Probably the most beautiful thing that can exist on this planet is the thing that has not been touched by us humans ever; for in our touch lies an arrogance and in our humility, even more so.
-Translated from a play popular in Nagpur
I feel it will be foolish of me to elaborate these words because as they go, in my touch lies…! Let me, instead, relate to you my experience of the Sartaj of the Satpuras- Panchmarhi!
The Place Where I Prefer to Stay:
Of the four of my visits to Panchmarhi, on three occasions, I lodged in a place called the 40 Quarters: that is the name of the place. 40 Quarters is a resort, I daresay, that is actually a cluster of 40 row-house like quarters built in the typical rural archaic architecture, falling in the typical rural disrepair. But the seeming derelict, old-style and apparently crumbling buildings have a charm of their own.
The quarters, the environment that surrounds them and the general air about the place transports the visitor to some bygone era- an era in which aristocrats and Englishmen would set out in the jungles in hunt of game, for whose convenience I believe the 40 Quarters were built. Though a lot of people would call that era a dark period for this country, history has it's own romance, and the feeling of finding onceself in an archaic bygone era, very charming.
At night, as the sun sinks below the distant horizon and the moths begin to fly, austere amber light of the lamp-posts begin to crawl on the pavements and the garden, and the lawns. The mess-hall waiters begin to get busy with cooking and tables and chairs are set on the lawns that guests may dine heartily in the open air. The nostalgia of that said era becomes even more palpable creating a very noticeable romance in the air that nobody can help but enjoy. Trust me, this is an experience worth going through once in your life.
Do come down to Central India, the sleepy, lazy land, where once the Indian tiger growled challenging the might of the British Rifle, falling like brave heroes defending their mother. Do come down to bathe in this wonderful nostalgia.
The service of the resort is of course of the rural, rustic sort- lazy, slow yet in it's own way, charming.
The Things I Find Worth Doing:
Before I begin here, I would like to issue a warning, if you will, which is this. Panchmarhi is a place that can be enjoyed thoroughly but certainly not without being prepared to walk miles after miles, without looking back, but looking around or alternately, cycling down cross country, negotiating rugged tracks and at the same time giving your eyes a treat of green and undulating. It is foolish to come here in order to have a lot of physical relaxation. Mental relaxation is unlimited here.
Every tourist destination has it's own set monotony. Flocks of people come in a definite season, with the intention of watching a definite number of places on definite days, and having tired of their sightseeing pursuits, retiring to their lodgings to spend the night in the quiet of their rooms with the honeybee-like buzzing of their spouse and children. Certainly, not many people have an idea of how those definite number of places look and so going to each one of them is a discovery that you make. But that discovery is and has been made by several others like you, and so there is no uniqueness in the discovery. All you are left with saying is: Yes, it was a beautiful place.
But what you would have witnessed is that part of nature that has been touched and embroidered, and in it's own way, defaced, by human hands and human inhabitation. The serenity of that part of nature is lost and what remains is but a dead shadow of it and a lot of people. Still it is marvelous and beautiful: but only the nominal remains of what it once was.
I am such a fellow, who loves to be left to himself and loves to surround himself by all such things as were never taken up by many people before. My style of enjoying Panchmarhi was simple: My sister and I, with a cousin and the driver as an escort, would drive past the town, observing the sleepy activity of it, and then taking ourselves beyond all such places where human inhabitation had left it's mark. We would wander into the most virgin parts of the region, where certainly very few people had gone before.
Safety of the place is the only capital that this free spirit of mine banked on. I knew that the worse that could happen to me would be that Jack would have a great fall and Jill would come running along.
The reason for this free spirit of mine is clear in the very beginning of the essay.
But I choose not to reveal those haunts that have become a favourite part of my memory simply because I think I've sinned enough by disturbing the serenity of the places visiting them myself.
Regular haunts of general tourists are many in number. The ones I visited are as below:
B-Fall:
Not necessarily spelt correctly
B-fall is a toddler among the waterfalls in this region- yet a very sweet toddler. It is not particularly difficult to access nor is it particularly awesome in dimensions. Yet, it is one of the most picturesque waterfalls among those that can be found here.
The road that leads to B-Fall actually leads to the top of the cliff from where the water actually falls. A rather tricky descent later, you shall find a massive column of water falling into a stream making a loud noise to your left. The noise this waterfall makes muffles the usual roar that the crowd makes, yet in it's own way, calms your mind and relaxes you. Yes nature is funny, isn't it?
Chauragarh
Chauragarh is the name of a big adventure. To reach to the top of it, one has to climb up and climb down a total of seven hills varying in height, walking through forest-covered tracks that offere you glimpses of hills and forests and trees all around you, without a break. It is the zenith, I should say, of all the treats that you can give to your eyes, save for an Aishwarya Rai photo-gallery, which is a treat in a naughty taste not everyone enjoys.
When you finally reach the top, you find before you a temple of Lord Shiva, not particularly exotic in architecture. But the three hour climb-and-decent-and-climb… et cetera tires you out so much, that the sight of God can only be the most pleasing one! The more interesting part of the temple is that the whole yard is full of tridents that have been struck into the soil, as though God wants you to briefly acquaint yourself with his might.
Mahadeo Gufah is another cave, a place of worship of Shiva himself, at the foot of the hills that lead to Chauragarh. It is very similar to another such cave, Jatashankar which is very near 40-Quarters, which is again one of the reasons why I prefer to stay there!
Other places worth a visit are Dhoopgarh. In fact, it is the most beautiful of all the places. However the Sun God was displeased with me on all four occassions, because of which the climate played dirty tricks on me, forcing me to cancel all my plans to watch what is described as the most exotic sunset of this country.
In Conclusion
From the silent nostalgic dinners at the 40-Quarters, to the dancing, singing waves of waterfalls to temples set into remote hills and cliffs, Panchmarhi is a picture-perfect album of what a dream like hill station would be. And mind you, it's not at all expensive!
