Kalamati Picnic Spot in Chirang Assam
Kalamati is a popular picnic spot from Bongaigaon in Bodoland Assam. We were in Chirang to attend the yearly Dwijing Festival. It was the first time we ‘Ambassadors of Bodoland’ were at Chirang, Assam. The travel bug being hyper-active in all of us, we wanted to explore more of Chirang.
Chirang is a newly formed district in 2003 with parts of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Bapeta districts. It is located in foothills of Himalayas, south of Bhutan. Our first destination was Kalamati 28kms east of Bongaigaon.
There that is Bhutan!
Drive to Kalamati from Bongaigaon
Stuffing ourselves with a hearty breakfast we set off for the adventurous day ahead. For the first half of the day the plan was for Kalamati and for later half of the day it was visit to village in Koilamoila. We set off in a matador specially designed for us: Ambassadors of Bodoland.
The route was lined with dried paddy fields here and there dotted with bright mustard fields, but soon we left them behind and were zipping through the dusty shaded roads of jungle. Kalamati is within Manas National Park but in Indo-Bhutan border therefore you need special permissions and approval before you proceed to interiors. All these formalities were taken care of by Team Ambassadors of Bodoland. This is one of the greatest advantages of traveling with them. No headaches of paperwork and formalities. One can focus more on the journey and the experiences.
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- Trip to Kalamati mustard fields
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- Trip to Kalamati mustard fields
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- Trip to Kalamati Graffiti on wall
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- Trip to Kalamati a school
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- Trip to Kalamati a SBI
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- BongaigaonTo Kalamati Map
Formalities to Visit Kalamati
- Entry passes compulsory.
- Costs include: visitor’s fee, road toll for vehicle, fee for photography and hiring of elephant.
- Timing for park visit: 6am to 5pm.
- The park is no horn zone.
- All audio visual system prohibited.
- Throwing any type of waste and use of plastics strictly prohibited.
- Night halt under any circumstances is not allowed.
In August 2016, 350sqkm land area was added to Manas National Park. Kalamati is in this added part of Manas National Park. Though the distance takes 50 minutes from Bongaigaon, it took little more than hour after completing the formalities required at the various entry points. Maneuvering through the greens this place suddenly pops out of nowhere.
Kalamati Picnic Spot in Chirang
White river bed scattered with rounded pebbles of various dimensions, a silently flowing stream and a cute wooden bridge over it. Glad Bollywood hasn’t discovered this place yet else the next thing we know is some hero and heroine running around this beautiful place.
Kalamati picnic spot is popular for its orchids, butterflies and rare wild animals. It is just beside the beautiful stream Kanamakra, which incidentally means blind spider! From the concrete jungles of Bangalore, straight to lap of nature in Kalamati… it took a while for me to soak it all in and believe the present!
Kalamati picnic spot – Kanamakra stream
Kalamati comes under Chirang Forest Division and is a part of Aie Valley Division. Kalamati is surrounded by unique landscape features extending across Bhutan foothills. These attractions make Kalamati a picnic spot of Chirang. Here are some of them:
Maoria Hajw is known for orchids. Maoria means ‘orphan’ and Hajw means ‘hill’. There are no other hills near Maoria Hajw.
Hajw Agor, literally means the hills with design. It is said that it displays seven colors – red, white, black, yellow, green, navy blue & sky blue during the day. I could see some of the colors. Please check the picture.
Mwidert Khor is the elephant trapping area. In ancient times, kings would summon his subjects to make a boundary, and they laid fruits, grasses, water and shelter to keep their domestic elephants inside the forest. The forest elephants would enter the boundary and normally get adjusted with the domestic elephants. Thus, they would bring back the wild elephants along with their domestic ones.
Kalamati colorful hills Chirang.
Lick Soil of Kalamati
In addition to the above one more thing Kalamati is famous for as indicated by its name is the lick soil. Kalamati – kala (black) +mati (soil). The rocks are black in color; various animals especially the elephants come to consume the salt early in the mornings. They lick on rocks here. While I have a no photographic evidence of animals doing the act I have a pic of animal poop there which is a proof enough that animals do visit the place. Natural salt or mineral licks make up for sodium deficiency in wild animals.
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- Kalamati black hills
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- Kalamati Black soil, lick soil
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- Kalamati rock close up
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- Animal poop in kanamakra river bed Kalamati
Sample kalamati rock from Kalamati Picnic spot
How to reach Kalamati Picnic Spot
You can reach Kalamati from the town of Bongaigaon in a hired car, via Bijni. Guahati is the nearest airport, Bongaigaon the nearest major railway station.
You can reach Koila Moila via Ulubari – Borobazar- Rangijhora – Kalamati Rd. It is at a distance of 22.9kms, can be covered in 45 minutes. Here you need to sign some documents and enter the protected area. The road leads to the hills of Kalamati.
Best Time to Visit
The best time to visit the Kalamati is between winter and spring. We visited in the peak of winter; it is cold but no snowfall. Best to avoid monsoons. Summer season will be hot and humid in summer.
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I have been following your Bodoland trip, fondly on FB. This post is a comprehensive guide for anyone visiting Kalamati and adds to your colourful compilation of Bodoland.
Great post I love your pictures. The kalamati hills are beautiful I haven’t seen purple hills before.
This part of the world has always and will always fascinate me. The landscape is just stunning, and I love that you’ve taken the time to examine some of the details like the Kalamati soil and black rock! I’d love to do some trekking here one day
Thank you for this fabulous post. The place looks really beautiful and I love your photographs. I haven’t visited this place before so your information is really helpful.
What a beautiful place!! Northeast has lots of hidden gems and they should remain hidden. Very detailed travel guide; will help me for my travel to Assam.
So serene and so beautiful. I guess the strict rules for entry and rules to abide by, while there will keep it that way for some time.
Thank you for the post and the pictures, Indrani. It was nice knowing about these parts.
What a beautiful place! It’s so nice to know that are still places so pristine as this one. Thanks for showing it and hoping that no Bollywood producer se this post 😉
Kalamati sounds like an interesting find. Black soil, orchards, butterflies, wild animals all will be a great experience. You look so pretty in that costume. Great pictures.
Ha ha that is not me but a local.
What a bummer that you did not see any animals at the salt lick, that would have been a great memory! What is an elephant trapping area? Do they consider exposing the wild elephants to the domestic ones trapping? I guess it is a trap…
I’ve heard of mineral licks being popular in other places for animals, but it would be very cool to see an elephant here! I’m glad Bollywood hasn’t found Kalamati yet, perhaps it is only a matter of time!!
It was good for you that the Ambassadors of Bodoland took care of some of the travel planning for you. Nice that Kalamati has not yet been discovered by tourist hoards. It would be amazing to watch the elephants come in to lick the salt in the mornings. Something that would be worth getting up early for. Thanks for sharing this new destination.
Kalamati sounds so beautiful ? No wonder they have so many formalities to be able to visit! I would love to see Hajw Agor! Haha and I love that you have a pic of animal poop as prove that they visit the area ??
Kalamati looks like a wonderful place to visit. Such a pristine and unique landscape, with beautiful streams, flowers and animals. Indeed, it’s a good thing that it didn’t become very popular yet. Thanks for letting me know about the Ambassadors of Bodoland team. If I were to travel to this remote area, I would definitely use them.
Interesting how animals instinctively find a cure for sodium deficiency in nature by licking the soil. What a survival instinct!
Interesting place these Indian foothills of the Butan highlands!
Good to know about this place- didn’t know earlier
Amazing place. Not yet visit Kalamati.
Thanks for the details post.