Kakolat (

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: ककोलत जलप्रपात) (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

in the

Nawada district Nawada district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. Nawada is its administrative headquarters. The district is the easternmost district of the Magadh division, one of the nine administrative divisions of Bihar. Th ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Overview

Kakolat is situated on the southern border of

, 33km from

Nawada Nawada is a city and a municipality in Bihar, India. It is also the headquarters of the Nawada district. It is the headquarters of the subdivision of the same name, lying on both sides of the Khuri River( also known as Sakri river in some part ...

and 4km from Thali Bazar. Kakolat waterfall cascades approximately 160 feet (49m), and creates a natural reservoir at its base. It is located near Govindpur police station and is surrounded by forests. Kakolat Waterfall is a popular tourist attraction located in Southern Bihar. Festivals and shows are hosted in the vicinity throughout the year. Visitors often bathe in its cold waters, which maintain a consistent temperature throughout the year.

Role in Indian Mythology

Treta Yuga ''Treta Yuga'', in Hinduism, is the second and second best of the four '' yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga Cycle'', preceded by '' Krita (Satya) Yuga'' and followed by '' Dvapara Yuga''. ''Treta Yuga'' lasts for 1,296,000 years (3,600 divine ye ...

, a king was cursed by a Hindu sage (spiritualist) to become a

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

and live at the Kakolat Falls. The

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

s visited the waterfall during their exile and in doing so liberated the king from his

curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particula ...

. The grateful king then proclaimed that any person who bathed in the waterfall would be spared from the plight of being reborn as a snake. As a result, devotees began to bathe in Kakolat to escape such a fate. Another version of the mythology mentions the king being cursed to become a dragon instead of a snake, and he used Kakolat as his abode. The

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

liberated him from this curse during their visit. According to regional

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

Lord Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one of ...

used to bathe in these waterfalls with his queens.

References

{{Rivers in Bihar Waterfalls of Bihar Nawada district Waterfalls of India