiakora(Coconut Sweets) and the way Coconuts reach Ghatgaon from various parts of Orissa.
Suppose a devotee wants to send a Coconut to be offered to the deity from as far as Koraput..then he need not worry. Fastest and the most efficient courier service and that too free of cost is available in Orissa. The devotee needs to give that coconut to any long distance Bus. The Bus driver will carry the coconut to the nearest possible place of Ghatgaon on his route. From there another bus will carry that Coconut in the same way. Finally busses going directly towards Ghatgaon will drop the coconut at the Temple.No bus driver will charge or even say “No” for rendering this service. By default any coconut that is offered to a Bus driver will reach Ghatagaon safely. DHL & Fed Ex –is this service comparable with yours????

Bus Carrying Coconuts from devotees and delivering at Ghatagaon

There are so many Coconuts reaching Ghatgaon-Maa Tarini temple that temple authorities are making best use by giving them to local agents for making Nadiakora . They are quite sweet made only with sugar and coconut. I still remember when I used to be a child and used to go in bus to Panikoili from Rourkela, I used to gulp down a quite few. My mother would carry some packets of Nadiakora to distribute to all our neighbors.

"Nadiakora"(Coconut Sweets) Sellers infront of the Temple

Its my personal experience that whenever I am in any sort of trouble, I have always turned to Maa Tarini for help and she has always listened to me. Hopefully, her blessings will always be there with me and others…..

Category › Ghatgaon , Kendujhar

Gundichaghai Waterfall

“What’s the happiness you get by visiting new places and photographing them?”...This was the question one person asked me when I told that I was going to one unheard place called Gundichaghai for photographing a waterfall. After travelling overnight in train from Rourkela to Jajpur Road…then biking for 75 kms towards Ghatgaon on a beautiful road (NH 215) amongst forests of Sal & Mahua…then driving on a virtual non existent road to the point of waterfall..and finally photographing the waterfall and publishing in the web for the first time….What did I achieve? Answer is simple- Sense of Achievement.

Gundichaghai Waterfall

River Mudala cuts through the rocks

Daitari-Banspani Railway Line ....Lifeline of Orissa's Economy

Me and my cousin Bunty took the left diversion from Ghatgaon towards Harichandanpur..Its surprising that few people have idea of this waterfall near Ghatgaon of Kendujhar district. After you drive for 15 kms on the road you reach Harichandanpur.This is an important small road junction with roads leading to Kendujhar,Bansapani and Sukinda. There is also a railway station at Harichandanpur but presently not a single passenger train plies on the important route of Daitari-Bansapani.Thanks to our poor, low voiced good for nothing MPs .From Harichandanpur, there is a kachha road of 4kms that leads to the waterfall. River Mudala was at full flow due to incessant rains on previous day.

I just wish that more and more people can visit these unheard ..unknown..neglected tourist places…Tourism in Orissa is not only Puri,Konark ,Bhubaneswar & Chilika….but rather those numerous waterfalls like Gundichaghai…deep gorges of Tikarpada…Temples of Veda Vyas…Tiger sanctuaries of Similipal….Sprawling Deomali of Eastern Ghats in Koraput and the list is never ending…..

Category › Gundichaghai , Kendujhar , Orissa

Koilighughar in Jharsuguda

Me and Mothi aka Anna were suposed to go to Pradhanpat Waterfalls in Deogarh District. But due to last moment change in Mothi's plan we ended up in going to IB Thermal , a place in district of Jahrsuguda. I was browsing through the official website of Jharsuguda district which had a mention of this place called Koilighughar which is famous for a waterfall. Distance that we both covered in last two days was approximately 410 kms..daunting task for a Hero Honda CD 100.

On the Rourkela-Jharsuguda Highway....Mothi( Future Elephant.. ;-) and a Jumbo

After staying at IB Thermal and visiting places like Lakhanpur Mines and Reservoir waters of Hirakud Dam we left for a place called Gobindpur on Jharsuguda-Raigarh Highway. Its approximately 20 odd kms from Belpahar.From Gobindpur Chowk you have to take a right turn to reach Koilighugar Waterfall. After Driving through thick forest of Sal and Mahua for around 6 kms you reach this less heard waterfall of Orissa called as Koilighughar. While driving through the forest ,I was just wondering about my bikes condition.It was good that I had changed the engine oil just 2 days back.

