Let’s help you
plan your journey
Explore responsibly, discover offbeat places, guided by locals, rooted in culture.
Let’s help you
plan your journey
Explore responsibly, discover offbeat places, guided by locals, rooted in culture.
Soumen Bhowmick
Soumen Bhowmick founded Pollen Dots in 2024 to plan journeys across India and Bhutan. He works in the Commercial Department of Indian Railways, where he has been since 2000. From 2016 to 2020 he was Head of Business Development and Partnerships at ScoutMyTrip, a community-driven road trip planning platform. There he built a nationwide network of local Scouts who helped travellers on the road, and grew the Road Trippers Club to 16 Indian cities. As a core member of Devil On Wheels, he helped travellers plan Himalayan trips and started Spreading Smiles. He has driven solo from Arunachal to Goa and from Himachal to Karnataka, and has run his own caravan for more than ten years. His photographs have won national and international salon awards, and his writing has appeared in Outlook Traveller.
A packing list for Jharkhand needs a fleece and a pair of shoes that can get wet. Netarhat sits on the plateau and turns cold after dark in December, while the same night down on the plain stays mild. The walk to Lodh Falls, the highest in the state, is a walk through a tiger reserve, and shoes come off at the door of Baidyanath Dham.
Ranchi is cooler than Kolkata for most of the year. Netarhat is colder than Ranchi, and much colder at night. Palamau is forest, so there are insects, and the ground stays wet all monsoon. March is dry and warm, and it is when the palash is in flower. Deoghar in Shravan is a barefoot crowd in July heat. The groundwork for travelling in the country sits in the guide to getting ready for a trip in India.
| Condition | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Plateau nights, December and January | Fleece or light down, a cap |
| Open safari jeep at Betla | Windproof layer, closed shoes, dull colours |
| Wet sal forest on the way to Lodh | Shoes that drain, long trousers, insect repellent |
| Temple and sarna grove | Shoes that come off easily, shoulders and knees covered |
| Deoghar in Shravan | Thin cotton, a cloth bag, nothing valuable in hand |
| Monsoon, July to September | Rain jacket, dry bag for a camera, spare socks |
| March, palash season | Sun hat, thin cotton, a water bottle you refill |
Carry two bags. Put the safari and forest things in a daypack. Put the warm clothes in the big one.
Layers. Days in December are mild on the plateau and one cotton layer is enough. It gets cold as soon as the sun goes down.
| Item | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|
| Fleece or light down jacket | Netarhat and the Parasnath base after dark |
| Full sleeve cotton shirts | Mild days, and sun cover |
| One warm cap | Open jeeps and early starts |
| Closed walking shoes | Forest tracks and temple steps |
| Thin gloves | Only for a December dawn at Netarhat |
Netarhat is colder at night than Ranchi. Ranchi is colder than Deoghar.
The jeep is open on the sides. The wind does not stop and there is dust in the air.
Palamau has tigers, leopards, Asiatic elephants, gaur, sloth bear, grey wolf and four horned antelope on its records. Elephants are what a drive usually turns up.
Lodh Falls is inside Palamau Tiger Reserve. It is on the Burha river in Latehar district, 60 km from Netarhat. The last part is a walk through forest. There is no road up to it and no platform at the end.
In the monsoon the track holds water and the rock at the falls is slippery. In the dry months the walk is easier and the fall is thinner.
Baidyanath Dham at Deoghar is a working temple. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and it is also a Shakti Peetha. Shoes come off outside. In Shravan the floor is wet.
| Place | What it is like | What to wear |
|---|---|---|
| Baidyanath Dham | Barefoot inside, big crowd in Shravan | Slip-on shoes, thin cotton, a cloth bag |
| Basukinath | The same, 45 km from Deoghar | As above |
| Shikharji, Parasnath | A long climb, Jain pilgrimage site | Walking shoes, shoulders and knees covered |
| Maluti | Village temples, open ground | Closed shoes, shoulders covered |
| Sarna grove | Sacred grove, village ground | Shoulders and knees covered, shoes off where others take theirs off |
A sarna grove is a grove of trees, not a building. The sal trees in it are where Sarna Burhi is worshipped. Sarhul happens there. Ask the village before you take photographs.
The five day journey through the waterfalls, forests and plateau views of Jharkhand runs the western side, where the warm layers and the forest shoes both get used. North Bengal including the Dooars is across the eastern border, and we cover North Bengal separately.
Yes, in December and January on the plateau. Netarhat and the Parasnath base turn cold after dark while the days stay mild. A fleece or a light down jacket is enough.
A windproof outer layer, closed shoes and dull colours. The jeep is open on the sides, so there is wind and dust the whole drive.
Shoes with grip that can get wet, long trousers and insect repellent. Lodh Falls is inside Palamau Tiger Reserve. The last part is a walk through forest, not a drive to a platform.
Shoulders and knees covered, and shoes off outside. Slip-on shoes save time in a crowd. In July and August, during Shravani Mela, the floor is wet and the crowd is at its biggest.