This is the place where your heart dons wings….as a bird set free from the urban dungeons, it soars over hills and vales, tapping the rhythm of the wild hilly rivulets. It leaps way ahead of your head transporting you along on its flights of fancy. Needless to say, the Netarhat Plateau on the upper was, “Near to the Heart” of the erstwhile British soldiers too, that reminded them of their Scottish moors back home. Dense forests, serpentine roads, cool bracing breeze, nights may have probably prevailed upon the English to christen the place as Nature’s heart or Netarhat. However, some argue that the place has been named after ‘NeturHaat which means a marketplace for bamboo in the local language. Located at about 3622 feet high in Latehar District about 156 kms West of Ranchi, it was once the sumer retreat of the British Governor. Satpura range from Central India, meets the Chotanagpur plateau on the eastern side, at Netarhat is also the home of various primitive tribes, who had been residing in its hills for generations, in close harmony with nature
Sunrise Point
While in Netarhat, if you want to enjoy the most spectacular view of the rising sun, it has to be the sunrise point in front of the tourist bungalow, Hotel PrabhatVihar.
It located at a distance of half kilometer to one km from the Netarhat bus stand. As you wait in anticipation for that memorable rendezvous with the sun, you suddenly observe the hills and trees appearing as dark silhouettes against the clearing horizon. And lo and behold! The nature around you is gradually steeped in a reddish hue… then as you watch spellbound the passing shades of vibrant scarlet and orange…. From behind the hills in front the crimson ball suddenly appears in its full flamboyance and glory to greet you. Even the moonrise seen on full moon nights from here is a long cherished experience.
On reaching Netarhat, take the road from the bus stand leading to the tourist bungalow – Hotel Prabhat Vihar.
