Last year I visited the Grand Canyon of West Bengal named Gangani at Garbeta of the West Midnapur District in West Bengal. It is 178.8 km away from Kolkata and 68.7 km from Kharagpur by road. Gangani can be traveled by train from Howrah or Kharagpur as well as by road journey to Garbeta. Nearest Railway Station is Garbeta.
As we know a canyon is a deep, narrow valley with steep sides. “Canyon” comes from the Spanish word “canon”, which means “tube” or “pipe”. The water pressure of the river cuts and breaks the riverbed area. The sediment on the bank of the river is moving downward and creates a narrow channel. The movement of rivers, changes in weather, erosion, and tectonic activity over the years creates the canyon.
We all learned about the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. Grand Canyon, in the USA state of Arizona, is about 5 million to 70 million old. It is 447 kilometers (227 miles) long, 29 Kilometres (8) miles wide, and 1.8 kilometers (6000ft) deep, is the largest canyon in the United States. Colorado River created the rand Canyon over millions of years while flowing in the Colorado Plateau, was elevated through tectonic uplift millions of years old.
But we rarely know about the Gangani Grand Canyon. Shilabati River flows on the deep land of laterite soil and rock at Garbeta. Maa Shilabati temple is located at the source of the Shilbati River. It originated from the Chak Gopalpur village of Hura block in the Purulia and flows through the Bankura to Paschim Midnapur and meets the Dwarakeshwar near Ghatal.
The Badland topography of the Gangani Canyon is formed on the south bank of the Shilabati River and is about 25m in average height. Surprisingly, the opposite side bank is the typical plane land. As per the opinion of geologists it was formed during the Pleistocene age. The Pleistocene period commonly referred to as the Ice Age or the Great Ice Age, started about 2.6 million years ago and ended about 11,000 years ago.
Hard lateritic layer on the top, Gangani Badland is famous as the ‘Grand Canyon of Bengal’. Badlands in the lateritic zone are formed due to stroke of moving water forming rill and gully erosions. The depth of gullies varies between 10 and 20 m and the shapes of the gullies are V or U-shaped, with maximum sidewall slope angles of 85°.
Laterite is the soil with iron and aluminum and formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red shade because of their high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolonged weathering of the primary parent rock with the conditions of high temperatures and heavy rainfall with alternate wet and dry periods. The process of formation is called laterization. Laterite has been known as a soil type as well as a rock type.
After reaching Gangani on one sunny day of winter in 2023 when I first viewed the self-created profound beauty of nature I was really spellbound to see the natural architecture of the Canyon. I felt that this is the sculpture created by the Great Creator of all creation through the fusion of wind and water on the red soil and rock.
I went down to the floor of the canyon through the staircase developed by the local authority, It is about 70 feet deep. According to geologists, a million years of erosion of water and wind have developed this unique landscape on the bank of the river. For millions of years, the wind and water have cut through the layers of clay and rocks forming strange structures.
I found various types shapes and sizes of rocks with different shades of colours like yellow golden red etc, Rocks look like pagodas, temples, mushrooms, pinnacles, etc. Moreover, you can shape them as per your imagination.
Also found several caves of multiple sizes. You can go anywhere in the canyon through nature-created paths and various types of steps made by rock. I walked through the Canyon with narrow paths and steps and found the different forms of natural architecture of rocks. Some architecture seemed like ruins of ancient civilization or fort.
Other than the geologist's point of view, there is a myth spreading in the area. Local people believe that the feared Bakasura of Mahabharat lived in the cave here. The cave is referred to as the home of Bakasura and it is believed that the Bakasura was killed by Bhima here. We found in the Mahabharat that the Pandavas stayed at “Ekachakrapura” during their exile. The demon Bakasura lived in a cave. Villagers had to send lots of food with one human being to Bakasura. Pandavas lived in Brahmin’s home there. During their stay one night they heard the family members of the Brahmin crying as the turn comes to the family now to send one family member along with lots of food to the Demon. Seeing the family mourn, Kunti decided to send his son instead of a member of the Brahmin family as a token of gratitude for allowing them to live in their place. Kunti ordered Bhima to go to the cave of Bakasura and kill him.
Bhima went to the cave and killed Bakasura in a ferocious battle near his cave. The common people believe that the land of the rugged and broken hills and rocks has been carrying the memory of that terrible bloody war.
But ‘Ekachakrapura’ can be traced to present-day Ekachakra near Rampurhat in the district of Birbhum of West Bengal, Ekachakra is 220 km away from Gangani. Therefore, practically the Bakasura fact linked with Gangani is not clear. However, the myth and people's beliefs still keep alive the story.
Nowadays, Gangani is the main attraction of the Geo-tourism. Geo-tourism is a specialized branch of tourism that highlights the geomorphosites under the tourism industry. Geotourism focuses on the status of the badlands of Gangani in the context of geo-tourism development on account of its exceptional scientific, educational, and aesthetic values as geo-heritages.
Reference:
- Nationalgeographic Society
- Wikipedia
- https://paschimmedinipur.gov.in
- https://thejerker.com
- https://sciencedirect.com