Colours and Surprises - North Bengal Village Fair

I knew it would be a village fair but wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

Dusty fields

 Would there be a big ground lined by stalls at its edges with a vast near-empty space in the middle and a big wheel and other rides in one corner?

Or would it be a small area packed with people, shops and rides where one will be pushed, pulled and compressed?

Next to the Temple

While going there I heard it’s a famous fair in these parts and quite an old one. Since I couldn’t visualise the fair to my satisfaction, I couldn’t really plan my photography. So I decided to go with an open mind – unplanned and ready to be surprised. And boy wasn’t I in for a (pleasant) surprise!




We drove from Jalpaiguri town to Jalpesh Temple, which houses the idol of Lord Jalpeshwar – an incarnation of Shiva. The half-an-hour drive (about 10 kilometers) crossed River Teesta, fields and villages. Though the roads are not really wide, since the road surface was good and there was no typical heavy big-city-traffic, the drive was quite nice. The temple is about 5 kilometers from the nearest town – Mainaguri. Every year in February-March, around Shivaratri or the festival of Lord Shiva, a fair is organised next to the temple. Earlier it used to be held for a month and supposedly attracted visitors from North Bengal, Assam, Nepal and Sikkim. These days, the fair is held only for about a fortnight suggesting its declining glory.

Jalpesh Temple

The temple was constructed by a king of Coochbihar Islamic architectural style. Its facade – white and imposing - is remarkably impressive. The fair starts on a piece of land adjacent to the temple. It goes towards a creek, crossing it using a small bamboo bridge and merging with shops and stalls in the main fair ground.

Colourful Fair

The fair was not anything I visualised – the place was bigger, there were more people, more shops and stalls, and more rides than I had imagined. All around me there were different hues of colours, more than what could be seen in a typical big city fair. Women had taken out their best and probably most colourful attires. There were multicoloured toys, wares, food, rides and posters. Though it was dusty, the weather was pleasant. People wrapped their shawls and woolens amidst swirling dusty wind. The combined impact was a dream-like landscape.

Intriguing Faces

The faces of people I saw around me intrigued me. Their features were different from that seen in other parts of Bengal. Most visitors probably came from villages from around. Perhaps their antecedents are linked to the original residents of North Bengal – Cochs and Rajbangshis.  

Nibbles

The few hours I was there, I remained busy taking in the ambience. My companions and I nibbled some jalebis. Soon it was time to head back through a dusty village road.    

© text and photo: Sanchita Chatterjee 2015 

Darjeeling and Mirik: A Drive by

What can you do in Darjeeling in a few hours? I spent the limited time available to me lazing in the Chowrasta Mall - a flat land where roads meet, usually described as the heart of the hill town - and taking a walk around the Mall Road, which starts from the Mall and goes around Observatory Hill to join the Mall from a different side. I also visited Mirik – another hill station in the Darjeeling Hills on the same day.

We drove from Jalpaiguri town through Siliguri (via National Highway 31) to Darjeeling (via Rohini and Hill Cart Road) (Distance: Siliguri to Darjeeling - 80 kilometers, Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling – 120 kilometers). Relentless views of fields, military encampments, tea gardens, distant hill ranges, jungles and human settlements on the way, one after the other, left us almost breathless and asking for more.

Before reaching the Mall, we stopped at Batasia Loop – one of several loops of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – five kilometers ahead of the town. At Batasia Loop, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway or the toy train takes a 360-degree turn to make a sharp descent towards Darjeeling town. The spot offers a panoramic view of the town and the ranges around. A war memorial has been constructed at the spot.

Darjeeling is at an average height of 6710 feet (2045 meters). The Mall is a meeting a point of people, a shopping area, a tourist attraction and a viewing point of distant snow-capped mountains. Contrary to our expectations – fuelled by a prediction of the Met Department of possible rains - the weather was good. It was bright, sunny and pleasant. People were out in hordes just standing around. I sat in the Mall watching women in traditional Bhutanese and Nepalese attires, a lady sweeping the Mall, boys and girls from schools, and perhaps colleges as well hanging about, locals lounging and tourists looking around. There are stores including some really old and heritage book and other kinds of shops bordering the Mall and stretching beyond - on the streets around the Mall. I took a walk on the Mall Road and saw dozens of rhododendron trees with various hues of red and pink flowers on the slopes above and below me.

Other attractions in Darjeeling include a few parks, temples, botanical and zoological gardens, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, a few other institutions, a cable car and tea estates. 

