friendship is arespective word

“Friends forever,” you promised.“Together till the end.”
We did everything with each other.You were my best friend.

When I was sad, you were by my side.
When I was scared, you felt my fear.
You were my best support -If I needed you, you were there.

You were the greatest friend,
You always knew what to say:
You made everything seem better.
As long as we had each other,
Everything would be okay.

But somewhere along the line,
We slowly came apart.I was here, you were there,
It tore a hole in my heart.
Things were changing,
Our cheerful music reversed its tune.
It was like having salt without pepper,
A sun without its moon.

Suddenly we were miles apart,
Two different people, with nothing the same.
It was as if we hadn’t been friends; Although we knew deep in our hearts
Neither one of us was to blame
You had made many new friends And luckily, so had I
But that didn’t change the hurt -The loss of our friendship made me cry.

As we grow older, things must change.
But they don’t always have to end.
Even though it is different, now,
You will always be my friend.

Satya Sidhartha Panda
(HR)

Tourist places in Kalahandi

Namaste.

Another one from Biswapati. This time the tourist places in Kalahandi.

Please read on.

Amathaguda: Amathguda is a fort, situated on the right bank of the river Telto, the place where the road leading towards Balangir crosses the river. It is now in complete ruins. Nothing is definitely known about this fort, as its remains have not yet been investigated. The fort, presumably, was of considerable strategic importance in view of the fact that it stood close to the point where the river was crossed since ancient time. The road that spanned the river by a low bridge ran almost on the old route. Another bridge was constructed about a few meters away from the old ruined bridge. The high floods in river Tel that occurred in 1977 have washed portions of this new bridge away.

Asurgarh: Asurgarh is a small village situated in Narla Police Station area and is known for the remains of old fort. It is 5 km from Narla and 3 km from Rupra Road Railway station. Not far from the village is an oval shaped tank nearly 200 acres (80.9374 Hects.) in area. Between the tank and the river Sandul lie the ruins of the fort ‘Asurgarh’. The fort in its original shape was rectangular covering a wide extent of land encircled by a boat. It has four entrances; one each on the east, west, south and north where the deities Ganga Devi, Kala Pahad, Vaishnavi and Budharaja are respectively being worshipped. Goddess Dokari (Literally means "Old Lady") is the presiding deity of the fort. The central part of the fort is elevated, which is supposed to be the ruins of a palace. Local people believe that the fort was the seal of a demon kind called Gosingha daitya.

Belkhandi: Situated on the confluence of the river Tel and Uttei, two tributaries of the river Mahanadi, Belkhandi has gained prominence as a centre of religious activities and archaeological importance with a picturesque site. Ruins of 12th Century monuments have been excavated from there in the recent past. Among the sculptures, unearthed images of Sapta Matruka (Seven Mother Goddesses) and Uma Maheswar are note-worthy. The ruins of Belkhandi are preserved in a small museum adjacent to the temple premises. It is also an ideal site for an outing. This place is 67 km from Bhawanipatna.

Ampani: 77 km from Bhawanipatna on the road towards Nawarangpur, the picturesque Ampani hills present a panoramic view of nature. A frolicking valley called "Haladigundi" in Thishill range exhibits some peculiar features due to the reflected rays on the sun. In the morning and evening, the objects of vision appear yellow. The whole area abounds in spotted deer, Sambar and Black Panthers who can be seen at the Behera reservoir. Gudahandi, famous for pre-historic cave paintings, is also close-by.

Gudahandi: The Gudahandi hills are situated in the vicinity of Khaligarh, a tiny village close to the Koraput district border, about 17 km north-east of Ampani. In the Gudahandi hills are some ancient caves bearing pictographic paintings of remote antiquity. Khaligarh is a very out of the way place, the 17 km from Ampani being cart track, parts of which pass through dense forest. Three small hills, all of curved length, are together known as the Gudahandi hills. The north and the south hills join each other in the east leaving a courtyard like valley in between which opens towards the west. A huge block of stone slopping down to the east paves this valley. Just at the foot of these hills facing the valley are rows of caves. Except the one in north, all the caves are small in size. Although at places hewed to shape by human hand, they are mostly natural caves in red slate stone. Pictographic paintings in red and black colors appear at the entrances of some of caves in the southern row. These have not yet been thoroughly studied but it is generally surmised that they bear resemblance to the picture scripts of the Indus valley civilization. Besides Gudahandi in Kalahandi district, Bikramkhol and Ulapgarh in Sambalpur district and Naraj in Cuttack district also possess some writings resembling pictographic paintings - a fact indicative of pre-historic man's habitation in Orissa. The third hill extending north to south stands like a way to the immediate west of the valley. But as this hill does not join with the other two, the valley is approachable from the north as well as from the south by a narrow pass. All the three hills, taken together, have the appearance of a pot with a lid on. The name Gudahandi, meaning a pot for molasses, may have its origin in the impression its shape apparently conveys. A rivulet named Behera flows past the village. There are remains of a very old dam across this rivulet; local people call it the work of Bhima, the second of the Pandavas.

