We were planning to visit this place for long time and Sunday, 5th August 2012 was THE day. I started working on the route map to reach Garpanchkot on Saturday, 4th Aug 2012. After doing some analysis with my wife (Atreyi) & brother in law (Rajdeep), I finally came up with the route map. I contacted few of my friends who had earlier asked me to call them whenever i am making any long trip on 2 Wheels. Only one out of all i.e. Sandip called me at 10'o clock on Saturday night and confirmed that he will join us from Dankuni Housing Crossing on NH2.
I and my wife were awake till 2.30 AM keeping all the necessary belongings for our trip and we were supposed to start from our home at 5 AM. So, we were left with only 2.5 hours of Sleep before we start our voyage towards Garpanchkot / Garpanchakot . Interesting part of this trip is that we 2 only (my wife & myself) will be starting from Kolkata. My brother in law Rajdeep, who was primarily the force and inspiration because of whom I started doing long tour on 2 wheels, was in Tarakeshwar with some of his friends last night (Saturday) and will be joining us in Singur crossing on NH2 Sunday morning at 6.30 AM.
As usual I got the wakeup call at 4 AM from Rajdeep, but as we hardly had sleep, we got late and left at 5.45 AM. Before leaving I called Sandip to wake him up. Anyways it is time for a great journey and we started from Kolkata taking blessings from our parents.
Machines:
· Hero Honda CBZ Extreme 150 CC (Black) – 2008 Model – Mine’s
· Bajaj Pulsar 180 CC UG2 (Red) – 2006 Model – Rajdeep’s
· Hero Honda Splendor 100 CC (Black) – 2004 Model – Sandip’s
Route:
· Baranagar - Dakshineshwar - Burdwan - Durgapur - Raniganj - Asansol
· Continue on NH2 and will come accross to a 4 point crossing.
· Take left towards Barakar Railway Station.
· Continue on the same road crossing till Chirkunda and the same road will come to Panchet Dam. Panchkot hill is just opposite to the dam. Garpachkot temple is about 25 kms from Panchet Dam.
Places to visit:
· The ruins of Garh
· The Shiva temple
· Joy Chandi Hills (this is the hill where Satayajit Ray shoot for his film "Hirak Rajar Deshe ")
· Panchet dam (Panchet Dam was the last of the four multi-purpose dams included in the first phase of the Damodar Valley Corporation. It was constructed across the Damodar River at Panchet in Dhanbad district in the Indian state of Jharkhand, and opened in 1959)
We reached Dankuni Housing Crossing within 30 mins of our kickoff from Kolkata. I called Sandip and he joined within couple of minutes and during this small time I started cleaning my Extreme as usual so that it will smile while taking photos J. After having a small discussion we started from Dankuni Crossing to Singur from where Rajdeep will join. Soon I found Rajdeep is waiving his hand and we stopped there. He was looking like a proper, true, knowledgeable rider with full gears on. Now, we all are set and it’s time to vrrrrrooooooooommmmmmm ……. on NH2.
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| NH2 - My Dream Road |
We started from Singur sometime around 8 AM and our 1st break was before Shaktigarh, at our very well known roadside dhaba, to have our breakfast as we were feeling hungry.
After having a good breakfast we kicked off around 9 AM for our destination and our next stop was after entering Purulia around 11:30 AM at a tea shop.
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Rajdeep (left) & Sandip (right) Enjoying the breakfast
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| We two enoying breakfast ... Aloo Paratha |
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| CBZ Extreme, Splendor & Pulsar ... after having a good breakfast |
After having a good breakfast we kicked off around 9 AM for our destination and our next stop was after entering Purulia around 11:30 AM at a tea shop.
