Varanasi .day 3

 We started with BHU temple of Mahadev, it is also very important there and I wanted to see BHU also. It is a huge campus, infact a mini city with all amenities, and hospitals even. In centre of temple is main deity Mahadev shivling  and then there are all others like Ganeshji, Durgaji and Saraswatiji.From the first floor one can have an air view of campus and city..  All around gardens are there and at one place there are 5 trees good for environment like Pakar, Goolar mango, peepal Bargad 

Next we went to Sarnath, there is one Stupa , Dhanek Stupa on the way And next is Buddhist monastery, there god Buddha gave his first sermon to his first  5 desciples who went all around to spread his teachings. We can see Buddha in different mudras like giving blessing, teaching etc. In the area some ethnic people stay and Pali and Sanskrit are taught there and they are taught skills to earn.The tree behind Buddha has grown from the seeds of the same tree Buddha disciples planted in srilanka.

Then there is Combodian  monastery, Thai monastery and sarnath shiv temple.

Next day we visited Markandey Mahadev , it’s 30 km in Kaithi. Another ancient temple, where people come and pray for long life and children.

I have a few suggestions here

If one wants to just have darshan of Vishwanathji, one can go either through VIP( if you have contacts)..then u can have any day any time, otherwise go in the morning and take a ticket for sugar darshan and spend sometime there..It will be memorable for u, and try to avoid weekends and festivals and Monday.One May opt for abhishekam also.Morning Arti at 3 AM is best if one can manage early mornings 

BHU temple, sankat Mochan and Tulsimanas can be seen in2-3 hrs ,they are in same line and then one can go to Assi ghat.. and spend the whole evening there just walking,sitting or eating.. it’s ethereal to watch the lights coming up.. absolute delight.In the evening Ganga Arti should also be seen.

Stay in the city and take local  E Rickshaw to go around, we stayed in cantt and waisted lot of time in commuting.

Food is available everywhere, try tamatar chaat, pehalwan lassi, and all street food, it is good there.

Varanasi- day2

 Second day we started with Sankat Mochan temple, there also one has to deposit

mobile outside, and then we went inside , it’s Hanumanji temple built in a very big area and good landscaping, beautiful area.

In the same line at a little distance is Tulsi Manas temple. It is said that tulsidasji wrote Ramayana here. Whole  Ramayana is written on the walls there and on first floor, whole Ramayana is depicted through tableau of all the main incidents in Ramayana and Krishna Leela, it’s beautiful to see.

From here we went to Vindhyachal.. Shakti peeth, it’s one and half our journey . Temple is situated at the hilltop..not really , just a little higher and car goes almost all the way. It’s more crowded on festivals and holidays, we were so happy that we could have darshan there, someone local helped us also.

Then we returned around 3.30 and had lunch on the way, there was nothing very good available in dhabas or restaurants.In the evening we did some shopping at Suvidha sarees, Peetambri and Dhunka at Sigra, Suvidha is most reasonable and good.

I think one should do Sankat Mochan, Tulsimanas and BHU mahadev temple together and the Assi ghat as they are in one line or nearby. It will save time.

Trip to varanasi

 Once I read a book by Pankaj Tripathi and his descriptions about just walking on varanasi ghats and having a divine feeling , and from that time it was on my bucket list. And I loved it

We started from Lucknow around 6.30 by cab and reached varanasi around 12.30. Since we went via Jaunpur , we didn’t find any good place for tea or washrooms even. We had booked ourselves in India Benares in Cantt. So after check in we went to Kashi Vishwanath temple for darshan, there either one can stand in a general queue or take a ticket of Rs 300/- to make it quicker. Being a Sunday it was very crowded, so it’s better to plan it avowing Sunday Monday and any other holiday. Mobile and eatables are not allowed inside, so keep them out in lockers and go inside. There they allowed us only 1 minutes to darshan and then we were out. But now it’s a big place called corridor  and one can walk around and see various other temples and sit and enjoy. Once outside we went to kaal bhairav temple by rickshaw, there are all small lanes, so only rickshaw can go, and there was a very long que for darshan in a small conjugated place , I felt suffocated, so we came back and had a walk in Vishwanath Gali, tried some street food and then went to Dashashvmedh ghat.. there vehicles are not allowed, so either one can walk or take manual rickshaw , wheelchairs are also available. It’s a walk on crowded street with hawkers of local products and eateries, once we reach the end of road, there are 100..150 stairs  to reach Ganges, we went down and took a boat just for our family.. four adults .. for 2500/-, he showed us all main ghats .. harishanchandra and Manikarnika, both ghats are meant for burning pyres and all, there are total 60-80 ghats, all beautifully lighted, in the end he parked us in front of Ganga Nidhi Sadan area for ganga Arti. It is a beautiful ritual performed at 6. .. 6.30 pm in a grand way. One can watch either from the ghats or from the boat. 5-7 priests do it with shlokas and and music. 