Junagarh: It is ancient capital of Kalahandi. Junagarh was a well-built fort; the fortified area has a number of temples with Oriya inscriptions. ‘Sati pillars’, sculptural evidence of the "Sati-Rite" which was prevalent in medieval India, is also found here. Junagarh is 26 km. from Bhawanipatna.

Karlapat: Karlapat is a small village in Thuamul Rampur Police Station area. Nearby, there is a waterfall called “Khandual” fall at the foot of a hill. The hilltop is the abode of a female deity, “Khandua”. The fall was formerly utilized, in some indigenous manner, to operate a crushing mill. At Karlapat, there is a temple dedicated to "Ma Manikeswari".

Lanjigarh: Lanjigarh is a village situated to the south-east of Bhawanipatna, near the Kalahandi-Koraput border. It is 64 km. from Bhawanipatna by road. The 428 ft. high summit of the Nimgiri hills, situated just on the district border, overlooks a narrow valley to its north of which Lanjigarh forms the apex. Lanjigarh was the headquarters of Lanjigarh Zamindari under Kalahandi ex-state. The village has some fortifications with a large moat around. The deity "Dokari" is greatly revered in the area. The local Jhami Yatra or Jhamu Yatra in the month of Chaitra (March - April) is an occasion when thousands of people gather and witness the walking on burning charcoal by a number of devotees. Lanjigarh exports Black-gram(Biri), Ragi(Mandia), Sesamum(Til), mustard seeds and pulses (Kandul). Guava, Orange and Sugar cane are grown in plenty near Lanjigarh. River Bandhara originates from this hilly area.

Mohangiri: Mohangiri is a village in Madanpur-Rampur Police Station, close to the border with Boudh-Kandhamals in the north-east corner of the district. It is 35 km. from Madanpur Rampur. The village is near a stream called Kali Ganga. A dilapidated Siva temple stands on the bank of the stream. There are a few short epigraphs on its walls and pillars.

Phurlijharan: Fifteen kilometers from Bhawanipatna, Phurlijharan is a perennial waterfall about 30 ft in height and has a special charm of its own. The multicolored rainbow created by the sunrays falling on the scattered water particles of the fall is an amusing sight to be seen. The evergreen forests around the fall provide ample opportunities for picnics.

Rabandarh: Rabandarh is a place of great scenic beauty lying about 13 km. from Bhawanipatna and approachable by a dusty road. It is named after a small waterfall inside a mountain gorge. The panorama around provides some delightful contrasts of scenery, in mountains and over looking dales, in bore rocks and thick forests and in the eternal calmness of the surroundings broken by the music of the fall. The stream, which creates the fall, almost dries up during the hot season. Down stream, a minor irrigation project utilizes its water for agriculture purposes.

Kalahandi - Fact File

Juhar.
This article may be construed as a fact-file for Kalahandi. The data was collected from the official site of Kalahandi, http://kalahandi.nic.in/ which is maintained by the National Informatics Center. Mr Biswapati Thakur did an excellent job in collecting the data and then compiled it to a presentable form. Our hearty thanks to him.

A special request to all of you. If you find any factual or typo error in the article, please send a mail to kalahandia@gmail.com, informing the same. We may have to contact the NIC to rectify it on the parent web-site. And also, if you find any article about Kalahandi in the web, please feel free to send it across, so that we can send it across to 'Kalahandias@Bangalore'.

Please read on.

Origin and Historical Background
The present district of Kalahandi was in ancient times a princely state, part of south Kosals. After independence of the country, merger of princely state with India took place on 1st January 1948. Kalahandi was merged in Orissa along with other princely states on November 1, 1949. Subsequently, in 1962, Kashipur Police Station was taken out from this district and merged with Koraput.

