The Mandakini

Mand means ‘calm and unhurried’ in Sanskrit, and this river flows as such, as if in accordance with her name, but it also has the power to wreak havoc. Originating from the Chorabari Glacier near Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, the Mandakini joins the Vasukiganga at Sonprayag, then flows into the Alaknanda at Rudraprayag and the latter joins the Bhagirathi at Devprayag. It’s like a medley of waters, and the Mandakini displays that at all these sites. Tranquil from October to April, it turns into a torrential river with the monsoons between June and September. The river sends out an audible murmur if you are standing on its banks around Rudraprayag or Guptakashi. 

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The Mahanadi

The Mahanadi rises in Chhattisgarh and travels through Odisha, while a small part also touches Madhya Pradesh. It is bounded on the north by the Central India Hills, on the south and east by the Eastern Ghats and on the west by the Maikala Ranges. The upper course of the river runs north as an insignificant stream hut, after meeting the Seonath river, its flow swells as it enters Odisha. At Sambalpur, the Hirakud Dam on the river has formed a large manmade lake, which is also the site for some excellent views of the river. As the Mahanadi leaves this point, it runs along a tortuous course, piercing forest-clad gorges to enter the Bay of Bengal at False Point, in the Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. The name gives you an idea of the magnitude of this river, but it doesn’t fully capture the visual magic of the Mahanadi. Around the Satkosia Gorge and on the outskirts of Cuttack, you can see a face of the river you won’t believe. 

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The Ravi - River

Once called the Iravati, this river travels about 850 km from its origin near the remote Bada Bhangal village in Himachal Pradesh. As it traverses the mountains and narrow gorges, it gathers momentum and enters Bharmour, Chamba and Pathankot in northern Punjab with much aplomb. From there, it crosses the border to reach Lahore before combining with the Chenab. The river has been a major source of life and light to the region, but visitors are enchanted by the stunning scenery almost as soon as they reach the river bank.

During the monsoon, it swells dramatically and carries sediments that give it a curious blue-grey colour. If you’re around Bada Bhangal, you can’t miss the Ravi. 

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The Sind

Those who have trekked to the Amarnath Temple know the splendour of the Sind river. Originating in the Machoi Glacier at about 15,748 ft, east of the temple and south of Zoji Pass, the river flows through Panjtarni, where pilgrims pitch camp, southwards up to Domail and turns wider after it joins a tributary, frothed out of the Kolhoi Glacier. It meets the Wangath river at Kichpora Preng, a stream flowing down from Gangabal Lake. On its 180-km journey through Jammu & Kashmir, the river is fed by many tributaries like the Amarnath stream, Kolhoi Grar, Shitkadi Nallah, Gund Nall ah, Surfraw Nallah and Wangath Nallah. The beauty of this river really takes off as it snakes ahead through Sonmarg, the famous alpine hill station. The views from there are pristine and beautiful, with just a hint of its mighty flows. 

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The Echoes of Timelessness

The year 2014 will make the 30^th edition of the globally-renowned Konark Dance & Music Festival. It will be a treat for the senses.

Most tourist visit the Sun Temple in Konark during the daytime. After all, that’s when the architectural marvel of the temple is at its best display. The tour guides can he found enthusiastically explaining to the visitors the scientific positioning of the temple and how one can easily calculate what time of day it is simply by looking at the positioning of the sun’s rays on its gigantic stone wheels.

The 13th century temple, designed in the shape of a colossal stone chariot with seven horses and 24 wheels to carry the sun god, takes on a completely different avatar as the sun sets. The architectural craftsmanship transforms into a pristine beauty rendered in stone. The month of December is even more special, for that’s when the temple, also a World Heritage Site, turns into the backdrop of the stage to host the Konark Dance Festival.

All forms of Indian classical dances are showcased in this festival, organised by the Department of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha, from December 1-5 every year. Classical dance forms like Kathakali, Kuchipudi. Bharatnatvam and Manipuri are performed by reputed artistes of India and abroad.

The clear night sky with stars shining bright, adds to the magical spell of the ghungroos moving in tandem with the strings of the sitar and the heats of the tabla at the open air auditorium of the temple.

The five-day festival this year will include of Odissi cuisine, are also put up. Other highlights Odissi dance performances by GKCM Odissi Research Centre of Bhubaneswar, Utkal University of Culture, Urkal Sangeer Mohavidyalay, the Guru Durga Charan Ranbir & Group and Nruryayan, all from Bhubaneswar. The Kathak performance will be led by Padma Shri Sovana Narayan and her troupe from New Delhi. Padma Bhushan Guru V.P. Dhanajyan & Group from Chennai will regale the audience with their Bharatanatyam performances, while Padma Shri Guru Ghana Kanta Borbayan & Group from Assam will perform Sattriya. The Kuchipudi performances will be done Padma Shri Guru Sobha Naigu & Group from Hyderabad and Konark’s Guru Birabara Sahoo & Group. The renowned Konark Natya Mandap will give the Gotipua performances. Besides these, renowned international artistes will also perform Balinese Dance and Mahari.

A crafts mela is also organised during the festival and makes for a good place to shop for handicrafts from Odisha. Various food stalls, serving the best of the festival are the artist camps that exhibit Odissi temple sculptures, described aptly as poetry transcribed on stone; and sand art exhibitions held on the beaches. 

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Unicorn Land Kaziranga

Kaziranga is a place where the diverse landscape offers you a chance to get up close with magnificent beasts.

Dawn is just breaking we’re all muffled up against the morning chill as we watch the countryside sweep past the , slightly fogged-up windows. A sliver of a sun-ray cuts through the morning mists, setting afire the dewdrops clinging like newborn crystals on the grassy verge as the Trinova sweeps past tea estates and shanty towns coming to life for the day. The morning is crisp and cool and there’s a glorious feeling of new beginnings as we hasten to one of the world’s finest game parks; Kaziranga National Park in Assam, and one of the last bastions of char rare earthly unicorn.... the Great Indian One-horned Rhino— endangered and once facing extinction because of the ruthless hunting and poaching of this prehensile beast... believed to have some magical aphrodisiacal properties in that legendary born!

It’s taken a year of rigorous plotting and planning—this safari holiday—and my friends and I are still pinching ourselves as a reminder that we’ve managed to pull it oft. We weren’t able to catch the same-day afternoon jeep safari at Kaziranga, having missed getting an early morning flight—so we are determined to pack in as much as we can while we are here. 

For reasons best known to providence, I never got to visit Kaziranga when my husband was stationed near Tezpur (another access pint to the game park). It’s the peak season (November-April) and the park resorts arc booked to capacity so we get to stay with an old planter friend in Jorhat, a two-hour haul from the park. It’s also an excellent place for exploring this glorious slice of Assam embellished with stunning rivers capes of the mighty Brahmaputra, river, the lifeline of the stare. 

The vehicle line-up waiting at the gate is hungry to take off on the designated trails in the three tourist zones of Kohra (Central), Baghori (Western) and Agartoli (Eastern). The elephant safari is actually the most exciting way to experience the game park... the problem, however, is that because of the limited number of elephants available, not all visitors have access to the safari. So we were feeling particularly lucky and privileged to have managed the elephant-back ticket on the first day.

It’s unbelievable how silently this great beast can move when need be. Not a sound emerges from the crackle-ready dry leaves underfoot in the forest as it negotiates its way up a steep incline to take us down again to a shaded pool... where, to our delight, we find our first rhino. Standing knee-deep in the marshy water, he looks up unperturbed at our arrival and continues enjoying his leisurely breakfast. Having never seen a rhino, leave alone one in its natural habitat, mycky slicker friends squeal in restrained delight as their cameras go into overdrive. No selfie with this celeb since you can’t start wandering around on foot in the jungle! Pig-eyed and ponderous he may appear to be but, once roused, a charging rhino can never be taken lightly.

