Category: Wildlife

Mahendragiri

Mahendragiri is a mountain in the Rayagada sub – section of the Gajapati district of state Odisha in India. It is located at a height of 1,501 m (4,925 feet) between the Eastern Ghats. After Deomali, it is the second highest peak.

HISTORY:

 Mahendragiri is associated with the Ramayana as the mountain of Mahendra pravata. Mahendra Giri is related to the name of Mahendra Parvati from Ramayana. Along with Malay, Sahyadri, Parijatra, Shuktiman, Vindhya and Malavayan, it is a Kul-pravat. The Puranas describe that when Lord Rama broke the sacred bow of Shiva, Parasurama was mediating on Mahendragiri. Mahendragiri is situated in the district of Gajapati of Odisha. The legend says that this is the place where Lord Parshurama, an eternal life, lives for all time and meditates. Parasurama is the sixth incarnation of Vishnu in the Hindu religion and he is one of the chiranjeevis, who will appear at the end of the Kaliyuga as the guru of Kalki, the tenth and last incarnation of Vishnu. He had many characteristics, including aggressiveness, war and heroism; Also, peace, sanity and patience. According to chapter 2.3.47 of Bhagavata Purana, he retired on the Mahendra Mountain. Only Vishnu avatar, who never dies never returns to abstract Vishnu and lives in meditation. Apart from this, he is the only Vishnu incarnation that exists in some of the versions of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in conjunction with Rama and Krishna. The temples, which are said to have been built by the Pandavas. The primary celebration commended here is Shivratri.

REASION OF BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOT:

Mahendragiri Hill and its encompassing regions are perceived as biodiversity problem areas because of numerous restorative plants and different species found here. A heaven for therapeutic plants, Mahendragiri slopes, which is essential for the Eastern Ghats, is home to more than 600 blooming plants. The biodiversity of this region is very large and is known especially to be a herpetofaunal hotspot.

The ministry of environment and forests, government of India, in 1986, had proposed the state government of Odisha as Mahendragiri hill as biodiversity hotspot area. An expert committee of forest and environment department has also recommended that biodiversity hotspot Mahendragiri hills should be declared as a biosphere reserve in 2014.

The Mahendragiri biosphere save advisory group, which was set up in November 2011, held its last gathering in December, after which it presented its last report suggesting setting up a biosphere reserve at Mahendragiri hill complex.

 According to the survey conducted by the Odisha space application centre, core area 42.54 k. m Extends to 2 while the area of the buffer zone is 1577.02. m Transitional zone is estimated to be 3095.76 km 2. The entire biosphere reserve, 4715.32 km is proposed in the area.

Hirakud Dam

Hirakud dam is built in India about 15 kilometres (9 miles) from Sambalpur in the state of Odisha on the Mahanadi .There is a lake which is 55 km (34 miles) long behind the dam, Hirakud reservoir. It is one of the first major multipurpose river valley projects launched after independence of India.

 In June 1947, Hirakud dam project report was submitted to the government. Jawaharlal Nehru had placed the first batch of concrete on 12 April 1948.

 In the Mahanadi River upper drainage basin concentrated on the Chhattisgarh plain, the periodic drought is in contrast to the situation in the lower delta region where flood can damage crops. DAMS were constructed to help reduce these problems by creating a reservoir and controlling the flow of river through drainage system. The dam controls the flow of Mahanadi and produces hydroelectric power through many hydro – electric plants.

The dam helps in controlling the floods in the Mahanadi delta and irrigates the land of 75,000 km 2 (19×106 acres). Hydro electricity is also generated. The Hirakud dam controls 83,400 km 2 (20.6 × 106 acres) of the Mahanadi drainage by controlling the reservoir has a storage capacity of 8.136 km3 (1.952 cubic miles) of 5.818 km3 (1.396 cubic miles) with a gross of 8.136 km3

It flows into an area of 133,090 km 2 (32.89 × 106 acres), which is more than twice the area of Sri –Lanka.

