We have a saying in Bengali, “Widow’s Benaras”, which means that when a widow has nowhere to go, she goes to Benaras. Purulia has become that place for me. In the last 1 year, I have gone there three times. But I don’t regret that. I love going there repeatedly. Every Purulia trip became unique because of different company, different rides, different places and different persons. This time our target was to witness the forest fire, No, not the actual forest fire but the mass blooming of ‘flame of the forest’ across the hills and forests of Purulia.
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| Sunrise at Kolaghat Bridge |
Last year at the end of February, just before lockdown, we did a ride with this desire, but the timing was not right. The Sal trees were busting with flowers but not the ‘flame of the forest’ or Simul or any other red flowering tree. What I had learned from that ride was that in West Bengal all these trees flower from east to west ie. as the flowering of these trees finish in the eastern part of West Bengal, they start to bloom in the west. So with that in mind we planned this year’s ride a month later, at the end of March.
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| At Kharagpur |
This year’s plan was simple. Me and Pallab would go on my bike, roaming around in the forests of West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and would go upto Baranti. We would stay where we would find an accommodation and next day we would return via Durgapur Expressway. So with that in mind, early morning I started my journey from Santragachi to my first stop at Bauria, at Pallab’s home to pick him up. After a quick cup of tea we repacked our luggage and hit the road. These early hours of the day has something magical in them. Soft golden light of rising sun, coolness of the air, faint fog covering the fields makes the ride very enjoyable. Our next stop was Kharagpur. One of our friends came to return Pallab’s Gopro. So after a tea break there as well we followed the Mumbai road. Then at Lodhasuli we turned towards Jhargram. Light green Sal forest decorated with tiny white flowers welcomed us with open arms. The air was heavy with the fragrance of sal flower. In that morning light the forest looked so beautiful that we had to stop. No matter when I travel through that section, this patch of forest just before Jhargram is so beautiful that I stop there every time. But still no sign of the flame!
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| En route to Jhargram |
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| Chilkigarh Palace |
We payed a quick visit to Chilkigarh Rajbari as we were passing in front of it. Then finally we stopped at a shop near Gidhni station for breakfast. That shop had every option of tiffin from ghugni muri to kachuri, parata, idli, dahi bara, sweets and many more. As we crossed belpahari, suddenly the forest lit up with forest fire. We were jumping with joy inside. Every tree was full of flowers. Intermittently sections of forests were red with the flame of the forest. It really looked like the forest was burning red with fire from a distance. We stopped several places to enjoy the beauty but as we crossed Purulia town and reached Raghunathpur we realized that we made a blunder.
We were following the wrong direction in google maps for Baranti. So what supposed to be 10-15 km left turned out to be more than 100km as we corrected the destination. This wrong route costed us approximately 200 km more but it gave us the forests full of Palash. The sun was already shining overhead but we had no other option but to ride. We took our lunch with banana and electrolyte in front of Jaychandi Hill and cranked our bike again. I also informed Vijay bhai that we would be late. One thing I had to admit that the whole section that we had ridden, the road was very good. And ofcourse, with Himalayan, no road is bad enough!
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| En route to Baranti |
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| Baranti |
We reached Baranti from the far side of the lake where all the hotels are located. We circled the lake and reached foothill of Baranti hill. It was already afternoon. Baranti lake looked very colorful in the afternoon sun. There were very few people here n there. But only as we started searching for hotel room that we realized we came in the peak season. We could not find a single room for the night. So we choose a quite spot near the shore of the lake to enjoy the afternoon. Worrying about room could wait. In the meantime Vijay bhai reached us with a flask full of cool pudina drink which made the moment more refreshing after whole day of riding in scorching sun. I met Vijay after 7 years. We both changed a lot, yet somehow we both were the same. It was good to see him after such long time.
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| Baranti Lake |
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| Pallab and Vijay |
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| Sunset at Baranti |
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| Panoromic view of Baranti |
And he invited us to his home for the night. So that solved our accommodation problem, great! After spending some time at the lake shore recalling good old times in Mizoram. Vijay’s home is just beside Panchet Dam, and the road goes through the Garpanchakot area. We were on the dam just after sunset. The dam is huge. It is 4 km long. When we reached Vijay bhai’s home, it was already dark. We were welcomed very warmly by his family. After taking some snakes and tea we went to the dam again for another round of evening adda. The weather had already cooled down. We settled down on an empty spot on the dam (the whole dam was empty actually) and spent the evening there.
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| Panchet Dam |
The next morning Vijay bhai took us to Panchet dam again but this time the other side of the dam through which the released water flows. The naked rock bed gave the place an unearthly beauty. That whole area submerges when the dam releases massive amount of water in the monsoon season. That is the right time to visit Panchet. Anyway, after a heavy breakfast at his home, we packed our luggage and started our return journey.
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| Other side of Panchet Dam |
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| In front of Vijay's house |
But before that we had one last place to visit on our list, Garpanchakot. It has a 7km trekking route to the top of the hill, so if anyone interested can try that but it would be better to try that in early morning time. As we were already late we skipped that and headed straight to the Ras mandir. Through the winding road we reached the terracotta temple. In the backdrop of green hill, that temple really stood out in the morning sun. But as it was Sunday, there was a lot of tourist which really killed the mood. To find peace we entered the forest behind the temple but peace was elusive. From nowhere two cars appeared and from them emerged uncountable amount of people of every size and sex. It reminded me of the scene from a Bollywood movie. This was our que to begin the return journey.
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| View from Panchet Dam |
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| Ras Mandir, Garpanchakot |
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| Garpanchakot Hill |
We grabbed a cup of hot tandoori chai in that already hot weather somewhere along the road. The unique making process gives the chai a smokey taste. Then it was just riding along the NH-19. We took a break at Durgapur too for a glass of lassi and at Saktigarh for coconut water, otherwise we were riding continuously. So we reached Bauria far earlier than we expected. It was a satisfying quick little trip. And the blooming of Palash really had blown our mind.
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| The jungle is burning red with the Flame of the Forest |
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