Rourkela is
the steel city of Orissa, India. City is covered with scenic hills with
countless lakes in territory. However, city got huge popularity after
establishment of 3 big steel plants in 1955.
Different
people have various thoughts about Rourkela, though it is most attractive and
imposing tourist destination available with loads of scenery areas. Rourkela is
having religious values as well and that’s the reason there are countless
shrines in town. Best among many is Hanuman Vatika (Garden) which holds the
huge idol of 75 feet of Lord Hanuman. Other known spots where people can attain
are Indira Gandhi Park, Jubilee Park, Nehru Traffic Park, Mrig (Peacock) Vihar
and Green Park.
Sources say
the writer of Mahabharata Sri Ved Vyas born in Rourkela. City is basically
placed on meeting point of 3 rivers. From hills people can have the vision of three
diverse colors of water. People can find the best Vedic Ashram and the Gurukul School
at Rourkela.
As the town
is placed close rivers people can also visit the Mandira Dam constructed on one
of the river which is just 51 kms away from city.
Best period
to attain Rourkela is form October to March. Domestic airport of Rourkela is
having flights from Bhubaneswar that is another tourist place in north east
India.
Spots for Voyagers in Rourkela:
Badaghagra Falls: first place available
in town for voyagers is Badaghagra waterfalls. Voyagers can enjoy the flowing
water with approximately 10 kms distance. Fall is not much in height but it
flows from 10 kms to 196 kms from Raurkela to Keonjhar. Average height of fall
is 60 meters and a source is River Ghaghra.
Barehipani Falls: one more attractive
location in Rourkela is Barehipani falls placed in the middle part of Simipal
National Park (another picnic spot). Orissa is having countless falls in
diverse parts of state. However, Barehipani falls are attracting visitors
around the world because the visitors list from abroad to Raurkela is
increasing all the time. Good height of waterfall with 399 meters makes it huge
and very attractive.
Duduma Falls: a next spot where
travelers can enjoy is Duduma falls located in Darjeeing area. The falls of
Duduma originated from Machhakunda River, also recognized as Matsya Tirtha. Hydro-electric
project of Machhakunda is major source of electricity in state.
Harishankar Falls: other place is Harishankar Falls located in Balangir
town. Here voyagers can enjoy series of waterfalls like some are lower in
height and few are higher.
Hatipathar Falls: Orissa is full of
waterfalls and Hatipathar is one of them. Place is named after two different
words such as Hati means elephant and pathar means stone. Fall is only 3 kms distant
from Rayagada (one more tourist location in Rourkela).
The top area
of Rourkela is Indira Gandhi Park (IGP) housing the small and big waterfalls,
Dam and forest areas. People visiting IGP can make their holidays special by
attaining to Joranda Falls and Mandira Dam.
Joranda Falls: a place located close to
Barehpani falls is Joranda fall having better height of 150 meters. However,
travelers have to go through Simlipal National Park to reach the Jorander
falls. To feature of fall is the falls and wildlife. Voyagers can enjoy the
dense forest with safari service provided by the forest department of Orissa.
Mandira Dam: a spot with garden and
huge dam located at only 32 kms gap from city is next tourist location. Voyagers
have to attain Kansbahal to reach Mandira Dam. SAIL group of India has
constructed the Dam in Rourkela.
Attaining to Rourkela:
By Air: closest domestic airport to
reach Rourkela is located at Ranchi. However, Ranchi city is 250 kms distant
but travelers can hire the taxi and private vehicle to reach Rourkela from
Ranchi. Flights for Ranchi are available from Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and many big cities of India.
By Rail: trains to Rourkela are
available from various parts of nation. This steel city is properly connected
to major stations of India like Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmadabad and many more. From Bhubaneswar travelers have to travel for 7 hours by train. However,
from Kolkata it will take only 6 hours to reach the Rourkela.
By Road: Orissa Roadways buses are
available from Bhubaneswar and few other areas of State Orissa. Frequent buses are available from Bhubaneswar though that will take longer time as the route is little difficult with some
dangerous curves and hills.