The drive from Darjeeling to Mirik via Ghum and Sukhia Pokhri and the return journey from Mirik to Siliguri (Distance: Darjeeling to Mirik – 49 kiliometers, Siliguri to Mirik 55 kilometers) were even nicer than the first leg of the trip. The routes have miles and miles of pine and fern forests, tea plantations, occasional habitations, cantonments and gorgeous views of distant ranges.

 

Mirik – at an average height of 5810 feet (1700 metres) - is well known for its lake fed by perennial rivers. The lake – said to be 1.25 kilometers long - is surrounded by a dense forest on its west side, which lends its water a green hue. In winters, migratory birds visit the lake. A board next to the lake claimed this year Siberian Cranes had been there. I took pictures of a few Great Comorants, sitting comfortably with an air of grandness about them, in the middle of the lake. There are a few restaurants and small eateries by the lake. At one end of the lake, people had gathered to feed colorful fish, the kinds you would see in aquariums, only bigger than average aquarium varieties.

I must have spent about 45 minutes at the lake before heading back to Jalpaiguri. It was a day well spent. I was content, happy and tired, all at once!

Ladakh Diary

Snow and layers of mountains

After years of dreaming and months of planning finally I made my trip to Ladakh in June 2014. The task had become rather inconvenient as I had moved from Delhi to Mumbai more one-and-half-years ago. I went on an organised tour, with a group of ladies. Reminded me of my hostel days of community living.

I had heard landscape of Ladakh is breathtaking. I had seen countless pictures Ladakhi landscape. As the flight was landing I could see Leh was surrounded by arid, mostly barren mountain ranges bordering snow-capped peaks. It’s when I started travelling out of Leh, I began to appreciate and be wowed by the natural beauty of the land. The diversity of the scenery is also incredible. Some places are more dry and sandy, some others rocky and some ranges are covered with snow. There are a few patches of green on some hills. Colours of hills also vary: shades of brown, green, blue, yellow etc.

Indus River

Ladakh has truly beautiful and magnificent monasteries. Some of the grander monasteries I saw had impressive statues of Buddha in their compound. An outstanding statue was that of Maitreyee or future Buddha in Diskit Monastery of Nubra valley. The statue is 32 meters tall. The architecture of Thiksey monastery (20 km from Leh), modeled after Potala palace of Tibet stands out. Hemis – at 40 km distance from Leh - is said to be the richest monastery in Ladakh. Every year a festival is held in Hemis in memory of Lord Padmasambhava. Diskit Monastery required a bit of climbing from where cars stop. I found it interesting for two reasons, one was the spectacular view of Nubra Valley from the monastery and two, idols of Mahakali in one of its temples. Alchi and Likir monasteries were the group’s first travels outside Leh. Alchi has four temples. One of them is more than 1000 years old. The temple has some 1000s of original paintings of Buddha on its inner four walls, yet unspoilt and untouched.

Morning prayer, Diskit Monastery 

My sixth monastery was my first one. I simply could not follow the diktat of lying on bed in rest on the first day. After checking-in and spending two-three hours in the hotel, I went out with my camera, walking slowly on the sloping roads. Eventually, I came upon a monastery in Leh Bazaar. I went inside and sat in meditation for a while.

Pangong Tso (Tso=Lake) and Nubra Valley are two popular tourist spots. To reach Pangong Tso from Leh one has to cross Chang La (La=Pass), which at 17590 feet (5360 meters) is said to be the third highest motorable pass in the world. Pangong Tso itself is at above 14000 feet (4350 meters). The road to Nubra Valley from Leh passes through Khardung La – at 18379 feet (5602 meters), it is frequently referred as the highest motorable pass in the world. Besides these two high passes, roads to these two places passing through valleys, by mountainous rivers, crossing ranges, with changing views and temperatures are intriguing and interesting.

Pangong Tso

The first glance of Pangong Lake was a moment of delight. When I went near the lake, it was cloudy. Pangong Tso was in hues of dark blue. At different vantage points the colours changed. Brown-headed seagulls were wadding in the water, flying short distances and walking along the edge of the lake. In sometime, the sky cleared up and the lake took the shade of azure blue. Nubra Valley – at an altitude of 10000 feet - is a high altitude cold desert. Temperatures in Nubra were much more pleasant for the people from the plains than that of Pangong Tso.

I tried a popular adventure activity: river rafting. We went river rafting in Zanskar River. This was my second rafting experience. The first one was in Rishikesh a few years ago. After rafting in Ganges in Rishikesh, rafting in Zanskar proved to be kind of mild. Another sporty thing many of us in the Group tried out was riding double-humped Bactrian camels in Nubra Valley.

