Maria Pahar Catholic Church, Rourkela

Maria Pahar Catholic Church, Rourkela

How to reach:

Church is located near Abhigyan Chowk on Ring road in sector-9 of Rourkela.  From any part of Rourkela, one can hire shared or private auto to reach on the hill.

सवय

सवय

तुला ही सवय कधीपासून लागली,
नदीतल्या संथ पाण्यात पाय बुडवुन बसण्याची?

तू पाय बुडवल्यावर,
पाण्यावर जे तरंग उमटतात ना
ते तरंग नाहीतच मुळी !
संथ पाण्यावर
ते उठलेले रोमांच आहेत
तुझ्या नाजूक स्पर्शाने
पाण्यालाही झालेली
तारुण्याची जाण आहे !

तुझ्या पायांची हालचाल पाहून,
मासेही कसे स्तब्ध झालेत.
जणू आपलं पोहोणच विसरलेत !
आश्चर्य वाटतंय त्यांना,
अशी डौलदार हालचाल
आपणही नाही करु शकत !

नदीकाठची फुलं आपलं अस्तित्वच विसरलीयत,
कारण तू तिथं बसलीयस
कोवळ्या उन्हात भिजणाऱ्या तुला बघून
त्यांचीही शुध्द हरपलीय

बेभान मी ही  झालोय,
म्हणून तर आज पुन्हा आलोय !
तुझी वाट बघतोय
थोडीशी स्वप्न रंगवतोय.

पण आधी मला एक सांग,
तुला ही  सवय लागली कधीपासून ?

Kiriburu and Saranda Forest

Kiriburu and Saranda Forest

Odisha and nearby states like Jharkhand and Chattisgarh have many unexplored places and the cultures, especially one ruled by the tribal life.  Among these, several locations are ending with "Buru" like Kiriburu, Meghataburu, etc. "Buru" means hillock .and the prefixes have different meaning like "Kiri" means insects. "Megahata" means cloud.

Kiriburu and its sister town of Meghahatuburu, both located in both Jharkhand and Odisha are easily accessible from most of the towns nearby. Meghataburu is one of the largest Haematite iron ore mines in the world. The famous Saranda Forest nearby these places is the densest deciduous forest in Asia.Also the largest Sal forest in Asia. 

Kiriburu is a place for nature lovers, where one can watch hills and valleys full of tall ad indigenous trees and all-year-round green vegetation. The weather is usually right round the year. Even in summer months, when rest of Odisha starts feeling the increased heat, one can experience morning fog in Saranda forest. The forest receives around 200 cm(approx) of rain in Kiriburu. In Meghahatuburu, near the SAIL guest house located in a corner of the town, a beautiful view of 700 mountains in the morning, and the beautiful sunset is panoramic to watch.

Fire in these jungles during summer is a common phenomenon - cause many times manmade and sometimes natural

Saranda Forest:

Sarana forest is located in the hilly region of West Singhbum district in the state of Jharkhand. "Saranda" in local language means land of 700 hills. Another origin of the name might be due to the presence of a large number of elephants in the forest. Saranda means elephants.

The density of the forest itself is scenic to watch because it is covered with mostly a single type of tree: Saal. The calmness, wilderness, the depth all adds up to a must have experience in this part. Most of the forest is untouched and makes it a perfect home for plenty of bird and other wildlife species importantly elephants, tiger, leopards, and Bisons. It also hosts some stunning waterfalls and hill views.

The river Koena is by far the most important river of this division. It originates in the extreme south of Bhangaon village on the Bonai border. It flows for about 80 km through this division and drains into the river Koel at Manoharpur. About 1100 hectares of virgin forests with more than 40% canopy cover is under iron ore mining leases. Several new aspirants for mining lease are in the waiting.

Some interesting facts:

Allegedly, this part of India hosts many Primitive Tribal Group, who are unaware of the modern civilization e.g. people who don't wear clothes. Some tribes use sound and use sign languages. Jharkhand government has made cement houses for them within thick forest so that they can continue living amidst the woods but with some added security.  

The Singh Deo family were the royal family of the Saraikela, and Saranda forest was the hunting reserve of this family. Allegedly, the royal family made money by exploiting the forest resources by selling Elephant tusks, timber, etc.  

How to reach Kiriburu:

A small video of travel from Manoharpur to Kiriburu and then in the forest near Pundulu

Kiriburu and Meghataburu are very close to each other. From Rourkela, it is advised to hire car and travel by road. Limited bus service is available, but can't be guaranteed about time and regularity. Kiriburu can be reached from Tatanagar by road or by rail, the nearest railway station being Barajamda, at a distance of 24 km. The mining town of Barbil in the Keonjhar District in Orissa is at a distance of 28 km from Meghahataburu by road. Direct Train - Jan Shatabdi- from Howrah (West Bengal) is available up to Barbil. Tourists, if not willing to stay and are travelling by road, should visit only during day-time for security reasons. Barbil is the only town near by for good accomodation. Guest house at Meghataburu is only for SAIL employees. 

Vedvyaas Mela

Vedvyaas Mela

Vedvyaas is a holy place for all rourkelites to carry out important rituals. Almost all major festivals are celebrated at this complex of temples located on the sangam of three rivers. The attraction among all is the famous Vedvyaas mela arranged on the auspicious week of Mahashivaratri.

"Vedvyas Shivaratri Mela ( Fair) is an annual Mela that is held for 15 days starting with the Hindu festival of Mahahivaratri, in the Vedvyas Dham Ground, Rourkela. Shivaratri Mela is held as per Hindu calendar every year on the Krishnapaksha 13th day/13th night (breaking fast/'Vrata' on 14th after sunrise) of the waning moon in the month of Phalguna that corresponds to February/March as per Gregorian calendar. The festival’s popularity is widespread and hence is known as Vedvyas Mela, Lots of vendor from all over India came to open shops of different traditional & daily use items, local sweets and villager sweets vendors are coming to sell their product. "

                                                                                  ---- http://sundergarh.nic.in/vedvyas/festivals.html

Here are some glimpses of the premium fun and fair. Roughly one lakh or more people visit every day and visit few among as many as seven hundred shops. The district administration keeps the crowd quite disciplined. 

The colors of Joy

Hundreds of small shops sell the goods required for the daily purpose, from plastic made to wood made. As the prices fall down, most people enjoy the shopping. Although the quality of goods like cheap ornaments, decorative items is rubbish, handmade articles by the local skilled craftsmen is certainly a good buy.

The food stalls

More than half the stalls sell food items, especially the sweets !

.... and very few sell least demanded cold drinks. Remember it is still February and Rourkela is still cold !

The fun part - Not 'only' for children:

Some try shooting, although there is no prize to claim !

From children to young and older ones enjoy most of it, may it be the giant wheel or for that matter any fearful rotating mechanism. I find these places full of emotions - fear, excitation, innocence, curiosity, and most importantly satisfaction !

A small compilation of happenings at the fair !

Mischievous Monkeys

Mischievous Monkeys

One of the common aspects of tourist places in India located in some isolation or up the hill is the presence of monkeys. Monkeys here are so acquainted with the human and their behavior. This knowledge turns the monkeys to be so mischievous and daring. Partly, visitors are also blamed too. Earlier everybody used to feed and enjoy. Now after generations have passed by and monkeys feel righteous to snatch bags from visitors and search them for food items. Here are some instances of how what and why it happens !

A group of monkeys attacked the vehicle to literally loot the passengers

It was indeed a hot afternoon, can't blame him !

And see these monkeys !