My last week end trip (25th July 2014 to 29th July 2014) was at Purulia, Chandil Dam, Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary and Jamshedpur.
Purulia
Purulia is also known as "Manbhum" located in West Bengal, India. The beauty of natural forest,
variety of flora and fauna, scattered hills and falls, rivers and streams make this place eye-catching to the nature lovers and these makes ideal place expeditions and enjoyment.
There
are many temples in and around Purulia which are archeological asset of
this district. Some of these temples are below to 17th century.
Ayodhya hills is a part of the Dalma mountain range. It is spread accross on the boundary between Purulia district and Jharkhand. Gorshabru, the highest peak of the Ayodhya Hills is situated at a magnificent 2800(+) feet is deep inside the jungle there a forest. There are many watch towers in this jungle, have close watch on road side pillars which have watch tower, fall name direction and other information. There are several dams in and around Ayodhya hills one of them is Purulia Pump Storage Project (or P.P.S.P). Purulia Pump Storage Project is one of the largest stagnant water hydrel project of India, capacity of which is 900 m.w. The project consists of two dam- upper dam & lower dam. Scenic beauty upper dam is very nice to watch.
I heard a folklore from local villager that Ram and Sita had come to Ayodhya Hills and stayed during their exile. During the full moon day in Baisakh (first month in the Bangla Calendar) every year tribal's of nearby areas come and join in the game of hunting wild animals only for one day in year they are allowed to hunt.
Purulia is easily accessible by road and by train from Kolkata, from Howrah/Santragachi 12827/Howrah - Purulia Superfast Express, 12883/Rupashi Bangla Express, 12152/Samarsata SF Express, 58011/Howrah - Chakradharpur Passenger. It is 295 Km away from Kolkata
towards west and 119 Km from Ranchi towards east. The National Highway
– 32 and National Highway – 60A passes through the District. SBSTC,
CSTC, NBSTC buses and many privately operated buses ply between
Kolkata to Purulia.
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| P.P.S.P upper dam |
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| Information |
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| Rough Map |
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| View from watch tower |
Chandil Dam,Jayda Temple, Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary and Jamshedpur all places are in Jharkhand ("The Land of
Forest") eastern India state, which have large portion of forest and
minerals resources of India.
Chandil Dam is standing on the Subarnarekha River is 220 meter in height and the height of its water level is 190 meter. This dam is most visited place in Jharkhand. Other that scenic beauty you can enjoy boating. There is parking fee at Chandil Dam for bus/truck Rs.100/-,for TATA Winger Rs.30/-,for car Rs. 20/-, for two wheeler Rs.10/-. Seriously speaking why they have special charge for "TATA Winger" I don't know.
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| Chandil Dam |
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| Boating Platform |
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| Subarnarekha River |
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| Boating |
The nearby
Jayda Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is another popular attraction nearby. A huge fair is held every year at the site on the eve of Makar Sankranti.Situated on the way to Ranchi-Tata road.
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| Jayda Temple |
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| Jayda Temple history |
Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is a much larger area starting from area of Subarnarekha River and adjoining Purulia District of West Bengal, this wildlife sanctuary with an area of 193.22 Sq. Km. on the National Highway No. 33 near Jamshedpur has undulating terrain with high hillocks (Max. 984 M MSL). This wildlife sanctuary home for Elephant,Leopard, Barking Deer, Mouse Deer, Sloth Bear, Monkey, Giant Squirrel. The sanctuary is very much favored by the Elephants due to availability of water even during summer.At top there is Lord Hanuman Mandir and cave of Lord Shiva. The vast forest land is ideal place spot for trekking expeditions. There are many trekking trails from mild to medium trekking. There is 20 KM drive from foot to top of hill in the forest. There are watch tower from there you can get a view of Jamshedpur City. There are charges to get into the forest.
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| Forest Road |
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| View Of Jamshedpur City from Dalma Forest watch tower |
Jamshedpur
Jamshedpur is the first planned industrial city of India, founded by Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata. There many interesting place in Jamshedpur but I manage to visit "TATA Steel Zoological Park" and "Jubilee Park (Jayanti Sarovar)" which is one of the biggest park in India apart from this there are 1000 varieties of roses in this garden and in lake you can do boating.
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| Jayanti Sarovar |
I went there from Purulia by National Highway-32 which pass through Chandil and Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary from West Bengal to National Highway-33 which leading to Ranchi and Jamshedpur.
