BharatSangraha

Chota Nagpur Plateau · Central Highlands & Forest Belt

Terrain and eco-zones

Tropical, but noticeably cooler than the Gangetic plain below because of altitude — Ranchi at 650 m averages several degrees below Patna in every month, and Netarhat at about 1,100 m needs a blanket in January. Rainfall runs 1,200–1,500 mm, almost all of it June to September, and it runs off fast on hard rock, which is why the plateau has waterfalls rather than aquifers and a real water problem by April.

Landforms

The Pat highlands — flat-topped laterite-capped remnants at 900–1,100 m, of which Netarhat is the best knownThe Ranchi upper plateau, a broad step at about 600–700 mThe lower plateau of Hazaribagh and Palamau, at 300–450 mThe Damodar trough — a rift-like valley cutting the plateau east–westSinghbhum's banded iron formation ridges, among the oldest exposed rock surfaces on earthThe Rajmahal traps in the north-east, basalt flows breaking down to the Ganga plain

Rivers and waters

Damodar — the trough river, running east through the coal belt to BengalSubarnarekha — Ranchi to the Bay, making Hundru on the wayKoel (North and South) and Sankh — the western drainage into the BrahmaniKharkai — joins the Subarnarekha at JamshedpurMayurakshi and Ajay — off the north-eastern scarp into the Bengal laterite countryBarakar — the Damodar's largest tributary

Through the year

SeasonMonthsTypicalWhat it is like
WinterNovember–February5–25 °CSohrai falls at the start of it and the wall painting is done then. Cold enough on the Pat highlands for frost. The clearest months, and the marriage season runs through them.
SpringMarch–April15–35 °CSal and palash flower. Sarhul and Baha are held on the sal blossom, mahua is collected before dawn, and Khovar painting is done ahead of weddings.
Hot dryMay–mid June22–42 °CHard on a plateau with no groundwater to speak of. Streams stop, the falls reduce to trickles, and forest collection is the main household activity.
MonsoonMid June–September22–32 °CPaddy transplanted, rugra and putka mushrooms fruit after the first storms, the falls run, and Karam is observed in Bhado.
Post-monsoonOctober18–30 °CHarvest, the Dassain and Durga observances of the plateau towns, and the start of the Sohrai season.

Best time to visitOctober to March. Late October and November for Sohrai painting and the harvest festivals; March or early April for Sarhul and Baha and the sal blossom; July to September if the point is the waterfalls, which are dry by May and worth nothing then.

The climate, landforms, rivers and seasons of Chota Nagpur Plateau, and the best time of year to visit. (5)