Parasnath, the holy trail of Jains, stands at a height of 1,365 m above sea level. It derives its name from Parshvanatha, the 23rd tirthankara, and is the highest peak of Jharkhand. It has a view of streaming clouds and lush green forest. This temple is dedicated to Jainism and is located in the district of Giridih.
A trip to Parasnath was among the top priorities on my checklist, but unfortunately, we were not able to plan a visit. The reason was simple: we were never able to decide on a common date. So, one morning we woke up and just packed our bags and got ready for the trip. A fierce move indeed, as it was winter, and the temperature drops at night.
I ate some Dalia at a friend’s house and packed some oranges for the trip. We started from Sector 1, Bokaro Steel City, to Parasnath Hills sharp at 10 in the morning. I feel the sun lays a bed of calmness during winter trips. In a fast-paced world, winter brings in a much-needed pause. Everything seems to run at 0.75x speed.
The never-ending road with a lot of twists and turns, a gentle cold breeze, and KK songs — what else can one ask for? We covered a distance of 100 km via NG19 and NH114A. Forgot to mention, we went on scooty, and drove for 3 hours with minor halts to appreciate the day. We reached the gate of the temple around 1:30 in the afternoon.
We parked the scooty at the parking lot near the gate and started our trek. As a custom, we clicked some photos in our full-sleeve sweaters and winter gloves. When we look back at those photos, I cannot recognize myself as I was covered top to bottom with no room for air to touch my skin.
Now we are already late, and winter daylight ends early. There are bike services available. They take a lumsum to drop you a few kilometers short of the temple, so we negotiated with the bikers. Girls are good at negotiating, and my friend is beast at negotiating. After a successful session of negotiation, the bikers agreed to drive us to the hilltop. The road was extremely bumpy, narrow, and dangerous, but the view was one to fight for. The distance we covered was 9 km in total, which included 3 km on concrete road and the remaining 6 km offroad with boulders and rocks and dead-end road.
As I mentioned, the road was exceedingly dangerous, with several twists and turns, sand, deep rock cuts, and boulders. My friend Sanju started yelling at every turn, and with our lives in our hands, we reached the top of the hill in 20 minutes of driving. We paid the biker, and after he dropped to the drop-off point 1.5 km short of the temple as agreed. Just while we were admiring the beauty of hills, we encountered a few monkeys and packs of dogs.
We walked slowly and steadily in the shadows of the trees, keeping ourselves safe from the monkeys. We finally reached the temple, and finally, we were at the top of the highest hill in the southern Himalaya. The peak is also known as ‘Svarna Bhadra Koot’ and is the home to some beautiful Jain temples.
Many Jain devotees and other people were also worshiping and admiring in the temple. On the mountains there are the Shikhar Jee Jain Temples; it is an important Tirth Kshetra or Jain pilgrimage site. For each of the Tirthankara, there is a shrine (gumti or tonk) on the hill. We went inside the temple, where people were praying and chanting. There was a strong cold wind, but it didn’t outcaste our sense of devotion. As we stepped to the temple, we were greeted with pin-drop silence. We could hear our heartbeat. The peace inside the temple, the sound of chanting mantras, and the misty noise of the wind uplifted us from the realms of reality, space, and time.
The temple is considered one of the most holy and revered sites in the Jain community. It is also referred to as Sammad Sikhar and is a major pilgrimage destination. Here, twenty of the 24th Jains Tirthankaras achieved nirvana, and we could feel it in the air.
This place was not far from our home, but it took us 25 years. Such is life. The view from the hill made us question our existence. All of our senses could feel their nerve endings. We stayed for some time on the backside of the temple. While coming back, we found a small cave beneath the temple where the Jain monks attained their enlightenment. People believe that an ancient idol of Lord Parasnath still exists in the valley of Palganj. People believe that the idol is 2,500 years old. The Jain Temple is said to have been built in the ages of Magadha King Bimbisar. This was first discovered by the famous archaeologist Cunningham. He identified the stone structure in the village and the remains of the Buddhist stupa dating back to the second century.
There is no internet or network connection on the hills. We began our walk back but stopped for some maggi and chai. Then, we got to know that there are many temples connected to the other ranger of the hill, connected by narrow walkways. We were already very late and decided to give the visit next time. As we started our walk back home, we decided to descend from the opposite side. We hiked down on foot, and on the way, we joined some local kids for a quick game of ‘Gulli Danda’.
We started with the left-over energies and found some bags hanging on the trees like a horror movie. After walking for some distance, we encountered a group of monkeys again. There we got to know that monkeys were snatching the bags and hanging them to the trees. We walked for some distance and started taking shortcuts. At one place I too fell down and got covered with soil and dirt. The sloppy and slippery path finally ended, and the cemented road started.
We were trying to complete the trek on foot, but the sun was already approaching the horizon. So, we hired a few bikers again, and this time the route was a bit safer than the previous one. We reached by 4 in the evening and then headed towards the parking. We took our scooty and raced with time and darkness. I drove for 20 km straight and reached the first township area. We stopped to have pani puri and rinsed our hands for some time. And then again, we started and covered a distance of 30 km. As the night was knocked, and brough cold chilly breeze, we saw campfire on the roadside and stopped for a while.
A missed call from my mother was an alarm, and we finally covered 50 km without any break. No cold can defeat the anger of my mother. Marvellously, my friend wore a single sweater the whole way. I dropped her home and finally came back. My dog Sheero was very angry for leaving her home. So, I took her along with me inside the blanket, where we both talked to plan the next trip together.
How to Reach Parasnath
● By Airways
Parasnath is about 105 km away from Ranchi, which is the nearest airport. And the other one is 120 km away, which is the Gaya Airport in Bihar.
● By Railways
The Parasnath Railway Station (PNME) connects well with major cities across India. One can easily get train to Parasnath or reach Ranchi, and from there you can get train to Parasnath.
● By Roadways
Parasnath is 54 km away from Bokaro Steel City and 38 km away from Hazaribagh.
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