An evening boat-ride on the Narmada river was the
highlight of our visit to Jabalpur in the last lap of our Madhya Pradesh
tour. It was altogether a different
experience. The boat sailed past tall
marble hills on both sides of the river. It was a pleasure watching the mountain cliffs
change their shape and colour, as the sun-rays played hide and seek with them. Another attraction nearby was the waterfalls, where the Narmada cascades amidst a canopy of mist.
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| The Narmada flows flanked by marble hills |
THE RIVER AND THE ROCKS
(By Subbaram Danda)
It was a long drive from Khajuraho to Jabalpur and
then to Bhedaghat, a village, where the boarding point for the boat-ride was
located. From the road we had to walk
down a long-winding flight of broad concrete steps. On both sides, shops sold a wide variety of marble artefacts. At the ghat, boats had lined up one jostling
against another. They were all of rowing
type. Motor boats were not allowed to
operate from there for ecological concerns. We engaged an entire boat for our
group. It was sturdy and fairly
comfortable.
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| Sailing on the Narmada |
Two men rowed the boat, one of them singing Hindi songs
and poems full of alliterations. It
served to explain the features of the mountains and the river as the boat sailed
along. His knowledge looked impeccable.
He would break out of the song to point to interesting formations among the
boulders. There were rocks resembling an
elephant foot, a deer and the horns of a cow.
He would gesture at marble layers of light pink here and mild green
there.
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| In the boat with group members |
We kept clicking selfies and photos of rare-looking
rocks. “Let not the still waters of the
river fool you. The river is 600 feet
deep here,” the oarsman drew our attention.
Suddenly he asked us in a high pitched tone to take a look at a boy
perched on top of a high hill. The
urchin was ready to dive into the river, if we could pay him. We were not for it, as we were not sure
whether it would be a safe feat. Such daredevilry was a regular occurrence all
along the route, he said with a mischievous smile on his face.
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| A boy perched on a hill ready to dive into the river |
As the boat moved forward, at a particular spot he put
out his left hand pointing to a boulder and said that marble slabs made out of
it were better than Italian ones. In
fact, any kind of marble available anywhere else in
the world could be found there, he added with a touch of self-importance. The quality and variety of the marbles were top-class.
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| Appreciating the narrative of the oarsman |
The oarsman took pride in telling us that the Narmada
and the marble rocks provided an excellent backdrop for shooting scenes for a
few Bollywood films. The hit song “Raat
Ka Nasha” was picturised here for the Kareena Kapoor starrer Asoka. An outdoor fighting sequence for the flick
Mohenjo Daro was also canned at Bhedaghat.
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| A dance sequence for the movie Asoka was shot at Bhedaghat |
Soon we arrived at a point where the mountain ranges on
both sides of the river appeared to come closer. It was named Bandar Kodini, meaning a spot
for monkeys to jump from the cliffs of one side to the opposite ones. As the sun cast long shadows, we turned back heading towards the boarding point. We
could see the rock formations in different diffused colours. The entire boat-ride clocked
one hour.
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| It was an hour-long boat journey |
On the way to the road, we spent a few minutes
closely watching the marble articles sold in the shops. What astounded us was display of huge marble Shiva
lingas as tall as four feet. Small ones
were also there. Other artefacts on show
included ornamental idols of deities, jars, lamps and name signs. At a stall we
could see an artisan turn a rough marble block into a decorative elephant. His
casual style of working was amazing.
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| Shops selling marble articles |
Our drive from Bhedaghat to the falls area was short. Called the Dhuandhar Falls, it is where the Narmada plunges to a depth of about 95 feet
in a horse-shoe format. A cable car
from the parking lot took us over rocky terrain through which the river flows
till the point of the falls. It could
also be reached overland. Men, women and
children in large numbers were there enjoying the roar of the falls.
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| The Narmada plunging to form Dhuandhar Falls |
In monsoon times, the horse-shoe-shaped cascade would
look gorgeous like the Niagara in its miniature form, we were told. But when we were there, the water in the river
was not much and so there were breaks in the cascade. Still it was beautiful, if not spectacular. We spent quite some time appreciating the
falls and the scenery around.
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| At the Dhuandhar Falls |
The Bhedaghat boat-ride on the Narmada and the Dhuandhar
waterfalls will remain green in our minds for long.
(The series has concluded)
April 03, 2019
