Delightful Dassam Falls

During this New Year holidays, we were honoured by the visit of some of our relatives and friends from Kolkata. They came on a three-day short visit. We had a wonderful time with them. We went out every day to nearby tourist attractions. The first day, we went to Itkhori, the second day to Dassam Falls, and the last day to Rajrappa.

Dassam Falls is a beautiful waterfall near Ranchi in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It’s almost at a distance of 40 km from Ranchi near Tamaria village off the National Highway (NH-33).

The unique feature of this fall is that when the waterfall is seen, ten water streams are also seen falling. The Dassam Falls is the collective name for cascade type waterfalls Ranchi. They form the southern end of the Kanchi River.

When we arrived at the site, we were greeted by rhythmic Adivasi dance. It is the holiday season and so there was a huge crowd at the falls. It was the first Sunday of the year.

Dassam is a changed form of word Da-song which means in Mundari language the act of pouring water. Da means water and song mean pouring. The waterfall resembles like somebody is pouring water so the name was Da-song earlier but afterwards the name was changed to Dassam. The water of the Dassam Falls is very clean and clear.

The Dassam Falls is a natural cascade across the Kanchi River, a tributary of the Subarnarekha River. The river falls from a height of 44 metres (144 ft). The sound of water echoes all around the place.

Dassam Falls is an example of a nick point caused by rejuvenation. A nick point represents breaks in slopes in the longitudinal profile of a river caused by rejuvenation. The break in channel gradient allows water to fall vertically giving rise to a waterfall.  A break or change in slope, in the profile of a river that may be due to uplift of the land, causing Rejuvenation is known as nick point. Rejuvenation can be caused by varying factors such as a fault or fold.

We had a nice time enjoying nature at the foot of the falls. While climbing up to return we had hot aloor chops (potato fritters) and tea, which tasted awesome in the winter afternoon and after climbing up the stairs. Aloor chop is a snack widely available in Eastern India.

Whenever I visit Dasam Falls, it mesmerises me. It’s worth a visit if you are in Ranchi.