ON THE BANKS OF SUBERNAREKHA

We the humans are so much engrossed in our mechanical life that its very important for us to go out,to explore the world,to smell nature because it is nature which helps us to live.

 I  being a traveller always want to explore,to leave this artificial routine life for few days and go to search my peace which I always find in nature.

I got an oppertunity to visit Ghatsila for 2N 3D which is  a small town situated in East Singbhu,m,Jharkhand.It is 240kms from Kolkata nd is well connected by rail and road.It is 45 kms from Jamshedpur.The city is located on the banks of Subernarekha river and is blendled with hills and forests.It is the place where famous Bengali writer Bibhutibhusan Bondopadhye spent his last days.You can visit Ghatsila by both rail and road

1)By Rail-Ispat Express,Steel Express,Lal Mati Express,Hwh Ranchi Int Express,Kriya Yoga Express.

2)By Road-'Via Kharagpur.Avail NH6 till Bahragora.From Bahragora take NH for Tatanagar.

 We went by train.Ispat Express which departed Hwh at 6.55am and reached Ghatsila station at 10am.It was a bad weather as it was raining constantly though it was not expected that time because we visited Ghatsila in December,2018.But the train jouney was enjoying.We crossed Kharagpur after that we faced a dense forest called Salbani.The journey was very comfortable by train.  

             The train arrived Ghatsila at right time.We hired an auto after coming out of the station.There is a rate chart just outside the station by which you can fix the rate of auto for sightseeing.We boarded our hired auto and headed for hotel Bibhuti Bihar.Our room was booked in advance.(The picture is given above.)We entered in our room and refreshed ourselves.Our auto driver would come at 3.30pm for taking us on few places.

Bibhuti Bihar

I am giving an itinerary which can help you to visit the sightseeing spots and explore them properly.

Day 1-In the morning check in at hotel and refresh yourself.After taking lunch visit the house of Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhye where he spent his last days.It has been modified and built as a small museum where you will find his belongings and the novels which he wrote.

After that you must visit Ratmohona for extraordinary sunset on the banks of Subernarekha.Though we didnt find the chance to watch this view as it was cloudy.Return to hotel for nitestay.

Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhye

House of Bibhuti bhusan

Day 2-Have your breakfast early in the morning and go out from hotel to visit Fuldungri.Located on a small hill in the northen fringe of Ghatsila,the peak of Fuldungri offers panoromic view of the rolling hills and green valleys.You have to trek a little bit for reaching to the top but trust me the trek is just mind blowing.You will really enjoy the trek along the jungle.

Fuldungri forest

               Then head for Burudi Lake which is a beautiful waterbody surrounded by hills and forests.It is situated in the part of Dalma Forest Range.The natural beauty is extraordinary.You can also do boating there.100/- per head. There are small hotels just near the lake where the tourists can have their lunch or meal.Then head towards Dharagiri Falls which is very near to Burudi Lake.The road condition is poor but the sceneic beauty will attract you to visit this place again and again.Its  a small falls in the midst of Dalma forest.There is a ten minutes trek throgh the boulders and pebbles.The place is very serene and silence prevail there.Its a very beautiful and must watch spot.After visiting these places return to hotel in the evening for nite stay.

Burudi Lake

Dharagiri Falls

Day 3-Check out from hotel after having breakfast and visit towards Galudi Dam and Rankini Temple.Galudi is a small hamlet by the river Subernarekha on the lap of Dalma Mountain Range.The place is gifted by its own natural beauty and tribal culture.Then visit Rankini Kali temple which is a famous tourist spot of Ghatsila.After that head for the train for return journey.

Hotels of Ghatsila

1)Suhasita Resort-09771831877

2)Bibhuti Bihar Hotel-09097722600

3)Akashdeep Hotel-06585225799

If you want to stay in Galudi then 

1)Ranjanigandha Guesthouse-09830146921 

  

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IN THE LAND OF MAN EATERS

Sunderbans------yes,the land of man eaters.


