Garh Jungle: A fort or a Jungle
Hello friends, in my last story I had told you that soon I will share my experiences in Garh Jungle. And today I am here to share my travel experiences there. Firstly, my this visit was a bit an accidental one. There was no previous planning for this trip. I got some time with me and all in a sudden planned for the trip. I got the primary information about this place from a youtube channel and found it very easily accessible. As there are no train service available, it is getting tougher to plan a trip all in a sudden. But Garh Jungle is a good option. For you too who are planning for a one day outing can try this place. Garh Jungle will give you a everything a tourist spot can give.
Garh Jungle is very near to Durgapur. It is just 22km from Durgapur. Durgapur is well connected through railways and roadways. You can reserve a car or an auto from Durgapur Railway Station or City center bus stop to visit Garh Jungle. If you are going by your own car, you will have to take Kolkata-Delhi Expressway to reach Durgapur Muchipara crossing. From Muchipara take the Durgapur-Joydev Kenduli Road. After a 15-20 mins drive you will come across Malandighi Bajar. After another 5-10 mins drive from Malandighi Bajar, you will see a non metaled forest road running inside the forest. Take that road and now enjoy your ride in the bumpy exciting forests roads. This ride is really a thrilling one. Though in this forest there is no big wild animals present, but you can see different wild species like civets, jungle cat, fishing cat, snakes, monitor lizards and a lot of birds. If you see nothing still you will enjoy this ride. At the end of this road you will come to the Medhas Ashram.
Medhas Ashram is the place where King Surath worshipped Devi Durga for the first time. My previous story is on this place, those who have not gone through that story yet here is the link of that story for you -- https://rajaavishek22.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-history-of-durgapuja-medhas-ashram.html
A few mins walk from the Medhas Ashram will take you to the Shyamarupa Kalimandir. There is a beautiful story about the name of the temple. This story is basically a local legend but has a hiostorical connect. During the reign of Laxman Sena in Bengal, there was a Saint who lived in this forest. He was known as Samai Kapalik, he used to worship Goddess Kali here and performed human sacrifice. When Laxman Sena was attacked by the Sultans of Delhi, Laxman Sena fled from his capital Gaur and came here inside the forest to save his life. Here, he came across the Kapalik and the Kapalik told him that if he build a temple for Goddess Kali inside the forest and perform human sacrifice in front of Goddess he will get back his power in Bengal. Though Senas were Vaishnavs, still Laxman Sena told his men to build a Kali Temple here in the forest for Samai Kapalik.
On the day of inauguration of the Temple Samai Kapalik was all ready to sacrifice a man in front of the Goddess. Laxman Sena, being a Vaishnav could not withstand the scene. He immediately called his court poet Joydeva to stop the Kapalik to perform such an inhuman act in the name of worship. Joydeva failed to convince the Kapalik. According to locals, in this situation poet Joydeva prayed to Lord Vishnu for a solution. It is said that when Joydeva was in his prayers to Lord Vishnu, the deity of the new temple turned blackish for a period of time. After this incidence, the Kapalik stopped sacrificing human. And from then this temple came to be known as Shyamarupa Kali Temple.
Still today this temple is very popular among local people of Bardhaman-Birbhum region and a common spot for social functions. Many people of this region offers puja in this temple before a new venture. To offer Puja here, one has to reach here early before 10AM. Or you can call the main priest of Shyamarupa Temple (Mr Dilip Roy--9434345105) for puja and afternoon bhog. If you are not offering puja here, still you will get Mistanna prasad while visiting the temple. As I had planned all of a sudden, I could not call him for afternoon bhog. I got the Mistanna prasad, which is very tasty. Next time surely I will taste the bhog here.
After Shyamarupa Temple, I visited the Deul of Icchai Ghosh. The deul is situated at the Northern end of the forest just beside the River Ajai. One can have a good view of the village Joydeva-Kenduli in Birbhum district from the Deul, which is situated at the other side of the River Ajay.
Here comes the history of this place. Why this place is called Garh Jungle? Who is Icchai Ghosh?
