Things to do in Madhya Pradesh

Hindustan ka Dil – Madhya Pradesh – is very expansive. We had loved Gwalior and our recent trip to Khajuraho from Tendu Leaf Jungle Resort was most enjoyable.  Since we were spending some days here we wanted to explore all things to do in Khajuraho.

Madhya Pradesh Beyond Khajuraho Temples

The renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site – the Khajuraho temples in Madhya Pradesh need no introduction. Visiting Khajuraho Temples is the queen of activities here.  We visited the temple clusters for long hours two days in a row and were so satiated and a bit overwhelmed that we could not take it anymore. A break from ancient architecture was in order.

In such circumstances, what else could I do in Khajuraho one asks? We in turn posed this question to the folks at Tendu Leaf Resort. We were interested in offbeat things to do in Khajuraho. They in turn named a few sites close to Khajuraho that are considered offbeat places in Madhya Pradesh as well. One such option was Raneh Falls.

Raneh Falls – The Grand Canyon of India

Many of us raved about the Grand Canyon in the United States of America. But little did we know that we had our own version of the Grand Canyon overnight train journey from Delhi. Raneh Falls Madhya Pradesh bears the epithet – the Grand Canyon of India. Raneh Falls in the Chhattapur district,  Madhya Pradesh, it is about 20 km from Khajuraho. This natural waterfall has been formed on the Ken River or what is traditionally called the Karnawati River.

To give a brief background, it was early monsoon when we visited Khajuraho for attending the National Ceramic Camp. Tendu Leaf Jungle Resort, where we had put up, was located at the periphery of the Panna National Park. We knew that this place was about 20 km from Khajuraho temples. But we had no idea that this was so close to the renowned Raneh Falls, MP.

From Panna Tiger Reserve to Raneh Falls

We wanted to start at about 3 pm and reach a little early since we were not aware of Raneh Falls timings. However, since it was a big group, we could only bet together by 3.45. The drive to Raneh Falls was most enchanting through narrow roads in the forest. It seemed that a car might not have traversed this route for years. Since it was early evening, a variety of cattle were coming back home. While their parade delayed us a bit, we city-bred folks spent that time gainfully by clicking away.

The best part of this route was the rain. It had been hot and humid past few days and the locals said that was most unusual. It was a bit cloudy but still dry when we started from the resort. However, as soon as we reached the forest area, we could hear thunder. The sky darkened further very soon and started pouring. The red lateritic muddy roads soon formed rust colour springs that danced away in a lot of seeming happiness. The scenery around us was transformed within minutes. For example, the flora was showered clean. Their greenery sparkled like fresh out of an artificial plant factory in China. This drive was one of the most romantic experiences of our trip to MP.

Raneh Falls near Panna Tiger Reserve

If the drive was romance, the first look of the Raneh Falls was of ferocity. It was lucky that we were here in monsoon, the volume of water that was falling was much higher than rest of the year and we could hear the sound of water, breaking against the mountain, from a distance.  Huge volumes of water cascaded down at least 30 meters atop a canyon formed with crystalline granite rocks. And the granite rocks were a hue of colours from a child’s box of pastel wax colour sticks. The predominant colours of the rocks were pink to brownish pink and these ranged till shades of grey. The huge waterfall had adopted the colour of the rocks and the water gush appeared pink as well. The cloud-laden sky added to making the perfect picture. It was fierce beauty all around and we are out of words to describe what we saw. We were just not prepared for a spectacle of this magnitude or grandeur and stood speechless and humbled. This could be compared only with the superb animation of the forests in Disney’s Lion King.

We were expecting to frolic around a bit or maybe take a quick shower under the waterfalls. It would have been a great photo op for our social media. But given the intensity of water flow, this was absolutely out of the question. In fact, we could not spot a way to reach the bottom of the waterfall more than 30 meters deep. It looked so like Niagra sans the electric lights that illuminate the more popular USA counterpart. But we could clearly see that the description Grand Canyon of India was so very apt.

 

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The Raneh Falls is a natural #waterfall on the Ken River, in Panna, Madhya Pradesh. The water flows through a deep canyon made of pure granite in different shades of pink, green and grey. We visited in peak monsoon seson and the weather and heavy showers further enhanced the beauty of the falls. It is around 20 kilometres from the world famous #Khajuraho temples. Thanks to folks @tenduleafjungleresort who told us about Raneh Falls and arranged a visit. If you’re in Panna or Khajuraho, Tendu Leaf Jungle Resort is a perfect place to stay. . . . . Music: Finding Movement Musician: Kevin MacLeod License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . . . . . #Wanderlust #indiatravel #incredibleindia #travel #travelingram #backpacking #travelblog #traveladdict #traveltheworld #travelholic #worldcaptures #exploretocreate #travelvideos #mytravelgram #wonderful_places #delhitravelblogger #indiantourism #instavacation #discoverearth #worldplaces #traveldream #vacationmode #instavacation #travelandleisure

A post shared by DelhiFunDos – Food & Travel (@delhifundos) on Aug 4, 2019 at 11:45pm PDT

Museum at Raneh Falls

We walked another 50 meters or so and came across a small museum with small statues of the fauna in that area. They also had a contour map of the Raneh Falls in this room. There was a tea stall out in the open and some concrete chairs. We had tea there being regaled by tiger spotting stories by Nadeem, the friendly Tendu Leaf chappie who had driven us up.

Tickets for Raneh Falls

Some trivia – there is a moderate ticket fee for visiting the Raneh Falls and a guide is provided by the Forest Department. We spent about one and half hours here and we would have loved to soak this site for longer but it was well past closing time so we had to leave. Also, the Ken Ghariyal reserve was about 5 km from this place but was closed this season we had left that for next time. Yes, we plan to be back again.

Raneh Falls has been named after Rana Pratap. Another version is that the falls have been named after a queen or “Rani” of that area. “Rani” after some colloquial distortion became “Raneh”. What’s in a name is what we can say. But we do say emphatically – Khajuraho is not only about temples. It hosts such little-known natural wonders. It has been a while yet the view and sound of the Raneh falls linger in our heads. Raneh Falls is a surprise in Khajuraho – in MP – in India. Given hidden wonders like Raneh Falls, MP – Hindustan ka Dil – is so worth exploring again and again.

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