Manendragarh. Chhattisgarh is famous for its historical and natural heritage. There is also a place here which shows the history of the Earth millions of years ago. This place is Gondwana Marine Fossil Park, which is located in Manendragarh-Chirmi-Bharatpur district. Today, Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal inaugurated the Jurassic Rock Garden at this unique Fossil Park. The park is the first Jurassic Rock Garden in Chhattisgarh and is the largest marine fossil park in the continent of Asia.
29 million years old marine fossils are found here
Gondwana Marine Fossil Park has found about 29 million years old sea fossils. In India, such fossils are found in only four other places – Subansuri (Arunachal Pradesh), Rajhara (Jharkhand), Darjeeling (West Bengal) and Khemgaon (Sikkim). Gondwana Fossil Park is the largest and oldest among all of them. Fossils of organisms are spread over the area of about 1 km along the Hasdev River. It also has the status of National Geological Memorial. The location was discovered by geologist SK Ghosh in 1954 during coal mining.
Gondwana Marines have found fossils of ancient marine organisms such as Dwiptali (Bayvelv) organisms, gastropods, braciopods, crinoids and brozoa from Gondwana Fossil Park. Due to this, it has also become a center of attraction for researchers and tourists from all over the country. This has been confirmed in 2015 by Birbal Sahni Institute of Palentology, Lucknow. According to scientists, the region was immersed in the sea during the Permian era, and later the sea level was converted into fossils due to decrease in the sea level.
Forest department took initiative to conserve 5 years ago
Significantly, till 5 years ago, this area was lying vacant without conservation. The Forest Department took the initiative to protect it. Manendragarh DFO Manish Kashyap (IFS 2015 batch) has developed the sector specially from the tourism point of view. The region has been developed as a major tourist destination on the lines of Dinosaur Fossil Park in Gujarat and Jharkhand. The art works of ancient animals have been made by cutting the natural hard granite rox on the banks of the Hasdev River, which is attracting tourists.
Gondwana Marine Fosil Park is made in 35 ancient animals statues
So far 35 ancient animals statues have been made in this park, which shows what kind of giant animals lived in the Earth earlier. Apart from this, an interpretation center has also been created, where tourists can know the process of fossil and 450 million years of the Earth’s changes. Facilities like Cactus Garden, Bamboo Set and Bamboo Rafting are also being developed in the park.
This innovative initiative of the forest department will identify Gondwana Marine Fosil Park as a big tourist destination of Chhattisgarh. The Health Minister praised the Forest Department and said that this park will be the most prominent tourist destination in Chhattisgarh in the coming time.
Don’t forget to follow the WhatsApp channel of lalluram.com.