          The home of Royal Bengal Tigers the only man eaters prevails here.Its the largest estuarine forest in West Bengal that are covered by mangrove forest.There are in total 102 islands of varied sizes and togather they named as Sunderbans.Its a renouned destination both for tourists as well as photographers.Its main attraction is The Royal Bengal Tiger for which innumerable tourists visit this place all throughout the year.

 

              Sunderban,the name derived from a tree called Sundari which is very much predominant in this area.You can find this tree all over the banks scattered here and there.So its name is Sunderbans.But according to me its really a very beautiful forest and to me its name has been made a justice due to its awesome beauty.The jungle is quite dense and as its covered with mangrove trees you can’t able to walk through the forest very much.Spreaded upto 10000  sq kms of which sixty percent falls in Bangladesh and the rest in West Bengal.

Apart from Sundari there are a few more mangrove trees which you will find like Garan,Gewa,Hethal,Keora and many more.And there are also a lot of faunas like Wild boars,Dolphins,Jackel,Crocodile,Wild cats,Fishing cats,Deer,Crabs and innurable types of birds.So tourists visit almost all the year round to cherish the immense beauty of the jungle as well as to watch the wild animals around.

Anyways,I had visited this place quite a long time before with my parents when I was a small kid.I had that time encountered with Royal Bengal Tiger and the natural beauty forced me to visit again.But I was not getting a chance to visit this place and really I was praying to God to give me a chance so that I can inculcate the beautiful nature and the wild animals again in my mind and soul.Finally I got the chance with some fellow travelers and on 26^th January 2018. I along with my better half and my daughter started our journey to the the ‘Land of Man Eaters’.By boarding the train from Sealdah Station in Kolkata,West Bengal, we,the group of eighteen reached a place called Basanti which is a small village in Canning.Canning is only 60kms away from Kolkata and it takes two hrs by train.So we reached Basanti from where our launch started for the journey.It was atrilling journey.We stayed in the launch all through the end of our journey.So it’s a bit unique trip for us.So,finally our launch started through the river name Matla.On the first day we visited the house of Ravindranath Tagore and Hamilton Saheb in Gosaba.We reached Gosaba in the afternoon.Thghe lunch was served in the launch and it was awesome having our food in the midst of nature.The cool breeze was blowing and we were hardly able to sit comfortably as it was really chilly.The food was delicious.We finished our lunch and reached Gosaba,a very small but beautiful village of Sunderban.We stolled around the village and saw the house of Kabiguru and Hamilton sahib.The houses had been maintained quite properly.We were all very much tired on first day as we had a hectic day and so we returned to our launch and it started towards Pakhiraloy,another village as well as our halting place where we stayed for the whole night in the launch.The night in the middle of the jugle was so thrilling I cant describe with words.For much late in the night we,some of the group members listened to different unknown noises that came from the jungle.The sky was pitch black which is quite rare from the sky we see in Kolkata.Innumerable stars stuuded sky made us feel awesome.The owner of our launch was very good and kind person.He took care of us very well.He gave a lot of information about Sunderban.I personally asked many questions about this jungle life and about the rivers and wild animals.He gladly answered all the questions.There are a few rivers which you will often come across if you visit this place.Matla,Bidyadhari,Thakurani and Raimangal are the four main rivers of Sunderbans.And among numerous islands some of the island are Sonakhali,Sojnekhali,Gosaba,Bali,Basanti and Suryaberiya.

                 The livelihood of the local people of Sunderban are mainly going to the deep forest for collecting honey.They mainly collect honey in the month of March to April.and the rest of the year they concentrate on fishing and hunting crabs.But this livlihoood has a lot of risk.Numerous fishermen lost their lives.They are the prey of the royal tiger.Thge waters of the rivers here are mainly very salty.So many fresh water ponds had been built beside the watch towers so that wild animals could able to drink the sweet waters.I came to know that thousands of years ago this place was submerged under Bay of Bengal.There were no trace of Sunderbans.But gradually,After an earthquake,this place was discovered.There were a lot of rulers who ruled Sunderbans like Barobhuiya,English rulers,Pathan and Maughals.There were also the torture of Portugese pirates on poor village people during the reign of Sayesta Kha.After that,the English rulers came into rule and soon the torture of these pirates ended and the livelihood of the village people again resumed.Anyways,I stayed on the deck of the launch for quite a long time until I felt tired and gone to bed.

