Excavated by Col. Onsely, a British Agent in 1842, Ranchi Lake is centrally situated. It is a few minutes walk from GPO and is adjacent to Ranchi Telephone Exchange. The lake taken for beautification is yet to be beautified conforming to the original concept envisaged by the Deputy Commissioner, Madan Mohan Jha. However, the lake has an added attraction of boating for the visitors. 

Situated at an altitude of 2140 feet, from sea level, is a popular health and holiday resort and is a place of sacred pilgrimage. Some comely sights in the town include Ranchi Hill, Tagore Hill, Ranchi Lake etc. A panoramic view of the town can be behold from the hill top. The Shiva temple situated on top of the hill, is an added attraction for devotees for whom it assumes the place of reverence during Shravan mas similar to that of Baijnath Dham (Deoghar)  

Jonha Fall :-

Jonha is about 40 km. away from Ranchi. The road leading to Jonha is a bit narrow but not so rough and rugged as well as arduous as that of Hundru. There is also a hospice Tourists rest house which accommodates Lord Gautam Budha’s temple. This falls is named after Gautam as Gautamdhara too, it is approachable by road. The tourists can go upto Gautamdhara station by train also.

Belta National Park :
Palamau's Betla National Park offers a fascinating study of wild life in natural surroundings studded with forests, hills and valleys. The Betla National Park, first established as a sanctuary and later upgraded to its present status, has carved a niche for itself within short span of it's life. The National Park occupies an area of 250 sq. km. on both the sides of all weather Mahuadans Road taking off from the main Ranchi-Daltonganj road on 11th km post as one comes from Daltonganj, the distance from Ranchi being 156 km. Ranchi is connected by road. Regular passenger buses fly between Ranchi and Daltonganj town from where Betla is only 25 km away. A number of buses is in operation between Daltonganj and Betla. The national park has a large variety of wild life. Once Betla had 2 tigers, 50 elephants, 800 sambhars, hundreds of wild boar and pythons as big as 15 to 20 feet. Most innocent of the lot are the spotted deer seen moving in herds. The park authorities provide jeep fitted with a search light to the visitors for a fixed fair. As the light falls on the herds of deer, they watch innocently with eyes glowing like green electric bulbs. Scared rabbits and foxes scamper about and the wild boar rustle in the layers. The most coveted sight is a majestic gaur popularly known as bison. It leisurely walks across the road as if saying, who is afraid of you. The elephants uproot bamboo and fell them on roads for apparently obstructing free plying of buses. The mammalian fauna to be seen at Betla include langur, rhesus, cheetal (spotted deer), blue bulls and wild boars. The lesser mammals are the porcupine hare junglee cat, honey badger, jackal, malabar giant squirrel and mangoose wolf, antelope etc. The park was declared in 1974 a tiger project reserve. 

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Sun Temple :
About 39 km. from Ranchi on Tata Road near Bundu, stands the elegant Sun Temple fashioned in the form of huge chariot with richly decorated 18 wheels (nine on each side) and seven life like horses ready to take off. Built by Sanskriti Vihar headed by Shri Sita Ram Maroo, the Managing Director of Ranchi Express Group, the Sun Temple deserves the title 'a poem in stone'. The surroundings of the temple, studded with a pond serving as a sacred place for Chhathavratis are actually a natures bounty to the people of Chhotanagpur. A beautiful dharmashala, meant for the pilgrims and the tourists is under construction. The all weather motor able road upto the temple premises is likely to attract tourist who will be captivated to behold the newly built Sun Temple in placid and serene surrounding leading to it's celestial beauties.

Rajrappa Temple :
About 80 km. from Ranchi on Ramgarh Chitarpur Road, Rajrappa is situated at the confluence of rivers Damodar and Bhairavi popularly knows as Bhera. Rajrappa, which was once desolate hillocks with a small temple of Chhinamastika, now turned into a famous pilgrim resort for the Hindu devotees mainly from Bihar and West Bengal. The headless statue of Goddess Chhinamastika stands upon the bodies of Kamdeo and Rati in a lotus bed. The Chhinamastika Temple is a very sacred and popular place of Hindu pilgrimage. The temple is very old and its architectural design is the same as that of other temples of tantrik importance. Though its antiquity is yet to be dated. Some people are of the opinion that the present temple is a renovated one of the original and traditional temple turned into ruins. A number of other temples have come up around the original temple. Particularly, the temples of Mahavidyas (Tara, Shodashi, Bhubneswari, Bhairavi, Bagla, Kamla, Matangi, Dhumavati) built in a series, attract more devotees. Rajrappa has turned into a popular picnic spot. Pilgrims come here throughout the year. A number of devotees perform their marriages here and childrens have their mundan ritual (hair cut) to take blessings from Maa Chhinamastika. On the day of Makar Sakranti (14th January) a religious fair is held which is visited by lacs. On the Dussehra day also the number of visitors coming increases considerably. Rajrappa can be easily reached from Ranchi and Hazaribagh. It is on the route to Bokaro from Ramgarh.

