Ruins of Garpanchkot

Prologue : Garpanchkot, at the base of the Panchet hill(Panchakot) situated at Purulia district is an apt place for a weekend escape. Panchet is located in the north east corner of the Purulia District, adjacent to the boundary of Burdwan district and our neighbouring state of JharKhand.

The Hilltop offers picturesque and panoramic view of the command area of the Panchet dam on Damodar river and its reservior. Bird watching on Panchet dam is a treat to the eyes.

Since the time I came to know about RoadRollers from Internet, I was desperately looking to have a ride with them. I had met most of the members in a city meet, but somehow the plan of having a long ride with them was not working out. Within a month though, I got an opportunity. A trip to Panchet dam and other lesser known places in Purulia was planned. Originally it was supposed to be a two day trip, 14th and 15th February, but some members had other commitments on 14th February. So, the equation became a simple one.

Kolkata- Panchet Dam (Jharkhand) – Garpanchkot – Kolkata, 650km in a day.

The trip was supposed to be my first long trip and covering 650km in a day made me nervous. Still, the enthusiasm and the very excitement of riding out with the Rollers was too much to resist. The meeting point was Belghoria expressway connector at 4am. But, as I stay a outside proper Kolkata and to catch up with the other members at that time would be virtually impossible. So, I asked Sandeep if it was possible to spend the night at his place. To which he readily agreed. Accordingly, I set out from home at 9:30 on 14th February and reached Sandeep house at 11:30pm.

Had a sleepless night (may be due to excitement and nervousness of the first long ride), coupled with the mosquitoes having a feast on us. We woke up at 3:30 in the morning, had tea and biscuit and within 20 minutes we were ready to start off.

We met Indranil, Arindam and Akash on the way and we were all ready for the 650km ride. We were riding in a sequence and in a staggered formation at steady speeds. The staggered formation allows better visibility to each rider in the group and ensures their safety in case of an emergency. So, the ride through the butter smooth Durgapur expressway was pretty fun. After riding for an hour, Sandeep, who was leading us signaled us to stop. The reason for this unscheduled stop was to capture the sunrise in the foggy highway through the lenses. After five minutes we resumed our journey. Our next stop was Saktigarh. There we were shivering in cold, the temperature being substantially lower than the city. The next stop was Panagarh where we had freshly prepared kachuri and smoking hot dal.

Crossed Durgapur, Asansol and entered Jharkhand. This stretch of the road was comparatively empty and we were consistently maintaining high range speeds to make up time. First we went to the 4.7km long Panchet dam on the river Damodar. It is an engineering marvel and the view of the large reservoir is a majestic one.

Our next destination was Garpanchkot Purulia district, W.B. On the way the other Rollers wanted to experience mountain riding by climbing up the 7.5km long Panchet hill. I too followed them. The ride was through uneven boulders and my bike’s tyres were skidding to an great extent. I chose to come back to the starting point while the others carried on. Finally only Indranil and Sandeep managed to do this whole stretch that has slopes as high as 45 degree. Kudos to these two! Arindam and Akash decided to be a little forgiving to their machines and stopped halfway up the hill.

The sun started to beat down on us as the day progressed. We decided to have Rice, Curry and ommlete in a small roadside hotel.

Then we visited Ruin of Garpanchkot, a village on Ahalyabai road, Raghunathpur where we saw some surviving temples of 17th century as well as some rich terracotta work. While coming back we took the Raghunathpur – Barakar road which was very smooth and the natural beauty was superb.

For further reading about the Ruins of Garpanchkot click here.

Then we entered Dishergarh, crossed the Dishergarh bridge and entered Asansol. It was already evening. After riding through the busy traffic of Asansol we entered the NH 2. Night riding on NH2 seemed comparatively difficult due to the high traffic volume and the blinding action of the beams of the oncoming vehicles.

The ride was quite a learning experience. I had great fun and am looking forward to have another adventurous journey soon.

Distances and Route

Kolkata - Dankuni : 23Kms
Kolkata - Palsit : 82Kms
Kolkata - Panagarh : 151Kms
Kolkata - Raniganj : 190 Kms
Kolkata - Barawadda : 211 Kms
Kolkata - Bhadrak : 307 Kms
Kolkata - Chirkunda More: 227 Kms
Kolkata - Chirkunda : 229 Kms
Kolkata - Panchet: 240 Kms

Kolkata - Nithuria : 247 Kms
Kolkata - Garpanchkot Resort : 249 Kms
Kolkata - Gobag: 256.5Kms

kolkata - Ruins of Garpanckot : 259kms

Round Trip :: 554kms

Information :

Travel to Panchakot : Take Black Diamond Express from Howrah to Barakar. From Barakar hire a cab to Panchakot. One can get cabs from Kumardubi station also.

Stay : Reasonably good Accomodation is available in the resort of the West Bengal Forest Department. Bookings can be made online at www.wbfdc.com.

