Chhattisgarh Chronicles V - Chitrakote Falls, Niagara of Asia!

As we left Tokapal Haat, we were feeling little tired. It was four in the afternoon and Bastar sun was in full glow. We were relieved as we got back to Scorpio and switched on the AC.

From Tokapal, Chitrakote is around forty KMs. The roads in Chattisgarh are top class. We took forty five minutes to reach the place.

I have not seen Niagara Falls though I have been to USA couple of times. But having seen the pictures of Chitrakote falls in full glow during monsoons, this was to be second to none. In fact Chitrakote falls was one of main reasons for us to make this trip. 

We were all excited to see the falls. You will not appreciate the enormity of this mighty waterfalls when you approach the place. All we could see was River Indrāvati flowing gently. I park the car and we walk closer to the view point. When we reach the view point, we all stop – dumbstruck!! 

There it was – the largest waterfalls in Asia. 

Wow! What a fall! (look at the small boat at the bottom of the waterfalls)

Look at the huge arc shape of the waterfalls

The beautiful Indravathi valley

The view is magnificent. If this was the scene in early summer, we could visualise the brilliance of the falls post monsoon. The arc shaped falls has a huge expanse. The volume of water falling during monsoons must be outrageous. Nevertheless even in March, we were able to enjoy its beauty. Having seen the highest waterfalls – Jog falls – in full glory, we were now seeing the largest waterfalls. 

The water was falling in two cascades from a height of 100 feet. During monsoons you don’t see any rocks as the water flow will be high. The bottom of the falls form a huge lake. A staircase takes you to the bottom of the falls from where you can go boating on the lake – not sure how safe it is as we didn't see anyone wearing a life jacket - to go close to waterfalls at this time of the year. We did not go down the stairs as it was quite hot and climbing up would have been tiring. We decided to come back again after monsoon to see the falls in full glory!!

This is how the waterfalls get transformed in monsoon...........

The river valley after the waterfalls is very wide and looks beautiful. Being a weekday there was not much of crowd. We spend some time enjoying the serene place and return to the resort as the sun sets in the horizon.

It was an eventful day spent in Bastar!

Take a look at this excellent video shot by dear friend H V Kumar during his trip to Bastar in 2008 after monsoons.

Chitrakoot Falls

The above pictures of water falls shot during monsoon is the courtesy of Mr Anirban Ghosh, who is an amazing adventure traveler. You can read more about his journey in Chattisgarh here

Travels in interior Chattisgarh and Orissa - In search of Tribals and water falls!