Recently got a chance to visit Chhatisgarh. This was my first ever trip to the state.
I boarded Adi-Howrah Express from Ahmedabad and got off at Bhilai after a long and tiring journey.
Next day, I went for a drive in Bhilai, and it was beautiful.
Wide roads, trees all around, very less pollution and low traffic, it gave me a feel of being in Chandigarh, in fact it looked better.
I visited during the days of Ganesh Puja. I was overwhelmed to see the celebration. Such huge and beautiful pandals, large gatherings of people to offer their prayers, celebrations went till late in the night.
Then I got a chance to drive to Jatmai Ghatrani with my relatives, which is approx 125 km from Bhilai, and had Raipur, Abhanpur and Rajim on its route.
After I crossed Raipur, drive became interesting. Forests on both sides of the road provided views of natural beauty. Various water bodies in the forests provided picturesquare view. After about 3 hours of isolated driving
Ghatrani is located on small hill, it has temples of Hindu Goddesses and a beautiful waterfall.
From Ghatrani we drove to Jatmai, which is about 25 kms from there. Jatmai is located in so-called naxalite area. Drive was through dense forest and took approx 45 minutes. Jatmai is also a temple dedicated to Hindu Goddess, and the surrounding area is just so beautiful.
We had our lunch there and offered our prayers to the Goddess. It was getting dark and it was time to drive back.
The drive till Rajim was scary, as no other vehicle was on the road, darkness had overtaken, dense forest on both sides and naxalite area, all put together gave a chilling feel. After about 30 minutes of drive we touched highway and relaxed a bit.We had our tea here. In Rajim, we came across a shop selling bangles. And this shop needs a special mention as it has large number of colours of bangles. We were amazed to see such a huge variety. We reached Bhilai around 11 p.m.
During my short stay in Bhilai, I realised that Chhatisgarh is so beautiful with natural and scenic beauty covered with large forest area, and if you want to spend some time close to nature. Chhatisgarh is perfect for that.
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