Drive to Keonjhar from Kolkata in August 2014

Keonjhar is a land locked district situated in the northern part of Odisha. It is surrounded by Singhbhum district of Jharkhand in the North, Jajpur in the South, Dhenkanal and Sundargarh in the West and Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak in the East. Baitrani River originates from Keonjhar plateau. To the West is a range of lofty hills which contains some of the highest peaks of Orissa namely Gandhamardan (3477 ft.), Machakandana (3639 ft.), Gonasika ( 3219 ft.) and Thakurani ( 3003 ft.). About half of the area of Keonjhar district spread over 4043 sq. km. is covered by forests of northern tropical moist deciduous type and contains Sal, Asan, Piasal, etc. The river Baitarani comes out of Gonasika Hills and flows to the north touching the border of Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. It again flows East entering Anandapur Sub-division and the district of Bhadrak.




Route from Kolkata to Keonjhar and back :




Total distance from Kolkata (West Bengal) to Keonjhar (Odisha) is 370 km. The popular route is to drive on NH6 via Kharagpur, Baharagora, Bangriposi, Bisoi, Jashipur, Rajanagar, Keonjhar.
The return journey from Keonjhar to Kolkata was via Panikoili, NH5 upto Balasore, NH60 upto Kharagpur, NH6.

Itinerary :



Day 1 : During India's Independence Day holidays in mid-August 2014, Indian Roadie Soumitro Bhattacharjee left Kolkata at 9 am with his family in his Mahindra Scorpio and reached Keonjhar at 4 pm. Keonjhar is about 7 hrs drive from Kolkata via NH6. After Baharagora the road is in a bad shape upto Jashipur. Jashipur is one of the main entrances to Simlipal Forest. Lunch break at road side dhabas can be at Jashipur or Bisoi.

Day 2 : After breakfast left for sightseeing. Though there are plenty of places, the first day's attraction were 1. Sanghagara 2. Badaghagara 3. Gonashika 4. Khandadhar Falls. Returned to our hotel in Keonjhar for the night.

Day3 : Visited Murgamahadev Temple, Sitabinji, Maa Tarini Temple at Ghatagaon. At the end of the day again returned to our hotel in Keonjhar.

Day4 : After an early breakfast we checked out from our hotel in Keonjhar. The first halt was at Kichakeswari Temple at Khiching. The second halt was at Bhimkund. Thereafter, it was the return drive back home to Kolkata.


Main attractions of Keonjhar :

A. Sanghagara








6 kms from Keonjhar town and situated by the side of NH6. It is a small (100 ft) but beautiful waterfalls. It is a very good picnic spot. Buses and hired vehicles are available at Keonjhar for reaching Sanghagara. Hotels in Keonjhar are the best option for accomodation.


B. Badaghagara




10 kms from Keonjhar town. It is yet another small (200 ft) but exciting waterfall. It is one of the most popular picnic spots of the district. Buses and hired vehicles are available at Keonjhar. For accommodation tourists will have to stay in Keonjhar.

C. Gonasika

Surrounded by a series of valleys and wooded hills of varying colours, the place is famous as a centre of pilgrimage for the temple of Brahmeswar Mahadev established by the side of River Baitarani. In fact, this is the place from where the river starts flowing. A little away from the point of origin, the river goes underground (and hence called Guptaganga) only to resurface after a short distance over a stone projection looking like the nostril of a cow. The scenic beauty of the place is simply charming. It is 33 kms from Keonjhar. Buses are available for 24 kms. For the rest of 9 kms tourist will have to go either on foot or by hired vehicles. For accommodation tourists will have to stay at Keonjhar town.

D. Khandadhar




A sparkling waterfall of 500 ft. amidst lush green forests. A shower in the cascading water is a great experience. This waterfall is a smoking waterfall because of the smoke like appearance created by the spray of the plunging waters of the waterfall at this spot. The spot is ideal for picnic. It is 60 kms from Keonjhar town (of this about 40 kms is fair-weather road and Jeepable). There is no accommodation facilities at the spot.

E. Murgamahadev




It is situated by the side of a perennial spring of Thakurani Hill in Champua Sub-Division of Keonjhar District. It is famous for the temple of Murga Mahadev. The spot is 70 kms from Keonjhar (of this, a 6 kms stretch is fair-weather road). Regular service buses are available upto Bileipada (64 kms) from Keonjhar. No accommodation facilities is available at the spot. Tourist will have to stay either at Joda (11 kms) or at Keonjhar (70 kms).

F. Sitabinji



Situated by the side of River Sita, the spot has gained prominence as a place of having ancient fresco paintings on a rock shelter called "Ravan Chhaya" which is looking like a half opened umbrella. The painting depits a royal procession. It is 30 Kms from Keonjhar (25 kms on Jajpur - Keonjhar road upto Katarabeda and 5 kms from there). No accommodation facilities are available at the spot. Tourists will have to stay either at Keonjhar or at Ghatagaon.

G. Ghatagaon




50 kms from Keonjhar town on the NH215 towards Cuttack, the place is a popular pilgrimage spot in Odisha for the shrine of Goddess Tarini Pitha. A P.W.D. Inspection Bungalow, Tarini Yatri Niwas of Tarini Trust and a Panthasala of Tourism Department are available to cater to the accommodation needs of pilgrims.