One of the evenings we visited Stok village (30 minutes drive from Leh). We took a tour of an old traditional Ladakhi house, well maintained but uninhabited.  The family lived next to the old house in a newer, more modern one. We were guests of the family that evening. The family graciously served us traditional Ladakhi dinner, which was made mostly of barley including homemade alcohol made of barley.

Glimpse of Ladakhi culture

Traditional Ladakhi music and dance were organised for us at our hotel in Leh on the second last day of our trip. Even within Ladakh, traditional outfits, dance forms and music vary between regions. The men and women who were performing were dressed in spectacular dresses. There were songs and dances about daily life, friendship and wars.  

July 2014

Mumbai

See the blogpost at: http://sanchitac.blogspot.in/2014/06/ladakh-am-i-now-in-dream.html

Text and photography: Sanchita C 2014

Sound of Silence

Snowing on Holi

‘My small piece of the sky and the sound of silence’ - the words were resonating within me while visiting Tirthan Valley for the third time in a year. The valley is at least a 12-hour journey from Delhi but each time the journey had felt smooth (went in a car twice and a bus once). Could be because of the company (of friends) or charming views on the way or simply my state of mind to enjoy no matter what or a combination of all these.

Tirthan Valley is in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh - about 544 km from Delhi and 267 km from Chandigarh. Every time I stayed in areas around Banjar – about 58 km from the Kullu town. To reach Tirthan Valley one can drive up or hire a car (from Delhi via Chandigarh-Bilaspur-Mandi). One could also take a Himachal Government or a private bus and get down near Aut. There is a choice of flying till Bhuntar airport of Kullu as well. Cottages and homestays of Tirthan valley usually arrange for pick up from the bus stop or the airport.   

Sunset on Tirthan river

So far Tirthan Valley has managed to escape big herds of tourists, weekend travellers from nearby towns or big cities and backpacker crowds. The valley does attract a decent number of tourists – some of them in search of a peaceful gateway or for Himalayan adventure travel. The valley is in the vicinity of the Great Himalayan National Park and not too far from Jalori Pass (3120 meters high, connects Shimla to Kullu).

The main attraction of the place is its yet-untouched, pristine and bottle-green-and-electric-blue natural beauty. River Tirthan originates in the Great Himalayan National Park and meets with River Parvati at Larji near Banjar (also a popular angling spot). Parvati meets with River Beas at Bhuntar. There are other such rivers in the area with splendid rapids and small waterfalls.

By the River Tirthan

In the first two trips, I stayed in a camp in Village Bhiyar­­ where I thought I could just touch snow-capped mountains by stretching my not-too-long arms. On my very first visit – in March 2012, on the day of Holi – we saw dream-and-fairy-tale like, Himalayan cotton ball-ish snowfall.

The first time was spent relaxing and doing a bit of tour. In the second trip - in May 2012 - a friend and I walked around, up and down a few hills and through pine forests, crossed small waterfalls, talked to villagers and saw the places in and around the camp.

My last stay - for four days - was slightly different. It felt like I was perched on nature’s lap with nothing to protect me from cold, wind or rain. And yet I never felt unprotected. As if the spectacular and serene ambience was also acting as a cushion around me. May be it was what they call a divine experience. Or may be because I was so comfortable by then that I had moved to a place in my mind where I perceived things differently.

Villagers in Bhiyar

That time – in September 2012 - I stayed in a cottage next to River Tirthan, near Gosaini – about 16 km from Banjar. To wake up in the morning to the sound of the river splashing on boulders and stones, while it negotiates its way to its confluence through twists and turns of mountain ranges on its either side, is kind of other-worldly. Blending with the sound of water were bird songs and rustling of leaves when mountain breeze passed through Alpine jungles. Missing from all this was mechanical noise of automobiles and factories or even loud human voices. However, it did not escape my thoughts that the dearth of industries in the area is not so positive as it indicated general economic backwardness of the people.

Hanging out in Himalayan meadows

While on my way back from Tirthan Valley that time, as layers of hilly ranges, alpine forests and Himalayan villages were giving way to bigger villages and towns of the plains, I was wondering whether I would have difficulties adjusting to ‘normal civilisation’. As if a special bondage to the life I had in the valley had formed. As Delhi was approaching, though, I was gradually filled with a sense of peace. I had a strong feeling I would be back in a few months to ‘drink the tonic’ of the valley life again.

I have moved to Mumbai since then and I am longing again for another touch of the green-and-blue silence and the ‘tonic’.

April 2013

Mumbai

The article was published in the Statesman, 23 July 2013: http://thestatesman.net/news/6823-divine-experience.html?page=1

Photo and Text: Sanchita C 2014