Drive through the Jungle road to Koilighughar

There were hardly any tourist at the place. We could see the Ahiraj rivulet which after originating from the forests near Hemagiri in Sundergarh District flows through a deep gorge near the Temple and cascades down to form a spectacular waterfall before joining the famous Mahanadi river. All around you can see thick green forests.

Ahiraj Rivulet flowing through a gorge near Koilighughar Temple

Waterfall near the Temple

Near the temple there is an Ashram where some babas live. Previously a famous baba by the name of Saham Swami used to do his meditation in the nearby caves . Later on a temple was constructed there which still has that cave. We met a Swamiji and started talking with him. He belonged to a place called Neelamadhaba near Nayagarh and told us that this forset his full of snakes and animals. During monsoons the rivulet creates a fierce face of itself and cuts through the gorge with full speed. If you are lucky then offer some rice and you will see big fishes coming to the surface to eat them.

Temple of Koilighugar

Swamiji offering rice to some Swans...lucky enough to photograph this...

Picture of the Rivulet Ahiraj from the top of Waterfall

Its said that your wishes gets fulfilled sooner or later...since we both were feeling hungry, from no where Swamiji offered us a meal that he had prepared for himself and other babas. Other babajis had gone to a nearby village on an invitation feast since that day was the occasion of Nuakhai, the famous festival of Western Orissa. Just wait I am not finished..we were offered Kheer,Sag made out of Roots of Bamboo & Moong Dal.The Sag in local language is called Baunsa Karidi..so tasty.

Fortunate enough to get to eat all these

Time for us to leave as we were supposed to drive around 200 kms and it was already 4 'o clock in the evening. Took the blessings of Swamiji and set off for Rourkela. Reached Rourkela at 9'o clock in the night. Had a good night sleep only to wake up at 10 in the morning next day....By the way...who said that Jahrsuguda does not have a Tourist place???? Come down to see Koilighughar..

Category › jharsuguda , koilighughar , Orissa

Darjing...on Rourkela-Rajamunda Highway

10:00 am-no plans of moving out on a boring Sunday...
10:45 am- on the way to Rajamunda...about 85 kms from Kansbahal
First plan was to just have a bike ride to Rajamunda,a road junction about 45 kms from Rourkela. Two roads bifurcate from Rajamunda-one towards Barkot and other towards Tensa Mines. When I was a kid,we used to stop at Rajamunda for lunch or dinner on the way to Jajpur Road.Around 5-6 dhabas used to be there at Rajamunda and couple of petrol pumps. Keeping same thing in mind ,me and Mothi set off towards Rajamunda for having some mutton curry at a Highway Dhaba.

Road is not that good but was better than our expectation. Riding through thick forests, our first stoppage was a Road side Railway Station..Champajharan. This is a small station on the Rourkela-Barsuan Railway line. Only one passenger train runs on this route and that too mostly filled with forest wood.This area is also affected by Naxal Movement. So liitle bit skeptical when we entered the station. But once you stand on the platform,one can see beautiful green hills all around and one or two Red coloured Goods wagons...quite contrasting and eye catching.Track is mainly for Iron Ore carrying Goods Trains which start from Barsuan Mines under Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

Champajharan Station on Rourkela Barsuan Line

Nearby Champajharan Station is one small temple of Bhole Baba where all busses and trucks stop and offer some dakhshina before moving ahead.

Temple of Bhole Baba

The whole road is sorrounded by Lush Green hills and Streams. Its absolutely a pleasure to drive on this road as you can see the stram flowing nearby. But these streams generally dry up in summers.

Land slide due to Rains

Another Tributary of River Brahmani

Darjing

Finally, we reached Darjing. I had heard of this place but never knew that it was so close to the road. Accidentally I saw the wide river bed from a distance and in a minute we were on the banks of river Brahmani at Darjing. Such a beautiful place where you will see a lot of rocks inside the river. River is quite wide and was in full flow due to Monsoons.
After having our Lunch of Mutton Curry at Rajamunda,we returned towards Rourkela.But let me tell you that the food was far far below my expctations and is not of typical Dhaba standard.

While cominga back we halted at this superb place. So quiet and serene. Only a small Mountain stream and lush green forest.
But the ride would have been incomplete without a glass of Handia- a local drink made out of Rice Starch.I had a half glass since I was tasting it for the first time.It actually tastes good . Just for confirming the alcholic effect of the drink,I asked one of the local lads-his answer with a smile" Sir,have it and you won't come to know that you have fallen into a ditch while riding".

A glass of Handia costs only 1.5 rupees.

Category › Sundergarh