Parasnath Temple :
About 190 km from Ranchi, Parasnath (also knows as Samved Shikhar) is the biggest hill of Jharkhand 4431 ft. above sea level. It is the most sacred / adored place of the Jains. It is believed that 20 out of 24 Teerthankars attained their Nirvana there. Both Shwetambar and Digamber Jains have their temples there.

Jagannathpur Temple and Hill :
About 10 km. from Ranchi GPO is another sight seeing place where the tourists can rejoice and worship. The old temple of Lord Jagannath, built in 1961 in architectural style of Puri Temple stands like a fort on top of the hill. A portion of the old temple has come down and awaits renovation. Its car / chariot festival held in the light part of Ashadh Mas draws a big crowd comprising of tribals and non-tribals. HEC township nearby is an added attraction.

Baidnathdham (Deoghar) :
Baidyanathdham is a very famous Hindu pilgrimage. It is also called DEOGHAR or the house of Gods and Godesses. Situated on the eastern side of Bihar (now Jharkhand), this township is very close to the Bengal border. Visitors from all over visit this important temple where the Kamana Linga of Lord Shiva is placed. In the month of `shrawan' devotees come in lacs, particularly on 'Mondays'. Many of these devotees come walking after traversing a distance of some 100 kms on foot to pour the holy Ganga water on Kamana Linga brought from Sultanganj. Baidyanathdham can be reached by train or road. Jaisidih station, on the Howrah-Patna rail line of Eastern Railway is just 7 kms away. Regular bus services from Ranchi and Patna are available. From Bhagalpur this pilgrimage site is about 80 kms.

Anjan Garam :
Anjan Gram is believed to be the birth place of Lord Hanuman. Goddess Anjani was the mother of Lord Hanuman on whose name this place has been called Anjan Gram. A very ancient statue of Anjani mata is situated inside the Anjani cave. Surrounded by the Netarhat hills and the river Khatwa Anjan Gram is located at a distance of some 130 kms from Ranchi.

Satsang Ashram (Deoghar) :
Satsang ashram in Deoghar is one of the holiest of the holy places for the followers of Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra who spent his last 25 years of active life here. Satsong ashram was the center from where Sri Sri Thakur's man-making programme was directed. Thus a cluster of socio-industrial and cultural institutions have developed at deoghar. A visit to the ashram would inexorably take one out of the cobweb of mental blocks and would give one a feel of freedom, peace and progress. It shows the way of communal harmony and peaceful co-existence to the egocentric and trife torn world of today. Sri Sri Thakur encouraged people to earn independent living with innovative zeal and with concern for the environment. That is how a number of small and integrated industrial activities are seen within the premises of satsong ashram. There are literary activities, which is seen in the form of a number of books and periodicals in all languages. Jouranls like 'Alochana' and 'Saptarchee' (in Bengali), 'Ligate' and 'The See-ence' (in English), 'Urjana' (in Oriya), 'Aryayan' (in Hindi) and a few more periodicals get regularly published from this place and carry the message of 'living with peace and progress' to the humanity.  
Ashram attracts a large number of devotees everyday. Twice a year, mass congregations take place; once on the occasion of Bengalee New Year in the month of April and second in the aftermath of Dusserah in October. Ashram operates it's spiritual and social mission through a large number of messengers, known as ritwiks, who are nominated workers by the order of Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra. You can visit www.srisrithakuranukulchandra.com for more details about this place.

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Jamshedpur - the steel city

Jamshedpur, also called Tatanagar is just 140 kms from Ranchi. Both the names come from the legendary Jamshedji Tata. It was his vision that saw Bihar in the steel map of world so long back. Iron ore found in the area made Jamshedpur the idle location for a steel plant. Jamshedpur has a number of tourist attractions too.

Jubilee Park :
Situated in the heart of city, Jubilee Park is a replica of the famous Brindavan Gardens of Mysore. This park is spread in some 225 acres, dotted with flower beds and illuminated fountains to add to the beautiful decor maintained. Earlier every weekend the garden used to attract thousands of tourists when the fountains were illuminated. Recently this practice has been suspended. However, on the 3rd of March every year tourists come to watch the spectacular sight. This day marks the birth anniversary of the founder of Tata empire Jamshedji Tata. The park was presented by the Steel Company to the citizens of Jamshedpur in it's Golden Jubilee Year.

