Jhargram, July 13 -- Every monsoon, long before sunrise breaks over the forests of Bengal's Junglemahal, thousands of devotees begin a silent ascent up the rocky slopes of Kanaisar Hill. Carrying terracotta horses, vermilion and flowers, they climb not merely to offer prayers but to renew a centuries-old covenant between humans and nature.
More than 105 years after historian Yogesh Chandra Basu chronicled this extraordinary pilgrimage in Medinipurer Itihas (History of Medinipore), Kanaisar Hill remains one of eastern India's most enduring folk shrines-where mythology, indigenous traditions and ecological reverence continue to shape a living cultural landscape.
The festival is far from over. The second and concluding phase of the annual Ka...