Chitrakut

craztravel · Sep 3rd, 2006, 06:43

We are thinking to go to Chitrakut from Khajurao and take Train 2189 at 21:33 to go to agra. We will have a few hours to spend.
We were interested in knowing more about it like how far from
Khajurao by taxi, things to do, where to eat, about train station
etc. Thanks for help.

steven_ber · Sep 3rd, 2006, 14:13

Not much to offer, but I want to bump this thread up.

I'm also interested in Chitrakut, and thinking of spending a day there on my way from Patna to Mumbai.

I think I read somewhere that the train station is about 7 Kms from the town.

Manikpur (station code MKP) has many more trains and is about 30 Kms from Chitrakut.

Jorge Reverter · Sep 3rd, 2006, 16:20

I'm also thinking about Chitrakoot on my way back from West Bengal-Varanasi to the Shekawati area. There are quite bad connections if I go to Kajuraho, otherwise I can go only to Chitrakoot avoiding Kajuraho but probably too many ghats after four days in Varanasi.

Since years I'm trying to visit Chitrakoot but always small details are making it impossible.

Jorge

maddog · Sep 3rd, 2006, 17:37

Chitrakoot is lovely and very laid back. A walk along the Ghats at dawn is facinating, as virtually the whole village comes down to the river to bathe and do "puja" Don't try the Baala or Aloo tikkis along the ghats though.........delicious as they were, we noticed from our hotel roof top that the Tikki wallah was prone to topping up the chickpea sauce with water from the river, after resolutely clearing away the surface scum of course

When in Chitrakoot go on the Charo Dham tour with the pilgrims, it's a tour of all the local places of religious significance, of which there are many, here's a link to some insights into the importance of this area to Hindus CHITRAKOOT
We really enjoyed this despite being held up for 2 and 1/2 hours for Uma Bharti's motor cavalcade.
Great atmosphere, as the pilgrims gradually warmed to the whole experience, soon they were all whooping and shouting and having some of that "religious fervour" some looked positively uplifted from the energy of it all. The cave temples were especially interesting!!

Chitrakoot is small and easily explored by foot and for me had a real energy, that I personally found missing in places like Rishikesh and Varanasi. It is a typical pilgrims town with dozens of shops selling hundu trinkets like lingams, netties and brass ohms, The narrow alleyways hum with the sounds of mantras and ecstatic looking Yogis on video, various chai wallahs attend to the thirsty visitors, as well as chappati wallahs expertly fishing out their chappatis from the depths of the Clay Tandoor ovens.
The surrounding countryside is wooded and hilly with running rivers keeping things fresh, You can take a boat down river on the Payaswani, which is a gentle way to lose a couple of hours, or a walk to the Hanuyman Temple is also worthwhile, built on the side of the mountains it's about 3 kms out of town and the locals along the way were very friendly and not at all used to a bunch of "whities"

The hotel choice is limited, we tried the Uttar Pradesh Tourist Bungelow and were sadly disappointed (though the food was ok) dingy overpriced rooms in a run down old building. We moved down onto the ghats the next day and stayed right above the bathing Ghat,s in an old temple annex. The name escapes me but I think it's in the hotels section here on IM. I hasten to add I chose this hotel for location and charm, NOT for comfort it's very basic accomodation not for the faint hearted, though it was clean enough and Warren made us very welcome, despite his hourly renditions of Sanskrit Shive Mantra's from his souped up "shiva Box"

There's also a Tourist Bungelow from The Madhya Tourist board just across the river (the river acts as the border between U.P. and M.P.) I didn't check this but the only other tourists we met in 5 days agreed that the accomodation was fine hang a right after crossing the bridge it's there on the right!!!

The best place I saw was the Himalayan Hotel,(I think) clean rooms in a small hotel for 250rps a night with shower it's on the back road which runs paralell with the ghats and also has the best eatery we found in the village!! Check out the statue makers on this road, amazing lifelike statues of various Hundu Gods and Demons, very photogenic.

Food In Chitrakoot is basic Indian fare, The aforementioned Guest House had a restaurant downstairs, which did great thalis and Puri Bhaji/Parothas for breakfast plus a few dishes like Channamasala and aloo gobi, plus good selection of India sweets, if your teeth can cope. There was another plce further down that did similar fare, plus a few South Indian dishes! Samosas and Wadas are sold all over but I suggest catching them while their hot

There's no meat in the Ghat area, as this is a holy town!

The train station as Steven said is a bit out of town but there are plenty rickshaws and shared taxis between the two. The station is at Karwi and its on a mainline so there are a few train options to Varanasi, Agra Jabalpur etc.