   In the next morning we woke up and morning was so nice.We would enter in the proper jungle where there are no human habitat.But for that we had to take a permit from Sajnekhali.Before us,we saw there a lot of other similar launch waiting for the permit.So it took quite a long time and for that time being we saw  the museum where you can find all the beautiful pictures of different animals and faunas and many other interesting things.Then we visited watch tower.Me and my husband and my daughter climed the watch tower to see if we could encounter the tiger but alas!we found nothing.Then we climed down and by that time our permit had been done so we all returned to our launch.Then our journey started on the second day.We had our delicious breakfast on the deck.It was a beautiful sunny chilly morning and as our launch was moving forward soon the human habitat was decreasing and the deep jungle started.we went through different narrow tributaries of the rivers and it was so thrilling.We were instructed not to make noise or talk or shout loudly as it would disturb the wild life and moreover we could not able to see them.we found many unknown birds just sitting around the banks or just flying over our head.We first stopped at Dobanki a beautiful small village where we got down from the launch and entered through long nets which were there for our protection from the tiger as well as other animals.So we have entered in the deep jungle but we were inside the cage and the wild animals were free roaming in the jungle.So we were thinking ourselves imprisoned in the zoo.There we saw deer running from one area to another.We also saw  a crocodile,large in size,just resting under the sun.The tourists who were cclosely watching the crocodile made some sound but it didn’t paid any heed to it.I sot a few pics of the deer and the crocodile and gradually returned to the launch with other group members.After Dobanki,we headed towards Panchamukhari,the confluence of five rivers.So its named as Panchamukhari.The rivers are,Matla,Bidyadhari,Gumdi,Pirkhali and Harobhanga.These five rivers all ended in Bay of Bengal.The place was awesome.We saw lots of birds just flying in flocks.The cold wind was blowing and we took our lunch which was just mind blowing.It was so tasty and mouth watering that I wished I could have stayed in the lauch and eat this food forever.

      When we started returning from Panchamukhari it was afternoon.We headed towards Pakhiraloy again where we stayed for  the whole night.On the third day, which was our last day our very humble owner of the launch took us to a place called Jhorkhali where a rehaibilitaion center of animals were bult up and an aged Royal Bengal Tiger had been kept in a cage.Some kind of decease  had occurred to it and so it was kept ther for healing.We visited there.So  we finally had seen a tiger though it was imprisoned but it still it was no less aggressive than a tiger roaming in free jungle.

Our journey ended and we all returned to Canning for boarding our return train back to home.It was a memorable and unique trip for three of us so we will cherish the memories for our whole life.

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MESMERISING CHANDIPUR

After visiting Tajpur in August, again the travel bug bit me and I am daring to go out again from the din and bustle of city life to refuel myself and to explore the unknown.It was festive mood as the goddess Durga reached her maternal house and celebrations were everywhere.But me and my husband along with our daughter just were willing to visit somewhere in Ashatmai to Dashami.Suddenly we thought of Chandipur,the beautiful serene beach of Orissa.

Do you know where is Chandipur?Its also known as Chandipur on Sea.Its a small seaside resort in Balasore district,Odisa.Here you can spend hours sitting in the benches beside the beach and can watch the serene beautiful waters of the sea.Its situated in Bay of Bengal.So we planned a holiday from Ashtami to Dashami just 2n3d by our personal car.

     We usually prefer to start our journey very early in the morning to avoid the traffic hazards.So we started around 5am in the morning.There were festive mood all around the city but there were not that much traffic.So we took the Bombay road through Dunlop.We first stop to have our morning tea in a roadside stall.It was great to enjoy tea while travelling.And you know,the country side around Kolkata looked so beautiful in the dawn.The sun was coming out saying good morning to us.It was Ashtami morning,a new day,a new start of life.It was an unique experience.Driving though the endless smooth road in the midst of greeneries all around is so much enjoying,so much thrilling one couldn’t understand sitting at home.There were lush green paddy fields and Kaashphool wherever your eyes were gone.It was so beautiful that I wish I could have built a house in the midst of nature and stay for my whole life.

