There are quite a few places in India which were once the cantonment during the British raj and are now left with the colonial buildings against the quiet hilly backdrops – walking past through them just gives you a tingling feeling of old charm of the English Era. You know Britisher's have enjoyed and explored (and exploited) India most and the best way! Think of all the beautiful places and check out the history - and you'd find they were ventured by Britishers long long ago we don't even visit them now!
One such beautiful place is Panchmarhi - the highest and only hill station in MP. Yeah, it's a cantonment with colonial buildings strewn around - some belong to military and some owned by private people but I guess mostly these are retired defence personnel. We decided on this place again in Monsoon season when the Satpura hills turn green - by the way, Satpura jungles are evergreen! Mythologically, the place got it's name from the Pandava brothers of the great epic Mahabharta. It is said that they were hiding here during their vanavas.
We reached Bhopal early morning by Bhopal Express and took a bus to Panchmarhi from MP Tourism hotel at around 7 a.m. in the morning. It took 3 hrs to reach Panchamarhi. The drive through the ghat, forest and hills was very nice and quite soothing to the dead and tired souls. Here again, MP tourism hotels are good and over-booked but we try to look for heritage places to stay! Though these hotels too are heritage but we settled for another 125 yr old building called 'Evelyn's Own' - owned by a retired Col from Army who sold his house in Delhi to settle there amongst the quiet hills of Panchmarhi. He and his wife run the place and have converted a part of the house into a hotel but they do not allow everybody into the place as they call it a home and not hotel. So they always like to know who is checking in and if not suitable they have a record of asking people leave their compound as well :) so only serious travellers are allowed here! The place was quite nice located at one corner and bordering the Satpura forest - the whole Panchamarhi is situated within the periphery of Satpura forest! The food was simple and home cooked - yes, it's the same food that they cooked for themselves was served to us!
We made a special friend there, a black dog, let's call it B&W (black n white)! He was there on day 1, when we arrived there in the hotel and picked special fondness of us! We checked in and after freshening up, we decided to take a walk around the place and B&W decided us to guide through to the places. He walked along with us to all the places and made sure we returned to hotel safely :)!
So, it had rained so was a bit humid but not deterring us to take a walk in the afternoon when the Sun was not so bright! The walk through the quiet and lazy lanes where even the telephone booths are run by Army people made us feel like a 50 yr old couple out for a walk post-retirement! The place itself is very small and you can just walk around to see the Pandava caves - Buddhist Stupas with brick-cave! And the Bison lodge - oldest house in Panchmarhi - a museum with the flora-fauna of the place listed. Since it's a forest area there were trees and trees and trees around. And this is the place where you get the gorgeous Jamuns and Mangoes - you can have so much to your soul's desires without shelling out the big bucks!
The next morning, we fixed up for a Jeep ride to the famous Satpura tiger reserve! And as again, we were the only ones to take that ride in the Jungle. We reached there early in the morning and found the gates were closed and watchman was missing. The driver tried to create a mystery around it when he called up his wife to check about his whereabouts! He told us he had not returned since last night and now he's worried if he is alright because of the tigers and leopards! While we were waiting we collected some mangoes and yes, we saw the amazing, colorful and huge Indian giant squirrel! This one was living on the tree at the gate and it was a sight to see it jumping off the road to collect fruits and then running up the tree! We tried clicking but aha - who says it's easy to make a squirrel sit quietly to give a pose - specially this one! Anyways, after waiting for almost an hour, the guard showed up!
Though there were not many animals that we saw in the jungle but the views were just amazing! See the backdrop against the hills, the green trees that looked just so beautiful! Nope we couldn't see any tiger but just like any other jungle trip, the drive was exhilarating! Nothing beats the morning drive in a jungle - all the better if you are alone (without any other vehicle I mean). As in most of the jungles, there are people living inside and using the resources often stealing the resources. We went to the middle 'Nimghan' where the chaukidar served us with tea and we saw some tribals collecting Mangoes. Then we saw the Cave paintings in the jungle - the proof that there were humans thousands of years ago living in the deep forests and living in harmony with the nature. Currently, it is under the protected sites of the govt but as the guide told us most of it is in ruins for the inquistive hands of visitors who would scratch these to check if these are genuine! We returned and after breakfast, we decided to start with our tour to the places around.
Our guide for the next couple of days, Bahadur, was trained tribal who would take us to the jungles, the water falls, temples and some of the places that not many tourists would flock - the cave paintings in the middle of the jungle. How could a cantonment be without a church!!! Well, well, there we were in front of the Christ church that was closed but we could peek into the church through the windows! Panchmarhi is situated amidst the rocky, sandstone hills and gorges making it a perfect place for waterfalls - there are many the famous being Bee fall, Rajat fall, Duchess fall etc and the pools thereby! Walking to these falls itself is a journey and could be tiring for their locations! You can take a dip in the pool, bathe in the falls - it's all done and fun! There were some that were visible to the eyes but only the dare-devils could access it for it would take hours to walk down the hills to reach the bottom of the falls!
Panchmarhi is also famous in MP for religious beliefs. There are many old temples and places around - the Mahadev and chota mahadev caves, Jata Shankar where the maze of loose stones looks like the locks of Shiva hence the name, and similar ones!
The Priyadarshini or Forsyth point is worth mentioning, as this is the point from where Capt. Forsyth had discovered Panchmarhi in 1857. The view of the valley from this point is breath taking. Britishers then developed this place as their cantonment and resort to beat the heat of MP. Handi Khoh or Andha Kho (As it is called by locals) is a 300 ft deep ravine which has steep sides and you can't see the end so is the name! Another story that one of the british capt had committed suicide for his failed love! The Reechgarh - aptly named caves where as they say the Reech (Bear) would take shelter in rains. These were dark and dingy and natural.
Coming to the most beautiful part of the leg, Dhoopgarh – the highest point of not only Panchmarhi but of entire MP. This is also the sunset point for the tourists. The magnificent view of the surrounding hills, valleys, river and the sunset is just out of the world. The drive to this place has some amazing view points! The Dhoopgarh has a sarkari lodge where you could stay with prior booking but I guess – it would be difficult to get the bookings for obvious reasons. Also, must tell is that the point is inhabited by the slithering reptiles – snakes. I wanted to take a round on my own when the guide warned me not to walk on the grass for the snakes – as he said so and as I looked down before placing my foot on the leaves that were strewn around – I saw a small one slithering out of the leaves – the guide ran towards me and said ‘Oh it’s a bachccha tree snake’ while I captured it in my shutter bug happily. Alright, the final few moments spent here was watching the Sun set against the hills and the amazing views of our lifetime that are etched in our mind for ever!
We returned with some of the wonderful memories of yet another place. BTW before I close, I must tell you about the deal that we proposed to Col. Rao! We liked the place so much and inspired by him for leaving the fancies of the city and settling for such a quiet place that we wanted to buy a place here! Unfortunately, most of the places were sold, the left-outs were beyond reach and banned by the govt for sale. So we offered Col. Rao to sell the room where we were staying to us and He smiled!