Though two adjoining ghats were performing Arti but not together, separately and it was jarring to the ears, wish they could do it together, it would be a very melodious experience then. 

Then we got down at Maanmandir ghat as there were less stairs to climb and being all senior citizens we were dead tired, we saw Dolphin restaurant and anyhow reached there and had dinner there only. It’s location is perfect.. one can watch Arti sitting there, they have a guest house too, so good for staying too. After that we came out of serpentine lanes and took a riksha and came back to hotel.

My takeaway.. better to plan darshan in week days and if possible early mornings 

Stay in the city and go around in with rickshaw or walk as city has very narrow lanes and too much traffic.food is plenty and available everywhere and very reasonably priced.

Hanuman dhaam

 It is a beautiful religious place, though most of the people go with a feeling of picnic and enjoyment. There it was clearly written . No photo and selfi and even one attendant kept telling people but nobody listened, kids were playing inside and young and old were all the time interested in making videos and taking selfies. Seeing such crowd totally spoiled my mood. People don’t want to maintain the sanctity of the place  It’s in Ramnagar .and constructed beautifully . There are around 30 stairs which may be difficult for some but they are constructing ramp for wheel chair. Temple is closed from 1 pm to 2 PM only.

They have shown many different statues of Hanumanji.. panchmukhi, with Anjana mai and other gods too. All in marble and dressed beautifully.

In UP people are so immersed in enjoying everything that you will find food items everywhere. I just hope that once it starts in full swing there won’t be heaps of trash and disposables.And people come here for praying and finding peace here and then enjoy the food and area, instead of coming here to enjoy and see the temple.

Musings of a disillusioned soul

 Now a days I am in my hometown, and meeting lot of people here and I observed that now a days people maintain relationships only for fun or for sake of fun. There is no depth or any social protocol about it.

Personally I am a person who has no facade and I can’t maintain sweetness for the sake of it. I may be friendly with only few persons but that will be real and in all conditions and situations  I will be there,

But I see many people young and old, who are always extra sweet and show niceties today and gone tomorrow, or when you want them to ask your whereabouts or welfare, you wouldn’t find them anywhere. But again they will appear at their own convenience and with an attitude that there is no difference as if nothing happened..

And all this irritates me a lot and I get stressed a lot and not able to reconcile my self with this way of living..

For me all relationships, be it friends or relations should be genuine, specially at my age I don’t want and need to suffer such fakes, can’t understand how could someone be happy with this way of living. But I think this is new world where instant enjoyment, satisfaction and fun are only important thing in life, not ethics, honesty or integrity. Today every one wants money at any cost and then they want better houses , cars , travels all materialistic pleasure, not much thought is given to finer aspects of life. A life lived with values is more important and brings infinite satisfaction, but alas, not many people want to think in this direction.

People are respected for their monetary acquisitions not for their character , education or intellect.

Sad state of affairs today!

  

Srisailam .. ll & lll day

 Next day we had breakfast of dosa Idly on the roadside stalls just outside our lodge and that person served us with so much love that I felt so content. And then our first point was Patal Ganga..  here it is believed that if you take bath there it cures skin diseases.and it is advised not to use soap or shampoo there but people were using it there and water was getting dirty. They have changing rooms for women. First we took ropeway to reach down at the bottom there. Ropeway ticket is 65/- adult and available every 10 minutes from 10-5 pm.It’s only 5 minutes journey but very enjoyable to see the place from there. Once we reached there we just saw the bathing place and offered diya and Prasad to Krishna river.

Then we took the ticket for Akka mahadevi caves. It is 400/ - per adult for to and fro. Total trip takes 3-4 hrs, one hour each for going and coming. Our motor boat started around 10.30. Must be 20-25 people in the trip.we were all asked to wear life jackets all the time and not move here to there much.whenever someone tried to take off the jacket tour driver insisted upon wearing it. One more instruction.he said.. don’t drop anything, any plastic bottle, wrapper in water , even by mistake because tourism department is very strict and always watching, they come immediately and charge heavily and don’t listen to any excuse.

On way we can see some hutments, power houses 🏠 n shores.it is said that Akka mahadevi did penance there and then mahadev appeared in the form of swayambhoo. Shivling. It’s naturally offered water 365 days in a year.It but s 13th century place. After one hour we reached there and then it’s 10 minutes trek to the main place. It’s rocky but has railings, so manageable. Once I reached there I was stupefied to see the nature’s wonder, it’s all rocks, such big ones, one can see with awe only, our culture and history both are so grand.Then there is a 5 minute climb to the real place. It’s dark, rocky uneven and with slush and in the end it’s height is only 3 ft, so one has to bend and May be squatting, and there is shortage on f oxygen too, so I didn’t go but my husband did.. it was tough. And then one more small trek for ganpati darshan and we came back., took the ropeway back..and then we looked for change of hotel and now found a room in Haritha resort ( govt one ) and thank god it’s a good one for 2150/- with complimentary breakfast.

