A visit to Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary

"Kanwar jheel" as called by local people or "Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary" as named in government documents, is about fifty kilometers only from my hometown Dalsinghsarai. Still I never got a chance to visit it before. This lake is also very near to the village of my relative. So when I visited them this time I could get few hours to have a quick visit to the lake as well. 

The Kanwar Lake is located in the Bengusarai district of Bihar. It is 30 Kilometers from Begusarai and 7 Kilometers from nearest railway station DSKS Nagar Garhpura in Samastipur- Khagaria railway. As information available in mu sources, it is the largest freshwater oxbow lake in Asia and is thrice the size of Bharatpur Sanctuary. 60 migratory birds from Central Asia migrate to the lake in winter. About 106 species of resident birds have been recorded. It is a must visit for the bird watchers and nature lovers. There is famous Jaimanglagadh temple in the midst of the sanctuary. Unfortunately wetland area is shrinking, being captured by locals and dying due to pesticides. In last thirty years it shrink-ed to one third. 

When we reached Kanwar lake, it was late afternoon. Our car reached up to temple crossing the narrow lanes. There was no clear information on lake entrance so we took help of google map satellite view to reach to the water body. We passed through slum to reach the lake where number of fishermen were coming back from lake. One fisherman offered us the boat ride in lake in two hundred rupees only. He gave enough time taking us to the far ends of wetland or lake and talked about lake, birds, flower and fauna around. It was not a planed visit and we did not have DSLR camera so we could not take pictures of birds but we enjoyed the beauty of lake and nature around. It was a mesmerized feeling altogether. Hope we can conserve it for next generation as well.

More information and pictures are well captured in below links:

https://bangaloreataglance.wordpress.com/tag/kanwar-lake/

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/kanwar-lake-birds-paradise-lost-44693

A Day Back in Vidyapatidham

When I was a kid, an outdoor trip mostly means to Vidyapatidham. Vidyapatidham, also called as Bajidpur or Vidyapatinagar is a historical Nirvana place of great Maithili poet Vidyapati. It is only at ten Kilometers from my hometown Dalsinghsarai. I remember visiting this small temple town almost ten times with my brother, my cousins and other relatives. Some of these trips were by bicycle and more than twenty years back. After darshan in temple, we used to eat puri-sabji or chana in small eateries outside temple. Sometimes we used to buy some wooden toys and famous Badh lai (a sweet dish) as well.

Vidyapatidham is believed to be the place where the renowned poet breathed his last in search of Maa Ganga. Due to his failing health, he was not able to reach the banks of Ganga. Local stories says that the Ganga river changed its course to reach him to fulfill his wish. There is a famed temple of lord Shiva in Vidyapatidham in commemoration of this great poet and devotee of Lord Shiva. A statue of Vidyapati is placed in the middle of the town. This place can be reached by train and there s a tourist bungalow as well to host people.

This year when I visited my hometown on Durgapuja holiday, we planed to visit this small rustic temple town again. A family trip to Vidyapatidham temple was always in the wish list of my mother. We hired E-rickshaw which charged us two hundred rupees for both side journey. Reaching there doesn't take more than half hour. When we entered in the temple premises, I felt the time is stuck and there is no major changes except newly painted boundary walls.. Flower vendors are sitting on chowkis with big umbrellas above them. People used to wash their legs from same well before entering into temple. Devotees taking walk in numerous temple around the main red colored Shiva temple. After puja, we came outside temple premises. Walking in temple lane reminded me my old days in Vidyapatidham.