My Journeys to Religious Places: Dalma wildlife safari and journey to the temple at Dalma Top

Welcome gate at the turning near NH-33

The State of Jharkhand in India is lucky to have sufficient forest cover, and the Chhotanagpur plateau with its forest-clad hilly lands makes it beautiful. One of its forests spans two districts of East Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharsanwan. It is the Dalma forest that is near the city of Jamshedpur. The Department of Forest conducts a wildlife safari here up to the Dalma Top.

Entrance gate to the Dalma wildlife sanctuary

There is a Hindu temple of Lord Hanuman at the Dalma Top and two forest watch towers. You will get a spectacular view of forest-clad mountains from here. The entrance to the Dalma wildlife sanctuary is about six and a half kilometers from the Kanderbeda Mod on NH-33. There is a welcome gate to the road that leaves NH-33 for the Dalma wildlife sanctuary. When you proceed on this road, you will find direction boards and welcome gates to help you reach the entrance. For the Safari, the Forest Department provides a Ten-Seater vehicle, but that did not look comfortable. You can take your own four-wheeler for which Rs 600 is charged, while each person has to pay Rs 10 as a ticket. The ticket counter is at the entrance of the Sanctuary. A few months ago, even bikes were allowed, but now it is banned. There is also a museum near the gate.

Children having fun with an elephant
near the entrance gate

When we go on a wildlife safari, we expect to see some wild animals on the journey. Out of curiosity, we asked the ticket counter guy about the animals we might see on the journey. That honest person clearly said to us, "Look, you will not see wild animals here. Had you been earlier, you might have had a chance to see some peacocks." We were there at 3:30 PM. So even peacocks were elusive.

Tourists' vehicles at the entrance

In my view, for the consolation of tourists, they have kept a young female elephant near the gate. People, especially children, were excited and happy to see her. They were offering gourds to her and she was enjoying to munch it. The caretaker of the elephant said that she had fallen into a well when very young and broken one of her legs. It has healed a lot now.

A narrow uphill way between two rocks

We were to start our forest trip, so we enquired for a guide. They said that there is no need for a guide. Go straight on the road, no left or right turn, and you will reach the Dalma Top. So we started our journey. Initially, it was a paved block road that converted to a PCC road for some distance. As we progressed, pucca or PCC roads were fewer in stretch, and it was mostly kachcha roads.

Shiva in the cave near Dalma Top

We could see only jungle trees and climbers. The road was like any other hilly road. On one side, there was a hill, and on the other, there was a steep slope down. The road width was single, and it was difficult to pass if another vehicle was coming from the opposite side. We saw some bikers, perhaps they were either the forest department personnel's family members or local people living in the jungle for generations. Many hairpin bends came our way. A few monkeys could be seen. At some interval, we could hear a bird's chirping or a cuckoo's koo-koo. Otherwise, it was a monotonous journey of twelve and a half kilometers from the sanctuary entrance. At last, we reached near the Dalma top and saw a tea stall in a hut. The owner was making hot Pakodas. We ordered one each for ourselves and stretched our bodies to relax after a bumpy journey. We enquired with the tea stall owner about the temples here. He told us that we should walk our way to the nearby Shiva temple, which is in a cave. Then we could reach the peak by car through a kachcha road ahead. That was about 300 meters up the road.

Tourists’ vehicles near the Dalma Top

So we ate one pakoda each and quenched our thirst with water, then walked to the Shiva temple. The narrow way near the temple cave is between two very big and high rocks. In the cave, Shivalinga is placed at the center of a cemented circle, and Gauri, Ganesh, and Nandi are also in that circle. We had a darshan here, and after pranama came to our car. Within ten minutes, we were near the peak of the Dalma top. About five cars were parked there when we arrived. On the two watch towers, tourists with children were having fun. We refrained from going there as climbing so many steps was difficult for us. We climbed about twenty-five steps to reach the Hanuman temple, which is at the highest point of the peak. No priest was there at the temple. We had a darshan and moved around it to see the lovely scenery around us. Clicked some pics with the mobile.

Hanuman Temple at the peak of Dalma Hill

After spending fifteen minutes there, we decided to return because the time on the watch showed about 5:30 PM, and within an hour, the natural light in the jungle would be very low. The return journey was easier and faster as the vehicle was picking up on the downhill. It was 7:00 PM when we entered Jamshedpur. We were hungry and went directly to a restaurant.