Khuludi Waterfalls
After a long gap, I planned for some biking and still there were some places in my radar which I had not captured in my lens till now. One of them is Khuludi Temple and waterfall in Angul District and others being Mirigkhoj/Miriglotah and Murgamahadev. And this time a new pillion ventured with me- Subhashis (our FRIEND…MUNDU…. WAKIL).
Journey started with some left over Chicken Puffs and light drizzle. Weather was pleasant in the morning with an overcast sky and we reached Lathikata in no time. This is generally my Chai halt in the morning on this route, as you need some energy to ride through NH 215. But one thing that I experienced was that unlike last time when we traveled on this road, this time it was in a much-improved condition. At least some improvement. It just took an hour and fifteen minutes to reach Rajamunda. There we took the NH 23 towards Barkote(Barkot) which passes through a thick patch of forest. But again to my surprise, road was in superb condition except for a patch of 3-4 kms, which was horrible. But it is good that work is going on and will get over by Monsoons. This was originally the route used by busses for going to Bhubaneswar via Talcher but thanks to the hard work of NHAI, they are now covering 150 kms extra going through Sambalpur.
Camera Inside water...on the top of the waterfall
We stopped at Barkote and had some cold drinks before turning left towards Pallalahara (Palhada,Pallahara) on NH 6. Pallalahara is 27kms from Barkot and we reached there in just half an hour. I had no idea about the road to Khuludi, as hardly any information is available in net. After asking a localite we headed ahead towards Kendujhar on same road. As one passes through Pallahara, one can see the Malyagiri Range of Hills . There is a Kuttcha road that branches out from NH6 about 10kms from Pallalahara and goes to Khuludi waterfalls. From this point Kendujhar is just 60 kms away on NH6 and one has to pass through Telkoi,Suakathi and the Kanjipani Ghats. Kanjipani Ghat is one of the longest ghats in Orissa.
It's not Europe..
View from the Temple...
Source of Khuludi Waterfalls
Driving on the Kuttcha road we just had no clue about the destination ahead and neither we came across a lot of people. At every diversion we waited for some one to come and tell us the about the road to Khuludi. This is the plight of tourist places in Orissa where in our Babus sitting in Bhubaneswar know only Konark,Puri and Chilika.I also doubt whether our Tourism authorities would have heard about Khuludi. Even Anugul (Angul) district officials are unperturbed and don’t find mere 10-15000 rupees to put some signboards.
On the Diversion to Khuludi from NH6...introspecting Subbu
Saying Good Bye to Kendujhar Section of NH6
Finally reached Khuludi waterfalls.There is also a temple beside the waterfall. This place is quite similar to Gadachandi in Kendujhar. The waterfall is a small one with a height of 10-12 feet. We climbed to the top and sat for some time, gazing at the flowing stream. I am happy that again I am first to click the pictures of Khuludi. By the time we climbed down, temple had already closed. After spending some more time we started our return journey. Had our lunch of Roti and Tadka at one of the Dhabas. I am amazed that being a sardarji’s dhaba you won’t find anything related to chicken but eggs. This thing I have found out in all of the dhabas on this route. But pleasantly the tadka was good. After over eating we drove fast and in just 45 minutes we reached Barkot. Had some lassi and did set off for our next stop at Rajamunda. By this time we felt as if an A** transplantation surgery was required and this ignited me to run the bike at full throttle.
Malyagiri Range of Hills
By 5:30 in the evening we were back in Rourkela.298 kms in 8 hours touching 4 districts (Rourkela & Rajamunda in Sundergarh,Barkote in Deogarh,Pallalahara in Anugul and some portion of Kendujhar en route to Khuludi).
