Rourkela: The idyllic Ashoka Jharan waterfall, located amid lush greenery with an abundance of flora and fauna, is among Odisha's uncharted yet beautiful natural sites.
While its famous cousin - Khandadhar, considered a pride of Odisha - draws tourists in droves, Ashoka Jharan remains uncharted despite being located just 6km away in Talabani gram panchayat of Lahunipara block.
"The forest department laid a morrum road to make the journey motorable," said Tapan Dandia, a local Bonai resident. He believes that the waterfall should be on the state's tourism map for its uniqueness: "Unlike Khandadhar, it is a stepped fall - the water gradually falls over the steps."
Discovered by Nilambara Indra Deo Dev, a former king of the Bonai estate, the location was used for hunting jaunts by the rulers from the erstwhile royal family because of the abundance of wild animals. "There is a place near the fall - Rajabasa - that literally means the home of the king," said Chandrasekhar Mahanta, a Talabani resident who is working to raise awareness about this beauty of nature. The Bonai royals' connection to the area extended to the coronation when the new king would visit the place to seek blessings from Lord Mahadev, whose temple stands at the site.
For the indigenous Pahudi Bhuyan tribe, the hill range is very sacred. According to local myth, a Bhuyan tribal couple was turned into stone here when they came to seek the blessings of Lord Shiv. Since then, the community members believe that the couple stands guard at the place.
"The water emerges from the confluence of two hills and never dries up," said Mahanta.
Talabani gram panchayat sarpanch Budhu Bhuyan, said: "The water is cool and can be drunk instantly."
He said the approach road to the top was very dangerous, "not from wild animals, but because the stony path is full of moss as hardly any light reaches there".
Both Mahanta and Bhuyan rued the neglect to the site. "You hardly see anything like this anywhere, especially the flora and fauna available," said Bhyan.
It also offers a calm and quiet atmosphere. "You can meditate here in peace, but it is neglected despite having so much," said Mahanta. "The administration came to know about it barely 10-12 years ago when the then Boani sub-collector Bijaya K. Kulanga accidentally found it during one of his trips," said Dandia.
When the local residents raised the matter of Ashok Jharan before the present sub-collector Swadev Singh, she said: "The local residents need to be involved for the development of the site. At present, the Odisha Mining Corporation, department of forest and environment and the district administration are trying to train them to work as local help for Khandadhar. We will adopt the same with Ashok Jharan once that training bears fruit."
She also plans to improve the connectivity. "I am going to take up the issue so that it gets good roads for visitors and have initiated the process for that."
