Debakunda or Devkund waterfall is well known place in Mayurbhanj for its beautiful and serene landscapes, waterfall and divine Maa Tarini temple. Situated at nearly 60 kms away from Baripada, this place is one of best known picnic place too.
This place is reserved under forest protection act because of which you wont find permanent road inside.
History
Though debatable, the story is often told by localities, that this area used to come under Matsya Raja during old Mahabharata period and Pandavas used to come to this place. The nearby Shami tree, was the place where they had hidden their weapons during their “agyatawasa” of 1 year.
More recent story is during 1940s is when Mayurbhanj King built the temple when it was found by a researcher named Rajkumar Profulla Chandra Bhaja Deo.
Road
To reach devkund, one need to travel towards Udala main town. It is hardly 20 kms away from there. The entrance of Devkunda is 5 kms away from the main temple. The picnic spot and toilet is at the left of the entrance. Bigger vehicles like buses or trucks are not allowed inside from this gate, however cars and Suvs can pass through.
You will also see few shops selling chai and pakoda there. I would advice to quench your hunger and thirst here as you wont find anything to eat inside.
The second gate is 3 kms way where you will often find police or forest rangers guarding, they wont allow to pass any vehicle from there. You need to park your vehicle and start to walk from here.
The beauty of the path is just stunning. The lush greenery of the terrain is rejuvenating for the soul. You can hear occasional chirruping of birds and screaming of monkeys. The ferns were green and the water was blue.
During this walk, you will often find places to take rest and photographs. After walking for 2 kms we finally managed to reach the base of temple. Lot of people were simply sitting here and taking a breath. The view of temple from this place was mesmerizing.
This kund or pond is actually called devkunda which is formed by the waterfall which is almost 100 feet high. There were few accidents in past because of which people are not allowed to go near the kunda.
Once we spent 15 – 20 mins here, we decided to go to the temple which is at the top and to reach there we had to take stairs which looked pretty tiring.
After a walk of almost 200 steps finally we managed to reach at the Ambika temple. Though photography inside the temple is not allowed, but the view of temple premise itself is very stunning.
Scenic beauty of this place is mesmerizing. Occasional chirruping of birds and cries of monkeys will definitely pull your attention. We did hear trumpet of elephants as well. Forest guards on the gate did warn us about the them earlier.
More to explore
The construction of stairway is for the regular traveller and pilgrims who want to visit the temple. Most of the people just go there and come back. Apart of the temple, there are more jewels to explore like Devikund, Tela kund, Haldi Kund and a banana forest. However there is absolutely no friendly roads to these places but if you like adventures and experienced with jungle and mountain tracking, you can try to explore these places too. However during on season ( i.e. Dec – Jan ), forest rangers and police wont let you do so. So if you wish for the adventure, it is advised to go there during off-season.
Please let us know when you visit there. All the best for your journey.