A Weekend Sojourn to Purulia

 In late January last year, i did a short weekend trip to Baradi, Purulia with my school friend Tirthankar. We planned our trip a couple of months in advance, preferring to take the train from Howrah instead of a road trip. Purulia is about 320 Kms from Howrah station and is served by multiple trains. We decided to take the Howrah Chakdradharpur Express that leaves Howrah at around 12 AM and reaches Purulia junction at around 6:30 AM. We met in front of the famous station clock at Howrah around 11:20 PM and then waited for the train to arrive on the platform. I was amazed to see the sea of humanity even at that late hour. In a couple of minutes the train arrived and we slowly made our way to our 3rd AC coach. We both had lower berths, while a small group of baul/fusion musicians were travelling in the same coupe. Little did we know that we would hit it off so much once we got chatting with this young group of musicians who were travelling to Jharkhand to perform at a festival. The topics varied from baul to Indian classical and to western rock bands like Eagles and Dire Straits. The group were fascinated by our wide interest in different genres of music, with Tirthankar mentioning his wife was a classically trained singer. I made the group a trifle jealous by mentioning i had been to an Eagles concert in Dublin where i live and work. With the discussion free flowing we soon realised it was 3 AM and we needed to catch a few hours sleep as we had to get up early to disembark at Purulia at around 6:30 AM. Luckily the train was late, and we reached Purulia at almost have past seven the following morning.

Our booking was at Bon Polasi Eco Hut on Ayodha road in close proximity to the fabulous Murguma Dam and reservoir lake. The distance from Purulia junction to the resort is about 43 kms and takes about an hour and 15 minutes by taxi. As the check in time was around 12 noon, we had prebooked a taxi through the resort and planned to do some sight seeing as well as stop for breakfast on our way to Bon Polasi. Stepping out of Purulia station on a pleasant and chilly January morning, we found our cab waiting for us. We first stopped for a cup of tea after keeping our luggage in the cab. Refreshed from a cup of steaming chai, we were on our way. We stopped at multiple points on the way, the first stop was a rocky stream with a bridge (see images below).

Being winter, the water levels were quite low and we could walk down the bank and click photos. The cab driver a local boy told us and that we could walk to an old terracotta temple that was situated higher on the bank we had come down from. We enjoyed the view for a few moments and then headed uphill in search of the old temple. We soon found it and not much was mentioned around the age or origins of this rather impressive structure, now sadly in a state of decay with tree branches emerging from the upper reaches of the structure. (see images below)

After spending some time walking around the platform on which the temple stood through the passage of time, we clicked photos and then slowly headed back to our cab. It was now past 11 and we headed towards our resort. We stopped for breakfast of steaming puris and alur sabji in a busy bazar. Inviting the driver to have breakfast with us in a small eatery, we polished off the breakfast with cups of steaming milk tea in traditional earthen cups. It amazes me that today we talk of environment and sustainability, and in our culture we have so much of this already ingrained. 

Post breakfast we headed to Bon Polasi Eco Resort stopping on our way to admire the stunning views of Murguma lake and dam. We climbed to the highest point on the hill overlooking the lake and jungles nearby (see images below)

As i looked into the beautiful hilly landscape with the enchanting Murguma lake before me, i could not help but wonder if winter comes, can spring be far behind. As we resumed on our journey and started going downhill i got down to take snaps of the lake below and our cab on the hilly track. By noon we reached our destination, tired but feeling enriched by the soothing lap of nature that surrounded us. 

After a quick check in process, we were taken to our cottage room (see images below)

There were lovely wooden khatiyas set in the courtyard in front our rooms and we sat down to enjoy the view before us. We were told that the best time to visit Purulia is March when the red flowers are in full bloom and you are truly engulfed by red. We settled down, took our baths and then headed for a late lunch around 2 PM. The food was home cooked and sumptuous, cooked on traditional wooden fires. 

We took a small walk around the resort and then headed back to our rooms for some afternoon siesta.  By the time we were up again, dusk had fallen the resort was bathed in light. Soon evening snack arrived in the form of onion pakoras, chicken. We had Old Monk along with Thumps Up and spent our evening reminiscing our previous trip to Santiniketan. We took a stroll clicking photos of the resort at night, while music played somewhere nearby disturbing the stillness of the evening. (see images below)

At around 9 PM we were called for dinner. Dinner was delicious with hot smoking rotis fresh of the tawa with salad, chicken. A quiet stroll after dinner and we were then back to our room. It had been a long day, so we called in for the night. We needed some sleep after our nocturnal train journey the previous night.

We were up quiet early the following morning and took a stroll around the resort. It was cold and the gentle rays of morning sun bathed the resort in a yellowish glow. Morning tea and biscuits were followed by breakfast. Post breakfast we clicked photos in the lawn and in front of our lovely cottage.

We also walked on the road in front of the resort that led to the Murguma lake and the forested hills beyond. Interestingly Ayodha Pahar (the famous peak in Purulia for rock climbers) is only an hour away from here. We clicked photos on this road and walked down to the lake flowing beside the road. (see images below)

As were were to checkout by noon, we packed our bags and then had an early lunch. Post lunch we loaded our bags into the same cab that had brought us here the previous day. Soon we were on our way back to Purulia junction to catch the afternoon train back to Kolkata, reaching Howrah after 9 PM.

Our memorable trip came to an end and we hope to be back to Purulia some other time, as it has a lot to offer in terms of amazing landscapes, waterbodies and fauna. It is truly a hidden gem of our state of Bengal. More adventures to come soon.