Pachmarhi – The Nature’s Gift To Madhya Pradesh

Pachmari is called as “verdant jewel” of Madhya Pradesh, and is one of the loveliest hill stations of India. It is a trekker’s paradise and offers nature’s walks, refreshing weather, and lovely views. It is said that Pandavas had spent their part of exile in the caves here and from that Pachmarhi derives its name.

Pachmarhi

Pachmarhi was discovered by James Forsyth, captain of Bengal Lancers in 1857, and then it also became a cantonment of the British. Even today one finds various monuments and churches of the British era. The best time to visit Pachmarhi is April-July. Nevertheless Pachmarhi can be visited throughout the year.

There are not big malls in the center of these places. And they are never very crowded. Such a hill station is Pachmarhi in the state of Madhya Pradesh. While the other hill stations have been hit by development and population growth, this place seems to be holding on to the good times of the past.

Me and my friend booked our late night journey train on 13th August from Indore to Bhopal and landed their at the destined time of 4am (the Great Indian Train failed to keep its reputation here :) though as we thought it will take us to Bhopal at around 5-5:30 AM so that we do not have to wait for a bus). We then took a bus from Bhopal to Pachmarhi at around 6 in the morning. A 6hr bus ride (rock hard suspension) up to the hill station Pachmahri, we reached at around 1 pm to our destination.

Somehow, for me, a road or train journey is always like sailing through a different world. I can really go on & on watching the sceneries outside flow past without getting tired or bored irrespective of whether its night or day. And here too I found myself appreciating the highways and the rural areas typical of our beloved country.

Narmada River

On the way we stopped at a famous mandir which is situated just along the roadside. It is said that one should always stop and pray at this mandir before going on with the journey… and I think it’s quite right too, because this temple marks the start of dangerous Ghats going up the mountain.

When we first came to the town, we noticed a Bhang and Ganja shop in the bazaar, I was further surprised to see the sign on the shop which said that it was approved by the government of Madhya Pradesh.

While the trip happened (and what an experience it was), sadly work and life caught up with me immediately on return, ensuring that no blogging about it happened at all.

All the pictures of the trip have been organized, uploaded, and neatly captioned (offcourse in my orkut profile) — actually I finished doing that just few days after returning back. This, however, is the earliest that I could find enough energy and time to put up a post.

We were able to arrange our stay already at very nominal fee in a guest house of an astronomical observatory of pachmarhi trough one of the friend who is working their. There is a moderate sized lake (JHEEL) here and we were lucky that the observatory faces the lake. Soon after having the lunch we visited the beautiful lake and had our first pics in the Pachmarhi here.

After visiting the lake we headed for the Pandava caves by walk through the big beautiful golf garden, a few kms from the Main Market. This place is believed to be the one where the Pandavas stayed for sometime during their exile. A nice place for an evening (or even morning) visit, with lush gardens; it gives a good view of the surroundings from the top of the caves. There weren’t really any caves; just a small hill with artificial stairs to reach the top. The main caves were closed.

After returning back and having the lunch we discussed and decided to visit Chauragarh the next day and few other spots and then the falls on the third (which was the last day of our stay) day as it requires you to buy the ticket of around two hundred rupees to visit the falls.

Next Morning, though we had planned to wake up early… the fact that we planned made it sure it would fail :). So we woke up late. We took our time to get fresh, take a bath and finally to be ready to go out again.

Chauragarh was to be a long drive and then a walk/climb of 4kms! But we both were excited to go there as it is the second highest peak of Pachmarhi(highest is the Dhoopgarh). At the base camp of the Chauragrah, we saw a sign-board mentioning 3.8kms of trekking to be done from the base camp. We started from their at around 11:30 AM. The sign-board also mentioned Gupt Mahadeo at a distance of 0.2kms. Actually, the place which I am calling as base camp is known as Gupt Mahadeo, a Shiv temple. The Gupt Mahadeo as we came to know later was a very thin cave, 100 meters long. It is so thin that a lean person has to go sideways. Only nine persons were allowed to go inside at a time. At the entrance is a huge figure of Lord Hanuman. Inside, with the help of a 60W bulb, is visible an idol of Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha. Nice little adventure, I would say. The Gupt Mahadeo is on the way to Chauragarh.

Undoubtedly, the journey to the temple of Chauragarh is wonderful! Beautiful sight will meet your eyes at every turn. Start clicking photos here itself if you are waiting to do it till you reach the top because nothing would be visible from up there except the clouds and thick white fog! As I said, it was a long journey… stairs and plane surfaces coming alternately. With bursts of energy and more resting, we finally reached a bell which marked the start of the temple. We were really tired but the constant breeze and a slight drizzle and rain (and some chana and nimbu pani on the sell on way:)) refreshed us in no time!

It was peace and harmony here. Standing at the edge of the hill, it looked a completely different place. After visiting temple and having few photos again, soon it was time to leave the heavens for the earth. We didn’t want to face darkness while getting down, so we started the down journey.

The path of ascend and descend are different but quickly meet outside the vicinity of the temple. Just a short way into the descending path, ran another set of steep stairs which seemed to go in a totally different direction.

Within an hour we had reached our starting point (it took us three and half hours to reach the top). It was 4 pm and the sun was nowhere to be seen, it was just a wonderful light rain though there was still a lot of light. On the way back to guest house we decided to visit the Handikhoh, the deep mountain peak, had some beautiful snaps their and again went back to visit Pandav caves for the second time as our last place to visit for the day.

The day had been fruitful. Though we had seen only three spots, we felt elated and happy… full to the brim.

Golf course, Pandav Caves, Gupt Mahadev, Chauragarh

But still their were places left to be seen. We also heard their about (but not visited, again, due to lack of time), the Kareena Talab, the lake immortalised by, you guessed right, Kareena Kapoor bathing on the sets of Ashoka. At night we discussed to visit the Bee fall (The popular one) and the Silver fall on the third day before leaving for the home. The Apsara fall(also Known as Duchess fall) was closed due to heavy rain till October.

But the destination had its own plans. The next day my friend landed himself in the fever land(as we were roaming all the way all day in the rain enjoying it to its fullest), and that’s it! That was the end of the journey as we had to leave for the Indore the same day, so it was decided to give him proper rest in the guest house itself before leaving as it was still raining outside. We were left with no choice but to leave the remaining places with a wish to be able to come back again to complete the visit. Our journey back to Indore (Pachmarhi-Bhopal-Indore, 16^th August) was more of a silent acceptance of the end of the picnic.

It is green everywhere in Pachmarhi is made possible by the fact that Pachmarhi is full of vast open spaces. Something one does not expect in a popular hill station. The natures best look is maintained thanks to the Government policy that prevents sale and construction on lands here. Hope this continues; especially at a time when realtors and developers have destroyed the entire fabric of the country through mindless estate development. Even though this means that I will never be able to own a house at Pachmarhi, which I sincerely wish, but I am not complaining.

I would not recommend Pachmarhi to someone in search of thrills and adventures. Pachmarhi is for the laid-backs, for the inhibited, for those in search of the peace, the home-away-from-home. Soaking in the sun, walking in the rain, breathing in the fresh air, drawing in the green forests, trekking through the winding streets these are the pleasures that come for free. And yes, just leave your work mobiles and internet behind; remember you are on a holiday here! Happy holidaying!!