Chikhaldara Hill Station, Maharashtra
Chikhaldara Hill Station is a Hill Station located in Chikhaldara Taluk in Amravati District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Chikhaldara is also called Kichakdara. Chikhaldara the only hill station in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Hence, Chikhaldara is known as Kashmir of Vidarbha. Chikhaldara is also one of the gateways to the Melghat Tiger Reserve. It is the only coffee-growing area in Maharashtra. It is situated in the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Legends
As per legend, Bhima, one of the Pandavas killed a demon named Kichaka and threw his body in the valley. Thus, the place came to be called Kichakdara which later got corrupted into Chikhaldara. However, Chikhaldara means mud stream / waterfall (Chikal means mud and Dhara means stream / waterfall) in Marathi.
The Hill Station
This hill station is situated at an altitude of about 1118 meters above mean sea level. It is situated on the plateau in Satpura Range of mountains which lies at the border of states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It is the only coffee-growing area in Maharashtra. It is the one of the gateways to the Melghat Tiger Reserve. The best time to visit this hill station is post monsoon (October to June).
The tourist places found in this hill station are listed below;
1. Bhim Kund Point, Chikhaldara
2. Balancing Stone Point, Chikhaldara
5. Goraghat Point, Chikhaldara
6. Hurricane Point, Chikhaldara
9. Mountains Viewpoint, Chikhaldara
11. Panchbol Point, Chikhaldara
12. Prospects Point, Chikhaldara
13. Seven Valley Point, Chikhaldara
14. Shivsagar Point, Chikhaldara
15. Skywalk Point, Chikhaldara
17. Vairat Sunset Point, Chikhaldara
18. Government Botanical Garden, Chikhaldara
19. Gawilgad Fort, Chikhaldara
21. Kalapani Lake, Chikhaldara
22. Vairat Devi Temple, Chikhaldara
24. Bakadari Waterfall, Adnadi
25. Kalalkund Waterfall, Adnadi
26. Chichati Waterfall, Chikhaldara
27. Jatra Doh Waterfall, Chikhaldara
28. Melghat Tiger Reserve, Amravati
Connectivity
Chikhaldara is located at about 27 Kms from Semadoh, 34 Kms from Paratwada Bus Stand, 36 Kms from Paratwada, 49 Kms from Harisal, 58 Kms from Kolkas, 83 Kms from Amravati, 85 Kms from Amravati Railway Station, 95 Kms from Shahanur and 224 Kms from Nagpur Airport. Chikhaldara is situated at about 36 Kms to the north-west of Paratwada. Chikhaldara is well connected to the cities of Paratwada, Amravati, Akola, Betul, Khandwa and Burhanpur by road. MSRTC plies buses from Nagpur to Chikhaldara via Amravati-Paratwada.
