Places of Interest

JHARSUGUDA :

JHARSUGUDA, the headquarters town of the district of same name, is on the way to Rourkela from Sambalpur.  It has the facilities to serve as a base for visiting the nearby places of interest.The district, Jharsuguda is epitome of ancient and modern civilization. It is in this district that we see relics of about 1500 B.C. civilization. A good numbers of industries such as Bhusan Steel Plant, Vedanta Alumina, Tata Refractories Ltd, Mahanadi Coal Field Ltd, IB Valley Banaharpal Thermal Power Station etc, etc are special attraction s for visitors. Therefore, Jharsuguda district is declared as commercial centre. Moreover, Jharsuguda has important railway station of South East Railway. It provides all basic need that a tourist need that a tourist would desire.

Koilighughar water fall :

The Koilighughar water fall is situated 57 km away from Jharsuguda in the Lakhanpur block near the village Kushmelbahal. It is a picturesque beauty spot with Sylvan backdrop. A rivult named Ahiraj takes origin from the Chhuikhanch forest and while flowing through rocky belt falls from a height of 200ft creating the waterfall of the Koilighughar. After the fall the rivulet flows west words to merge into the river Mahanadi, it is a picturesque beauty spot. There is a Shivalayam known as Maheshwarnath inside the fall is believed to be of super human construction. The submerged lingam is not visible. If somebody tries to see it from inside the water in winter and summer the lingam is visible under the reflected sunlight . Hence for the benefit of the pilgrims another Shiva lingam has been created outside the waterfall. Every year a fair sits in Koilighughar on the occasion of Shivaratri.

Jhadeswar temple :

The Jhadeswar temple is located at a distance of about 1 km. from the Jharsuguda Railway station beyond the old town Purunabasti inside a small forest. There is a self appearing Sivalingam here the actual age of which is unknown. But during the reign of Govind Singh Jamindar of Jharsuguda the lingam was being worshiped inside a hut made up of leaves. In 1916 a Gujarati contractor named Mulju Jagmal erected a small temple here. The Jamindar of Jharsuguda arranged Savayats for daily worship and donated agricultural lands for maintenance of the temple and puja.

Pahadi Mandir :

Pahadi Mandir is located at a distance of 3km from Jharsuguda Railway Station & 3.5 km from bus stand on a small hilltop.Lord Shiva is worshipped at the temple. A beautiful view of Jharsuguda town can be seen from the hilltop.

Bikramkhol :

On the Jharsuguda-Lakhanpur Road at about 25km. from Jharsuguda there is a village known as Banjari.  In the vicinity of the village the ancient cave of Bikramkhol is located.  In this inaccessible dense forest ancient people lived surviving on fruits, roots and animal meat.  During 4000 BC there was evolution of human civilization in the region and a script was developed by them.There are some ancient script engraved in the wall of Bikramkhol and also paintings of animals. Circular holes have been dug in the wall where weapons, dress and other articles of use were being kept suspended. Even on the floors circular holes have been dug to pound the grains. Bikramkhol has been declared a tourist spot by the Central Government , Odisha Tourism , historians and researchers from all over the country and abroad.

Vikramkhol bears the relics of proto-historic age, The natural rock Shelter containing the pictographic relics is 34.8 meter of length and 8.3 meter in height. The inscribed portion is 10.7 meter, where some letters are carved out while others are painted reochre. The letter retain the original Brahmi from Dr. A.P. Jayaswal remarks’ the writing is is certainly earlier than the earliest specimen of ‘Brahmi’ known so far and ‘Brahmi’ was completed before 1500 B.C. . We would be within range of fair approximation in dating it about 1500 B.C . The replica of these inscriptions are seen at Odisha State Museum, in Bhubaneswar.

Ramchandi:

It is located about 30 km from Jharsuguda Railway Station at Brajarajnagar. Goddess Chandi is worshipped here and the Chandipitha is located inside a natural rock cave on the banks of river IB. One can get down to the temple by the iron stairs. And from the temple one can have a beautiful view of the natural surroundings of the banks of the river Ib. It is a very nice picnic spot with scenec beauty .

Pikalghugar

Pikalghugar is 45 km to the west of Jharsuguda railway station. It is a picnic spot in Jharsuguda district. This place is surrounded by dense forest and hill tops. A 40 feet dam checks the water coming from this perennial stream . Village people bring this water for their daily necessities as well as cultivation. It is 5  kilometer  from Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district and one kilometer from Pikol village. It is an ideal picnic spot.

Gujapahar

It is situated in Tillia Gram Panchayat in Jharsuguda district and back side of Hirakud Dam reservoir. Its natural scenery , panoramic view create excitation and cheers in visitors mind. This hill area is always surrounded by reservoir water except in summer. In Gujapahar, at the top of the hill there is a tunnel, one can come through up to the foot of the hill. A cave is also there , it is filled by dense forest. Local people are saying “ There was a great saint leaving . Once he was arranging a Yangya. He was all arrangement except water. For arranging water , he dug well under the banyan tree by his hand . After some timewater is coming out and is following down as a perennial stream.” The perinea stream is also most attraction of this place. From right side of Gujapahar there is another hill called Deshar Hill. It is always surrounded by Hirakud Dam reservoir . More than half thousand of cows living naturally . Nobody takes their care . This behaviour is fully different from domestic cows. It is 60 kilometer from Jharsuguda 40 kilometer from Belpahar.

Ulapgarg

Ulapgarg is 25 km from Jhasuguda via Belpahar and is famous for ancient paintings.