Author :: Samik (Jonak)

Bishnupur- Architectural Heritage of Bengal

Prologue:-

"Hey are you free tomorrow?" – This was the first question of our fellow roller IMaulik on Saturday evening (7th February, 2009). After getting affirmative response from my side, IMaulik expressed his desire to go to Bishnupur on the very next day. I had been to Bishnupur long time back and was willing to visit the place again. Thus a day trip plan of Roadrollers was set in motion. Myself and IMaulik were the riders for that day.

Indranil on his Bajaj Pulser 200cc
Myself on my Honda Unicorn 150cc

As per our discussion on the previous day, we started our journey from Belgharia expressway connector at around 6.30 am in the morning. The road was completely covered with fog, hence the ride became much more enjoyable.

We had planned to reach Bishnupur via Arambagh. Around 7am we crossed the Dankuni junction and took the route to Arambagh. The condition of the road was not that good. Path holes and bumper was the order of the day and that led to slow down on our average speed. In spite of that we reached Arambagh around 10 o’clock and from there we took right turn towards Bishnupur.

Our first destination in Bishnupur was “Shyamrai Temple”. This temple was build by the Malla King Raghunath Singha in 1643 AD. This temple is famous for elaborate terracotta ornamentation.

Our next visit was “JorBangla Temple”. This temple was built in 1655 by King Raghunath. The construction of this temple has its unique style of architecture. Along with Terracotta ornamentation, this temple also includes religious themes, political, and economic life of the people of that period.

The next on the line was “LaljiTemple”. Malla King 2nd Vir Singh built this temple in 1658. The temple is situated under a monument of terracotta architecture.

Next we went to the famous “Rasmancha” of Bishnupur. This pyramidal shape Rasmancha was built in 1600 by “Bir Hambir”. According to Archeological Survey of India (ASI) there is no other monument like “Rashmancha” in whole India.

Soon the temples in Bishnupur were covered and we moved on to watch “Dalmadal Canon”. Dalmadal was probably the largest canon prepared by the Malla Kings. It is 3.8m long with a muzzle of 29.2cm in diameter (as measured by ASI).

It was already 4 o’clock in the afternoon. We had covered most of the places in Bishnupur. Maulikda suggested to start our return journey but in a different route. We went directly to Kharagpur and from there we took NH-6 to reach Kolkata.

Every city, every place has its own charm, own characteristics and especially places like Bishnupur where history and art conjugate each other. We need to visit there again to watch the glimpse of the architectural heritage of Bengal.

UpRoute:- Kolkata- Dankuni- Arambagh- Bishnupur.
DownRoute:- Bishnupur- Kharagpur- Kolaghat- Kolkata.

Author :: Arindam

The Landscape of Purulia

Purulia - If i could summarize, about the place in one word it shall be "deprived".

One place that has been in news for wrong reasons, and neglected in the eyes of Govt.
Ever since the idea of a journey inside Purulia came up, everyone expressed there concerns towards problem, Maoists, dacoits and bad roads.
And every single time, someone asked us to review our decision Destination Purulia was getting more strength.
One trip that taught us various aspects of life.
Our eyes could see, voices were heard by our ears and our heart bleed for the people dwelling over there.
Contrasting lifestyle of the region was obvious, but differences w.r.t our lives was tremendous.

Few things we saw looked like Human, outline of every single could be seen beneath the flesh.
Every activity people were involved in spoke of hardship.

And once we spoke to few educated people around, picture was clear. Dam were built, forests were mowed down and people for daily source of bread and butter was forests and its animals are now struggling for existence.


Our trip to Purulia, was not about any destination, it was all about consolidating pieces of information we could gather.
It was all about getting a feel of the place instead.

The Men and the lady
Lattu and his better half Rai
Arindam
Sandeep
The Machine - Hyundai Getz



Day One
Kolkata - Panchet - Gorpanchakot - Purulia - Balrampur - Bagmundi - Ajodha Pahar

First Agenda
Sunrise at PanchetDam
(Panchet Hydel Power Station built over Damodar River, along the border of Dhanbad District Jharkhand & Purulia District WestBengal).
We were there, right on time, but our location didn't permit us to capture the sight rising sun in the background of the wonderful location.
And within in few moments buses filled with picnickers started coming.

Next Gorpanchakot
A beautiful resort at the foothills of Panchet Hills, entire charm of the resort lies in bird eye view from the Panchet Hill top. And bird watching.
The resort was fully packed! Next time
- One night at Gorpanchkot is in our agenda.

Gorpanchakot - Purulia
Flora and founa, something West Bnegal is famous for, Purulia has none of it. Its a part of Chota Nagpur plateau. And besides the road, the common sight greenery was replaced by rocky structure. A welcome change in the view. Sometimes, the road gave us the impression of being driving through a valley.

We got further directions from Purulia
- Next Bagmundi Dam.
An architectural Marvel, also called PPSP project.Purulia Pump Storage Project, which would be able to generate 900 MW power instantly by discharging stored water from upper dam to lower dam through reversible pump turbine and generation motor.
And then the Water is pumped back into the reservoir of the Upper Dam, truely majestic. And One of a kind.

The different dams and the uphill road was completed with different installations gave us a feel of some thriller movie from hollywood.