Now the bad news, unless things have improved dramatically the road between Khajurao and Chitrakoot is probably one of the most excruciating roads on the Sub Continent, imagine islands of tarmac, adrift amongst rocky gravel and you pretty much have an accurate picture of the state of a lot of this road, terrible

It's roughly 110 km between the two places and it took us 6 and 1/2 hours, my bum was in bits, so if you can take a cushion!!

Here's a few pictures CHITRAKOOT

steven_ber · Sep 3rd, 2006, 22:46

Awesome reply maddog, it has helped me choose Chitrakut over Varanasi (I'll get there one day).

After the 'madness' of the Sonepur Mela, Chitrakut should be a great place to relax.

Info for others.......

There are also overnight trains from Gaya, Patna and Hajipur to Manakpur (30 Kms from Chitrakut).

steven_ber · Sep 3rd, 2006, 23:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jorge Reverter

I'm also thinking about Chitrakoot on my way back from West Bengal-Varanasi to the Shekawati area. There are quite bad connections if I go to Kajuraho, otherwise I can go only to Chitrakoot avoiding Kajuraho but probably too many ghats after four days in Varanasi.

Since years I'm trying to visit Chitrakoot but always small details are making it impossible.

Jorge

The best I can think of is........

Train 1108 departs Chitrakot daily at 23:55 and gets to Gwalior at 08:15 (2A, 3A, SL.)

then....

Train 2988 departs Gwalior daily at 15:45 and gets to Jaipur at 22:20 (3A, CC, 2S.)

Then make your way to the Shekawati area.

I think you've already been to Gwalior though, so you may not want to spend a day there.

steven_ber · Sep 3rd, 2006, 23:53

Or.....

Train 1094 departs Manikpur (30 Kms) daily at 17:10 and gets to Katni at 19:40. (2A, 3A, SL.) This train starts from Varanasi, so shouldn't be 'too' late.

Train 2181 departs Katni daily at 21:45 and gets to Jaipur at 12:30. (2A, SL.) This train starts from Jabalpur, so shouldn't be late.

Jorge Reverter · Sep 4th, 2006, 01:48

Thank you Steven,

Manikpur - Katni - Jaipur seems to be the best combination. Once in Jaipur, the train to Nawalgarh: 9734 leaves Jaipur 18.10.

Jorge

bijapuri · Sep 4th, 2006, 07:02

Remember Jaunpur if you want "offtrack" daytrip (and Muslim at that) while in Varanasi, my friends

Sep 3rd, 2006, 06:43	#1
craztravel Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: usa Posts: 67	Chitrakut We are thinking to go to Chitrakut from Khajurao and take Train 2189 at 21:33 to go to agra. We will have a few hours to spend. We were interested in knowing more about it like how far from Khajurao by taxi, things to do, where to eat, about train station etc. Thanks for help.

Sep 3rd, 2006, 14:13	#2
steven_ber Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: London, England. Posts: 8,919	Not much to offer, but I want to bump this thread up. I'm also interested in Chitrakut, and thinking of spending a day there on my way from Patna to Mumbai. I think I read somewhere that the train station is about 7 Kms from the town. Manikpur (station code MKP) has many more trains and is about 30 Kms from Chitrakut. __________________ . How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions. Train information.