Now lunchtime was gone, so we headed for some hot snacks and tea and then went to see shivaji spoorty stadium.. here shivaji meditated and then goddess gave him a sword. Here we find all memorabilia of Shivaji maharaj. 

Next was Rudra vanam near to this only.. it’s a big park well maintained with few stone sculptures . Beautiful place for nature lovers and one could see whole town also, for children there were swing slides, infact for kids they were there in all parks like Vasav vanam too, that is also a big park with landscaping and stone carved pillars and all but in all this area there were lots of locusts flying over all the time, so I didn’t feel like sitting and enjoying.Nearby is tribal museum too, we were tired so didn’t go inside.

Ill day… we packed up.. time to cherish the memories and go home. Coming back we saw Sakshi Ganpati temple, here it is said that pilgrims is complete only when you visit ganpati and tell him your gotra, so that he will tell his father shiva and will be a Salzgitter to your visit.

Next stop was Paldhara panchdhara.. here five streams are coming and it is believed that it is coming from Pal. Head of shiva.. again it’s 160 steps down and then coming back is little tiring for us.

All done and now lessons learned from this trip..

1-Always book your accommodation in advance.

2-Weekends

are always crowded, so if you want to enjoy leisurely go in midweek only

3-When you go to Akka Mahadevi caves, take some water and snacks with you, in that trip of 3-4 hrs you will not find anything.

4- For main darshan take a dhoti with you.

5..Tiger reserve is a half day trip and you have to book in advance and it opens in October only , so we missed it.

Srisailam..first day

 This was on my places to see list for a long time , so when I got sometime , I started planning. First the duration of visit.. and I thought I would go for four days and see everything leisurely but when I searched I found most of the people visiting for a day or two only, so I was in dilemma and then thought .ok I will make it for 3 days atleast. Next mode of transport.. again I didn’t find any good buses on the route and train also doesn’t connect to the main place, so it has to be a cab only. I wanted some recommended service , none in my known circle recommended Ola for outstation, I checked savaari.com and Cabbazar.com.. , first one I didn’t find good reviews and second one most reviews were from north. Again I was skeptical about their sincerity  and Customercare, so I gave a feeler to my friends to find some known person and they found me one.. he had a Swift dezire.. good enough for us two people .And the driver turned out to be very good in all respects, caring, punctual, good driver and all. He charged us 12000/- for 3 days, all inclusive.

We started from Hyderabad around 9 AM.. within 30 minutes on the way there is Udupi.. good joint for breakfast. Spent half an hour and we were on the way.Roads are very good and after 70-80  km, forest area starts for 70 km.. Nalla malla forest.. it’s a dense forest and drive is very pleasant. They close that road after 6 from both sides. There are boards everywhere asking not to feed monkeys and no littering anywhere, otherwise penalty is 10000/-.. yes ten thousand, still people were feeding and at some places picnicking also.

On the way first we see a small dam and before entering Srisailam a majestic dam, water there coming in full force and a sight to see.Whole stretch was full of fish selling, drying and all and stinking. And people stop anywhere to buy or take pics without realising that they are creating a traffic jam.

We reached Srisailam around 2.30 and first we saw APTDC Haritha hotel, but there was no room available. We wanted to stay in close vicinity of temple only. And there are lodges in plenty but lot of stairs and some not very clean too  and still full due to it being Monday. Ultimately we found a room on first floor in a dharamshala near rope way.. it wasn’t to our liking but had no choice. Room was for 1100/- but had no facility of any food, tea, porter , even linen wasn’t good. 

We kept the luggage and went for a late lunch. Food is very good there and cheap also. We went to Ganesh Foodcourt and had chola bhatoore and stuff paratha and then went for a ticket to Abhishekam. There it was available for same evening from 6-9 PM, we took it and went for it around 7 PM. As usual camera and phones are not allowed, so put them in cloak room.there wasn’t much queue anywhere.It is mandatory for men to wear vests or dhoti and no shirt, for women it is Indian wear preferably sari , otherwise salwar kameej. My husband bought dhoti over there onlyThere are no signs to tell you anything, so we had to ask at every step, we went inside and collected pooja items and went in. there they asked us to wait , we waited around 40 minutes and they asked us inside in garbhgrah,. It took us 15 minutes to do pooja.. I heard that it’s the only Jyotirling where they let you touch it. After this we came out and one Swamiji asked us to sit and gave blessings.

Then we went to darshan of Ammavari Devi, wife of Mallikararjun Swamy. It is next only but some 20-25 stairs.

Temple is huge and well mainatained and there are many shivlings and Nandi statues but since they don’t allow photography we couldn’t take any memory.

Outside temple it’s very lively atmosphere with colorful shops, selling toys, pooja items and usual other things like bangles, garlands and all.All shops have vesti, shirts etc.

By the time we finished it was 9 pm, so went to dinner and back to lodge