Palamu Fort turned into ruins

 

                   Palamu fort a glorious past turned into ruin

About the journey:

    Once I was assigned to do some photo story on Betla Tiger Reserve (BTR) or say Betla National Park and I along with my colleague Shyam went over there by train to Daltonganj from Ranchi. I intimated one of my old and very close contact like my younger brother Saikat Chatterjee a versatile person and also an avid photographer regarding my sojourn over there. He arranged a tree house accommodation at Betla which was very cozy as well as attractive too and diverting the attention of the tourists who came over there to enjoy the serenity and meadow of the park.

Next day I hired a taxi and moved around deep into the jungle, as the driver was a locale person so he was well aware of the roots and he showed me lot of spots into the jungle and I got the shots of deers, monkeys, Baison, peacocks, the spot where tigers use to come and quench their thirst. But I didn’t find any tiger on my first day. Next day again I set out for the same but after loitering whole day and in the evening I again no tiger was sighted. As I was assigned to take pictures of tigers but not even a cub sighted and that sent me into deep anguish and frustration. I was feeling very much disheartened and dejected.

I expressed my woes to my colleague and he talked to the locale people and came to know that tigers might had gone towards Chhatisgarh side that’s why they were not sighted. And also came to know that there are ruins of Medini Nagar or (Palamu) fort, so I reluctantly decided to take a chance to get some good shots of that ruins, accordingly on third day we set out for the same and became enchanted to see the beautiful and calm serenity of the ruins of that fort. It was showing the rich glorious past of Rakeshal Rajput dynasty, which was badly turned into ruins. Being a frustrated person and starving of good frames at that time, the ruins of the Medini Nagar injected a fresh lease of life into me, as if I hit a gold mine and I turned my camera into clicking mode and made some very good frames of that ruined fort. 

A brief history:-

                There are two ruined forts located around 20 kms south east of Daltonganj situated in Jharkhand state. Before Chero dynasty the fort was built is in the plains by the king of Raksel Rajput Dynasty. Another fort was constructed by Raja Medini Ray who ruled from 1662 to 1674 in the Palamu region of Bihar, that is why it is also called Medini Nagar Quila. The fort in the plains has defenses on three sides and has three main gates. The architecture is in Islamic style, which reflects Daud Khan’s conquest. These two large forts are located deep into the forest of Aurangabad on Sher Sah Suri Path is also called GT road.

How to reach Palamu fort:-

                The nearest airport is Ranchi about 190 Kms from Daltonganj.

The nearest railway station Daltonganj is about 186 Kms from Ranchi.

The Palamu quila is about 20 Kms from Daltonganj.

From Ranchi bus and train services are available frequently.

Lot of rest houses and hotel accommodation are available in Daltonganj.

The tree house accommodation at Betla National Park is available on booking only through Palamu Tiger Reserve Site..

Places to see:-

1.       Historical land mark Sahpur fort.

2.       Palamu Tiger Reserve park and office,

3.       Confluence of Kechki Sangam,

4.       Latehar Sangam.

5.       Lodh waterfalls.

Text and Photo by- Ashok Karan,

ashokkaran@gmail.com