 This project provides irrigation to 1,556 km 2 (384,000 acres) of kharif and 148,000 acres of rabi in sambalpur, bargarh, bolangir and subarnpur districts. The water left by the power plant is irrigated the CCA of 4,360 km 2 (1.08×106 acre) in the mega river delta. On the right side of the dam, in burla, two power plants and 22 km (14 miles) from the dam to the bottom of the dam can generate electricity in 307.5 mw. Besides, the project provides flood protection in the 9,500 km 2 (2.3×106 acre) delta areas in Cuttack and Puri district.

 Chiplima gained prominence as the second hydroelectric project in the Hirakud dam. The natural decline of Mahanadi River from 80 to 120 feet (24 to 37 m) is used for generating electricity. This place is inhabited by a large number of fishermen whose goddess Ghantashwari is worshipped in the neighbouring area. The state livestock breeding farms and agricultural farms are located here.

 Hirakud dam has three canals, namely the bargarh main canal, the sason canal and sambalpur canal. The bargarh main canal has a discharge rate of 4,000 cubic feet per second (110 m3 / s).

Later, water from the Hirakud dam was allotted to various industries, mainly for mineral processing and coal – based thermal power plants in the districts of Jharsuguda and Sambalpur.

 The main purpose of the hirakud dam was to stop the heavy flood which was affecting a large part of coastal Odisha. But, the construction of the dam deeply affected the original inhabitants of the western part of Odisha. The Hirakud project affected about 150,000 people and about 22,000 families migrated.

Now that place is a tourist place of Odisha

Bhimkund Waterfall

Bhimkund waterfall is a wonderful natural statement of natural beauty, surrounded by a green jungle. The rajasi baitarani river provides two of the most beautiful and flowing streams of natural lovers which are called sankund and badakund. The cascade has a tremendous quality of giving marvelous experience to the guests because of huge vertical formed canyon and speeding current and makes the climate smokey. Further enormous thundering sound of cascade makes the spot generally intriguing among sightseers. This cascades is considered as a most hallowed spot in strict perspective. Nearby individuals accumulate here during yearly festival of Makar Sankranti in enormous numbers. Folklore is that Pandavas were remaining some time here during their strict campaign

Bhimkund 40 Kms.from Karanjia, close to Booring town in Thakurmunda P.S. is the hallowed pool BHIMKUND” in the stream Vaitarani. The legend uncovers that Bhima, the second Pandava used to clean up in this pool when the Pandavas were passing their undercover life in Birat Nagar, said to be the present Kaptipada.During Makar Festival in the period of January a huge number of individuals assemble here to take their sacred plunge. The spot can likewise be drawn closer from Dhenkikote (20 Kms.) on S.H. No 11 interfacing Keonjhar and Panikoili.

Badaghagara Waterfall

The Badaghagara Waterfall is a cascade of the Kendujhar region in the Indian province of Odisha.

Badaghagara is situated a ways off of 9 km from the area central command (Kendujhar) of Kendujhar region. Being an enduring wellspring of water, a dam has developed on the downstream side. It is arranged a ways off of 3 kilometers on the downstream of Sanaghagara Waterfall.

Sanaghagra Waterfall is the most well known cookout spot of Odisha, it is famous to the point that during season time, Nov-Jan, you won’t discovered a spot for outing in the event that you are late to arrive at the spot.But the outing spot is close to the cascade. For cascade you need to cover some separation from primary road.Now the specialists have pleasantly fostered the close by regions with park and nursery, which were not there earlier.Though you can appreciate the wonderful perspective on cascade from top yet on the off chance that you need to contact the water and for more view you need to go down through steps. Truly excellent cascade.

The falls

It is an enduring cascade. The Machha Kandana, a little waterway, plunges from a tallness of 60 meters (200 ft) in a solitary drop.