Actually the history of this place is dated back to 11th century, when Icchai Ghosh was a local powerful ruler who ruled over southern Bengal. He had a fort in this area. On his expedition to Southern Bengal, Pal king Rampal send his general Karnasena to face Icchai Ghosh. Icchai ghosh faced the Pal army in the battlefield and defeated Karnasena totally. Karnasena fled away to Gaur to save his life. Later Karnasena's son Lausena attacked Icchai Ghosh and a fierce battle took place by the side of River Ajay. In this battle Icchai Ghosh was defeated and killed. Lausena took revenge of his fathers defeat by destroying the fort of Icchai Ghosh.
According to Local folklore, Icchai Ghosh was invincible in this region with the blessings of Devi Chandi. When Lausena attacked the fort Devi Chandi advised Icchai Ghosh not to take part in the battle and deal with the situation in diplomatic way. Icchai Ghosh thought he was undefeatable and did not took the advise seriously.
As Lausena destroyed the total fort, so today there is no remains of the fort visible inside the forest. Only the boundary walls of the fort is recognisable in some places. So, before visiting the place one must keep it in mind that their is no existence of any ruined fort here in the forest. But this forest with its beautiful stories will really surprise you.
In the Northern end of the Forest there is the 16th century old brick temple of Icchai Ghosh, known as Icchai Ghosher Deul. The architecture of this temple is typical Rekh-deul style with one central spire. The temple is said to be dedicated to Devi Chandi, though I found a Shiva linga inside as a deity. May be it has been replaced afterward. The temple is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. According to locals, this temple is the only evidence which is present in this area, which was built by Icchai Ghosh. Though according to historical studies, this temple was built in 16th century by some of the descendents of Icchai Ghosh to commemorate the great ruler of this belt.
If you have kids with you you can also spend some time at the Deul Park amusement park just adjacent to the Deul. Or you can spend some time in the banks of River Ajay.
On your way back must visit the Rarheshwar Shiva Temple in Ara, near Durgapur. This is the oldest Shiva temple in the Durgapur-Panagarh belt, built and it has a structure very different to other temples of this area. Generally the Sikhar of the temples in West Bengal has a rounded structure. But here it is conical in shape, which is very uncommon in West Bengal. This temple is not a brick temple. The temple is made up of yellow sandstone and Laterite stone. The temple has a Saptaratha plan. The Shiva Linga present in this temple is largest in Burdwan district. The detailed history of this temple is still unknown, though it is said that the temple was built in 12th century CE.
This is the places you can cover in your trip to Garh Jungle. Thrilling jungle roads, legendary folklores, mythological stories and at last the unknown history of Icchai Ghosh will astonish you. May be Garh Jungle is not a forest where you can sight a varied range of wild animals. May be there is no evidence of history present here till now. Still this trip will be very enjoyable. Walking through jungles, hearing such stories of Icchai Ghosh's bravery, King Surath's first durgapuja and Raja Laxman Sena's ideal Vaishnavism is a real treat. The enjoyment increases with sound of chirping birds, smell of jungle flowers and the sight of River Ajay. Garh Jungle is an ideal place to venture in weekends. If you have extra time you can also visit Joydev Kenduli, the birthplace of poet Joydeva, the composer of Geetagovinda and court poet of Raja Laxman Sen.
Travel Tips
- Avoid visiting this place in rainy season. As forest roads are non-metaled roads it would be difficult to drive through this roads in heavy rains.
- For night stay, Deul Park Eco-home is an option which is inside the Deul Park. But it would be better to visit Garh Jungle and Deul from Durgapur, Suri or Bolpur. There are a lot of options to stay at Durgapur and Bolpur according to your budget.
- If you are visiting with your own car, always carry a road map of the forest. Inside the forest there is no network coverage. So, your GPS system will fail.
- If you are visiting with your car from Kolkata, you can also visit Valkimachan on your way.
- Tourists visiting from Bolpur will come across Joydev kenduli and Shirsa on road. Must watch the temples and Zamindari Palace in Shirsa.
- A visit to Garh Jungle is fantastic during Durga Puja. You can come across a Durga puja in Medhas Ashram, which still now follows age old customs, very uncommon in modern day Durga puja.
- While visiting Garh Jungle always bring adequate amount of drinking water. As inside the forest you will not get a shop to buy packaged drinking water.
So, today its all over. Hope you will enjoy the story. Very soon I will come with another new story of another new destination. Till that good night and stay safe.
Awesome description of the journey.
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