Day 109 - Dhanbad

The ‘Coal Capital of India,’ Dhanbad is considered the 79th fastest growing city in the whole world and the 35th city in the Indian sub-continent with above 1 million people. The city is also the second biggest Rail Division of Indian Railway when it comes to revenue generation. Dhanbad is famous for coal mining and other industries and it is home to some of the biggest names in the coal mining industry like IISCO, BCCL, Tata Steel and ECL. Apart from coal mining, coke making and coal washing industries are also found in the city.Dhanbad coalfields are widely known as Jharia coalfields and cover a total area of 448 km with a total reserve of coal being 5,000 million tonnes.


How to reach here:

By Air: The nearest airport connected to Dhanbad  is Ranchi

By Rail: Dhanbad is an important railway station on Eastern Railway and is very well connected with Patna, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and other important cities of India.


Best time to visit: October to March.


Places you must visit:

Topchanchi has  an artificial lake that was excavated along the base of the slant of the Parasnath Hill in 1915. This lake was created to supply water to Jharia.Visitors can also go to Gomoh, which is 6 km from the Topchanchi Lake. Gomoh is the place where on 18th January 1941 Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose embarked on the train for his departure from India.






Panchet dam is built across the Damodar River in Dhanbad District’s Panchet area in Jharkhand. Inaugurated in 1959, Panchet dam is the fourth of the 4 multi-purpose dams that fall under the first phase of Damodar Valley Corporation.The backdrop of the dam is the Panchet hill, which makes this place a great picnic spot for travelers, especially around the Christmas and New Year days.








The Shakti Mandir is located in the center of the Dhanbad city, on the Joraphatak Road. This temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga, where devotees regularly perform bhajans, kirtans and jagrans.The Shakti Mandir houses an Akhand Jyoti that has been brought from the Jwaalaji pilgrimage in the Himachal Pradesh. This temple receives its name from Goddess Durga’s form of Shakti, which means the Goddess of Power.

Parasnath Temple at an elevation of 4431 ft, Parasnath Hill or Samved Shikar is Jharkhand’s tallest hill. As per the scriptures of Jainism, it is said that out of 24 Tirthankaras, 22 from both the sects of Jainism have attained salvation on this hill. There are many temples of the Jain Tirthankaras from both the sects of Digambar and Shwetambar on the Parasnath Hill.

Maithon Dam is located 48 km from Dhanbad. The name Maithon stands for “Mother’s Home”, and is 165 ft high and 15,712 ft long. It is made over the river of Barakar to control flood and generate 60,000 KW of electricity.Stretched over an area of 65 sq km, this reservoir lake offers fishing and boating facilities. This dam has a power station located underground. It is the only dam to have such a facility in entire Southeast Asia. To see this power station permission must be secured beforehand.In the centre of the lake, there is an island with a rest house in it for tourists. Other than visiting here, visitors can also go to a nearby bird sanctuary or the deer park or an ancient temple at Kalyaneshwari, known as Awake Temple.

 

Chati Gobindpur falls under the development block of Govindpur. This village has two old pillars, which are associated with Sher Shah, the Afghan Chief and Emperor Ashoka by the locals.