Explore Jabalpur | Exotic Marble Rocks | Scenic Narmada River Bed | Bhedaghat | Dhuandhar

Jabalpur is the host to one of the most exotic waterfalls, mesmerizing white marble rocks, High Court of Madhya Pradesh and the Headquarter of Western Central Railway.

Bhedaghat - Marble Rocks

 Its strategic location makes it readily accessible from any corner of India via Air or rail route. Apart from famous and well known places it has certain lesser known tourist points that are found to be more exotic and appealing.I had vague memories of this place from early school days when I visited with group of my batch mates to participate in a zonal competition during early nineties which happened to be my primary schooling days and whatever I could recall was interesting enough for me to revisit this place with group of friends again. We decided to travel via train and chose MP Sampark Kranti due to convenience in regards to timing & arrival. There were other options too like air travel but considering the cost & overnight travel we zeroed on to MP Sampark Kranti that departs from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway (Mon, Tue, Sat) at 05:25 evening. We wanted to spend about 2-3 days to cover places in close proximity to Jabalpur and therefore a weekend trip was on. The train left NZM railway station on time and ran as expected without any delay. We had our dinner when it reached Gwalior and went to sleep and while we woke up it has already reached Katni Junction and our destination was an hour away. Train hit the Jabalpur City around 07:40 Am that was 5 mins earlier than the scheduled arrival and to be honest a pleasant surprise considering the timeliness of Indian Railway.

Tip : For info related to trains operated by Indian Railway please go to  https://enquiry.indianrail.gov.in/ntes/index.html or http://www.indianrail.gov.in

Jabalpur Railway Junction

 We had our hotel rooms booked in advance via Goibibo and we were able to get early check ins that was great in managing our itinerary. As soon as we de-boarded   the train we hired an auto that was good enough to carry three of us with our minor luggage. We strategically decided to get a hotel situated around Teen Patti Square ( also known as Maharana Pratap Chowk) as that happens to be the center of the city of Jabalpur. The morning was pleasant since winter was going away to let summer settle in. City was found to be cleaner than normal Indian cities and most of the things were in place on our route to hotel. We reached our hotel within 10 minutes, got the keys post front desk formalities and dumped ourselves to our rooms to get freshen up. By 10 AM in the morning  we were ready with our backpack to explore the Jabalpur City. Against the run in metros like Delhi, Mumbai ciry was still waking up and gearing towards the day.

Teen Patti Chowk

Bhedaghat
We hired an auto to start and started towards Bhedaghat. We were told that it was about 16-18 kms away and took us about 40 minutes to reach the area from where we decided to walk along the ghat to explore and observed the marble rocks and awesome water fall. We took some time to roam around and then hired a boat to observe mesmerizing  100 ft tall resplendent marble rocks on either sides of Narmada River. Narmada is the largest river of the central-west India and flows from east to west and has numerous exotic banks like the one we were just witnessing. At one point you can't really point out the exit route as you feel that you are surrounded by high marble rocks and there is no way out. We were told by our boatman that moon light boating would give us an amazing experience which made us to think about coming back at night to experience the same. We immersed ourselves in the lap of nature and it was over like a fairy tale. We were also told about the stories associated with the shooting of many films on these ghats and river front. people can also enjoy boat ride activities from November to May. A rope way or cable car was also available here that takes through the gorge making an unforgettable experience of exploring the marvel of nature and striking sight. Once we were done with boating we moved towards marvelous water fall.

Boating Point - Bhedaghat

Bhedaghat Boating Point

Bhedaghat

Dhuandhar Falls
We travelled some distance on foot and then encountered the about 20-30 m high majestic water falls that is popularly known as the "smoke cascade"(Smoke - Dhuan & Dhar - Cascade).  The flow of narmada that passes through big and narrow marble rocks creates a wonderful scene at this juncture. Even around 12'O clock it ws fairly crowed with all sort of travelers flocking there.The tranquil Dhuandhar Falls truly was loud and undoubtedly stunning. We spend some good time around that place and I could recall from my childhood that the place had evolved to a greater deal in terms of management and safety. Barricades, safety cordons and cable cars were available for people to witness the natural beauty without putting their safety to risk. Only disappointment was the food available in nearby stalls. Throughout the path there were so many shops selling all kinds of article made of white marble and it was stunning to see some of the craftsmen. We bought a few with our names en-carved  on those articles in real quick time but we had to do some hard bargain to get them down to a fair price.

Dhuandhar Fall

Dhuandhar Water Fall

Sight Scene at Dhuandhar Fall

Chausath Yogini Temple
On the way we also visited Chausath Yogini Temple that dates back to the 10th century, situated on the top of a hill rock. It has a view of the beautiful Narmada river flowing through Bhedaghat. This ancient temple was built by Kalchuri kings in Mahakaushal region and has intricately detailed carvings on its walls. It has a distinct resemblance to the temples of Khajuraho in structure that has the abode of goddess Durga along with 64 Yoginis. It was a bit tiring to climb up but was worth of a divine experience.

Now it was approaching towards evening and we clawed our way back to city to roam around the local market. Had some local snacks and spent some good time at one of the garden (Bhawartal Garden) that was in close proximity to our hotel. Actually it was quite pleasant with lights and water fountain and it took away our tiredness to some extent.

It was about 9 PM and we decided to get back to hotel room. We reached there in quick time and ordered dinner to be delivered to the room. It was good meal and we didn't realize that how soon we fell to sleep after a day well spent.

We woke up around 7 AM next morning and went through the motion to complete daily chores. Today we set ourselves to one of the less explored destination - Bhainsa Ghat

Bhainsa Ghat

We were told that it was about  40 KM away from our location on Jabalpur - Damoh route. We started off around 10 AM in the same auto that we had already booked from previous day. After travelling about 30km from Jabalpur we reached Katangi. After 5 km from Katangi towards Damoh took left turn that took us to the mountain range of Bhainsa Ghat. The road over the mountain range was full of twist and turns but truly adventurous. And here it was after about one and half hour.

The place was truly exotic with scenic water fall that was absolutely stunning. It looked as if water was flowing through stairs due to multiple steps through rock. We thanked ourselves to take the risk of traveling that long to witness this natural beauty which was much away from the hassle of city of crowded destinations. We had to be little careful as this place didn't have safety barricades like we have at Bhedaghat. We spent some quality time -A picnic away from hustle & bustle of City life.

 Gwari Ghat 

We came back to city by evening and decide to make a visit to one of the ritual places for Sikhism. Gwari ghat is associated with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. It is also known for Sai Dham a temple and ashram dedicated to Sai Baba followers. This sacred place is on the bank of river Narmada and we could witness the evening aarti that was divine. We could also spend some fantastic boating experience again.

Gwari Ghat

This happened to the last destination of our 2 day itinerary. We came back to our hotel room and took our dinner. Roamed around the city market and then came back to catch or sleep. Next morning  we planned to visit Bargi dam before catching up our train back to Delhi however, due to one of the friend's illness we had to cancel that. Overall it turned out to be a fantastic tour to central west India.