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Malajkudum Waterfall

Malajkudum Waterfall
(a blog by Jitendra Nakka)



Bastar division is a vast ocean of natural beauty where you can feel the music and its melody even in the blowing winds. If ever a tourist visits such a beauty, he can never leave the wish to come back again. Being the home of India’s most exotic and virgin sites, the Bastar division enjoys the pride of possessing more than a dozen of waterfalls and more than a half dozen natural caves. Talking about the northern part of Bastar, here lies the district of Kanker, which is famous for its mountainous terrains, perennial rivers like Dudh and Mahanadi, beautiful waterfalls. One such incredible waterfall is Malajkudum waterfall. 
                              Figure showing Second stage of Fall
                                                    
Where and How to Reach?
Malajkudum is nearly 18 kms away from District head-quarter Kanker. Starting from Kanker itself, Malajkudum can be reached after crossing villages like Garh pichhavadi, Ikshapur, Mardapoti. Reaching near about it, first we have to encounter a valley. It feels very thrilling riding up those curvy roads of the valley and reaching the town near this beautiful waterfall. Just after 1km of this town, the view of this waterfall is ultimate beautiful.

                                      Valley of Malajkudum
 kanker map
                               source: www.mapsofindia.com
For boarding and lodging of tourists, Govt. has made some good rest houses and guest houses of forest department. As there is no pool in the route of Kanker to Amabeda (which leads to Malajkudum after 18kms), during the rains the road gets flooded, hence September to December can be opted as the best time for enjoying this waterfall. As this tourist spot is directly connected by main road, it is approachable throughout the whole year.
Salient Features…
Just before reaching Malajkudum, we can view one small waterfall more, but wait………..this is just the beginning. If any tourist departs back just after watching this fall, then we can imagine that his plan went worthless. ‘Coz the actual waterfall remains hidden and comes after small waterfall. After climbing up only we can manage to see this beautiful bigger waterfall, but hang on…..this is not over…..after climbing over this waterfall again, we can see one more thin and small waterfall. Hence Malajkudum is a combination of three waterfalls, where the upper and lower falls are comparatively small than the middle one and falls from 15 to 20 feet while the middle one falls from 20 to 25 feet.
The specialty or you can say peculiarity of this waterfall is that you can enjoy it stage wise, i.e. you have to climb and reach up to each level to enjoy that part of waterfall. There is flat surface near the upper waterfall, from where we can enjoy the complete view of the valley. As there is no stairs provided near this waterfall, we should avoid taking children with us, but on the contrary, it is one of the best sites of tracking for youths.

                             Picture showing the complete waterfall
Covering a distance of 15km from Amabeda, Dudh river falls from a height of around 55-60 feets and form Malajkudum waterfall. Malajkudum has got its name from two local words i.e. ‘malaj’ and ‘kudum’ where ‘malaj’ means a valley or a pit(some depressed part) and ‘kudum’ means a typical fish that resembles like a snake. In the nearby area, you can find a lot of ‘kudum’ fish. It is reachable both by two and four wheelers.
Near kanker, you can find a lot of picnic spots, like the confluence of Mahanadi and Dudh river just 12km far from Kanker, confluence of Hatkul and Dudh river, Mankeshri dam, Gadiya Pahar, Kanker palace, Sonai Rupai lake, Sihvahini temple e.t.c.
Conclusion:

As the area is full of pink granites and as there is no stairs given for the ease of tourists, care should be given while coming along with the kids. So if you wanna enjoy some of the best sites for tracking, do visit Malajkudum waterfall.

Note: A part of this citation has been inspired by Dr. Suresh Tiwari’s book- “Bastar- Paryatan Itihaas aur Sanskriti “

Love to hear what you think!