Biharinath : The ignored hillocks of West Bengal

If your long weekend is spent in a place that you go via a road like the one given below how would you feel?

Let me guess, you must be thinking that this is the road you took to go any of the conventional hill stations during your long weekends around West Bengal. Well let me ask at this moment, have you ever watched the movie Aryaner Dinratri? It is just another masterpiece of the great Satyajit Ray. The story revolves around a road trip of four friends visiting the tribal belts of Palamou. Point to be considered here is it was just a commonplace that they visited, and this time we sort of followed a similar pattern and decided for a location offbeat enough to give us a similar sojourn.

Well Biharinath Hill in Bankura district of West Bengal gave exactly what we were looking for.

Geologically Biharinath hill is the tallest hill of Bankura District and is a part of the Eastern Ghats.

The peak of this hill measures 1480 feet and is covered with dense forests. The place is a bliss for nature lovers. Its serene, quiet, zero pollution, it’s a bird lovers’ paradise. Only hums you will get in this place are that of chirping birds, soothing winds and if you are there in the monsoon you will be surrounded by petrichor.

We started from Kolkata, route taken was Kolkata --> Durgapur --> Borjora --> Saltora --> Biharinath. This place is around 240 kms from Kolkata, ready to entertain offbeat destination seekers

Once you leave the national highways from Durgapur, you will have to traverse through the township roads of Borjora-Mejia Industrial corridor, road conditions around there are as below.

The corridor is good enough to enable you to engage full throttle while you keep on enjoying the view of rural Bengal. However, road condition worsens once you leave the Industrial corridor and take a right turn from Deuli More. Biharinath from there is about 35 kms.

Like most view of rural Bengal, one can see the lush green cultivated fields all around. However, occasionally you will get to see below structures lined up along the road. Standing reminder for the fact that Bishnupur is only 30 kms from Bankura and that this place has an influence of Bishnupuri architecture.

A closer shot

We reached Biharinath around 12:30 in the noon and our accommodation was with Biharinath Eco Tourism Centre, maintained by WBSFDA.

The front gate of our resort can be seen below.

The road in front of the property

Before jumping into what else is there, allow me to share a small experience. Here is the thing, we did not call up the caretaker and request for arranging our lunch. So, when we reached there we were told that only option was to try the local hotel to see if it can provide lunch for us.

Off we went along with our caretaker/gardener to check it out. Available options were rice, dal, sabji, mashed potato and omelettes. Already famished it sounded great to us and we agreed.

Our omelettes are a work in progress.

Finally, we have food, served in “Saal leaf” plates. Any idea what is the cost, well it was INR25 per plate. 😊. Trust me food was fresh, tasty and we gorged on to whatever was served on our plates. P.S : He also provided us dinner that night !! 😊

Lunch done, freshened up, so what else is there.For a start, our cottage is right below the hill overseeing a huge reservoir.

Below is the glimpse, just on the other side of the yellow fence lies the man made water reservoir.

A Panoramic view of the reservoir

Next is, the famous Biharinath Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The northern slope of the hill overseeing the temple compound.

The temple dedicated for Baba Biharinath, a form of Lord Shiva.

The original temple was built around 500 years ago by the Raja of Kashipur. With time this temple has become the most visited temple for the Shaivas of hindu religion around this district. However, historically there are evidences that this place was also a pilgrimage for the Jains. Luckily when we were there it was going to be the last Monday of the lunar month “Shravan” and Janmastami as well.

The two gentleman in the below picture are the priests/purohits of this temple.

Quick conversation with them revealed they are coincidentally both named as Ashim Thakur.

They belong to the long lineage of Purohits that the Raja of Kashipur appointed and they are in charge of the temple as of now. They also told us, that today it might be empty but from Sunday evening thousands of devotees will be lining up to offer holy water to the Lord. The makeshift bamboo barricades are for the lining up devotees.

We learned that the neem tree that we can see within the compound is “Dui Purush” old, one purush stands for one generation(signifying 100 years), it was a very important tree both spiritually and therapeutically and is a “Shwet Neem” tree.

The temple is not architecturally marvellous or astounding, but once you are there you will understand nature and simplicity goes hand in hand. Belief needs a foundation, nature provides the same.

The sweet gentle breeze, the petrichor, the shade of the 200 years old shwet neem tree , the smiling gentle purohits will make you feel welcome.

When it was almost 5 in the evening we decided to go back to our place, which is right behind this temple boundary. Leisure walk amidst the setting sun overlooking Biharinath hill is very charming, whose allure I was unable to capture in my camera, but memory has kept it well preserved.

Birds flocking back to their nests, cattle returning home along with their neatherd are the common sight you can see during this time.

By now you are aware the USP at this place is its tranquil nature. So now, let me give you an idea where we were staying. Just an FYI it is a Government resort, so will suggest to keep your expectations basic minimum as far as facilities are concerned. Meaning AC will not work, power cuts are common, generator services has a time limit, rooms are cosy but lack the finesse of a standard hotel room, the garden desperately needs an upkeep, I hope you understand what I mean. But if you can adjust all these, there is no other place in Biharinath which can offer you this level of Natural view all around.

The location is like Biharinath Hill--> Our Cottage --> Biharinath temple compound !!

We were provided with the below cottage.