Anyways,we stopped at Azad Hind Dhaba,the famous eatery on Bombay Road where we had our breakfast.The food was awesome.We had Aloo paratha and aloor dam.After having a great food we again started towards our destination.When we reached Chandipur it was 1pm.From Kolkata it take hardly 7 to 7.5 hrs to reach Chandipur.So we had our room booked in Lucky Beach Resort which was very near to beach.Hardly 2 to 3secs by walk.We planned to have a bath in the waters.So we hurriedly settled down,freshed up and went to the beach.It was beautiful.We had a very cool bath.Our daughter enjoyed highly.She was just jumping and splashling the waters.We had a bath for 1 hour and then we returned to the hotel,had a beautiful tasty lunch and planned to visit Buribalam which was the place where the sea meets the river Budhabalanga.It was just half an hour drive from Chandipur.The scenic beauty was awesome.There were small and medium fishing boats standing by the side of the sea.and you could also see the beautiful casuarina grooves on one side of the beach.We spent for 1 hour there and then we returned to our hotel.The hotel was very good.The manager there was very friendly and polite to every tourists.There were a special camp fire arrangement from the hotel along with special boufet in the dinner.The hotel staff arranged the whole thing very beautifully.They invited all of us to participate in the in the dance around the camp fire.There were also music arrangement.So we enjoyed the night with all the other tourists for very long time.then we returned to our rooms late in the night.

The next morning we planned to go for the sightseeing for the whole day.First we visited Khirachura Gopinath Temple,one of the famous temple in Balasore District.Its the temple of Sri Krishna.Its situated in Remuna,a small town in Balasore district.The colour of the idol is pure black.There is a myth regarding this temple that Lord rama sculptured this idol with his arrow and his wife Sita used to worship at the time of Chitrakuta.It is a beautiful temple.Infact Orissa is called ‘the land of temples’.

After visiting Khirachura,we went to see the famous Emami Lord Jagannath Temple which is exactly the replica of Puri’s Jagannth Temple.Its also called the second Puri Sree Temple.Its really beautiful.The environment inside the temple is very religious.Unlike the original Jagannath Temple this one welcomes all the people of different caste and religion.Many foriegners also visit this place often.There was constant religious chat goin on which made the environment very much holy.apart from jagannath idol there is the Hanuman temple and kasha Biswanath Temple.You will also see the 16 wheels of the famous Konark Sun Temple.It is the mixture of Konark SunTemple and Puri Jagannath Temple.Its a must visit place in Balasore.

After spending there for 15-20mins,we headed towards Panchaligheswar which was another temple offcourse of 5lingas of Lord Shiva.Before that there was a place called Nilagiri where we stopped to visit Nilagiri Palace.It was also very beautiful and maintained properly.There is a history behind this Nilagiri Palace.In the early 20^th century a movement took place by the farmers of Orissa against the King of this region.But the farmers who rose their heads against the King were given very stringent punishment.But it was lucky that some of the freedom fighters of Orissa continued that movement and made it successful.Then we drove towards Panchaligeswar.The journey towards this temple is awesome.Full of scenic beauty but the temple is in the lap of Nilagiri hills and so you have to trek for 10mins and have to take 300 stairs to reach to the top where the temple is situated.We were really gasping when we reached to the top.The weather was very humid and hot and it was really tiring.But the scenic beauty at the top was awesome.There is a beautiful waterfall just beside the temple and there is full of greeneries all around.the 5 lingas are submereged in the water.You cannot see the lingas but can feel it if you put your hand inside the water.We took a lot of pictures and videos.

