Jharkhand is one of the newly formed states of India and is famous for its rich mineral resources and tribal culture. The State is also famous for its rich flora and fauna and very few of us know the state from the tourism perspective as it is a hidden gem and having lots of offbeat places to explore.
I had a chance to visit Jharkhand often because of my professional link and likewise one of my local friends once offered me to visit a beautiful valley called PATRATU.
Ranchi the capital of Jharkhand became our place to start our journey from and it is around 30 kms from Ranchi by road to Patratu taking almost one hour to drive. The Roads are plain and driver friendly cutting through the greeneries of forest land. Shal, Mahua, Teak and many more species of trees are spread in and around. We travelled in peak of summer in the month of May, and it was definitely not the right time to explore the place because of heat but since the surrounding is full of greeneries, the place was having its own charm.
Patratu became famous because of its Dam and the surrounding lake which was built on River Nalkari and was supervised by India’s famous Engineer Sir Mokshagundam Vishweshraya. The Dam was built for supplying water to the Thermal Power Plant which was build in the place to supply electricity for the surrounding areas of Jharkhand.
We drove to the Lake where Boats are available for joy ride and lots of visitors throng the place mainly on weekends for picnic and boat ride. The Govt is building beautiful park and hotels for stay and hopefully will increase the revenue out of tourism. Locals are busy selling fruits available in the nearby jungles and are generally not available in the cities and towns.
The nearby River and the dam are in itself a tourist attraction, and we visited some temples in the area and also enjoyed Temple food which was offered to us without any charge.
The place also has some lodges and small hotels for people to stay and enjoy the interiors of Patratu which is surrounded by villages and many of them are of tribals who are staying for generation.
Winter and Rainy season is the best time to visit this offbeat place and one can spend fruitful time with the nature if someone wants to spend a day or two away from the city and the pollution which are into.
A traveler can hire a full car from Ranchi which will cost him around INR 1500 for one way or one can book a cab for the full day and the rate can vary accordingly. Ranchi has got a Airport connectivity and is a Junction on the Indian Railway route and since it is the capital city hence lots of star graded and non-star graded accommodations are available too. Food joints are available too and samosa-Jalebi combination or Litti Chokha is a famous vegetarian snacks Jharkhand is famous for.
My wish to explore more of these unknown places which are touristy but not famous is still continuing for exploring and looking forward to staying in this lovely valley of Patratu during winter or rainy season once.
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