The pathway inside the resort

Dinner was served early that night, Tawa roti and chicken curry were sent to our rooms and we crashed by 9:30 of the evening.

Next day it was time to go around and visit the nearby tourist spots. Our targets for the day were Jaychandi Hills , Garpanchokot and Panchet dam. One can also visit Baranti and Susunia, even we had those places on our list but time allowed us to visit the first three for that day.

The first destination was the famous Joychandi Pahar, in Purulia. This is a small hillock, best suited for amateur rock climbing. Another interesting fact about it : the movie Hirak Rajar Deshe was shot in this hill. 540 steps cut out from rocks will take you on top of the hill and will get to see the panoramic top view of the place and Goddess Chandi temple. It is advisable that you carry drinking water bottle if you are visiting it on a hot and humid day. Let the pictures now do the talking.

Another 45 minutes’ drive took us to the Panchet hills where the ruins of Garhpanchkot with all its antiquity is awaiting to captivate us. The ruins here are a testimonial to the rich culture and history of the Kings of Panchokot family who once built this “Garh”. The Panchratna temple here is the most famous terracotta structure of this place. Not going into the historical details here, will allow the pictures to describe the place for you.

This place is scenic, serene, calm and have all other virtues to bring you to a receptive state.

Each moment we spent here, it was clear we are within so many countless historical events that we cannot fathom. Now we are the outlanders here who come here trying to understand what might have happened here, but instead we go back with the clarity why we will always be outlander in this land.

With the Rain God playing hide and seek with us, we decided to bid adieu to this wonderful place, promising we will return one day here and perhaps look out for more intricacies of this wanderlust ruin.

Just below the Panchet hill, the Damodar river curves into the Panchet Dam, one of the four dams of the Damodar Valley Corporation. This is shared between the states of West Bengal and Jharkand.

A customary panoramic shot of the evening overseeing Damodar and Panchkot hills.

We left Panchet dam around 5:30 on the Sunday evening looking forward to another interesting event.

As mentioned earlier, it was the auspicious occasion of last Monday of Shravan month and Janmastami combined, the Biharinath temple committee is ready to receive all devotees who will come to pay homage to Lord Shiva marking the auspicious tithi (time), also the temple committee has organized a village fair right outside the temple compound. So our Sunday evening will be spent experiencing a village fair.

When we reached, we found the street in front of our resort are no longer empty, but full of devotees coming in , mostly clad in saffron colored clothes, carrying Holy Water on makeshift canes (“Baank”),walking barefoot to the temple. They will be waiting for Monday morning and then will pour out the Water on Lord Shiva. The below picture taken the next morning will set things in perspective for you.

The fair has few stalls providing just the comfort food required. Kachori, jalebi and sweets are the most sought after food item. Then there are makeshift icecream parlours, tea stalls. Then few stalls were dedicated for the women visiting the fair, they had various ornamental jewellery. The most noticing thing above all these were the vibrating crowd that were coming in walking and chanting all the way.

Most common were , “Bhole Baba paar karega”,”Bom Bom Bhole Bom”. The rhythm these chants were making will surely give you goosebumps.

Along all these there was loud music making them dance.

There was another notable scent, the entire ambience of which ensured you know these were the Shiva Devotees, yes am talking about the musky smell of burning weed !! 😊

In all, the air was full of fun frolic , just what the fair intended to provide.

It started raining, drizzling rather, the music, the drum beats increased, euphoria struck all, we soaked in the mood, elated joined them and danced, it was surreal. No one asked us why , no one bothered. In front of Him we are all equals.

We are what we are and we are divine. Praise the Lord, Praise Mahadev, Har ek mai hai Dev, Har Har Mahadev !! An evening to remember, an evening to cherish, and evening to relish and boast about.

We called it a night later that evening .

Monday morning came too early for me, all my compatriots were asleep , I took on the last pending task. If that was not tried, this spectacular journey will be incomplete. It was time for the trek to the top of the Biharinath and take a view. We were told by our caretaker that it is not recommended to try the trek as it was risky during this heavy monsoon period. I decided otherwise, thinking this will be the cherry on the top moment for me.

Started the climb at 5:10 AM in the morning, if you are a regular trekker you will know this is too easy a climb, but here I am, the newbie, the amateur in this field, trying it out all alone.

Slippery slopes, was making my heart beat wildly, yet adrenaline pushed me forward.

Someone had a bonfire last night 😊

The view changes spectacularly and you are wowed as you climb up.

This is a panoramic view of the point when it started raining and I being alone had to cut short the plan to reach the top .

Keeping in mind will try the climb once again in winter decided it will be wise to get down before a downpour starts.

Came down back on the street around 6:50 AM and was wowed to see the party is still on 😝 !!

Finally it was time for us to bid adieu to Biharinath Hills and start our return journey later that day.

All good things are limited, so is our experience here.

Biharinath will bring your heart close to nature. You will be the most elemental of you here.

You will know you don’t need a lot to endure. You will realize how minimalist yet beautiful life can be. You will be surprised by the hardworking and determined people you will see here. You will recognize their self-grit in surviving and take away the consciousness of how blessed you already are.

Goodbye from all of us at Spinning Wheels for now !! 😊

#BiharinathHills #Offbeatdestination