Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east. It has an area of 28,833 sq mi (74,677 km²). The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka is sub capital while Jamshedpur is the largest city of the state. Some of the other major cities and industrial centres are Dhanbad, Bokaro and Hazaribagh.
Hazaribagh is a city and a municipality in Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the divisional headquarters of North Chotanagpur division. It is famous as a health resort and for Hazaribagh National Park (17 km from city).
Tourist attractions
- Hazaribagh National Park is located with hillocks, deep nullahs, thick tropical forests and grassy meadows. The Sanctuary has wild bears, sambhar, nilgai, chital and kakar, sloth bears, tigers and leopards.
- Canary Hill is a popular spot for nature lovers. There is a guest house and a watch tower on the top of the hills. Recently a proposal has been submitted for setting up a tiger and deer safari at the place.
- Swarnajayanti cafeteria at Hazaribagh Jhil is a major family attraction.
- Panchmandir
- Narsingh Temple dedicated to Narsingh avatara (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu.
- Surajkund hot spring.
- Barso Pani Cave is located at Barkagaon in Hazaribagh District.
The specialty is a 20 sq ft stone, which is locally named Barso Pani. There is a belief that if any one enters the cave and call Barso Pani, it starts raining. Contrary to popular beliefs, it doesn't rain when you clap nor it rains when you shout BARSO PANI. It just rains without any calling. Situated at Jhikjhor Basti on Barkagaon- Hemgir Road, 17 km from Barkagaon block and 50 km from the district headquarters, Barso Pani is a silent obscure place concealed deep in forest. Its a semi-formed cave structure where drops of water fall from the ceiling and gives a fake sense of rain. An interesting point to note is that only the bottom of the ceiling of this cave remains wet, remaining sides stay dry which makes tourists speculate about the source of those raining drops. There is a small stream just beside the structure but to call it the source would be foolish and a personal visit can only prove why.The place is full of natural beauty and visitors need to trek for almost a kilometer from Jhikjhor.
Dassam Falls
The Dassam Falls is a natural cascade across the Kanchi River, a tributary of the Subarnarekha River. The water falls from a height of 44 metres (144 ft).The sound of water echoes all around the place. Dassam Falls at one of the edges of the Ranchi plateau is one of the many scarp falls in the region.
The Dassam Falls is an example of a nick point caused by rejuvenation. Knick point, also called a nick point or simply nick, represents breaks in slopes in the longitudinal profile of a river caused by rejuvenation. The break in channel gradient allows water to fall vertically giving risie to a waterfall.
The water of the Dassam Falls is very clean and clear. It is natural for a tourist to be enticed to enter the water for a bath or swim but tourists are warned not to do so because of the current that is generated. There have been cases of drowning in Dassam Falls.Nine people died of drowning between 2001 and 2006.
Bokaro Steel City is an Industrial city situated in the State of Jharkhand, in India. It is the home of the largest steel plant in India, and several other medium and small industries. Bokaro is the headquarters of the Bokaro district as well as Koylanchal range (Bokaro, Dhanbad and Giridih). It is also one of the three headquarters of Police IG zone, apart from Ranchi and Dumka, covering seven districts- Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Giridih, Koderma, Chatra, Bokaro, and Ramgarh
Situated on the Chhota Nagpur Plateau, the vast rolling topography of the city is typical, strewn by graded valleys and winding streams. In this setting, within a short period of three decades, a new city with a strong multi-dimensional economic base and became as a educational hub not for this region but for the entire nation, has blossomed into a regional urban centre of around a million people drawn from different parts of the country, giving the city the character of Mini India.
Geography and climate
Most of the state lies on the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which is the source of the Koel, Damodar, Brahmani, Kharkai, and Subarnarekha rivers, whose upper watersheds lie within Jharkhand. Much of the state is still covered by forest. Forest preserves support populations of tigers and Asian Elephants. Soil content of Jharkhand state mainly consist of soil formed from disintegration of rocks and stones, and soil composition is further divided into:
- Red soil, found mostly in the Damodar valley, and Rajmahal area
- Micacious soil (containing particles of mica), found in Koderma, Jhumeritilaiya, Barkagaon, and areas around the Mandar hill
- Sandy soil, generally found in Hazaribagh and Dhanbad
- Black soil, found in Rajmahal area
- Laterite soil, found in western part of Ranchi, Palamu, and parts of Santhal Parganas and Singhbhum
Since the state is populated by people from all over India, food that is found in the state is varied. Native inhabitants have a cuisine in which spices are rarely used and rice is the staple. Natives prepare different dishes of rice like different types of Rotis, Pittha, Dhuska, Dudhauri, etc.
Dhuska is a famous dish of Jharkhand cooked with mashed rice and pulses and served with either aaloo dum or mutton curry.
Tribals and Sadan use different types of flowers as vegetables, such as the flower of drum-stick, august and Jhirool. Use of Sag, i.e. leaves of different shrubs and other small plants, is perhaps another peculiarity of Jharkhandi food. Commonly used sags are Palak,Beng, Kataei,Gendhari, Konar, methi, bhatua and chana.
Local alcoholic drinks include rice beer, originally known as Handiya, named after the vessel (earthen pot) used to make it. indeed handiya or rice beer is cultutally associated with native i.e. Tribals as well as Sadan as this drink consumed by both men and women, on social occasions like marriage and other festivals. Another common liquor is called Mahu, made from a fruit called "Mahua".
There are many foods that are a part of the traditional cuisine that are also known for their medicinal values, like Kurthi, which is used like a kind of pulses and is considered a cure for kidney stones. Fruits such as Jackfruit, Blackberry, Mango, and Litchi are found in abundance. Sattu is also major part of cuisine.
Jharkand has been at the centre of the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. Since the uprising of the Naxalites in 1967, 6,000 people have been killed in fighting between the Naxalites and counter-insurgency operations by the Police, and its paramilitary groups such as the Salwa Judum.
Despite having a presence in almost 7.80% of India's geographical area(home to 5.50% of India's population), the state of Jharkand is part of the "Naxal Belt" comprising 92,000 square kilometres, where the highest concentrations of the groups estimated 20,000 combatants fight. Part of this is due to the fact that the state harbors a rich abundance of natural resources, while its people live in abject poverty and destitution.The impoverished state provides ample recruits for the communist insurgents, who argue that they are fighting on behalf of the landless poor that see few benefits from the resource extractions. As the federal government holds a monopoly on sub-surface resources in the state, the tribal population is prevented from staking any claim on the resources extracted from their land. In response, the insurgents have recently begun a campaign of targeting infrastructure related to the extraction of resources vital for Indian energy needs, such as coal.
