Located in the south-eastern part of Bihar, Banka district could well be the state&rsquos lake district, with nearly 11 big and small lakes to its credit. To start with, you may visit the Odhni Lake along with a visit to the Mandar Hill, a pilgrimage centre. You may add Odhni dam and Mandar hill to your trip to the famous pilgrimage centre of Deoghar.
Odhni Dam
The most popular among them being the Odhni dam reservoir, located in Lodham village. Around eight square km in area, the lake is surrounded by hillocks and has several islands within. Apart from being developed as a popular tourist zone, with landscaped gardens and dedicated picnic zones, it also offers water sports facilities. Motorboat, speed boats and jet skiing have already been introduced. Although the lake may be visited round the day, dawn and dusk are the best, when the water catches the scintillaitng rays of the sun.
One of the islands witin the lake is also being developed as a tourist zone and can be visited by motorboat.
You may also take a ride in the dam between 10am and 6.30pm.
Mandar Hill
From Odhni dam, drive down to Mandar Hill about 35km away by road. According to local belief, this was the Mandar hill which was used as an anchor to churn the ocean during the legendary Amrita Manthan. Today, the 800 feet high granite hill is a pilgrim spot. The Bihar government has also built a ropeway for the ease of pilgrims. The ride takes around four minutes from the base station to the top. There are eight cabins with a capacity to seat four people each.
Getting there Odhni Dam is about 65km from Bhagalpur city, and takes around two hours to reach. From Deoghar, Odhni is about 60km by road. The best time to visit both places is in winter.