H. Rajanagar

It is famous for the ruined palace of erstwhile Keonjhar King. Also Raghunath Jew Matha, Dadhibaban Jew temple and Chadei Kudoor are other attractions of the spot. Migratory birds gather here (Chadhei Kudoor) in winter. Rajanagar is 27 kms from Keonjhar. Tourists will have to visit the spot by hired vehicle. No accommodation facilities are available in Rajanagar. Hotels are available at Keonjhar town.

I. Kichakeswari Temple




Kishakeswari Temple, located in Khiching is the temple of Hindu goddess Chamunda alias Kali. Khiching was the ancient capital of the Bhanja rulers, located about 205 km from Balasore and 150 km from Baripada in Mayurbhanj district of north Odisha. The largest temple of the town is dedicated to Goddess Kichakeswari, the family goddess of the ruling chiefs of Mayurbhanj. The Goddess Kichakeswari was the 'ishtadevata' of Bhanj dynasty and was also also the State deity. The original temple, dates back to 7th or 8th Century, with repairs done over the centuries.
The main temple opens to devotees early at 5 am and closes down at 10 pm. It, however, remains closed between 12 noon and 3 pm.

J. Bhimkund



About 40 Kms from Karanjia, near Booring village in Thakurmunda P.S. is the sacred pool BHIMKUND on the River Vaitarani. The legend reveals that Bhima, the second Pandava used to take his bath in this pool when the Pandavas were passing their incognito life in Birat Nagar, said to be the present Kaptipada. Here river Vaitarani flows through a gorge in steps forming a series of picturesque rapids until it settles down in the pool called "BHIMKUND". It is encircled by precipitous stone wall. During Makar Festival in the month of January thousands of people gather here to take their holy dip. The place can also be approached from Dhenkikote (20 Kms) on SH11 connecting Keonjhar and Panikoili. The place is ideal for picnickers.


Hotels in Keonjhar :
Hotel Kashvi International
Madhpur, Keonjhar Tel: 06766 255323, 255324, Double Rooms Rs.2200-3000, Suite Rs. 3500

Hotel Shreekshetra International
NH6, Keonjhar Tel: 06766 250732, 257343

Panthanivas (OTDC Ltd)
Keonjhar Panthanivas, Judia, Keonjhar Tel: 06766 253603, 9238211629.
Website: www.panthanivas.com E-mail: otdc@panthanivas.com, otdc@ortel.net


(Content credit: Soumitra Bhattacharjee
Additional inputs by: Deep Banerjee)

Kolkata to Jagdalpur‬, Tirathgarh, ‪Chitrakoot & back in 3 days in July 2015 (Day-1)

Day-1‪‎:
IndianRoadie‬, Soumitra Bhattacharjee left Kolkata with wife and daughter in his ‪‎MahindraScorpio‬ on 16th July 2015 post midnight at 12.30am for a 3 days drive to ‪‎Jagdalpur‬ & ‪Chitrakoot‬ (Chhattisgarh‬) for his own version of a solo rain drive.
He drove on NH6 upto Kharagpur, NH60 upto Balasore and NH5 upto Bhubaneswar.
He reportedly stopped for breakfast at Bhubaneswar at 7am.
After breakfast he drove on NH5 past Khurda, Barkul, Ganjam, Brahmapur, Ichapuram, Elluru, Srikakulam and a further 12 kms south upto Chilakapalem, before turning right to exit NH5 and enter Andhra Pradesh SH36.
Soumitra drove on AP SH36 which merged into NH43 at the Ramabhadrapuram junction.
From Ramabhadrapuram, he drove on NH43 via Sunabeda, Koraput, Jeypore and right upto Jagdalpur.
For the uninitiated, Sunabeda, Koraput, Jeypore are in Odisha and became famous from the late 1980s after the huge investments which were made by the Govt of India while setting up National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO).
Soumitra & family stopped for a late lunch near Koraput at 4.30pm.
He had to drive through blinding rains for a little over an hour upto Jagdalpur.
Reached Jagdalpur around 6.30pm and checked into Atithi Inn Hotel, near Railway Station & New Bus Stand (Tariff: Rs.800 for AC rooms & Rs.600 for non-AC Deluxe rooms).
Indicative distances (vide Google maps):
Srikakulam bypass on NH5 - Chilakapalem on NH5 = 15 kms,
Chilakapalem - Ramabhadrapuram junction = 75 kms,
Ramabhadrapuram - Koraput = 100 kms,
Koraput - Jeypore = 25 kms,
Jeypore - Jagdalpur = 85 kms.
Except for about 30 kms of rough patches on AP SH36 and on NH43, the stretch has very good road surface. However, the entire distance from Chilakapalem to Jagdalpur is double lane.
Ghat section on NH43 = 60 kms approx.
Day 1 (2015-07-16), actual distance driven from residence in Kolkata to Jagdalpur = 1120 kms in 18 hours.
Indian Roadie fans from ‪Chennai‬, ‪Vijaywada‬ can turn left near ‪Visakhapatnam‬ or ‪‎Vizianagram‬ to drive on ‪NH43‬ via ‪‎Araku‬.





(Photo & content credit: Soumitra Bhattacharjee. Additional inputs by: Deep Banerjee)