Jabalpur~ The City of Marble Rocks
Hello Friends, after quite a long gap I am here with a new story about a new destination. Hopefully, from this new content you will get another new destination to explore in the upcoming days. For those, who had already visited this place, this story might be taking you to those days when you had been there and may give you a chance to cherish your old memories. So, lets start the journey to the city in Madhya Pradesh, beside River Narmada.
Before exploring the city its better to have an idea about the Historical background and Mythological stories about Jabalpur. According to Historians, present day city of Jabalpur was previously known as Sathivathi. It was the capital of the Chedi Kingdom and King Sishupala was the founder of this city. Later, the name of the city was changed to Jabalpur by the Arabic Traders. The word 'Jabal' means Rock in Arabic language. But there are some contradictions between historians about this fact. Some believes that the name Jabalpur has came to existance during the Kalchuri Rule. The Kalchuri King, Karn, who ruled over a vast area of Central India during Medieval Period gifted this city to his Queen, Jauli. And from her name Jauli, he renamed this city as Jaulipuri, which later transformed to Jabalpur.
Again, there is a mythological story behind the name of Jabalpur. It is said that once the city was a land of Asuras. A Sage named Jabali came here and performed some Yajna by the side of River Narmada to make this area suitable for common man's dwelling. The city got the name Jabalpur from the name of this sage, Jabali. Though there is no historical proof about Jabali.
Lets start our Jabalpur exploration from a historical place, The Madanmahal Fort. This fort is situated on the top of a hillock, just outside the main city. It is said that the city of Jabalpur was ruled by the Gond Kings in the Medieval Era before the rise of the Kalchuri Rulers. One of this Gond Kings of Mandla, Veer Madan Singh built this fort in the year 1116CE. By his name the fort is called Madanmahal Fort. Presently the Fort is in a dilapidated state, but still one can see those beautiful archs and feel the grandeur of great architecture of past times. The Fort provides some fantastic view of Jabalpur city and there is a Shiva Temple known as Pancheswara Shiva Temple near the Fort.
Just on the way to Madanmahal Fort one must not miss the sight of the Balancing Rock.
After visiting Madanmahal Fort, lets travel to Bhedaghat, a small village in the bank of River Narmada, just outside the main city of Jabalpur to have a glimpse of River Narmada flowing through a gorge in between tall cliffs of Marble Rocks. For better experience one can also stay at the MPTDC Property at Bhedaghat. Its must to take a boat ride here in River Narmada to experience different colours and shapes of Marble Rocks. The boatmen who controls the boat here also works as guide for tourists. A boat ride here in the time of Sunset will be a lifetime experience, so its obviously advisable to have your boat ride after exploring other places of Bhedaghat. Though, during that time it gets highly crowded. If you want to feel the silence of this place and feel the sound of River Narmada along with chirping of birds in the nearby forests, try to have your boat ride in the noon hours, when its almost rush-free.
The name Bheda Ghat has come from the word 'Bhairava' and originally, the name of this place was 'Bhairava Ghati', meaning Hills of Tantra Worship. Bhedaghat is famous for its Chausaath Yogini Temple. And its this Temple for which Bhedaghat got its name. This temple is situated on the top of a hillock. Here there are 81 smaller temples which surrounds a big temple at the centre. These 81 temples are dedicated to 64 Yoginis and other deities and the big temple in the central position is dedicated to Devi Durga. And as it was previously used to perform tantrik form of worshiping, this total complex is surrounded by a wall. This is the largest among all the 5 temples dedicated to Chausaath Yoginis in India, having a circumference of 41m. The construction of this temple was started during the Rule of Kalchuri King Yuvarajadev I. And the big temple at the centre was constructed by Rani Ahlanna Devi of Kalchuri Dynasty almost 2 decades later.
Just opposite to the Chausaath Yogini Temple is the Panchamatha Temple. It was also commissioned during the Kalchuri Era and dedicated to Lord Mahakaleshwara. The temple provides a birds eye view of the Narmada Gorge below.
After Temple visit,now its time to visit the Dhuandhar Waterfalls. The term 'Dhuan' in Hindi means smoke. Here River Narmada Plunges from its broad course to the narrow Gorge, which is about 30ft below. The speed of the flowing river is excessive high here, which causes the water droplets to ascend in a concentrated mass which looks like Smoke. The roar of the Waterfalls is so high that one can here it from distances away.
Jabalpur, especially Bhedaghat is famous for Marble Artifacts. On the way to Dhuandhar Waterfalls, one can find many such stores selling and sculpting Marble Artifacts. You can also buy these from here. If you wish to purchase any object from here, but you have a long plan of touring different places of MP, you can give them your residential address and they will send that item to your house through courier services. But, one has to keep in mind that Marble is a costly stone, and it is a tough job to sculpt out something from a stone. So, it is not advisable to go for excessive bargaining before you purchase anything from here. Its better to have an idea about the cost of such item before coming here.
On the evening, its a charming experience to witness the Aarti of River Narmada at Gwarighat or here in Bhedaghat.
Lets start the next day with the exploration of Rani Durgawati Museum in the morning. The State Archaeological Museum of Jabalpur was commissioned in 1976 and later on it was named after Rani Durgawati. For your information, Rani Durgawati was the queen of Raja Dalpat Shah of the Garha dynasty, which ruled over Central India in 15th and 16th Century. After the death of Raja Dalpat Shah, Rani Durgawati ruled this region for 14 years from 1550 to 1564. The visit to the museum is a must as this is the place where many archaeological remains of the Kalchuri, Satavahana and Gond times from Bhedaghat, Mandla and other adjoining areas is preserved. The museum has many galleries, one of them is exclusively for Chausaath Yogini Temple of Bhedaghat, one of the gallery is dedicated for letters written by freedom fighters and one of the gallery is dedicated to showcase the cultural and social life of local Gond and Baiga tribes. The museum is open from 10AM to 5PM everyday, and Monday is the weekly off day. It is advisable to keep about 1hr30mins in hand to thoroughly explore the museum.
After visiting the museum, lets travel about 85km to a small village called Ghughua in Dindori District. Ghughua is famous for the country's first National Park for fossils. In 1983, 75 Acres of land in this place is noted as a national park for Plant Fossils. There are fossils belonging to 18 plant families, mainly dominated by Eucalyptus, Date Palms, Banana etc. This park also contains evidences of the Historical Super-continent, named Gondwana.
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| Rock Structure showing the evidence of Prehistoric Gondwana Land |
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| A Plant Fossil |
After visiting the Ghughua Fossil Park, our exploration of Jabalpur comes to an end. But if you have some extra time in your hand, you can also visit the Bargi Dam or Bhadbhada Waterfalls or Nidan Waterfalls, which is near the main city of Jabalpur in a radius of 30-35 Km. By visiting these places one can come close to the natural beauty of rural Madhya Pradesh.
By this the story on Jabalpur ends. Hopefully, you have enjoyed the content and this will help you in planing of your trip to Jabalpur. If you had visited some more places in or around Jabalpur which I had missed, please tell me about your experiences at those places and if you have any memories about travelling in Jabalpur, you can also share it in comment section. For now, its all and will be connecting with you with another new story of a new destination very shortly. Thank You.
Beautiful. It reminds me about our trip to Jabalpur. Although we have missed many places at that time.
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