Narayanpur Bastar Chhattisgarh

Narayanpur is a land of the tribes and 70% of its population is also the tribal. It is the southern part of the state and is situated 2000 feet plateau from the sea level. A large number of tribal live within the forest and hesitate to mingle with the outside world having their distinct culture, traditional lifestyle, customs and worship. The tribal were the first of their kind to start working with the metals for handicraft purposes. The bamboo craft is famous here. Narayanpur mela, Dussehra and Madai are the famous festivals in the area. The town contains a large pond situated within. On a Sunday, one can enjoy the beautiful weekly market of Muria tribe.

Kurschel valley

It is situated 40kms north west of Narayanpur. A very narrow sheltered valley surrounded on the three sides, north, east and south by high ridges and belt of protected forests in the west. The valley is about 9.5kms long and 4kms wide.

The Kurschel valley has lot many wildlife and scenic beauty to see making it one of the best destinations in India. In the Kurandi forest four ancient Tea woods are named after the four brothers of Ramayana – Rama, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughan.

The forest is covered with many medicinal plants like Chloroxylon, Ventilogo and Tendu patta. Wild animals found in the forest are Bhedki, four horned antelope, bison, blackbuck, etc.

Binjali dam

This is below the famous hills of Abujhmad, the place where the most aboriginal tribes of India reside. The place is beautiful with moderate temperature and also known as Nainital of Bastar.

Shiv Temple

Very ancient temple being a fine tourist spot till date has become an attraction.

Ramakrishna mission ashram

Started in the year 1985 to serve the tribal, they have built 5 schools to serve the children nearby at the interiors of Abujhmarh.

They are also engaged in health, vocational training and agriculture and various spiritual and cultural activities.

Handawada waterfall

Handawada is a small village in Abujhmarh. The most beautiful and largest waterfall of the state with a scenic beauty to watch and get attracted to. The waterfall can be accessed through Barasur to Muchnar, which is 4kms from Barasur. One has to cross the Indravati River at Muchnar and precede 30kms to reach Handawada in Abujhmarh forests. The waterfall is 3kms from the Handawada where a jungle stream falls at a height of 300-400 feet. Some say that it is the second highest waterfall of Chhattisgarh.

Best time to visit the fall is during the October to April months as it is inaccessible in the rainy seasons.

Maa Mavali, Narayanpur

The Goddess is considered to be the elder sister of Maa Danteswari. In Dantewada and Jagdalpur, all rituals and offerings in Dussehra are done in the Mavali temple. The great Narayanpur mela of the tribal is celebrated in this temple every year on the last Wednesday before Shivratri.

According to the ancient time, famous king Annam Dev from Warangal came to Barasur and won the battle against Nag Kings and thus the mela is celebrated.

Tular Dham

The place is located in the Abujhmad Mountains and is 132kms from Jagdalpur. One has to pass through the brooks and rivers to reach the place making it very challenging. Devotees go there to pray to Lord Shiva inside a wide cave. As per the priest earlier a Parvati statue was established which was stolen. The water drops continuously falls on Lord Shiva and considers it to be holy as Ganges. Some even take dip at the holy water.

Abujmarh

A hilly forest area spread across 1500 square miles covering the Narayanpur, Dantewada and Bijapur districts. The place is geographically inaccessible and isolated. The area is a proposed biosphere reserve. Along with dense forest and tribes like Gond, Muria, Abujmaria and Halbas, waterfalls and rivers, it is  a scenic beauty in nature’s paradise.

Raksha Dangri

Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and younger brother Lakshman have spent their time during the exile at Dandkaranya, today’s Bastar. The rakshashas used to live in various hills and during a fight against rakshashas, Sita was sent along with Lakshman here for security reasons.

Bastar Mogli

Chendru, who was a resident at Gadbengal, Narayanpur belonged to the Muria tribe. He was known for his friendship with the tigers in the Narayanpur. He rescued a Tiger cub named Paltu in late 1950’s and reared it. He became more famous when a book, Chendru-The boy and the tiger, was written on him.