Unique find for SteemGeography 🌎 // by @kingporos // Buxa Fort

Hello Steemians of #SaturdayMemories,

I'm Nirmalya. I'm a newcomer who just joined Steemit last month. If you want to know me better here is my Achievement 1, Introduction post. First and foremost I want to thank @olga.maslievich for arranging this contest. I have read many Unique finds from other participants. Here is mine. I hope you will like it.

Somewhere I read,

"একটা আলো দূর থেকে কাছে এসে আবার মিলিয়ে যায়। আবার অন্য আলো অন্ধকার কামরায় রাত জাগা চোখ শুধু আলোই খুঁজে যায়। জানলায় মুখ রেখে অচেনা আলো সবাই খুঁজতে চায়না। এ এক বড্ডো বেয়ারা বায়না। রাতের ঘুম নষ্ট করে সবাই মজা পায়না। বক্সা ফোর্ট। বড় ঠাকুরের চিঠির বয়ান আজও পাথরে খোদাই করে রাখা। এই বক্সা ফোর্টে কিছুদিনের জন্য ছিলেন আজও ঘরে না ফেরা এক বাঙালি। কোনো জায়গায় তিনি বেশিদিন থাকতেন না। কেউ ধরেও রাখতে পারতেন না। স্বাধীনতা এক বড্ডো বেয়ারা বায়না। স্বাধীনতা মাথায় থাকলে ঘুম আসতে চায়না। রাতের ঘুম নষ্ট করে সবাই মজা পায়না।"

He was talking about the greatest freedom fighter of Indian history, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The Britishers once put Bose in Buxa Fort because of its high altitude and isolation. It is located at 2,844 ft above sea level. Located near the India-Bhutan border. Nowadays it's 1.5 k.m. trekking from the nearest car stopping point.

^{Location: QH4J+24 Buxa Hill Forest, West Bengal Google Maps}


Historians have different opinions about its origin. Some say it was built by the Tibetan Emperor Tsong-Sin-Gyampo, some say it was built by the Kamtapur dynasty, King Sankalp. However, it was built for military purposes also securing the Silk route. From time to time it was governed by both Koch Kings of the Kamtapur dynasty and Bhutanese Kings. Later when the Britishers came they conquered it as requested by then Koch King. Britishers used Buxa fort as their detention camp. During the Tibet invasion in 1959, many Buddhist Monks sheltered here and started a monastic study center and refugee camp in Buxa Fort.

Enough about the background history. Let jump to our expedition.

I and Bunch of my friends visited the Buxa Tiger Reserve while we were touring the hill region of North Bengal. Obviously, we choose the wrong season. Monsoon. So we're staying at a hotel in Alipurduar. We made a plan to visit the Buxa Tiger Reserve in the hope of seeing a Tiger. Started the journey as earliest as possible at around 07:00 hours. On the route to Buxa tiger reserve, the tour guide/driver told us about a fort in the deep of the Jungle. He said "অল্পই দূর, ১৫-২০ মিনিট ট্রেকিং শুধু"

Not far away, only 15-20 minutes trekking.

^{Location: QH4J+24 Buxa Hill Forest, West Bengal Google Maps}

We slightly changed our plan first we wanted to visit the fort. So he did drive us to the nearest stopping point at Santalabari Market.

^{Location: PHQ8+3Q Buxa Hill Forest, West Bengal Google Maps}

We started our journey with a local guide from Santalabari Market. After some trekking, we realized we made the mistake of choosing the season. Everything is wet due to the rain. The roads were slippery and fog is everywhere. At times we couldn't see 20/30 feet away. There are no visitors that day except us. We had 3 resting points during the 45 minutes of trekking.

^{Location: Buxa Hill Forest, West Bengal Google Maps}

We finally made it to the fort at around 9:30 AM.

^{Location: QH4J+24 Buxa Hill Forest, West Bengal Google Maps}

Due to the rainy season, there are weeds everywhere. Fort has little to no care. It was in ruins. It's very saddening to see there's no conservation of this historically rich fort whatsoever. The place was beautiful. There's a playing ground eside the fort surrounded by the Himalayas.

There was a monument dedicated to the Indian freedom fighters inside the fort. Here's an image.

^{Location: QH4J+24 Buxa Hill Forest, West Bengal Google Maps}

^{I have taken this image from wikipedia.org}

There was a playing ground across the fort. It looked magical.

^{Location: QH4J+24 Buxa Hill Forest, West Bengal Google Maps}

The place brings out my inner Shah Rukh Khan.😁

^{Location: QH4J+24 Buxa Hill Forest, West Bengal Google Maps}

We spent about two hours before we came back to where our car was parked. After more than 90 minutes of trekking, we were very hungry. We had our lunch. The restaurant where we had lunch was near the Santalabari Market. The food was amazing.

Thank you for reading this far. Hope you liked it. Steem On!