Photo: Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hill · birds
A bare rock hill carved with giant birds by Chitta Dey's team
Overview
Hill · birds
Pakhi Pahar, the 'bird hill', is the popular name of Murraburu, a bare rock hill in the Matha forest. Since the mid-1990s the Kolkata sculptor Chitta Dey and carvers he trained from nearby villages have been cutting enormous birds directly into its face, with animals carved on the boulders below. The figures can be seen from the main road, and local women guide visitors around the site.
Murraburu, a name explained as 'bald hill', is a largely bare hill of about 480 m. On its western face the team marked out a first panel about 800 ft by 600 ft, and across it bird after bird is taking shape, the smallest with a wingspan of about 55 ft and the largest about 120 ft. The plan is a flock of more than a hundred birds, wing to wing.
This is in-situ carving: instead of quarrying stone and sculpting it elsewhere, the team works on the hill itself, hanging in harnesses on ropes. Each bird is studied from all sides for at least a month, drawn on paper, then marked on the rock in yellow, blue and white enamel paint before cutting starts. A single figure can take six months to a year, and work stops in extreme heat and in the monsoon.
At the foot of the hill, scattered boulders carry a second series: peacock, deer, elephant, squirrel, crocodile and the pangolin, chosen because it is threatened. The project has also given work to young people from the surrounding villages, whom Dey trained in carving, climbing and rappelling.
Past & present
History & stories
Chitta Dey, born in Kolkata in 1957 and trained at the Government Art College there, says the idea of carving a whole hill came to him at the start of the 1990s, when exhibition halls proved too small for his large sculptures. He searched for more than three years before choosing a hill in the Ajodhya range, and permission came in the mid-1990s after many rounds of government offices; accounts give 1995 or 1996.
Between 1995 and 1999 Dey trained about thirty young people from local villages, with friends paying for the training, and the first drawing was finished in 1999. Cutting began only in 2008, when central government funds came through his trust, the Flight to Harmony Foundation. Work then halted for about five years from 2010 because of Maoist activity in the area, resuming in 2015.
In 2015 Dey also opened an arts centre called Aina near the hill to train local youngsters. The state government, the Purulia Zilla Parishad and the panchayat samiti have supported the work, and the government has planted trees and improved roads around the site. Published counts of finished birds vary widely, as carving continues, so none is given here.
When you're there
See & do
Look up at the rock face to pick out the birds, some finished, others still outlines in paint. They are large enough to be seen from the Balarampur–Baghmundi road.
Walk among the boulders at the foot of the hill to find the animal carvings, including peacock, deer, elephant, squirrel, crocodile and pangolin.
Forty-one women from four self-help groups take turns guiding visitors through the hill's forest, explaining the carvings, the trees and the birds and animals of the area. They also clear plastic litter from the forest each morning.
In the cooler, drier months you may see carvers on ropes high on the face; work pauses in extreme heat and in the rains.
Gallery
Photos
Getting there
From Rangamati
Pakhi Pahar is 6.5 km by road from the resort, to the south-east. A local guide, sightseeing cab or driver can be arranged on request.
Before you go
Through the year
Seasons & festivals
March – June
Carving pauses in extreme heat, so a visit between April and June is less likely to find the team at work.
July – September
Work also stops in the rains, when the rock is too dangerous for carvers on ropes.
October – February
The busiest tourist season in the Ajodhya hills, and a comfortable time for a guided walk around the hill.
Good to know
Questions
About 6.5 km by road, along the Balarampur–Baghmundi road.
The Kolkata sculptor Chitta Dey, with a team of carvers from nearby villages whom he trained himself. The project has been under way since the mid-1990s, and the cutting of the rock since 2008.
No entry fee is documented. In 2023 the women's guide service charged ₹100 per vehicle for a guided walk; check the current rate on arrival.
Yes, at least in part: the bird panels can be seen from the main road, and the carved boulders are at the foot of the hill. The guided walk into the forest is optional.
Possibly. The team works in harnesses on the rock face but stops in extreme heat and in the monsoon, so the cool, dry months give the best chance.
Yes. Both hills are in the Matha forest near the resort, and the resort can arrange a cab or guide for a short circuit.
Make a day of it
Close by
Other places close to this one, so you can see a few in a single trip.
On our suggested itineraries
From our travel journal
Places to see
Trip planningSources: en.wikipedia.org · thebetterindia.com · openstreetmap.org · en.wikivoyage.org · outlookindia.com · commons.wikimedia.org · theweekendleader.com · everythingexperiential.com · sangbadpratidin.in · en.wikivoyage.org · openstreetmap.org · router.project-osrm.org
Rangamati is your base for the Ajodhya hills — tell us your dates and we'll plan the drive.
