Ghagra Falls

Eight kilometres north of Belpahari, the Tarafeni river slips out of the forest, vanishes into a deep black-stone canyon and re-emerges as a cascade of rock pools, ledges and sudden chutes. This is Ghagra, a name that is either a corruption of the tribal word gagra, meaning a water-pitcher (the gorge is shaped, roughly, like one), or, according to another story, the phonetic rendering of an indigo merchant named Frederick Rise who came here to picnic in the 1870s.
Strictly, Ghagra is not a waterfall. It is a river gorge, a rare geological feature in the Gangetic plains, where the Tarafeni has chiselled through black basaltic rock over millennia to create what locals call jolodhara, a chain of rushing channels and natural bowls. In monsoon the roar is thunderous; in winter, the river spreads over the rocks in clear, wadeable shallows. The Bengali film Behula Lakhindar was shot here and you can see why: the canyon's black walls, the bare laterite ridges above, the occasional peacock gliding across the sky have a distinctly un-Bengali, almost Central Indian quality.
Visiting: A rough forest track branches off the Belpahari-Kankrajhor road and ends at a small clearing. From there a boulder-hop of 100m takes you down to the gorge. There is no ticket, no guardrail, no shop, only a single chai stall in peak season.
When to come: Arrive at dawn for the best light and utter solitude; by 11am on a holiday weekend the rocks will be lined with picnicking families.
Safety note: The rocks are treacherously slick when wet. In monsoon, the current at the upper channels can sweep a grown adult off their feet within seconds. Stay below the main cascade and do not swim in the deep pools unless accompanied by someone local.