Chhabimura: Get soaked in the nature

It was April 2017. My husband Manab, his cousin, cousin’s friend and I suddenly planned for a quick visit to Chhabimura located on the bank of river Gomati in Amarpur Sub-Division of Gomati District (named after river the Gomati) of Tripura. Till that time, I had heard about the place and had seen some photos on the internet. But I would have missed the awesome-majestic-serine beauty of the place had I not visited it myself.

The day prior to our visit Manab phoned one of his previous colleagues to book a boat in advance. But it was told that we do not need to book in advance as boats are readily available. We started in the morning by cousin’s car from Agartala (our hometown). On the way we bought watermelon from Bishramganj and had our breakfast. We came via Udaipur-Amarpur Road (through Maharani). On the way there is a place called Wareng Bari. Famous for Shiva Temple on the hill-top. I was climbing and climbing, the stairs seemed endless, finally reached the temple. It was a beautiful temple surrounded by lush vegetation. We came down after spending some time there. I was so deeply in love with that place that I forgot to count the stairs which during climbing up I thought I would do. While driving through the road from Amarpur motorstand to Debbari (a small village) sweet breeze touched by the coolness of Fatik Sagar (a beautiful lake) refreshed us. We reached Chhabimura driving around 82 kms.

The road was not smooth but it added different type of travel-feeling in me. Just as we reached the boat-station at Chhabimura, we saw motor-driven boat has already left. We were little sad, but then noticed one beautiful hand driven boat.

Now when I remember our boat journey I feel thankful to God as hand driven boat journey was the better option for enjoying the unspoiled beauty of the nature.

River Gomati is flowing quietly. Hills on the bank host lots of known and unknown trees, birds and other animals. At first our boat stopped at the base of the hill where the iconic Durga, Shiva and other Gods and Goddesses are carved on the stone. It is told that they were covered in the jungle for many many years and till now nobody knows exactly who carved them. These carvings are standing strong against all odds for hundreds of years.

After seeing those carvings with my own eyes I did not want to leave that place. Wanted to spend some more time there but had to come down as more exciting adventure was waiting for us.

Our boat journey started again. My inner-self was blended with sublime green and glorious Gomati. The ride was as if I was going through the Amazon.

This clip is from our return boat journey

Our boat stopped at once. We got down near a narrow entrance. I asked the boat man what that place was. He said it led to a cave. We four started our trekking for the mysterious cave exploration. I was mesmerized totally. The way was slippery.

Very small stream was flowing in between two hills. We stopped at some places to take photo. At one place I found some thin small stones were gathered on above the other by previous explorers.

At last we reached to dead end.

After some time we realized that was not the dead end as Manab’s cousin had climbed up further. But that was not safe for me that time as I had already fallen few times on the slippery stony way. We headed back…

We left enchanted Chhabimura after thanking the boatman for the ride. We felt very hungry so gobbled up all our watermelon stock. Then we went to visit famous “Chandi Mata Temple”. It was late noon. We sat at “Nat-mandap” for some time to get some spiritual feelings. Then we went to another popular fair of this place.

As it was the first month of Bengali new year Amarpur sub-division administration organizes Baishakhi Mela (named after first month Baishakh).

We visited the stalls. I ate for the first time in my life “mashcoloi er jalebi” (blackgram jalebi) (tasted better in my hungry stomach!) and then we ate tasty “baromoja”. I loved how the man mixed all the ingredients. He had some advanced tools for cutting, chopping etc. which I did not expect!

It was already night when we reached Udaipur. There we halted for some time and had our delicious dinner at one restaurant.

Sudden trip without pre-plans gives travel-lover like me immense pleasures. This trip was one among them. Chhabimura is way more beautiful than it is described in words!

Tips:

Choose hand-driven boat to get overwhelmed with the amazing natural beauty
Be careful while trekking through the slippery way to cave
It is better to visit this place before or after monsoon. Avoid Monsoon season or rainy days
Take drinking water and light snacks with you