Biharinath Hill Trek

By this time, I've unexpectedly started loving hills and trekking. And this was our post-semester-exams celebration time, so I chose to do one last trek of the year ! This was going to be our third trek of 2021. On 26th December, 2021, me and my friend Anshuman started our trip to Biharinath Hill. I had read about the hill earlier, that it was 452 m high and was the highest peak of Bankura district. It is a part of the Eastern Ghats.

So, we boarded the Barddhaman-Asansol MEMU at 5:20 am, and reached Raniganj by 7 am. After having some "Kochuris" and "Jalebis" for our breakfast, we enquired some locals regarding the bus for Saltora or Biharinath. They told us that we wouldn't get a direct bus to Biharinath,so either we had to go to Saltora where we could avail some public transport to Biharinath, or, would have to reach Dubrajpur More (a stoppage en route Saltora), and from there, book a toto to reach Biharinath. As they told us that the chances of getting a toto from Dubrajpur More were scanty, we decided to go to Saltora first and take a bus. The bus fare from Raniganj to Saltora is ₹35. The journey was smooth and there was scarce human settlement there as seen from the bus.

At 8:50 am, we reached Saltora. After asking about the bus to Biharinath, we got to know that the bus had already departed, and the only mode to reach there was to take a trekker (shared jeep) to Ituri (8 kms away) first, and from Ituri,to take another trekker to Biharinath (distance between Ituri to Biharinath is 6 kms).

We sat in the trekker and waited for a few minutes, but it was already 9 am, and as we were informed, there were few trekkers from Ituri to Biharinath. So, we estimated that we wouldn't reach Biharinath before 12 pm, and decided to walk up to Biharinath using a shortcut (it's 8 kms away from Saltora).

We ate Mecha Sandesh (a famous sweet of Beliatore, Bankura) from a sweet shop and set forth to enjoy the trek. The roads were dusty and cemented. On our way, we got to see the Saltora Dam, and chose the longer distance to see the Simladihi Dam (which I had found on Google Maps). On reaching there, we found it completely dried up and immediately regretted walking an extra 2 kms just to see that dried and cracked reservoir ! We continued to walk and stopped in between to click pictures and to rest. At that time, I came to know that Anshuman was a very good singer as well. He sang a few Rabindrasangeet and Bengali songs en route, which was refreshing. The path was serene, and there were many small hillocks on either side.

At long last, we reached the base of the hill. There were many vehicles parked and hundreds of people had gathered for picnics. Actually, that was the ideal time for picnics in Bengal. There was a huge temple, a pond named "ShivGanga" and a few shops at the base.

There were so many people and we were worried about our shoes getting stolen. So, Anshuman visited that temple first, while I was guarding his pair of shoes, and then, it was my turn to visit the temple!

There was a huge temple of Biharinath, made of white marble, and a few other temples. There were a few very old idols of Nandi and other Gods, which many historians claim to be Jain gods. According to some historians, Biharinath was a center of Jainism in the past. The sanctum sanctorum of the temple is a huge hall with a deeply placed small Shivling. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the Shivling as it was totally covered by fruits and flowers offered by the devotees.

After visiting all the temples there, I came outside, and Anshuman bought a few souvenirs from a stall. He bought me a wrist band as a token. We prayed at the ShivGanga. As we were very hungry, we ate some kochuris from a shop there, and then started our trek.

The path to the top of the hill was narrow, and there were some enthusiastic people who had come for a picnic, and had started trekking out of excitement. Going by their pace and expressions, it was clear that they were trekking for the first time. As we were trekking upwards, their rush kept decreasing. Most of them returned after trekking a meter. It was a rough patch, and many rocks had loosened up. It was a narrow path with branches and creepers protruding from the nearby trees. It was an overgrown jungle, as compared to the ones I had seen in Parasnath and Susunia. We also spotted a snake there, resting outside it's burrow. After trekking for 1.5 hours, we reached the peak. There was a small area where a few photos of Lord Shiv and Lord Hanuman were kept, and countless people had tied stones to a nearby tree, praying for the fulfillment of their wishes.

After resting for half an hour, we started descending down the hill. Surprisingly,it was tougher than the ascent. We needed to use our hands too to descend. It took us 45 minutes to climb down. Luckily, there was a sugarcane juice seller at the base. We had some juice and asked him about the route we should take to return back. We thought of walking for 6 kms to Dubrajpur More, from where we would get a bus to Raniganj. There wasn't an alternative either! But that person told us that the last bus from Saltora to Raniganj (via Dubrajpur More) was at 4:30 pm, and we wouldn't ever get that bus if we walked all the way. He suggested we go to a crossing which was around 0.5 kms away, and we could get a trekker from there to Madhukonda, from where we could go to Asansol by train. We asked some policemen too about the route, and they suggested we take a trekker from that crossing to the bank of Damodar, to cross the river and then to take a bus to Asansol Jn. Railway Station. By that time, the sun was already setting and there was a beautiful view of the sun setting down in the Biharinath hill. The sky blushed yellow, and then pink.

We waited for a few minutes at that crossing, and luckily got an auto-rickshaw. It was actually a reserved auto, but the driver and the passengers agreed to drop us near the banks of Damodar, and we reached there by 4:30 pm. There was a long bamboo bridge on that river, by which only pedestrians and bikes could pass. The fare for pedestrians to pass was ₹10, and for bikes, it was ₹20. We crossed the vast Damodar river and reached the other bank. The river separates the Bankura district from the Paschim Bardhaman district. There were several people enjoying and picnicking on this side. There were no totos to go to the Burnpur Riverside Bus Stop, so we walked for another 1.5 kms and finally reached there at 5 pm. There were three to four mini buses for Asansol Jn. Railway Station, and we got into one. It took one hour to reach there (bus fare: ₹25).

We were very hungry by that time, as we hadn't had our lunch, so we had some Littis and Sattu ka Paratha outside the railway station. Then, we waited at the station for half an hour, until Hatia-Barddhaman MEMU arrived at 6:35 pm. It took us 2 hours to reach Barddhaman. From there we took a toto and returned back to our respective rooms.

Thus, our trip ended.Though it sounded tiring, we had fun exploring new places. We returned home with fatigued bodies but fulfilled minds. Looking forward to more such adventures in the future.