Trip To Dalma Hills

We grow up and enter the professional phase of lives with our head held high. All the enjoyments, belly laughs, hours long gossips with friends at tea stalls become outwardly things to do. Our plans for travels and adventure fade away with the increasing pace of life and all we are left with boring days, doing same outdated tasks again and again and making boss happy.

To get rid of the hangover of Professional life, we need to learn the art of disengagement. This Art of Disengagement lies on one simple thumb rule, viz taking break from our regular lives and disengaging ourselves from monotonous way of life.

Thus, to break the monotony I too decided to pack my bag, kick start my bike and get lost in panoramic beauty of nature which I had always wished for. I got convinced to this resort because with the monotonous way of life I was feeling like a passenger in moving bus who sits in and let himself be driven away with the pace of the bus. Moreover, the lucrative week offs were being spent by either washing the clothes or by lying on the bed whole day and doing noting productive. So here I begin to narrate a bike trip to exotic Dalma Hills along with my pal mate Deepak Singh.

Description of the place: The awe-inspiring Dalma Hills, with the elevation of 3000 feet above sea level, are located at the short distance of just 13 KM from the main city of Jamshedpur. Luxuriant and dense green forest of Dalma hills is a treat to eyes. The most attractive centre of Dalma Hills is a Dalma Wildlife sanctuary with its rich flora and fauna. Dalma wildlife sanctuary is a place for many spices of wild life like Barking Bears, Leopards, Elephants Tigers etc. At the top most point of Dalma hills and right at the middle of Wildlife Sanctuary, lies two temples; one of Lord Shiva and another one of Lord Hanuman. These two temple hold high importance for locals as a religious point of view. Even devotees from all over the state often pay their visits and seek divine blessings of Gods. Dimna Lake is one of another tourist attraction of Dalma hills which is located to the eastern side of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. The lake is surrounded by hills all around which makes is more attractive for the travellers. Panoramic views of Sunrise and sunset between the hills bring the shines in the eyes of viewers. Dimna Lake also has the provisions of boating and offers water sports like Rowing and Jet Skiing. A dam has also been built on the one side of lake and further attracts tourists when water of lake overflows and turns the dam into a waterfall during rainy season.

Trip Starts: My Bike trip started around 0930 hrs. from Mango, a town at the outskirts of city Jamshedpur. Deepak and me both packed our bag pack, carried water bottles and some wafers and hurried of. We did not decide where we had to head to. The only Place we knew was a peak of Dalma hills which we daily used to watch at from the balcony of Deepak’s apartment. Exploring the lush green hills, we made our first halt at Dimna lake which was situated between the hills from all the sides. The lake was at the 10 minutes’ drive from our starting point. We both were astonished seeing the vista the lake. We parked our bike near the dam and went for a walk over it. Owing to winter season, no water was flowing over it, though it offered a firm and safe walking track to cherish the loveliness of the lake. The fishes in the lake were playing in the water as if they were welcoming the visitors. The water of the lake; pristine and fresh was acting as the mirror for the sky. The lake was large water body as it had few islands under it. One island in Dimna lake made me recall my visit to Dal Lake many years ago which also had one similar island called ‘Char Chinar’. The island derived its name “Char Chinar” from the four Chinar (famous tree of Kashmir) trees grown over it.

we spent half an hour on the lake side before hunting for other exquisite places across the hills. Our next target was to scale the highest visible peak either by hiking or by off-road biking (if possible). We first inquired from the locals if there was viable route to the hilltop but, it was still a tedious job for both of us to get the clear ideas about the track. It was only after driving aimlessly for 3 to 4 miles till Pardih (a small village) that we were shown the right road by a friendly stranger. Now, in front of us was a straight 7 KM long stretch of NH 33 up to link road to the top most point of the Hill. It took us almost 15 minutes to reach the link road and interestingly, the link road was also the starting point of the way to Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary.

The off road to hilltop was almost 21 KM long and was a kuccha road covered by the dense cover of forest on both sides.

Both Deepak and I were not aware of the other beautiful components of Wildlife Sanctuary, thus, we decided to explore other picturesque landscapes once we reached the Hilltop. Deepak was driving the bike so I had the advantage to freely capture the aesthetics of the Wildlife Sanctuary. En route, we came across real wild beauties, some careless monkeys jumping like pro from one tree to another, few shy deer trying to flee away from the eyes of the walkers and peacocks roaming all alone as well.

Within an hour we were at the top of the hill of which I wished every time I used to look at the peak from the balcony of Deepak’s apartment. The feelings of reaching at the top most point was inexplicable. We found ourselves at the top of the world as everything we could see was below to us. Even nearby imposing hills could not match our heights.

We parked our bike near Lord Hanuman temple and went to say spiritual thanks to the lord for giving us the strength to reach where we were that time. Beside the temple, a view point was erect to treat to one’s eyes by providing a platform to look all around the Sanctuary in a one go. Astonishingly there was no lack of mobile network at the peak. So we opened the Google map to look for other ethereal sites in the surroundings. From the Google map we came to know that there were three lakes and one waterfall in the Sanctuary. The three lake were named as Lower Lake, Middle lake and upper lake respectively (as shown in Google Map) and the name of the waterfall was Bijli Ghati waterfall (original Name). We did not have much time to explore all the three lakes so we decided to proceed for middle lake and Bijli Ghati waterfall. The lake was small though, it was being frequently visited by elephants for drinking and bathing purposes (as told by locals).

The next destination we were left with was Bijli Ghati Waterfall which was near to middle lake and it took us ten minutes to reach the Hotspot. Initially we couldn’t be able to dig though the waterfall but the melodious sound of water hitting the ground gave us a clear clue and we were like “yes…! We found an another party place.” The waterfall wasn’t that huge but it had carried the same soothing capacity when compared to other famous waterfalls.

The presence of waterfall added a lot to the beauty of forest. There was a sweet intoxication in the air which blew away our tiredness. The salubrious environment had supernatural healing powers.

We, then went little downward to further navigate other interesting components of the waterfall. What added fuel to the fire was the platform where could take bath freely. I had always liked bathing at such places so without wasting time, I took off my clothes and rushed to platform. The pleasure bathing under the waterfall was amazing. Deepak and I kept on bathing under the natural shower. We wore clothes again after getting done with bating. I started to feel hungry as it was 2 PM on the clock so we decided to move back home quickly.

Sometimes miracles happen in a most unexpected way and, on our way back, we were awestruck seeing two giant Elephants coming towards our way. They both seemed to be couple the way they were complementing each other with gestures. sometimes they were greeting each other by inter-twinning their trunks and reacting in the same way which gave me the cue that they were communicating with each other. The delight of watching wild elephants had no substitution. They quickly faded away in the jungle before we could catch them in our mobiles. We too did not chase them and decided to move back home as early as possible.

Life is full of surprises only if we give ourselves a chance. The visit to Dalma hills was a complete surprise package for both of us. All our way we were encountering with exceptional and unexpected things. First came the beautiful lake, then came the Wildlife Sanctuary and last but not the least came the Jumbo surprise Even the journey with the bike was not less than anything. The beauty of the Dalma Hills is beyond any explanation and still i tried to pen down it because I felt the urge to put forth my experience for the readers so that they get few glimpses of the hills. I suggest all of you to pay a visit to Dalma hills as it has lot more beautiful things to be explored.

I look forward to healthy suggestion from your side.

Bye...!