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| Sandip on Splender and Rajdeep on Pulsar |
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| Extreme ... Ready to take a pass |
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| Myself taking rest while driving |
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| Thumb Rule ... turn on Left Indicator ... while crossing any vehicle from right side on multilane highway .... to know more about highway driving rules please see the blog written on the same ... |
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| Barakar River |
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| On the bridge over Barakar River ... enjoying its beauty ... |
We had some snacks & sweets (Rasomalai) at the tea stall at Purulia. Sweets were awesome J. I have done some route map checking with the locals and started again. Finally around 12.30 PM we reached Panchet Dam. To me it is far better than Maithon (which we visited in 2010 on 2 wheels). We took some photos of the dam. We also were planning to take bath there as it was too hot but finally decided to move towards Garpanchakot.
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| on Panchet Dam |
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| Rajdeep, Sandip & myself |
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| Rajdeep fall in love ... |
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| Panchet Dam |
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| Panchet Dam |
The journey from Panchet Dam to Garpanchakot was hilarious. The road is too narrow and it is through the jungle where we found only 3 or 4 people (in 25 km stretch) to whom we asked for the temple. Finally we reached near the ruins of old temples and Garh around 3 PM.
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| Road towards Garh ... |
History:
Garpanchakot (‘gar’- means Fort in Sanskrit and ‘Panchakot’ is the local name of Panchet hill). The whole surrounding created a silhouette that made those facades look like some ghostly figures standing and hiding some untold mysteries related to this land. Garh Panchkot is located in the eastern part of India at the foot hills of Panchkot in the district of Purulia, West Bengal, Situated at the foothill of Panchakot (panchet hill), in the north east corner of the Purulia District, close to the boundary with district Burdwan and Jharkhand. The ruins of the Panchkot Palace are a silent testimony to the Bargi attack during the 18th century. From a historical perspective Alivardi Khan had become the Nawab of Bengal in April 1740 having defeated and killed Sarfiraz Khan. Rustam Jung, Sarfiraz’s brother-in-law challenged Alivardi Khan but failed in his endeavors which prompted him to sought the help of the Maratha Rulers of Nagpur, Raghoji Bhonsle. A Maratha cavalry was sent by Bhosle who entered Bengal through Panchet and started looting the countryside. These Maratha men came to be known as “Bargi’s”. For about 10 years they looted and plundered Bengal. It ended in the year 1751 after a settlement was reached between the Nawab of Bengal and Maratha King. During one of these encounters Garh Panckot was attacked by the “Bargi” and having defeated the King’s guards they destroyed it after looting and plundering the palace. It is believed that all the 17 wives of the king committed suicide in a nearby well during the attack. Since then this place lies in ruins.
Note: Most of the local folks refer Garpanchakot as Panchkot hill. So, we got surprised when locals replied that there is no such place as Garpanchakot.
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| Garpanchakot Temple |
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| Garpanchakot Temple |
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Garpanchakot Temple
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| CBZ Extreme .... enjoying the beauty of Garh |
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| Its time to roar once again ... but this time in Rain |
We took some snaps and then it started raining.
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| it started raining as we just left from Garh ... and saw this Aathchala |
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| Sunbeams on River Barakar while returning ... |
Initially it was drizzling but later on when we were on NH2 it started raining heavily and we had to stop thrice (Durgapur around 7 PM, Panagarh around 9 PM, Shaktigarh around 10.20 PM). It was the 1st time for me driving on highway at 60-70 kmph while it was raining heavily as there is nowhere to stop. At Shaktigarh, everyone of us had 3 cups of tea as we were shivering in cold. It continued till we reached home.
Initially when I planned for the trip, I was little bit confused on how the experience is going to be as total distance is long enough (502 Km) and it is monsoon time. In addition we have never driven with Sandip. But unbelievably with a 100 CC bike he managed the same speed continuously (60-80 kmph) throughout the trip where 2 other experienced monsters are roaring on the road.
Finally we managed to complete the one day round trip to Purulia with all Happy Faces JJ.
Finally we managed to complete the one day round trip to Purulia with all Happy Faces JJ.
For all the trips I made till date on Motorcycle / Bike / 2 Wheeler, please visit the following link:
