Garh Jungle :No.1 Long Drive Pe Chal

When thinking about a 1 day trip from Kolkata, the very first “Garh Jungle” comes to my mind. If I summarized about the reason to plan for this tour is to learn some history along one day trip near Kolkata. The summary is ‘1 day trip from Kolkata + the joy of long drive on smooth roads+ explore Gorh Jungle. You travel from Kolkata either by own vehicle or by train to reach Garh Jungle. The nearest rail station is Durgapur. From you can take a cab to reach this place it is 4 km away from Durgapur which hardly takes 10 munities to reach by car. I would prefer to travel by own car to have fun of long drive. If you want to go to Garh Jungle from Kolkata, you have to take AH1 hi way via NH19 to reach Durgapur Muchi para flyover and then turn right to take service road towards Moulan dighi . You need to drive another 6-7 km towards Bolpur you will find signboard on right side which indicates the Path way to Garh Jongal inside the forest.

Historical Importance of this place Garh Jungle

Archaeological & Mythological sources

After passing through the forest for some distance, you can find “Medhosasram” in right side and “Devi Shyamrupa Temple” on the left. Garh Jungle is described as an important Shakti Peetha in Hindu mythology. This place is located in the Kanksa CD block in the Durgapur subdivision of the West Burdwan district in West Bengal. Garh Jungle is actually located in the border area of Burdwan and Birbhum districts. The history of Garh Jungle based on some locally found artifacts and mythology. The history of this place largely found in two mythological books, one is ‘sree sree chandi’ another one is ‘Markandeya Purana’. All in all, the history of Garh Jungle is quite complex.

Story of Medhasasram and associated temples

It is said “Raja Surat” the king of ‘Bolipur” or the present ‘Bolpur’, lost his kingdom due to the intrigues of his own ministers. After that he took refuge in Medhas Muni’s Ashramin Gar Jangal area. There The King Surat  met Baisya Samadhi .The king Surat and Baisya Somadhi listened to “Devi Mahatya” from Medhas muni. Here Medhas Muni described “Astadash Bhuja” ,”Doso Bhuja”, and “asta bhuja” forms of Durga along with the forms of‘Mahakali’ ,’Mahalaxmi’ and’ Maha Saraswati’ .As a result “Sree Sree Chondi” was composed.According to Sree Sree Chandi and Markandeya Purana(composition period is appxoz 1700 years ago ) , on the advice of Medhas Muni , King Surat worshiped goddess Durga and recuperated  his lost realm. The King Surat worshiped the goddess in the spring , so from that time “Basanti Durga Puja” is still being celebrated in Bengal.It is believed to be the first Durga Puja in the world as stated in ‘Sree Sree Chandi” and “Markandeya Purana”. Raja Surot established ‘Tridevi temples’ in this forest. Presently Tridevi Temple, Gondeswar Mahadev temple, Mrityunjay Mahadev temple and Mahakal Temple are associated with Sedhasasram. Now Hanuman jee temple has been added. 3 Shiva temples that went under the ground have been excavated again. The archaeological remains found at this site is the terracotta relics which were depicted in the temple wall and “Yagyakunda” of King Surat . Amidst the ruins of the pillars of the “jagyakunda” we find exquisite terracotta work. There is a 400 years old tamarind tree which is still alive today. This place is considered as an archaeological site in India.

Story of Devi Shyamroopa Temple

Then let’s talk about Shaymruupa devi Temple. It was known that in 1203 CE, King Laxman Sen of the Sena dynasty of Bengal fled from his capital Nawadwip under the attack of Sultan Bakhtiar Khilji of Delhi .He wandered around and took shelter in this gorh jungle vicinity. At that time there used to be a Kapalika who used to offer human sacrifice to Devi puja . “Kapalik” the aucult worshiper, asked the king to establish a temple of Mother goddess here to restore the kingdom.Laxman Sen opposed this practice and advised Kapalika to give up from this path but this person was not willing to listen to advice to stop this heinous practice. Then Laxman Sen invited his court poet “Kobi Jaydev” to his assembly on the day of establishing the temple and he also requested this Kapalik to stop this practice but he was  remain rigid on his opinion. Then Joydev prayed to Devi to prevent this man from doing such crime. Hearing Jayadev’s prayer, the goddess fell upon Kapalik and assumed a black form. After that incident Kapalik realized his mistake and abandoned the human sacrifice cult.  Since then the goddess is being named as Shyam rupa Devi. There is an old well within temple premise which used to be the only source of water of this templ. This is a perfect day trip to any historical places in west Bengal.

Story of Ichai Ghosh

In markondeya purana, apart from Medhasasram, we can get information about Ichai Ghosh who was the feudal king of Gorh Jungle. As far as various sources go, around the 11^th century CE a feudal king, Ichai Ghosh, was the ruler of this place. He was a goddess worshiper. Ichai Ghosh or Iswar Ghosh is mentioned in a copper plaque found in 1933 during the British period. A few fragments of the wall have been found signifying that the average area was about 500+ acres.  There two main doorways of Gorh Jungle. As far as we know from the Markandeya purana , the reign of Mahipala in Bengal. Lau Sen the feudal King of Medinipur attacked to Gorh Jungle to conquer this state.Ichai Ghosh was defeated and killed in a fierce battle on the banks of Ajay River.

Ichai Ghosher deul

The Bengal school of temple architecture follows its own tradition. It has been divided between bangiya deul and oriya deul. Ichai Ghosh deul also called tower temple (rekha deul) with extensions on the both surface, plain but consists with a royal presence. This temple is situated in Gourangapur on the surrounding area of river Ajoy near Gorh Jungle. This temple was built around 16 – 17^th century. Many scholars believe that this temple was built in memory of Ichai Ghosh by his descendants. The legendary scholar David J. McCutchion stated Ichhai Ghoser Deul a large smooth curved rekha deul.The deul is having a base of 20 feet square. Though It is a plain brick structure consisted with images on tower. Archaeological Survey of India enlisted Ichhai Ghosh deul to the List of Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal. As a whole it is a enjoyable trip. So you can take a long road trip with your infant even because of the excellent road condition.

Nearby Attraction

The Deul park eco-resort is the nearest attraction of Gorh Jungle. It is located in the bank of Aojy River. This amusement park has been set up to attract more tourists. It’s a perfect place to enjoy some quality family time after visiting Gorh Jungle. This park having a popular restaurant, you can test foods even. This property also accommodates some rooms having all modern amenities.  If anyone wishes they can stay and take a break from the mundane busy life.

Timining

Timings: 24 hours

Time Required: 2-3 hrs

Entry Fee: No entry fee

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Conclusion

Most of the Garh Jungle area is yet to excavated and undiscovered. The uneven surface of the Garh Jungle indicates lot more history has to unveil till date. Hope more history will be revealed in near future.

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