The only hot water bath in Bangladesh, where the water burns on fire. Not only that, there is a place where milk immediately turns into curd.
There are hundreds of years old temples. There are winding paths, hills and springs. I was talking about the Barbakunda trail. A few days ago I came back from the Barbakunda trail. However, luckily, I survived from the hands of Harkaban. I will tell that story today.
In the long lockdown, wherever you go, whatever you want to do. When the lockdown was lifted, I could no longer confine myself to the house. Suddenly, I went out. On the way to Barbakund. 5 minutes walk past Barbakunda Bazar. The end of the winding road, the beginning of the mountain road! A gentle muddy path cuts through the mountain forest. As soon as you start walking along the path The surrounding mountains became higher and higher, the forest became denser and the silence grew deeper and deeper. The call of a different nature unknown to the mountains grows. The chirping of insects like the sound of cutting dry wood with a saw. The strange and beautiful calling of all the unknown birds. And the sound of dry leaves crunching underfoot. Although it is monotonous with the sound of monsoon rain. And countless unnamed mountain flowers with hundreds of jhumko jaba blooming in the middle of the path.
At the end of this path, which runs through the heartless mountains, suddenly there is a stream, lively in the monsoons, running at an unstable speed. If you observe the condition of the Jhiripath, you can understand that every monsoon, this Jhiripath gets full of youth, and a storm takes place on the mountain's chest with the trunks of big trees floating in glory! A circular hill can be seen after walking some distance from Jhiri. Its name is Karakhamba Hill. As soon as you go further, you can see a medium-high mountain path, as if someone has built stairs and made a way to go up.
Going up the stairs, you will see a strange structure. Some temples are hundreds of years old. By looking at the dilapidated temple walls, brick steps, which have many years of history, it can be assumed that this is an establishment of about 300-400 years ago. Its architectural style is somewhat similar to that of the Mughals. Such old temples in the mountains have given birth to a strange form and a terrible atmosphere. It is as if it is terribly beautiful.
Here there are mainly Agni Kund, Radhakrishna, Kalbhairava and many other temples. Surrounded by uninhabited mountains, this place is perhaps the true example of a beautiful environment. If you go down the stairs of the two-storied Agnakunda temple, you can see the water source and the fire burning under the ground. There is only one well here. But there are two kinds of water on both sides. The water on one side is constantly dripping and quite cold. On the other side, there is a lot of excitement about the water, the fire is burning. It is difficult to stand close because of the heat. But if you take that water in your hand, you don't need the heat of the fire. As surprising as it is, many also find it amusing.
This fire pit of Barabakunda Tirtha Tham is very sacred place for Sanatam devotees. According to them, bathing in this water miraculously increases the chances of Ganga bathing. But most people are shocked to hear the common myths. This fireplace is located right next to the hundreds of years old Kalbhairavi temple on the Barbakunda trail. According to many, it is thousands of years old. But looking for the cause of the fire in the well water, there are many different answers. Many say it's a cursed well, some say it's natural causes.
The most popular legend about the place is that in ancient times male sacrifices were made here to the gods and goddesses. In this way, one day a fire caught here. It is as if it was created by God to prevent humanity. Despite many efforts, the fire could not be extinguished. For ages it has been the mouth of a dead volcano; From which fire is always coming out. According to Hindus, it is a religious blessing. According to the priest looking after this temple though, it is one of the 51 Satipits or Shakti Pits. A question may arise in the mind of many people, what is Sati Pitha or Shakti Pitha? Parvati was originally the first wife of Lord Shiva. When Parvati's father insulted Lord Shiva, Parvati left her body out of anger and grief at her husband's insult. Enraged at the sacrifice of his wife, Shiva started the deluge dance with her body. Then, when the world was about to be destroyed in his deluge dance, at the request of all the gods, the world feather Vishnu dismembered the body of Dara Parvati in his beautiful chakra. Originally, the body was divided into 51 parts and later in 51 places in different countries of the world. And those 51 worn places become 51 Shakti Pithas. This fireplace may not really be Sati Pitha. Because according to conventional wisdom, the Sati Pit of that region is the temple built on top of Chandranath Pahar in Sitakunda. Where is Parvati's right hand?
Kamrupkamaksha Temple is famous for its folk magic and mantra tantra and is also a sati pith. And I came back and made a detailed vlog about it. Which is also one of the 51 sati pithas. And there is Swati's Joni. And basically Tari is worshiped there. You can take time to check out the vlog.
Dadhi Bhairav is located under the Tetul tree next to the steps leading up to the Baravakunda temple (the Tetul tree is missing now). It is a spherical rock. It has a hole at the top where milk turns into curd instantly. This is why it is called Dadhi Bhairava.
After seeing the famous fireplace, I went out to see the fountain. There are basically 3 waterfalls on this trail. Coming down from the temple gate, you will find a khum on the left hand side, the first waterfall is after a 20-25 minute walk along the trail that is right next to it. You will find the rest of the fountains if you continue along the path. Especially talking about the last waterfall, it requires a lot of patience to reach it. After watching it, I hope your body's tiredness of the whole day will go away.
As Jhiri continues, let's talk about the science behind the famous fire pit. As far as is known, British methane gas deposits were found in these Karakhamba hills. For some reason, the mouth of the gas well was closed with lead. Since then the water here in the fire pit has been burning. Regardless of the scientific or conventional opinion, it goes without saying that if you stand next to it, the matter works! It seems that you are standing in a cursed place.
How to go:
While walking on the way to the fountain, how do you come here, because the Barbakunda trail is unfamiliar, many people do not go here, but this trail is a very good place for walking. The easiest way to get here is to take a bus from Dhaka to Chittagong. Get off the bus near Barbakund station. From there, it is only a 5-7 minute walk across the paved road to start the hill trekking. There are some light quality hotels in Barbakunda Bazar where you can have breakfast or lunch. You can return by bus or train from Chittagong. From Barbakund Bazar take car number 17 for 40-50 taka to reach Alankar Mor bus stand.
🌿 About the path:
You may encounter leeches along this trekking route so you can take salt or mustard oil with you. Although the hilly road is slippery and rocky, the surrounding hills are not rocky. Although it looks like a stone, be careful. After a little pressure, the mountain soil collapsed. Although it is a relatively easy route, this Jhiri route is kind of dangerous in monsoons. Those who travel in the mountains know that the mountains are as beautiful as they are a dangerous place. Mountain streams can become death traps at any time. In monsoon, landslides are not the only danger, flash flood or Harka Ban is an even bigger danger in mountain streams. When it starts raining in the mountains, a lot of water can come down suddenly with great velocity. Which floats up to the boulders of big stones and trees. Small khums and springs are also dangerous on the hilly path. Along the slippery slope, sense of depth often goes wrong here. One thing to remember is that even a small trickle of water from a mountain stream can cause danger. And so please, don't come to the hills and valleys of monsoons without adequate preparation.
I always say about mountains, mountains are beautiful, mountains are terrible. We had to see the terrible form of the mountains on this trip. I myself got trapped while trying to save someone who was trapped in Harkaban with the mountain collapse. There are two footages of the place of the trap, the moment the bun comes down, you can watch the vlog linked above. If I didn't know if I could show this video at all.
However, know about traveling, knowing about tours, knowing about trekking. Know where you want. Know how you want. But nature and environment are damaged. Please don't do anything like that.