From February 5, 2023 I was visiting Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh, India) for a whirlwind two-day trip with eight of my close friends.
Jagdalpur is a sleepy city with connectivity to exactly one other airport outside Chattisgarh, that is Hyderabad!About 30% of the population are "Schedule Tribes" - that is Adivasis - the Original Inhabitants of India. They are so ancient that they predate all other migrants to India.Most of these are "Gond" - their script has finally been used with success to decipher the script of Indus Valley Civilization dating back to 7500 BCE (Bhirrana, Haryana).That is much to the chagrin of the "Aryans are local Indians" gang who failed for decades to connect the Indus Valley script to Sanskrit and Brahmi.
You can see the complete list of flights in and out of Ma Danteshwari ("Mother Tooth Goddess") Airport.Ma Danteshwari refers to the local goddess, for who a temple was made around 14th century CE.Worship of some local "Mother Goddess" was highly prevalent through out India, and seems to have been assimilated into tales in the Puranas between 200CE to 800 CE.The connecting myth is quite convoluted and a real test of human story telling. The God Shiva was married to Goddess Sati (Shakti), against her dad's wishes. Her dad Daksha (who was another God Brahma's son), insulted Shiva when she went to her maternal home. Unable to bear the insult, Sati jumped into fire and killed herself. Then the God Shiva went into mourning and danced around (Tandav) for a while. Shiva's dance is supposed to bring the universe's destruction. His method of mourning then was to roam with her dead charred corpse across the universe (that mostly included other areas in India too). The God Vishnu (the third of the modern trinity of Hinduism besides Shiva and Brahma) then had to intervene to bring order to the world and stop Shiva from wandering. He threw his revolving discus weapon to selectively cut up the charred corpse of Sati without hurting Shiva. Her chopped body parts fell on 51 (some say 108) spots. One of her teeth fell in Chattisgarh, exactly where the Dantewada Temple was erected.And THAT is why this Airport is called Ma Danteshwari Airport!
We landed at 1:00 pm and had lunch at Daalchini ("cardamom") restaurant, the best restaurant in town.
Everyone felt that they couldn't possibly eat lunch because of a heavy breakfast at 10:30 am.But this "Kadaknath chicken" made in local style was simply too delicious and we consumed two whole chicken besides a few other vegetarian curries, assorted roti, naan, etc.
Kadaknath Chicken is a completely black species in color from head to toe as you can see. (Photo courtesy: Deepak)
GORY IMAGE COURTESY DEEPAK FROM DAALCHINI RESTAURANT: VEGANS PLEASE SKIP!!!Kadaknath chicken's flesh is also black inside. Supposedly its blood is also black, though I didn't get to see the blood.The chicken is a specialty in Jagdalpur's local villages, sold at Rs.1000 per kg.
We stayed at Champa Bagh, the best resort in town, that we got at a steal for Rs.15,000 for 4 rooms for 9 of us.
Champa Bagh is neat and extremely well-maintained. I would right away give it a 5-Star Rating but without a pool or spa.
The rooms have been made in the middle of decades old trees without cutting them. Each room is a spacious cottage. The bird life and unique trees are fabulous. was hard trying to get everyone to move out after the first night!
The entire group of friends who went to Jagdalpur standing outside the anthropological museum. A visit to Jagdalpur is incomplete without visiting it, to see the differences in culture, experience the lifestyle of the different tribes in the region. Please go with a guide because the museum doesn't have any descriptions. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the museum.
This is a painting drawn by a Naga tribal (the snake at the bottom is the tribe's symbol). Since it is a modern day painting, it even includes a helicopter.
This is a model of a "Ghotul". Ghotuls are community places where boys and girls learn cleanliness, discipline and their obligations to social work.
This is a real swing, with really sharp two inch nails on the seat. In village festivals, a local god is supposed to descend into a tribal who gets into a trance. The test is the person then sits on the nails in the swing and doesn't experience pain at all (because he is in a divine trance).
Bastar Palace around which we went for a Heritage walk in the evening.
Sunset over Dalpat Sagar. Dalpat Sagar Lake was originally built 400 years ago to harvest rainwater for drinking, now used for fishing and tourism.
A random statue of a man reading a newspaper at Dalpat Sagar Lake
We gorged ourselves again at dinner on street food beside Shahid Park. There's a WhatsApp plaza, a JFC (Joy Fried Chicken) and multiple other vendors!
Celebrating the birthday of one of my friends at Champa Bagh!
Champa Bagh even had a separate room for Karaoke, where you could throw a party.
This collage of Hindi Film Singers in Champa Bagh's Karaoke room was simply fabulous! A medley of a thousand melodies was playing in my head as I saw each of these photos. Please try and name all the legends you can!
On our way to Kutumsar Caves through the Kanger Valley National Park.
A woman selling snacks and fruits at the entrance to Kanger Dhara waterfall.
Kutumsar Caves in Kanger Valley National Park. The caves were discovered around 1900's by tribals hunting a porcupine. Given that this stalactite is at least nine feet tall, it must be about 27,000 years old.
The ceilings of caves often bear signs of water seepage from the river above.
At some point in time perhaps a million years ago, the river would have flowed underground and cut this cave. Stalactites form now from the water dripping from the river above across thousands of years.
With my friends who went on the trip.
Schoolgirls marching home on the way to Chitrakoot.
A man cycling with a cycle in tow. His friend had unfortunately got too drunk at the weekly village fair and couldn't cycle back. So the lone warrior was cycling with one hand holding the second cycle. I had to assist him when the cycles lost balance up the slope.
Women jumping into a tractor to drive home from the weekly village fair to their own surrounding respective villages. Tractors are usually the best means of transport in Indian villages. They can take 20 to 30 people in a pinch, and can travel across all kinds of terrain without getting punctured. While they are slow and only slightly faster than running, they are diesel-powered, and come at 20%- 30% subsidized cost.
A young girl in a temporary "namkeen" (salted and fried snacks) shop. This shop was also selling jalebis and some sweets.
Our resort in Chitrakote, Chattisgarh. Unfortunately, the resort which was clean about six years ago, was now not being maintained properly. The sheets in some of the rooms weren't clean. The higher end cottage had cobwebs, leaking bathrooms, dysfunctional electrical switches, etc. The lower end cottages like the one pictured above are still a fabulous steal at Rs.2400 a night.
Chattisgarh Tourism has magnificent lawns and a resort that has a direct view of the Chitrakote Waterfalls.
Chitrakote Waterfalls. The entire stretch from one end to the other becomes a gigantic waterfall during July and remains so till October. It is known as the Niagara Falls of India. We went in February when only about 10% of the water is flowing so we could actually go boating right up to the bottom under the waterfall!
A dog who accompanied us when we went across the shallow river at the top of Chitrakote Waterfall.
Memory Stones set in a graveyard. Gonds used to burn their dead, and the graves are mostly to commemorate the lives of the dead. In 2021, in a bid to save the environment and to save the cost of wood, the Gond community took to burying their dead instead.
Jagdalpur is also known as the City of Chaurahas (crossroads). There are about 200 cross-roads in the city like the one above.
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