Sep 3rd, 2006, 17:37	#4
maddog Account Closed Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: India Posts: 31	Chitrakoot is lovely and very laid back. A walk along the Ghats at dawn is facinating, as virtually the whole village comes down to the river to bathe and do "puja" Don't try the Baala or Aloo tikkis along the ghats though.........delicious as they were, we noticed from our hotel roof top that the Tikki wallah was prone to topping up the chickpea sauce with water from the river, after resolutely clearing away the surface scum of course When in Chitrakoot go on the Charo Dham tour with the pilgrims, it's a tour of all the local places of religious significance, of which there are many, here's a link to some insights into the importance of this area to Hindus CHITRAKOOT We really enjoyed this despite being held up for 2 and 1/2 hours for Uma Bharti's motor cavalcade. Great atmosphere, as the pilgrims gradually warmed to the whole experience, soon they were all whooping and shouting and having some of that "religious fervour" some looked positively uplifted from the energy of it all. The cave temples were especially interesting!! Chitrakoot is small and easily explored by foot and for me had a real energy, that I personally found missing in places like Rishikesh and Varanasi. It is a typical pilgrims town with dozens of shops selling hundu trinkets like lingams, netties and brass ohms, The narrow alleyways hum with the sounds of mantras and ecstatic looking Yogis on video, various chai wallahs attend to the thirsty visitors, as well as chappati wallahs expertly fishing out their chappatis from the depths of the Clay Tandoor ovens. The surrounding countryside is wooded and hilly with running rivers keeping things fresh, You can take a boat down river on the Payaswani, which is a gentle way to lose a couple of hours, or a walk to the Hanuyman Temple is also worthwhile, built on the side of the mountains it's about 3 kms out of town and the locals along the way were very friendly and not at all used to a bunch of "whities" The hotel choice is limited, we tried the Uttar Pradesh Tourist Bungelow and were sadly disappointed (though the food was ok) dingy overpriced rooms in a run down old building. We moved down onto the ghats the next day and stayed right above the bathing Ghat,s in an old temple annex. The name escapes me but I think it's in the hotels section here on IM. I hasten to add I chose this hotel for location and charm, NOT for comfort it's very basic accomodation not for the faint hearted, though it was clean enough and Warren made us very welcome, despite his hourly renditions of Sanskrit Shive Mantra's from his souped up "shiva Box" There's also a Tourist Bungelow from The Madhya Tourist board just across the river (the river acts as the border between U.P. and M.P.) I didn't check this but the only other tourists we met in 5 days agreed that the accomodation was fine hang a right after crossing the bridge it's there on the right!!! The best place I saw was the Himalayan Hotel,(I think) clean rooms in a small hotel for 250rps a night with shower it's on the back road which runs paralell with the ghats and also has the best eatery we found in the village!! Check out the statue makers on this road, amazing lifelike statues of various Hundu Gods and Demons, very photogenic. Food In Chitrakoot is basic Indian fare, The aforementioned Guest House had a restaurant downstairs, which did great thalis and Puri Bhaji/Parothas for breakfast plus a few dishes like Channamasala and aloo gobi, plus good selection of India sweets, if your teeth can cope. There was another plce further down that did similar fare, plus a few South Indian dishes! Samosas and Wadas are sold all over but I suggest catching them while their hot There's no meat in the Ghat area, as this is a holy town! The train station as Steven said is a bit out of town but there are plenty rickshaws and shared taxis between the two. The station is at Karwi and its on a mainline so there are a few train options to Varanasi, Agra Jabalpur etc. Now the bad news, unless things have improved dramatically the road between Khajurao and Chitrakoot is probably one of the most excruciating roads on the Sub Continent, imagine islands of tarmac, adrift amongst rocky gravel and you pretty much have an accurate picture of the state of a lot of this road, terrible It's roughly 110 km between the two places and it took us 6 and 1/2 hours, my bum was in bits, so if you can take a cushion!! Here's a few pictures CHITRAKOOT Last edited by maddog : Sep 3rd, 2006 at 21:28.

Sep 4th, 2006, 07:02	#9
bijapuri laid traps for troubadours Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Priustan Posts: 2,601	Remember Jaunpur if you want "offtrack" daytrip (and Muslim at that) while in Varanasi, my friends __________________ Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential. Barack Obama lookit me!!!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bijapuri/ Utube fuzzy logic: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=bijapuri&p =r

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Sep 3rd, 2006, 16:20	#3
Jorge Reverter Maha Guru Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Murcia - Spain Posts: 1,106	I'm also thinking about Chitrakoot on my way back from West Bengal-Varanasi to the Shekawati area. There are quite bad connections if I go to Kajuraho, otherwise I can go only to Chitrakoot avoiding Kajuraho but probably too many ghats after four days in Varanasi. Since years I'm trying to visit Chitrakoot but always small details are making it impossible. Jorge

Sep 3rd, 2006, 22:46	#5
steven_ber Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: London, England. Posts: 8,919	Awesome reply maddog, it has helped me choose Chitrakut over Varanasi (I'll get there one day). After the 'madness' of the Sonepur Mela, Chitrakut should be a great place to relax. Info for others....... There are also overnight trains from Gaya, Patna and Hajipur to Manakpur (30 Kms from Chitrakut).

Sep 3rd, 2006, 23:53	#7
steven_ber Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: London, England. Posts: 8,919	Or..... Train 1094 departs Manikpur (30 Kms) daily at 17:10 and gets to Katni at 19:40. (2A, 3A, SL.) This train starts from Varanasi, so shouldn't be 'too' late. Train 2181 departs Katni daily at 21:45 and gets to Jaipur at 12:30. (2A, SL.) This train starts from Jabalpur, so shouldn't be late.

Sep 4th, 2006, 01:48	#8
Jorge Reverter Maha Guru Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Murcia - Spain Posts: 1,106	Thank you Steven, Manikpur - Katni - Jaipur seems to be the best combination. Once in Jaipur, the train to Nawalgarh: 9734 leaves Jaipur 18.10. Jorge

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