Dandakaranya Part One- Inception



Lets rewind back 70 million years ago. The majestic T Rex dinosaurs roamed the now North America, unhinged, undefeatable, and ruthless. However, those dinosaurs, like many others roaming the Earth then, would have noticed something strange happening to the sky- it was becoming darker and darker. Slowly, the Sun light got blocked. Ashes started falling off the sky burning the dinosaurs skin. Many dinosaurs started collapsing. As if to end this process fast, a massive asteroid fell on Earth and ended the reign of dinosaurs. But, the darkening of the sky was occurring as a result of something else- massive volcanoes.
These volcanoes, also called Deccan Traps, defied the word massive. Had someone seen India from space then, it would have been colossal fireworks as volcanoes raged from the Indian territory. Most of these volcanoes were from what is today Karnataka and Maharashtra. But, some were also located in Chhattisgarh. I am sitting on one such surface now!
Today this place is called Dandakaranya. For thousands of years, Dandakaranya has been a mysterious region. The etymology of Dandakaranya is derived from Dadak, a dreaded monster of yore, and Aranya, meaning forest- The forest of Dandak. Vengeance filled royals sent their competing royals on exile to these forests, hoping they will never return. Outlaws were suspended to live a life of dread here. Yogis, in an attempt to escape the trappings of a civilization, settled in these forests. Ironically, the indigenous tribals here are anything but dreaded. We will talk about them later.
 A four hundred kilometers road trip from Raipur (Chhattisgarh's capital), or Hyderabad (Telangana's capital) or, Vizag (May be Andhra Pradesh's capital) will bring us to the epicenter of Dandakaranya.
Today anyone visiting Dandakaranya may wonder if at all there were these massive volcanoes ever erupting here. This place is amongst the greenest regions in India. Dandakaranya has several endemic species of plants and animals and is easily one of India's ecologically diverse and sensitive forest regions.
We will keep continuing to discuss various aspects of this regions in the coming posts. 


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