Jhargram: The misunderstood beloved
Jhargram is like a tragic love story. I fell in love with it the moment I set my foot there. People say it casts its mysterious charm in winter but it’s beautiful in the monsoon when we decided to pay a visit. But as I said, the love story is tragic as you start understanding the tribal heartland once you come back to the hustle bustle of the city. It’s almost like valuing your love interest after he/she’s gone!
So we, a group of 8 friends, travelled to Jhargram by train. It takes maximum two and a half hours to reach Jhargram from Howrah station by Ispaat express. It was quite a sunny day, so the hope for a soothing getaway had somehow died. But as we got closer to our destination, the weather just got better. The hope was revived when it started drizzling and the view from the window was Sal forest, the famous (obviously for the wrong reasons) Lodhasuli forest. And yes, we fell in love right then!
Surrounded by lush green, Dalma range of foothills, waterfalls, rivers and tribal heritage Jhargram is a tourist place not to be missed. But, unfortunately, the misconceptions about this ‘jangal mahal’ prevent so from happening. Badly hit by Maoist movement and local insurgency, Jhargram is now a safe place. But the scars of the dark times are visible in paramilitary patrolings and spine-chilling stories from the locals.
We hired an 8 seater car for our trip and were welcomed by the driver at Jhargram station. We were taken to Jhargram Raj palace, our place of stay. Yes, The Malla palace has been turned into a resort now, barring one section of the main palace, where the royal family lives. In 1570 AD, Raja Sarveshwar Singh Chauhan came to conquer Bengal and was defeated by the Mall chieftain who then assumed the royal name of Malladeb. Architecture of this palace is a combination of Islamic and Greco-Roman culture. The lands, schools, colleges you see in Jhargram are all made by this royal family. Raja Shivendra Bijoy Malladev is the current chairman of Jhargram municipality, who’s been elected by the people for his good work (Yeah, and he’s the one to have made maximum profit after Jhargram was declared a district on April, 2017!). Ah, why do I always end up getting into politics! Bad habit!
After a heavy breakfast at the palace (the quintessential bengali favourite Loochi-tarkari) we started for Chilkigarh palace. I bet one has to make multiple stops before the final destination just to soak the beauty of the forest in. That’s something we did too! The main entrance of Chilkigarh palace loomed large. Once inside the brick archway, you see a melancholic palace at the end of the enormous compound. Melancholic, because the royal family has left the palace long back. Even if you don’t get into the political historical details, you sense the heavy breath of this lonely palace. And as we stepped inside, it started raining. Symbolic? Bengalis are quite romantic you see!
The next stop was Kanak Durga (a deity worshipped by the royal family of Chilkigarh) temple. From the parking we walked almost half a kilometre to reach the temple premises and the walk amidst the forest is just amazing. The main temple one sees, however, is not the original construction. The ruins of the original temple can be seen on the left side of the new temple. Monkeys roam around like watchmen here, and dare you mess with them!
To the left of the temple, there’s a way to go down for boating on the Dulung river. There are only paddle boats, so we fastened our life jackets and got into the boats. The boating experience is quite filmy one. The boat-way is surrounded by forest and suddenly one of our boats got stuck. After a brief application of physics (and physique), we finally managed to return safely at the starting point. The perfect end to Chilkigarh expedition was sitting on the banks of beautiful Dulung river.
We came back for lunch at our resort. When I got my mobile network, I received a text from a friend, ‘People try to fleece you at Raj palace’! The warning wasn’t untrue. The lunch really cost us a pinch in the pocket.
Next and the last destination of Day 1 was Jhargram zoo. You see a wide variety of antelopes, mammals and endothermic vertebrates in there. Like we saw a great number of deer, neelgai, peacocks, monkeys, baboons, bears etc. By the way, this is a famous spot for the local lovebirds to spend alone time as well.
The next morning we started for the infamous Belpahari district. Belpahari, Kakrajhor, Bandowan are the names I heard all my adolescence for all the wrong reasons. The Maoist activities around this district, almost everyday, contained a considerable amount of space in newspapers till few years back. So our first destination was Kakrajhore, 79 km away from Jhargram town. Kakrajhore is a forestland, covered with Sal, Piyal, Kendu, Haritoki, Shimul etc. There’s an uphill walk to the army camp at the top, which used to be a forest guest house. It was blasted by the maoists a decade ago. So the army fences were our final destination at Kakrajhore.
Next was the Laljal hills (63 km from the town). From the main road, you need to drive 3 km to reach the foothills and the road conditions are pretty bad, especially during the rainy season as tyres often get stuck in the mud. It’s a great place to indulge in some adventurous hiking to the hill top. But sneakers with good grip are a must. It’s a moderately dangerous hike but once you get the view from the top, you know it’s totally worth it.
On our way to next destination, Gurrasini, we crossed hills, paddy fields and villages which are as picturesque as postcards. It’s a journey where we didn’t want to reach any destination. But then that’s romanticism! The reality took us to Gurrasini hillock. There’s a temple of Lord Shiva and flowing river Tarafeni from the top of hill, which is a 15 mins hike. If you get drained after a hike, you can take rest in a ashram at the base, where no one bothers you for your religion or purpose of visit. Tranquility at its best.
Next we drove to Khadarani lake, which is 10km from belpahari. Now, this is a place you need to visit towards the end of the day. Just before sunset. This is a rainwater dam where locals indulge in fishing as well. The enormous lake is almost 50–60 ft deep and boating facility is unavailable. But trust me, we didn’t feel like delving into the water. The watery breeze (yes, it was drizzling) calmed our souls to the core. And we didn’t want to leave but what awaited us was Ghagra waterfalls. So…
The ultimate destination was Ghagra falls, 9km from belpahari. We had decided to end the trip with this place on our way back to Jhargram palace. This place, again, is one to visit during sunset. It’s situated on river Tarafeni. It’s not a giant waterfall. The rocks are cut by the water force and that’s the beauty of the place. A sort of local canyon, you see… We felt like enaging in a pure bengali adda ‘on the rocks’!
At night, you should indulge in local liquor Mahua (locally called ‘Mohul’). But high chances are you won’t be able to wake up next morning. The tribal drink doesn’t leave you even if you puke or drink lemonade. It settles down with time.
There’s more to Jhargram, but that’s the maximum we could cover in two days. It’s better to keep at least 4 days (one buffer day for rest) for this beauty of joy. Bidding goodbye to Jhargram is as saddening as letting your beloved leave. You start missing the fresh breeze, the aroma of jungle, the calmness of the red soil lands… just like you miss the good moments spent with your love you really misunderstood. That’s Jhargram for you, your misunderstood beloved. Bongs are incorrigibly romantic, aren’t they?
