The drive was pleasant and so was the driver, the Rimil lodge was comfortable, the food good, the air refreshing… Everything was so perfect, I was filled with foreboding.

That’s a feeling most people who have been to Jhilimili get. The transfer from the rattle of train wheels and ear-rattling shouts of station hawkers before daybreak to the purring of a well-oiled car engine and the twittering of birds that herald dawn is as rapid as it is surreal.

Jhilimili is the name of a forest where Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore meet. It is around 35 km from Bankura station, where I alighted from the Adra-Chakradharpur Fast Passenger around 4 am.

Though the forest is not dense in the true sense of the word, there are elephants that roam them. In times far more critical, these woods doubled as safe house for Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki and Narendra Nath Gossain. It was in the deepest recesses of the jungle, at Chendapathar, some 19 km from today’s Jhilimili ‘proper’, that the intrepid trio had vowed to free the country from the shackles of British rule and made crude bombs and guns to speed them towards their goal.

Though many of the trees that bore testimony to the exploits of these freedom fighters were chopped down for firewood long ago, what remains of the wilderness is well worth a visit.

Bus services from the station to Jhilimili begin around 4.45 am, but jeeps and Sumos can be hired for the day for anything between Rs 700 and Rs 800, and drivers are ready to go the moment a bargain has been struck.

There is a short cut to Jhilimili for those in a hurry, and a route longer by around 21 km for people willing to catch the sunrise at Kangshabati dam in Mukutmanipur and grab a bite before hitting the road again. The Jhilimili route cuts through treescapes and Santhal hamlets with forested hills providing constant company from a distance.

On the way to Jhilimili is Ranibandh, made up primarily of a small cluster of adivasi villages. Ask anyone for directions and trot up to one of the nearby hillocks to see the temple of Tusu, their deity. The hill also offers an outstanding view of the huge Kangshabati dam in Mukutmanipur.

Jhilimili is 20 km from Ranibandh and apart from the forest, has a lovely nest, Rimil, and spots like Yamuna bridge park and Talberia dam. There is not much that can go wrong in a place like Jhilimili, so to enjoy it best, make the most of the perfection, don’t be suspicious of it.

info and Survival kit

How to get there

Take Adra-Chakradharpur Fast Passenger from Howrah. It’s a six-hour journey

Where to stay

For bookings at Rimil Lodge, call 03243-240300/217
Room rates: Rs 250, Rs 400 and Rs 450
For a stay at Ranibandh, call 03243-250540 or 24304608 for bookings at Balaka. Room rates: Rs 300, Rs 100 (dormitory)

• Sturdy shoes
• Torch
• Umbrella
• Mosquito repellent cream