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Bastar, Chhattisgarh
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Chattisagarh is an unexplored state. Bastar has been divided into 3 districts namely Bastar,Kanker and Dantewada. Bastar is generally called the land of tribals and located at 2500-3000 feet, is generally less visited and beautiful place in India. Forests, hills and mountains, waterfalls, caves, parks nature reached its height of beauty in the state. The largest and the most important river in Bastar district is the Indravati which has numerous tributaries ,the largest being the Pamer Chinta.
The important tourist places in Bastar district are Chitrakot and Tiratgarh (both are water falls), Kotamsar and Kailash caves, Kanger Valley National Park etc.Indravati National Park, known for tigers and wild buffaloes is situated at a distance of 200 Kms, west of Jagdalpur, is another place of worth seeing. There is another tourist spot virgin Kurschel Valley, with its gigantics trees, situated at 40 Kms. north west of Narainpur. There are two wild life sanctuaries Bhairamgarh and Pamed which are in Dantewada district. The historical temple of Goddess Danteshwari is situated in Dantewada.
How to reach
By Air - Chhattisgarh has a domestic airport in Raipur
By Rail - Two major railway stations in Chhattisgarh - Raipur and Bilaspur
By Road - The National Highways (NH) 6, 16 and 43 connect all the major cities and towns of Chhattisgarh
Places to see
The Tiratgarh falls is another place worth a visit. Although tourism is still to go a long way here one who prefers solitude and nature in its rawest form would love this place. Tirathgarh is a place where one can have a walk down to the falls and stand behind the water falls to get drenched in the cool showers. Green landscapes and paddy and the farms of jatropha are seen on either sides of the roads of Bastar. The routes are generally safe even though it borders the Maoist areas.
Dantewada is the name of the area where Danteswari temple is located. There are some old temples in Barsur too. 50-kms from Basur is the Chitrakote falls. This place is the main attraction in Bastar and a page id dedicated for Chitrakoot, navigate from the left area.
The Kailash cave is located 40 m above the ground level. There is an idol of Lord Shiva here hence the name. Located on a small hill in the Kanger valley national park the stalagmite and stalactite in the cave are very beautiful. There is a music point in the cave and musical sound is vibrated when tapped with a stone.
The Dandek cave is an underground one having a length of 200 metres. The cave has 2 compartments and when one has to go from the first to the second he should crawl. Stalactite formations are seen in the caves here.
There are many other smaller caves here some might be yet to be named and explored. All the caves are millions of years old.
Kanger is a forest situated near Jagdalpur of Bastar district. There are many animals like peacock, deers, bears, etc here.
The road from Jagadpur to Raipur (300kms) is one of the top 100 drives as published by Jet Airways magazine. The road is beautiful every drivers dream, as one races forward we leave back small towns not even heard of to reach the Keshkal ghats & princely states of Kawardha and Kanker, Nagarnar and Narayanpur towns. Kawardha is 120 Km north of Jagdalpur.
Many different tribes are found here and when in festive occasions they gather in different dresses and dance and sing to celebrate the occasion. Traditional sport of cock fight is very common is conducted during market and all occasion. Mahuva is multi purpose tree. All parts of tree is used by tribes. The traditional food of the tribes is a preparation made of ants and its eggs. Bastar is famous for its terracotta crafts and Narayanpur is known for its bell metal, woodcraft, wrought iron and bamboo artifacts.
Raipur - Bastar Road drive
Highway - NH 43
Time - 5.2 hrs
Distance - 264 kms
Road trip summary, time, kms and tolls and other information required to plan your road trip.
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Planning a visit to Chhattisgarh read through travelogues to plan your trip
The summers months of April to June are very hot, May being the hottest and temperatures soars to 40 degree C. June and August are the monsoon months which makes driving around even tougher.
It is best to visit Chhattisgarh during the interesting Bhoramdeo Mahotsav in March.
Ideal time to Visit - October - March.
Capital - Raipur
Chhattisgarh - Full of Surprises
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