The sun's growing heat has burnt away the morning mists and a cloudless azure blue sky vaults over the treeline and rolling savannah lining the banks of the river, Muddy and silt-rich after the monsoons, its rippling surface hides the reality of its murderous and deeply-feared undertow. We regretted the lack of time to fit in one of those splendid Brahmaputra river cruises on offer from the Guwahati-based Assam Bengal Navigation Company  which also offers a cruise to Kaziranga National Park. What a fabulous way to enjoy the Kaziranga experience! Maybe next time. But you should try and spend a holiday at their award-winning Diphhi River Lodge which lies in close proximity to the game park.

The Kaziranga National Park is Assam’s visited national parks. Declared a National Park in 1974, it was recognised as a UNESCO-acclaimed Natural World Heritage Site in 1985. This gave the diminishing number of rhinos in India a fighting chance. In December 2013, the Kaziranga National Park had a record 2,290 rhinos.

Set along the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, the 858-sq-km sprawl of the game park is not only ideal for rhino-spotting, it’s also a designated Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger and offers great possibilities for tiger-spotting as well. We missed one of the big cats by a whisker at a waterhole after a kill which he’d dragged deep into the foliage close by. Leopards are known to hide the remains of their kill in a tree, but the wary tiger, not much of a tree climber, has to protect his kill even more fiercely from the likes of hyenas (we spy a couple lurking in the distant bushes) and hawk-eyed kites (whirling in great gatherings overhead).

The next three days are action-packed. We follow wild elephants and look for sloth bears. We fill our waiting moments enthralled by birdsong and laugh at monkeys’ antics. We wait patiently at waterholes for thirsty leopards and tigers. Then we reluctantly return to dinners of home-cooked fare. By the river one morning, we watch an otter emerge sleek and wet, and then dive back in a flash to catch a vaulting fish. We drive through swathes of rolling tea estates and one afternoon find ourselves, over nimbu sodas, watching golfers tee off from the first hole by the verandah of the beautiful Kaziranga Golf Resort, filled with a stunning collection of art by its owner, Assam’s legendary tea baron, H.P Barooah, from all over the world. 

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Tales of the Calm Waters

Chilika Lake in Odisha welcomes migratory birds from all parts of the world and is home to a variety of unique flora and fauna.

With a nip in the air felt now and then, we can realise that winter is coming. The season, for a lot of us, brings along its own charms and surprises in the form of natural bounty. One example is at Chilika Lake in Odisha, which shows the best of itself in the cold months. An estuarine lagoon, it is the largest inland brackish water body in Asia. Spread over 1,100 sq km, it is connected to the sea by a 32-km-long channel running parallel to the Bay of Bengal. The Zoological Survey of India has recorded about 800 species of fauna in this place, including the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins and migratory birds from countries as far as Siberia.

Come winter, it is the peak migratory season for the birds and over 160 species of them will visit the lake. Some of the regular visitors include white-bellied sea eagles, greylag geese, purple moorhens, jacanas, herons, flamingos, egrets, gray and purple herons, the Indian roller, storks, white ibis, spoonbills, Brahminy ducks, shovellers, pintails and many more.

Several islands dot the lagoon. The Nalabana bird sanctuary here has the highest concentration of birds. A major island in the centre of the lake, it remains fully submerged during the monsoon months before the water level drops in the winter months, making way for marshy land and the arrival of avifaunal visitors.

But the tale of Chilika Lake can’t be complete without mention of the Irrawaddy dolphins, which are the main draw of this place. It is, after all, the only known place in India where one can see this particular species. With a population which is still not too high, these dolphins have been classified as critically endangered. The best way for travellers to take a look at them is on a boat ride. In any case, the ride is a treat for photographers who can capture the beauty of the natural surroundings and the fauna at large--t he lake hosts some 250 species of fish and a daz1ing array of aquatic and non-aquatic plants. While on a visit to Chilika Lake, a tourist can choose to visit the other places of interest around, including Pun, the famed Nirmaljhar waterfall and picturesque Satpada, among others. 

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