Jagdalpur

Jagdalpur is a city in Bastar district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

By train
From Visakhapatnam, catch the 1 Vishakapatnam - Kirandul Passenger (1VK) departing Vishakapatnam at around 6:45AM and reaching Jagdalpur by around 5:30PM. It has reserved First Class & Sleeper Class accommodation.

By car
From Hyderabad, you have to reach Bhadrachalam first and then drive down close to 251 km on the single-laned NH 212, via Konta & Sukma to reach Jagdalpur. Road conditions are bad, and be prepared for frequent checks by law enforcement authorities. Your vehicle of choice for a trip to Jagdalpur should ideally be a vehicle having a high ground clearance, and SUVs like the TATA Safari & Ford Endeavour fit the bill perfectly. From Hyderabad, Jagdalpur is around 600 km.

By bus
From Raipur, the road to Jagdalpur is good enough. You have regular overnight a/c and non-a/c sleeper buses running between Raipur/Bilaspur and Jagdalpur. From Raipur, Jagdalpur is around 300 km.

Get around
Buses, rickshaws and private vehicles are available locally.

See

 * Check out the ancient palace built by Kaktiya Dynasty Rulers, around 1.5 km away from Luniya Square.
 * Check out the new archeological museum made on the front of Sirhasaar Square, where you can enjoy the conserved ancient idols and statues showing rich architecture and sculpture of Nagwanshi rulers of the early 11th century.
 * Enjoy a hangout with your friends at Dalpatsagar Lake, most suitable for youngsters, youth, and joggers. It is 500 m from the palace.
 * Check out the Anthropological museum (about 3 km from the city centre - closed on Sundays)

Waterfalls
Jagdalpur is the gateway to several magnificent waterfalls. Some falls are seasonal and only impress post-monsoon.

Do

 * there is also a big lake within Jagdalpur, with boating facilities.
 * Take a walk down the Sanjay market area.
 * Check out Shahid Park, nearly 500 m from Luniya Square.

Buy
Jagdalpur attracts a lot of tourists who are interested in wooden art because it is famous for the Bastar wooden art, in which the wooden furniture is carved with the depiction of culture, tradition and custom of tradition of Bastar.

One unique and ancient style of metal art that exists in Jagdalpur (Bastar) is called "bell metal art". It uses an alloy with a combination of more than two metals (mostly brass, nickel and zinc), crafted into beautiful idols of different designs. Bell metal or dhokra is one of the earliest known method of metal casting. This craft dates back to the Harappa and Mohenjodaro period of Indus Valley Civilization.

Jagdalapur's weekly market takes place every Sunday.

Drink

 * Mandiya (ragi) page - "Mandiya page" simply means a kind of drink made from the boiling of rice powder and a special seed rurally called 'mandiya', which is like mustard seed with a very refreshing taste. 'Page' means 'drink'.
 * Mahua - the traditional Bastar drink. Have it strong or mix it with water or soft drinks.
 * Some other drinks such as sulphi and chhindras are also available which are sweet natural liquid extracts of sulphi tree and chhind tree(a kind of Palm tree). No need to mix water, it will taste as coconut tree drink. with time it will have more vigour you should drink it the same day other it will become sour and impossible to drink the next day.

Stay safe
While the government may downplay the issue, the state of Chhattsgarh is experiencing an ongoing armed conflict between government forces and "Naxlites" (organised communist/Maoist forces) that has claimed more than three thousand lives and has involved bombings, though tourists do not appear to be targets.

Discussion of politics, especially communism and the Modi government, should be avoided and will draw very strong reactions from locals. Feign disinterest and keep your personal opinions to yourself.

Venturing into rural areas and national parks, especially unaccompanied, is not advisable as Naxalite forces have been known to move into national parks.

Go next
Raipur: catch one of the numerous sleeper non-a/c buses to Raipur.
 * There is a weekly 'Haat' every Sunday at Narayanpur, about 120 or so km from Jagdalpur, on the road to Raipur. Worth a visit if you want to see live Bastar in action.
 * There is huge Ganesh Temple at Barsur - enquire at Jagdalpur for driving directions to Barsur
 * There is another temple (dedicated to Goddess Danteshwari) at Dantewada, about 84 km from Jagdalpur, on the way to Bailadila.
 * There are lots of fascinating caves close to Jagdalpur (nearly 30 km from city) called Kotamsar caves and Dandak caves.

Visakhapatnam: catch the return 2VK passenger that arrives at Jagdalpur at around 9:30AM (Daily service).

Hyderabad/Vijayawada: start early, catch the NH 221 to Bhadrachalam, and onwards to Hyderabad/Vijayawada.

Beware of NH-16 towards Nizamabad - Never even think of going west, towards Nizamabad (In Andhra Pradesh). Maps show the existence of NH16, linking Jagdalpur & Nizamabad via Gidam, Bijapur, Madded & Bhopalapatnam, but in reality, the road (NH-16) starts getting bad to worse from Bijapur onwards, and abruptly comes to a halt at Bhopalapatnam. Lack of a bridge across the Indrawati near Bhopalapatnam is the main culprit. So do not makes plans to go to Hyderabad via Bhopalapatnam & Warangal (NH - 202)!