Hundru, Jonha and Sita falls

Spent 19 and 20 August 2006 visiting a couple of waterfalls near Ranchi with a friend. There is a lot of water in the rivers at present (pretty heavy rains in Jharkhand) and the falls are really nice to watch and hear.

To go to Hundru Falls from Ranchi one has to proceed on the Purulia Road for about 20 km till a place called Angara. Just after Angara one has to turn left into a narrow road and drive for 21 km to reach Hundru Falls. This narrow road is motorable but not in a very good condition. Some years ago a dam was constructed upstream of Hundru (to create a water reservoir for Ranchi) and consequently the falls are almost dry (reportedly) during major part of the year. However, during the monsoons the dam overflows and Hundru Falls looks really majestic.

To go to Jonha Falls one has to continue down the Purulia Road for about 20 km beyond Angara and then take a right turn into the road leading to Jonha and drive for another 4 km or so. Sita Falls is 5 km beyond Jonha on this same road. The entire stretch of road leading to Jonha / Sita Falls is wide and very well maintained -- reportedly because one of the Jharkhand Govt ministers hails from this area. See pic of Jonha Falls below :

Jonha Falls is also known as Gautam Dhara and there is a temple of Gautam Buddha there. One can also go to Jonha Falls by train -- there is a small railway station called Gautam Dhara about a km from the falls.

My friend and I climbed down (about 450 steps at Jonha and 750 steps at Hundru) to these two falls to enjoy the beauty and roar of the falls from real close. We did not climb down to the Sita Falls as the place was completely deserted (except for the two of us there was no human being to be seen for miles around) and the steps passed through dense forest -- it did not appear safe to venture. The picture of Sita Falls below was taken from about 1/2 km away (from the road level). :

Out of the two pictures of Hundru Falls below, the second one is a panoramic view created by stitching together 3 shots (incidentally, it was raining and I had to take pictures of Hundru from under my umbrella).