Travel to Jaychandi Pahar (Hill)

People go to several places of interests, people go to famous places, while me went to a most uncommon, remote lonely place with my wife and enthusiastic son of four years in the mid April of 2008.

India has states with several diversities. Among which West Bengal is the one. Within the south of that state there is Purulia district whose headquarter is Purulia itself. I don't know the actual meaning of 'Purulia' but it fascinated me from my childhood to this middle age. The climate is extreme, the drinking water is shortage but the people of there will definitely quench your thirst by their simplicity, purity and nature always lying there with it's puberty. Nobody can realise a spic and span idea untill they visit the site.

One fine morning we started from our 'Mayur Hotel' (which is one of the finest in the Purulia city) to the bus stand nearer to our hotel. Several buses are plying to several destinations. As my kid prefers the speedy vehicle we board on an express bus of Purulia to Durgapur. After an hour of journey we reached a dry hot place Raghunathpur. Very shortage of fooding hotels, no lodging facilities are available there till now. On the way to Raghunathpur our destination was viewing clearly and coming closely. Anyhow, we took our lunch in a roadside hotel and hired an auto rickshaw (very familiar vehicle to Indian city roads). The fares must be bargained before hiring the autos.

The auto rickshaw started, we took our seats in the dickey and after a journey of 3 kms. the auto stopped. Behind the auto rickshaw seats you can't see anything more than the dust of red hot soil. After a short journey of approximately 3 kms. the auto rickshaw stopped; we stepped down just like our first step on moon and as soon as the auto left us we were really afraid of loneliness and silence of that place.

At first we thought how to go back from here as there was no transportation, no fooding facilities, no trace of drinking water etc. Only the assurance was our auto rickshaw would come and pick up at 4.30 pm afternoon. We were not afraid for that 5 hours to come, the real thing was shortage of our drinking water for our child. But suddenly we found a tourist family taking photographs few yards upside the jungle hill which took our pulse rate down for the moment and felt that we were not alone there.

by the bye we started to trek up for more than 400 stairs and on stony path like a good trekker. The stairs are snaked up to the crest. After climbing up couple of long stairs we heard some susurration coming out from upside. When it came close we saw that it was striplings from a school for trekking were coming down with mouthful of crackers, cookies, chocolates, cakes etc. It was really pretending to be a glass of water in the desert.

When we reached the halfway, I felt myself keeling for the stairway. Though a religious person had built the stairway by concrete but I cannot imagine how painful it was to climb the crest before the stairs were built. After covering the three-fourths of the stairs a temple was being seen. It is Chandi Mata's (Mother Chandi) temple which had been informed by some wayfarers.

There was an abandoned tower used by the dacoits in the ancient times below which I sat for a while resting and taking a puff. In the meantime I found that my son went up the crest pulling his mother with all his exuberance and uttering with his victory against his father. At last I reached at the peak of my goal and found that the temple had been closed for that first half of the day and will reopen in the afternoon. There was another family from a neighbouring state and told that the priest would come at 4 pm sharp. We had nothing but to wait. But I could not imagine that how the time went off with the enormous & marvellous view of the surroundings from that crest.

At sharp 4 pm the priest and a vendor came with some adoration items and a can of drinking water. I jumped in front of him and drunk about 2 liters of water at a time and asked what if the water would finished. Smilingly the vendor replied that the water is for first come first serve basis. I was really astounded by his service to the mankind for twice a day from the bottom of the hill village to the crest.

By the bye we offered our puja to Chandi mata (Mother Chandi) and came down to the bottom. While coming down I watched that when we came under the height of mobile phone tower, only then my mobile was active to receive signals. It was very interesting to see the signaling factors.

As soon as we came to the bottom land, we found several village boys were playing cricket on the rocky fields without any problem. We were waiting for our auto rickshaw to come. Very strangely I found how the cricket viewers were enjoying the game by sitting over in different boulders.

It was around 5 pm & no trace of our auto rickshaw. Without bothering the delay of auto rickshaw we started walking hurriedly towards the nearby village. The sundown was already started. Just at the gateway of that village luckily we got a cycle rickshaw for the nearby station 'Jaychandi Pahar'. My sweat began to dry by itself.

The station was coming closely. I just looked behind and found as if the Jaychandi Pahar (hill) is still standing on its own place under the misty sky and whispering at me 'Have you ever heard the sound of silence? If not then come to me.......come to me.......come to me.......'