Dimna Lake :
Surrounded by flora the Dimna lake is 13 kms from Jamshedpur. This is situated at the foot of Dalma Hills. It is an ideal picnic site.

 

Dalma Wild Life Sanctuary :
Thick forests spread in some 195 sq. kms. makes the Dalma Wild Life Sactuary where one can find elephants, barking deers, sloth bears, porcupines, leopards, tigers etc. The steep slopes of Dalma offers excellent trekking opportunities.

Sir Dorabji Tata Park :
Manicured lawns and flower beds and brilliantly lit fountains provide a delightful touch of colour to the park.

Hudco Lake :
In the picturesque and hilly terrain of Telco Colony, the lake is a delightful retreat for those desirous of being in nature's- lap' within the city precinets.

Keenan Stadium :
This cricket stadium has been acknowledged by many visiting cricket teams as one of the finest in the country.

Tata Football Academy :
India's first football academy has an ultra modern gymnasium and imparts training based on international techniques to budding young footballers. The hostel in the sports complex can accommodate some 500 persons.

JRD Tata Sports Complex :
This magnificent complex has an international size football ground with an eight-lane monosynthetic track. This is one of the best sports complex in India. Facilities for handball, volleyball, hockey and table tennis and a modern gymnasium are available at the complex. Based here are the Tata Chess Centre and the Tata Archery Academy. 

Gliding and Flying Club :
The Jamshedpur Gliding Club, the Jamshedpur Co-operative Flying Club Ltd. and the Tatanagar Aviation Pvt. Ltd. offer wide scope for 'extra terrestrial' sporting activities, such as gliding and flying. Jamshedpur has facilites for gliding and flying at the Sonari airport.

Tata steel adventure foundation :
The Foundation provides scope for a wide variety of adventure sports, such as rock climbing, river rafting, para sailing, etc. The 40-old adventure clubs under its umbrella maintain a hectic pace of activities for outdoor enthusiasts. There are a number of other private clubs offering a variety of sporting activities such as golf, tennis, squash, billiards, horse riding etc. 

Tribal culture centre :
The Centre showcases the ethos of our indigenous peoples. Besides imparting vocational training, it also organises tribal festivals and cultural programmes. The other sites that attract the tourists are Tata Steel Zoological Park, the confluence point of the Kharkai and Subarnarekha rivers.

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Netarhat - queen of chotanagpur

(144 kms) away from Ranchi, Netarhat stands on a plateau of Chhotanagpur and is covered with thick virgin forests, barren rocks and verdant hillocks at an altitude of 3622 ft. above sea level. It is an excellent health and holiday resort. The sun rise and sun set views here are superb. An added attraction is the Netarhat Residential School nearby. All weather motor able road upto Netarhat facilitates the journey of the tourists. Among several dak bungalows meant for tourists Palamau Dak Bungalow is the best for seeing scenic beauties of Netarhat. Other places of tourist interest in Netarhat are -

Lagnolia Point :
0 kms from Netarhat. It is an ideal site for sunset view. Everyday you can witness the different view of setting sun. When the setting sun enters into the lap of Vindhya hills allowing the evening to descend slowly in the valley the natural scenic beauty of the place is beyond any description.

Upper Ghaghri Water Fall :
4 kms from Netarhat and a unique picnic spot. Inside a beautiful valley the over flown water o Netarhat Dam makes a very loving small waterfall.

Lower Ghaghri Water Fall :
Situated at a distance of 10 kms from Netarhat in lush green and pass through the forests of a poet's imagination-deep, dense and delighting. On reaching there witness the stunning fall of water deep down to about 320 feet making a majestic waterfall. The forest is so dense that even sunrays find difficult to pierce through it. forest. A place of scenic beauty and picnic spot.

Koel View Point :
3 kms from Netarhat and a good site for viewing Koel river. The beauty of the river leaves spell bound effect on any body's mind. Specially at the time of sunrise and in the moonlit night its beauty surprise all imagination.

Lodh Fall :
About 60 kms away from Netarhat deep in to the forests the river Burha makes a fantastic and majestic water fall of about 468 feet height claiming to be the highest waterfall of Jharkhand. The thundering sound of the fall is audible even 10 kms from it. The spectacular sight of the fall explains the profundity and greatness of the nature. water falls from a height of 468 feet.

Radani Fall :
Just 35 kms from Netarhat surrounded by loving hills, hillocks, forests, streams and waterfalls Rajendra is a dream destination to relax. The charms and beauty of the place is so enchanting and profound that it has got its nick name "Mini Pahalgam".

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