Geographical Location
Kalahandi district occupies the south-western portion of Orissa and is situated between 19 degree 3' N and 21 degree 5' N latitude and 82 degree 30 E and 83 Degree 74' E longitude. It is bounded in the north by the district of Balangir and Nawapara, on the south by the district of Rayagada, on the west by the district of Nawarangpur and Raipur (Chhatisgarh) and on the east by the district of Rayagada and Boudh. It extends over an area of 8,364.89 sq. km. The district headquarters is at Bhawanipatna town, which stands almost to the eastern border.

Rainfall and Climate
The average annual rainfall of the district is 1378.20 mm. The variation in the rainfall from year to year is not large. The monsoon starts late in June and generally lasts unto September. 90% of the rainfall is received from June to September. August is the month with more number of rainy days.

May is the hottest month when the maximum temperature is about 45 C (82 degree F). December is the coldest month, as the mean daily minimum temperature is recorded at 11 degree C. Relative humidity is generally higher from June to December. It is lower (27%) in the non-monsoon months. During August, it is in the higher side of 70% and during March, it is the lowest, at around 27%.

Rivers
Tel, Indravati, which are tributaries of large rivers like Mahanadi and Godavari, may be mentioned amongst the principal rivers of Kalahandi. However, Tel is by far the longest and most important river of the district. Other important rivers are Hati, Sagada, Ret, Uttei, Raul, Sundary, Undanti, Nagavali. Most of the rivers go dry during summer. Indravati and Nagavali have originated from Thuamul Rampur of this district.

Forest
Nearly half of the total Geographical area of Kalahandi district, 4,962 sq. km. was covered with forest. In the recent times this has been a considerable shrinkage in forest areas due to denudation.

Transportation
Rail: The total length of the Railway in the district is only 44 km. The Raipur-Vizianagaram broad-gauge link of the S.E. Railway passes through this district and connects 5 stations (Kesinga, Kandel, Rupra Road, Narla, Lanjigarh Road) in the district. It links the district with important places like Raipur, Vizianagaram, Rourkela, Bolangir, Sambalpur, Khariar Road.

Air: The only air-strip in the district is at Utkela, 25 km. from Bhawanipatna.

Administrative Division

Sub-divisions: 2 (Bhawanipatna and Dharamgarh)

Police Station: 12 (Bhawanipatna, Junagarh, Dharamgarh, Narla, Lanjigarh, Thuamul-Rampur, Mandanpur-Rampur, Koksara, Jaipatna, Ampani, Kesinga, …)

Tehsil: 13

Block: 13

Municipality: 1

N.A.C.: 2

Treasury: 1

Sub-Treasury: 5

Gram Panchayat: 195

Villages: 2185

Systematic Investment Plan - Save Tax

- An article by Satyajit Pattjoshi

Investments ... particularly when made periodically, known as Systematic Investment.

Systematic Investment Plan ... Particularly when made with a view to attain the better returns and to have at required time.

Do you like the idea of a bank balance of Rs.1 crore before you decide to retire from work? The crore figure is sure to tempt you but your worry could be how to build that balance. All it requires is a monthly savings of Rs.3405/-. Sounds too simple? That is if you stick to Systematic Savings and Investment habit at an early stage.

If you can save Rs.1500/- every month for 25 years, you can be a crorepati. Here we assume that the investment you choose gives you a return of 20%. Now you must be wondering how to get a return of 20% when bank deposits offer an interest rate of only 5-6%. If you want a hefty bank balance, you have to do some mix and match. You can't achieve your targets simply by putting money in a safe bank deposit. That also doesn't mean you have to risk all your savings by dabbling in the stock market for a high return.

If you are looking for 20% return, try and put 75% of your savings in an equity fund and stick to a fixed product for the balance 25% savings. For instance, even post office product gives an assured return of 8% at current levels. So generating the balance required returns from a direct equity investment or through an equity fund shouldn't be a problem. Equity fund in the last few years have generated returns of over 20%.

If you don't have the patience to save for 25 years, you can settle for a shorter period. But you should be willing to save more money on a monthly basis. It takes only 20 years if you save Rs.3750/- every month and it takes only 15 years if you save Rs.9750/- every month for a maturity amount of Rs.1 crore (at 20% compounded interest).

Now there are many who can put aside much more than these amounts every month. For them, the Systematic Investment Insurance Plans can only get even bigger. A monthly savings of Rs.2000/- can actually bloat up to Rs.1.36 crore and Rs.3000/- can actually bloat up to Rs.2.04 crore at the end of 25 years. Isn't the target tempting to think of Systematic Investment strategy?