Gua-jhar : The pond with a natural spring in Old Bhubaneswar, makes a treat to be with fishes for hours

A flock of ducks playing at Guajhar pond in old Bhubaneswar . Pic@Krushna's
On a wintry Sunday morning, after completing a rejuvenating walk along the heritage abundant by-lanes of old city in Bhubaneswar, I asked a local resident on the whereabouts of the dozen odd ducks which were often seen marching on the streets of the old city or making the pond near the picturesque Mukteswar Temple their favorite playground. The question was just out of curiosity and part of casual conversations while returning towards the 7th Century shrine of Parsurameswar Temple, my usual parking place during Ekamra Walks. After few moments of looking around, he pointed towards a compound with low height boundary walls and few big trees and a havan mandap structure visible from outside making it look like an ashram.
Wearing a bewildered look, still apprehensive about what was going to greet me inside, I approached the entry point to the compound, where the writing on the wall near the entry mentions it as Shri Siddheswar Mutt and Ama Guajhar Sangathan (Our Guajhar Organisation).
Siddheswar Mutt compound in old Bhubaneswar . Pic@Krushna's
Walking through the open space, with number of low height red colored concrete pillars, I made my way towards the tank. I could see a man taking bath in a relatively small water body (tank) down there in some distance and a conjoined bigger pond connected with it via a submerged wall. As I made my way to the larger pond, I was already impressed with the crystal clear greenish water of the small tank and couple of gold fishes making it their play zone. There I came to know about the natural spring beneath the small tank from where the water overflows to the bigger pond through the submerged platform. This is said to be the reason behind the name of the pond as Gua-jhar (bettle-nut spring) and also the cause of keeping the water crystal clear all round the year.
Guajhar pond in old Bhubaneswar . Pic@Krushna's
To my utter delight, I found the flock of ducks playing in the water on the other end of the Gua-jhar pond. The bigger pond had more surprises for me as I could see hundreds of large sized fishes of different hues and colors.
Guajhar pond in old Bhubaneswar . Pic@Krushna's
Fishes roaming inside Guajhar pond in old Bhubaneswar . Pic@Krushna's
Few youngsters were sitting on the old cement benches provided near the bigger pond and feeding the fishes. One of the local residents informed me that nobody catches fish from the Gua-jhar pond and it is also not taken as food due to certain beliefs that eating them would be a sin or inauspicious act. As I spent nearly an hour sitting at Gua-jhar, watching the large number of colourful fishes and feeding them in the peace-filled absolutely quiet surroundings shaded under varieties of trees, I could feel a unique sense of delight and joy for my chance discovery of the beautiful place. I could not than less to the folk of ducks who in a way made my chance visit to Gua-jhar.
Guajhar pond in old Bhubaneswar . Pic@Krushna's
Guajhar pond in old Bhubaneswar . Pic@Krushna's
Though the surrounding is relatively clean, a little of attention on supporting infrastructure would certainly make Gua-jhar another must see places in the heritage treasure of old city in Bhubaneswar, the Ekamra Kshetra.
Location: Near Bindu Sagar Pond, 7th Century A.D., Old Town, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751002, India

Comments

  1. bibhutiApril 17, 2018 at 4:02 PM

    At least for one day we should include Gua-Jhar in the Ekamra Walks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Krushna MahapatraMay 21, 2018 at 12:09 AM

      Thanks a lot. It will surely add to the elegance of Ekamra Walks.

      Delete

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