Bhairabkunda is a naturally decorated place on the foothills of the Himalayas at the confluence of two rivers — Dhansiri and Jampani — at the trijunction of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan. With the cloud-kissed hills and the plains replete with greenery all around, Bhairabkunda is called the pearl of Udalguri district. With a bit of history and mythology, Bhairabkunda is situated some 24 km north of the district headquarters and has been a favourite spot for picnickers, especially during the English New Year. The rocky and sandy riverbeds of Dhansiri and Jampani invite everyone to enjoy the enchanting beauty of green and blue hills sometimes intoxicated by the white clouds enveloping the heads of the hills.

‘Bhairabkunda’ is coined with Bhairab and kunda, having a classical background. Bhairab means terrible, Lord Shiva, one of the six ragas of Indian classical music. It also indicates the seventh tune of song usually sung before dawn during autumn. And, kunda means a lake. Together, ‘Bhairabkunda’ means the pond of Bhairab. It is said that once Lord Shiva strolled through this place in a lunatic mood shouldering the decomposed corpse of Sati. A portion of her body was believed to have fallen here and thus a place of pilgrimage came into being.

Sastras like Shiva Puran says that Lord Shiva lives in the Himalayas that envelope the Northeast India, in the east and Kashmir in the west. It also gives a good number of references of Shiva and his beloved wife Parvati loitering throughout the Himalayan range. It is believed that they used to bath at Bhairabkunda or stayed for a few months or days at Sonitpur, the capital city of the great king Banasur who treated them as guests of honour.

The panoramic natural beauty of the whole area allure every visitor to this place. Every year, right from December to February, hundreds of picnic groups throng this place. Bhairabkunda has the potentiality to have an ideal tourist hub. Considering its historical and natural significance, the authorities too have decided to make it a tourists hub and so, they arranged Bhairabkunda Festival in 2005 for the first time, which encouraged many of the local educated unemployed youths to start tourism-based business at Bhairabkunda. The BTC authority has also decided to build a tourism complex at Bhairabkunda.

Once Bhairabkunda is blessed with tourist attractions like a mini zoo, a botanical garden, beautifully planned canals, rafting in the river water, hanging bridge, besides infrastructure like lodges, hotels, rest houses and a small helipad, one will discover Bhairabkunda in a new avatar. And bustling tourism activities will also generate employment opportunities to the local youths and what not!

Once there was a green valley here and man and animal both used to live peacefully. Now the bitter truth is that due to rapid deforestation, the man-elephant conflict has reached its zenith. The elephant depredation is now a matter of grave concern here. And to say the truth, man is the real culprit behind such a situation.

After the basic infrastructure is ready, the place needs to be highlighted to the outside world that it is ready to welcome all. The scenic beauty and glory of Bhairabkunda needs to be showcased throughout the country and organizing the Bhairabkunda Festival is a right step towards that direction but it needs to be an annual affair like Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival that has today become a major tourism event attracting both domestic and foreign tourists.

Once the tourists start trickling, cultural tourism can be promoted by starting conducted tours to the villages around Bhairabkunda and also inside Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan, so that a tourist gets the chance to get close and personal with the cultures of the people living in this part of the world. This will add another dimension to Bhairabkunda as a tourist destination.

Adventure sports like trekking and rock climbing in the hills nearby and rafting in the blue waters of Dhansiri can be started side by side. These activities require very little monetary investment but can bring in very high returns if successful. For this to happen and sustain, the authority concerned authority should encourage local clubs to take up these sports by providing them support in training and in procuring the equipment needed for these sports.

Once the Mission Green Valley Project, started last year in Bhairabkunda is made successful, it could change the whole scenery in the field of economic self-reliance of the educated unemployed youths of the area. Besides, regular holding Bhairabkunda Festival can make the place a most sought after destination for tourists.

Rewati Raman Sapkota