Weekend trip to Marang Buru/ Parasnath

Earlier I used to skip over this place thinking it as normal temple on some hill top. On this extended weekend, we decided to give a try seeing insta reel of one of our trek coordinator.

Here we are on way to Parasnath station.

in crowded train, the child was not willing to leave his mom, clutching stubbornly to her. Attachment of child with his mother

Finally we reached the destined station at 2.20am. Having no idea, we simply followed other passengers toward taxi stand and boarded the Jeep

There we found that the vehicles move in group due to insurgent activities in the area. All the jeeps left for parasnath/ shikarji and moved in same line. It took some 50mins to reach Uttar pradesh prakash bhawan, where we had booked our stay

Tasty Makhana courtesy Sneha

After much argument, we decided to leave at 5am instead of 10am. CORRECT Decision

Onset of dawn

leisure walk along the forest and here hits the first beams of sunlight

magical 😊

abundance of greens

our first halt for morning tea

Interesting way of living of indigenous people

You will come across a point from where there are two ways to visit the temple.

The right upward road will take you directly to temple (9-10km) and the other one toward left going downward will take you along path which most Jains follows covering 28km-30km reaching main temple on last leg.

We followed as per map below, for 28km. you will see that Paranath temple is marked as 31

crossing hills

Lifeline for whole trek- Lemon shikanji

Fireflies!!

we took our first break here. you will get free warm water and shikanji from the booth

along the way of temple no 5, 6

serene sight

along with the presence of Royalty

The temple of Chandraprabhu was set in such offset location, I justified that he didn't want people to disturb him so he set himself apart. So why disturb him. Let him peacefully meditate

the actual reason was my foot was hurting like hell. I had worn a sole free cover to get feeling of how Jains cover the path without wearing any shoes.

*Note for general people, Wear proper trek shoe/ sneakers

Second break point to have some lemon shikanji. I must have had 12-15 glasses of this lemon shikanji

on top

The foothill of final temple (no 31) is filled with numerous food stalls where you can enjoy all type of Jain snacks

The final leg had so many sights to behold, somewhere

a little hand was pulling enthusiastically to reach her beloved idol and

somewhere

a lone lady steadily mapping the stairs to reach her destination

and somewhere onset of exhaustion with mind scrambling with next mode of income.

Here Eyes brimming with uncertainty, elsewhere determination and calmness

Finally

scaling the Peak

Descent with the clouds

Manoj ji was the person who briefed us and was kind enough to guide us the actual way (30km way instead of 10km)

we were caught by torrent rains halfway to descent

Below are my friends who visited temple next day 15th Aug, enjoying the downpour

Patriotisms

Drenched but moving forward with smile

We had started at 5.30am and reached our accommodation at around 5pm.

While asking driver for local food, we got shock of life when he told us to collect coupons for dinner because food won't be available 9in entire locality) after sunset, which means 6pm. Mostly Jains don't take food after sunset. After changing our drenched clothes, we dragged our exhausted selves to dinner where thankfully we got the final coupon.

My legs had turned stone. so much for trying to experience Jain way of doing the pilgrimage. every hotel/ lodge have local massagers, you can ask in reception and avail the service. they will simply bring normal coconut oil and relieve the stiffness in calf muscles.

we were joined by four friends in morning breakfast. they had arrived early in morning. they will start the climb today. I though the breakfast will start early for Jains but we were wrong. they have leisure breakfast from 8.30am.

we (to be specific, only me) were first one to sit on breakfast table at 7am

we feasted on food in morning like starved urchins

After successful breakfast, two of us started off to meet someone whom I didn't think I'll meet this soon. My vehicle buddies from Darjeeling toy train!

we were travelling toward school where cricket match was being held

Palganj- house of Pal rajas

Jora pahari or Twin mountain, it is said that huge amount of treasures are hidden somewhere in this place

Trying to focus on black fruit which we used to eat when we were kid

It was windy and no matter how many times I tried, this fruit always ran out of frame

Finally frustrated, I took video and muttered to the insolent fruit that now go wherever you want, you will be in the frame

leisure walks in cricket field

Random shots

CID or some govt team caught a culprit near the ground that day (15th Aug), he was on run and was wanted by police

Khandoli Park near Giridh. lovely place. what rivetted me were the huge rock formation / hills which seemed to be untouched and from bygone era

Our lunch point

Final spot- Usri falls, Giridh

I was trying to capture the flies in frame near waterfall

Finally after Sneha's gyan session😊

with people who made it possible, esp Chandan without whom we would not have had such a fantastic day

Sneha with her cup of tea

We had wonderful evening, spending time with Chandan and Somnath ji, whom they refer as sir.

Scrupulous home cooked meal.

What a beautiful end to the day! We left for station, our train was at around 11pm.

Jalebi ghati (because the turns are like jalebi)

On whole it was weekend well spent. The routes were filled with greenery, forest department should work on some forest tours such that people can appreciate the nature and the diversity in the region. I came across many marble temples being built.

I hope this community do something for the indigenous people of the hills like employment, education along with ongoing construction of more marble temples on the hill. People from other towns come down with bikes and earn more than 10k per day while the local tribals are struggling hard to cover their merge expenses.

The locals call this hill as Marang Buru- The great mountain, where many sages and hermits have come and have achieved enlightenment. Big thanks to Chandan for his generous hospitality without whom we would have been lost in second day

Note:

• Shared Vehicles for station from Parasnath won't be available after 4.30pm. So it is better to start early if your train is booked late night

• Please keep in mind that the whole area in Shikarji follow jain rules, food available only till sunset. nothing is available after that.

• Marang Buru/ Parasnath is the highest point in Jharkhand with elevation of 1365m/ 4478 ft

• There is only one washroom for ladies along the 30km route, that is near Jal mahal. check the map

• If you want to cover 30Km, leave at 4am. If you want to cover only 10Km, you can leave late at 9am-10am

• Be respectful of beliefs of locals and religion

• Don't throw plastics on roads. Educate others to do so.

Pic curtesy- Sneha, Koyel, Poly, Alka, Amandeep