PHOTOS
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Kanker |
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About the Kanker city
The Kanker District is situated in the southern region of the state Chhattisgarh. Previously Kanker was a part of old Bastar district. But in 1999 Kanker got it's identity as a independent district. Now it is surrounded by four districts of chhattisgarh state, named Bastar, Dhamtari, Durg and Rajnandgaon. Kanker is situated within the longitudes 20.6-20.24 and latitudes 80.48-81.48. the total area of the district is 5285.01 suare kilometers. Small hilly pockets are seen throughout the area and increase the beauty. mainly the five rivers flow in the district named- doodh river, Mahanadi, Hatkul river, sindur river and Turu river. The History of kanker is started from Stone era. In starting stage here human was like abysmal and their behave was like animals. With reference of Ramayana and Mahabharat there was a dense forest area named Dandakaranya and the Kanker state belonged to Dandakaranya.According to myths the Kanker was the land of monks. A lot of Rishis (monks) named Kank, Lomesh, Shringi, Angira were lived here. In sixth century before Christ the region was affected by Buddhism. The ancient history of Kanker tells that it remained always independent state. In 106 AD the Kanker state was under the Satvahan dynasty And the king was Satkarni, This fact is also descripted by chinese visitor Whensaung. After Satkarni his disasters named Pulumavi, Shivshri and Shivskand became the king. After Satvahans the state was under control of Nags, Vakataks and Gupt dynasties time to time. After the Vakataks the Kanker state came under control of Nal dynasty. according to historians Vyghraraj was the first king of Nals. the second king Varahraj won the whole region of dandakaranya. after Varahraj , Bhavdutt verma became the king of Kanker state. During the kingdom of Bhavdutt Verma Vakatak king Narendra Sen attacked on state and won a little part of state, but after some years Bhavdutt Verma recollect the lost part and also expand his state up to Orrisa and Maharashtra. after the death of Bhavdutt verma his son Arthpati became the king. He got a bigger state from his father but he was a poor king and had not the qualities like his father and lost some part of states to Vatakataks. In 475 Skand Verma became the king of Kanker state and ruled up to 500 AD. He was the last memorable king of Nal dynasty. After his death the Kanker state suffered a lot of attacks and divided into many parts. After the downfall of Nal kings the state was won by famous king Pulkeshin II of Chalukya dynasty, he also won the some part of Orrisa. During his kingdom a lot of temples were constructed in kanker state. After Pulkeshin, Vikramaditya, Vinayaditya, Vijayaditya, Vikramaditya II, Kirtiverman II were the other kings of Chalukyas They Ruled the state up to 788 AD after Chalukyas the state was ruled by different dynasties time to time like Nals, Nags, Kalchuris etc up to 1100 AD. Attractions of the city The Gadiya Mountain The Gadiya Mountain came into light at the time of Kandra dynasty. When the Kandra king Dharma Dev won the Kanker. He declared his capital on Gadhiya Mountain, which is a natural form of a fort. On the mountain there is a tank which never dries and fulfill by water throughout the year. One part of this tank is called as Sonai and the other part of this tank is called as Rupai. Actually Sonai and Rupai were the two daughters of Kandra king Dharma Dev. On the southern part of this tank there is a cave named Churi pagar. The entry of this cave is very much narrow. On any outer attack the King and his family lived safe in this cave. The space of the cave is able to sit 500 peoples inside. The exit door of this cave is towards west direction. In the south east part of Gadhiya mountain there is an other cave called Jogi cave. The length of this cave is 50 meters. In ancient time a lot of monks lives here alone time to time for there meditation. there is a small pond this cave. the water of this cave flows on the rock like a water fall. On the bottom of Gadhiya mountain the Doodh river flows. On Maha Shivratri there is a small festival celebrated on this mountain. On that day thousand of people climb on the mountain. Now there is a concrete leader available for climbing on the mountain. Alanjhkudum Waterfalls These 3 falls, 10, 15 and 9 meters in height, 15 km from Kanker, on the Doodh river, make for a superb picnic spot. There is a road to the falls. Charre-Marre Waterfall A 16 meter high, zig zag waterfall on the Jogi river, 17 km from Antagarh, on the way to Aamabera. Shivani Temple This temple has one of just 2 statues in the world that is half Goddess Kali and half Goddess Durga. The other one is in Kolkata. The Navarathri festival is celebrated enthusiastically in this temple. Madai Festival This tribal festival is celebrated by the tribes of Kanker and Bastar regions, to worship the local God(dess). It travels through the Kanker, Bastar and Dantewada regions from December to March each year.
In December, celebrations start in Bastar to honour the goddess Kesharpal
Kesharpalin Devi. In January, the people of Kanker, Charama and Kurna
celebrate the festival. In February the festival goes back to Bastar and
Cheri-Chher-Kin is honoured this time. Towards the end of February, the
festival goes to Antagarh, Narayanpur and Bhanupratappur. In March it goes
to Kondagaon, Keshkal and Bhopalpattanam. |