There was another beautiful place called Devkund,which is 3.5hrs journey from Panchaligeswar but unfortunately we couldn’t able to visit as it was closed after 2pm.We didn’t know about the closing time so we were bound to return to our hotel.But we spent a very good time visiting all the other places.It was just worthy though we missed one place.Our tour came to an end and the next day we were on our return journey with heavy heart.It was Dashami,the emmersion of Ma Durga as well as the end of our trip.Hope we will very soon plan our next trip.

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TAJPUR-THE MYSTEFYING BEAUTY OF CASUARINA GROOVES

I being a travel maniac cannot bind myself at home for a long time so I along with my husband ad daughter always plan out for a trip whether it’s a short trip or long.On August,2017, we planned for 1N2D trip to Tajpur.Its a 6hrs drive from Kolkata,Just 173kms away from Kolkata.Sowe  decided to go by our personal car.

                Early start is the best start to avoid the hastle on road and so we started at around 6am,drove through Vigyasagar setu and fianlly though Bombay Road.

The road though it’s a highway but quite congested.We faced intermittent showers that day while driving so naturally we could not drove fast due to shower and conjetion on the road.After driving for 2 hrs we stooped on an eatery named Azad Hind Dhaba for breakfast.Thefood was awesome..We had Aloo paratha and Chana along with lassi.The food and the ambience was awesome.

Suddenly heavy showers started to fall and its very difficult to drive but as we were already laate due to traffic we bound to start our journey through rains.After driving for 1 hour the houses and the traffic started to become lesser and lesserand the what we have observed were paddy fields on both sides of the road.The nature was beautiful.There were greeneries all around.

The weather was very bad.It was cloudy and dull so the clarity was lacking.We had a second stop at Kolaghat.Kolaghat is a famous tourist destination and a census town on the banks of Rupnarayan river.Manyhotels and eateries had grown up in this spot to provide the tourist some good facilities.We stopped there and had a cup of tea inShere-Punjab Dhaba,the famous dhaba in Kolaghat..The Rupnarayan is fantastic.You can spend for more than few hours looking simply the boats and small ships going to and fro down the river.Anyways,after that we again started our journey towards our destination.We crossed  Haldia in Medinipur,drove 1hour before reaching the point where one road went to Kharagpur which was straight and another right hand side,towards Tajpur.We took the Tajpur road.

We reached finally at around 1.30pm.We were definitely late.So we hurriedly freshned up,ordered our lunch.But  I promised my daughter that we would have a bath in the sea.So without wasting any time we rushed towars the sea beach,the still virgin beach of Medinipur.Therewere small tea and eatery stalls where we sat looking into the vast waterbody and had beer and egg scramble.It was just awesome.Thecool breeze was just mind blowing.You can walk all through the beach or take your car and drive through the beautiful beach.you can see the casuarina trees all around the beach.We had a bath in the sea for an hour or so then.My daughter was not in a mood to return to the hotel.She was continuously doing something with the wet sand.So we stayed for another 1 hour but the bad luck was prevailing.We saw the black clouds coming and after a few minutes rain started.It was heavily pouring but you see,watching rains on the beach was a different experience.tne water droplets falling on the sea makes the sea more beautiful.The whole atmosphere became electrifying.we ordered another botthle of beer after finishing one.so we were have a beautiful holiday time.After spending a lond time we had to go back to the hotel for our lunch.So we returned,had lunch there.The food was very mouth  watering.The hospitality of the manager was very good.Therooms were clean and cosy.There were innumerable hotels growing up in Tajpur.Its is becoming a booming tourist destination.

We again went to the beach in the afternoon.For the whole day the drizzle was going on.So we held our umbrellas over our head and walked all though the long stretch of the beach.It was so fresh and calm.U can find yourself just sitting and watching the sunrise or sunset.There were small fisherman boats which looked so small.Tajpur is famous for red crabs.You can see the crabs on the beach and if yu want to come near to them they will go inside the small holes the make to protect themselves from the people.The whole beach looks reddish from far behind.It was just a beautiful experience but we were unfortunate to feel this experience due to the showers.They didn’t come up to the beach from their holes.

So our trip was on the verge of finishing.In the next morning after having breakfast we started our return journey for planning our next trip.

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