Then we began our climb towards the rocky "Ajodha Pahar". Enroute to Ajodha Pahar, one of the prominent tourist place in WestBengal, we saw few living skeletons, and our hearts were filled with sadness.
Once in Ajodha Pahar, we checked out the West Bengal Tourist Lodge, but attitude of the caretaker forced us to decide otherwise. We took a nice cozy room at a nearby private hotel, and we didn't regret the decision.

Ajodha Pahar was very much to say the center of Purulia District, and it was perfect choice as a "Base Camp" to roam around the district.

Food at Ajodha Pahar : Simple yet so delicious, we were addicted! Since the first luncheon at Ajodha Pahar. And after every meal we waited for time for the next meal.
Night and Camp Fire, it was rather chilly out there and hotelier was kind enough to accept our small request for Camp Fire. As the night grew darker more wood and oil was poured in, and seeking the warmth of the fire, few locals gatherd around. And it was then Purulia touched our hearts. As we talked to the people, a driver and a couple of carpenters from a nearby village, the picture was getting clearer. And indeed back in kolkata we lived under a perception regarding Purulia, as projected infront of our eyes.
Truth was nodoubt stranger than fiction.


Day Two Ajodha Pahar - Begunkador - Murguma Dam - Begunkador - Jhalda - BegonKador - Ajodha Pahar

A new day begun, with the sun the time to explore Purulia once again presented itself infront of us.
We were armed with Information, getting route info wasn't a problem. But getting a list of places to visit around was.I must say about the fresh and hot "Aloo Chops" that we had for breakfast with tea at a place called Ahara. It was around 10 in the morning and we were as usually hungry. I have never tasted such "Aloo Chops" before.
We enquired about getting to Murguma Dam, and we were guided the route as if we were shown the path. Every turn, every town we would get in our route was told. Packed with info we began the drive on day three.

Ajodha Pahar - Shirkabad - Aharra - Arsha - Begunkador
Well BegunKador has been rather infamous for an Haunted Railway Station.
When we were there, we wanted to pay a surprise visit to the ghosts. We asked people over there for directions, we got a strange reply "there never was a Railway Station is BegunKador"
Disappointed, on not meeting the ghosts.
Once again we were given crisp and clear directions!

Murguma Dam, perhaps one of the Best Dams eyes could ever see. The reservoir of the Dam is surrounded by Rocky mountains of the KotShila Range , dense forest over the small mountains. And lots of mustard plantation around.
It was quite a sight, we were well and truely mesmerized. Purulia was indeed different.
The landscape of Purulia was refreshingly different. The beauty of the places was a poet or a photographers dream.
We were well and truely lost, but alas it was time.

We sought the directions to Kairabera. And we were on the way.
Everything was peaceful, but winds changed. No sooner than we reached Jhalda, we encountered the first instance of trouble in the district.
Road was blocked, and we could go no further. Neither on the left nor the right. Only way open was the way back were we came from.
Soon it became obvious to us that road block wouldn't be lifted before darkness fell.
With a heavy heart we decided to leave, and head back towards Ajodha Pahar.

Another night, another campfire!
Life just doesn't get better than this, soon we were joined by people around.
Who were happy and willing to share untold things about Purulia. On hearing their side of story, our all ready open eyes bleed in mercy.
As the night grew darker, temperature fell. And we feasted upon delicious meal and some local wine "Mahua" and very soon it felt warm again and we continued our conversation with localities continued.

Day Three:
Ajodha Pahar - Bagmundi - Balrampur - Jharkhand Border - Chandil - Chauka More - Bindu - Dasham Fall Connector Jn - Ranchi - Daltongunj Junction - Mesra - Giridi/Bokaro Jn - Hazaribag - Barhi - Dhanbad - Durgapur - Panagarh - Dankuni - Kolkata

Though it was not the people who were blamed for trouble, but trouble was in the air.
We decided to move on! Move to Other side of Purulia before returning home. But fate would have it. It was not our time to explore Purulia, atleast not yet.
We thought of few alternatives. And choose to follow the one we thought the best for the moment, we'll decide as we approach a turn.
Once again we passed beside the Marvelous Bagmundi Dam. And we headed towards Balrampur and subsequently towards Jharkhand.

We didn't have the luxury of time today. We were ought to be back in Kolkata by evening.
But everything changed as we reached Jharkhand borders. Landscape was wow!
And we wanted to explore or atleast drive down as long as we could.

Chandil Dam: One of the popular picnic destination in Jharkhand, Chandil Dam over Subarnarekha River.
We were surprised to so much activity around place. Everyone seemed to be absorbed in the beauty of the surrounding. The bank of the reservoir seemed like beaches in small islands. May be we need to be there once again. A well and truly treat for the eyes.

Once were done, we decided to drive back to Kolkata via Ranchi, Hazaribag and Barhi. Atleast to get a feel of the roads.
By the time we reached Ranchi, it was beginning to Dark. Though we never heard good things about the place but eventually the drive back home was uneventful.

We learned many things, we truths came out. Many myths were cleared.
Picture was clear. We would go to Purulia again and again. Every inch of Purulia offers a new landscape.
Not only the destination but journey is absolute joy.