Around Bankura......

"hey wake up..!!! you must see this..its great.."I heard Vishwas my friend, shouting these words on me when i woke up from sleep. Yes!! we were in BDR train on a small trip and Vishwas was telling me about the vast streches of plains which he saw from the window.Yeah! it was really great.Well..I start now that...it was during the durga puja celebrations,we went to Bankura....about 235 kms from the capital city of Kolkata. Its damn beautiful place...i think so..anyways i really like it. But this year's visit was a bit different from the past visits.

        BANKURA.........i really feel something from inside whenever i step into this small town. Donno why...but i do.Yes, this year too i felt the same thing when i got own at Bankura junction on the south eastern railway.

entering Bankura junction

Bankura junction

Anyways....it was BDR a.k.a..Bankura damodar railway...earlier it was a meter guage track used here connecting Bankura town to small villages nearby on the damodar valley.  There's a single broad guage track used here now by Indian Railways introduced in early 2008.
It was 12 noon we boarded the train for Patrasayar..the destination of the train and a small but a beautiful village. It was a diesel locomotive which took us there covering a distance of about 88kms. It was a pleasant journey of about 2 hrs passing through acute villages and the vast plains that Vishwas was talking about.

The Damodar plains from the train

The Shiva temple

Patrasayar station

 We were in our destination after an hour or two. We got down at Patrasayar, this too was a very beautiful place. We roamed in and around the village and it was really great. It was far more better than the polluted cities. Cycle rickshaws was the common means of transport here and for long distances for cities and towns there were private buses too. We visited a temple of Hindu god "Lord Shiva" not too far away from the station.

The meter guage BDR engine kept at Bankura junction

Well,our return train was about to leave now...and if we miss the train then next one is on the next day!! So we didn't take risks and we were at the station on time. W e were back at Bankura junction by 5 evening.
At Bankura junction,we took a watch on the earlier engine that was used by BDR till 1984. We were at my grandmas home by an hour and lastly had a cup of  TATA TEA!!