Travelogue of Maharashtra esp Chikhaldara, Lonar, Ajanta, Ellora and Aurangabad
23.10.11
we
started very early in the morning as we had to board the 6.15 am Geetanjali
express. So got up at 4 am, and we were out of the house by 4.45 am. We reached
Dadar comfortably and in 15 mins, Geetanjali express arrived. We got into our
compartment and into our seat. We were a bit hungry now so had our food, and
promptly went to sleep. The train was chugging along. We got up at aroound 12
in the noon, and then on were trying to sleep but could not. Our destination
was Shegoan, which was supposed to arrive at 2.30 pm. So we were playing games
and passing our time, which quickly passed. The train reached Shegoan at right
time.
We
got off the train and took an autorickshaw to the temple. The autorikshaw
person dropped us near Bhakt Niwas, which is where all the pilgrims stay. As
were also on a pilgrimage, we too decided to stay here. We went to the office
which is at Bhakt Niwas bldg no 5. There we had to fill up the form, and was allotted
a room in Bhakt Niwas bldg no 6. We settled in our room and after refreshing
ourselves decided to go to the temple.
The
darshan at the temple was quick. This temple is built in the memory of Gajanan
Maharaj, who was a saint in early 20th century. The best part of
this temple and the hostel is it is a spic and span place. There are hundreds
of volunteers who are always cleaning the temple premises and the hostel
premises. The rooms that we were staying were also a very clean and freshly
painted. We were told that the cleaning volunteers are from the Shegoan town
and work for free. The place where we keep footwear is also free. It is
prominently written everywhere that one should not try to bribe anyone. Over
all it a well managed place where you really feel soothing. No bribery, no priest
running around you to perform some pooja, nothing, but pure serenity. I had
heard about this place, but experienced it first hand about its holiness.
After
the darshan, we decided to go to Anand Sagar. It is a vast garden built by the
temple trust which is around 4-5 km away from the temple. There is a regular
bus service which is run free of cost, and takes us to to Anand Sagar. So we
were at Anand Sagar, got a ticket which costed us Rs 90/- for all four of us.
Once we entered we saw a large statue of the Saint Gajanan Maharaj. And
surrounding that was saints of different places and religion. Here too the place
was clean and well maintained. Then we went to aquarium. When we came out of aquarium,
we saw a toy trains and kids wanted to have a fun ride. We did so, and then
went to an open air auditorium where musical fountain is played
It
was 7pm and we were all tired. So we got into the bus again, got down at the
Bhakt Niwas. Food was available at the canteens of the trust. In one canteen a
thali was available at Rs 20/- and in other it was available at Rs 40/-. We
decided to have a thali of Rs 40/-. As always this canteen was also super
clean, and the food was also served in a squeaky clean plate. The food was a
bit spicy, but we had it. Bottled water was available at Rs 8 only. The entire
thing was run on an non profit basis and was still very well kept. We retired
for the day
24.10.11
We
got up early, and after having breakfast were ready to go back to Anand Sagar.
We got in the bus, and in 20 mins were at Anand Sagar.. So today we had almost
the entire day with us at this place. We started with a view at the open air
theatre. Saw the various statues of great Indian warriors here. From then on we
went to Dwarka Bet, a small island created to replicate Dwarka. We had some ice-creams
here, and were on the was to Dhyan Mandir. This is a replica of Swami
Vivekanand smarak at Kanyakumari, but without the statue of Swamiji. It has a
wonderful place for meditation. We meditated for some time and were back on trail.
Form then on we went to have our meals. Here too food was available at Rs 20
only and water for Rs 8 only. After having the meals we relaxed in a tent
created for relaxation with a chatai and pillows provided free of cost. After
some time of relaxation we were at the play park where the kids were frolicking
there time out. They were having a blast on the different play things and we
were just keeping a watch. Now it was also evening and at 7 pm the musical
fountain was supposed to start. We all went to the open air auditorium to have
a view of the spectacle. It was a wonderful experience, was one of the best
musical fountains we have seen, and we saw many in this vacation. This show was
over in 15 minutes, and we were out to get into the bus. But now there was a
large crowd waiting for the same. So we decided to take an autorikshaw to our
room. It costed us Rs 5 per seat to get there. We were in a hurry because the
next day we had a train to board at 5.30 am, and hence had to get up at 4 am.
We had food and were quickly into the bed, retired for the day.
25.10.2010
We
got up early at 4 am. After getting ready to go to that station, we checked out
of the Bhakt Niwas. We hired an Autorikshaw to go to the railway station. On
reaching Shegoan Railway Station we waited for some time. After the train
arrived we boarded it and were soon fast asleep. The train reached Amravati at
around 8 am. We quickly proceeded to the bus stand and got a bus to Paratwada.
This is a town which is close to Chikhaldara. We reached Paratwada at 9.30, but
there was no bus to Chikhaldara till 10.30am. So we waited and passed our time
playing games. When the bus arrived at 10.30, we boarded it and were soon on
the way to Chikhaldara. We were at Chikhaldara at around 12 noon. Then on we searched
for good hotels and finally settled for Pundalik Niwas,(Phone 9011871774),
which is a MTDC approved stay. It has a nice homely atmosphere. On checking in we had our food and though to
relaxing for some time. We thought of going for a stroll and exploring
Chikhaldara on foot. We went to the Forest Garden which is a walking distance. We had some fun there,
and it was dusk now. We retracted and went to the Chikhaldara Information
centre. There were some fantastic photos displayed here. By now it was pretty
dark. We went back to the stay, and asked the owner if he can arrange for a
vehicle to go to the Melghat forest, and all the points in and around
Chikhaldara. Mr Pundalik took us to a vehicle owner and Rs 2000 were decided
for a two day getaway in his Tata Sumo.
We
had our food and retired for the day
26.10.2011
On
getting up we had our bath, had a full breakfast, and were in the Vehicle for a
spin in the Melghat forest. In this time of the year it is a lush green forest.
The forest is made up of Teak trees. We saw a huge Owl, but it flew away before
we could shoot a photo. Then on we went to Kolkaj, which is a small place in
Melghat forest. It has a wonderful forest rest house. If we had known, we would
have booked this place for our stay. Well, we went to a small machan, which is
a watch tower, to keep a watch on wild animals. We had a few photographs there.
There is a small shack which cooks food for the visitors. We had a wonderful
lemon tea there. We were back in to the vehicle. The driver took us to place
where Jungle Safari starts. It is closed in this season, and was supposed to
open in December. We just had a glimpse of the same, and were back in the
vehicle. From there on we went to Semadoh, which is a small place in Melghat
forest. They had all the numbers where we could book the Jungle cottage to
stay, and other useful information.
But
the staffs were a bit non cooperative as they didn’t open up the museum there
for us to see. They said it opens at 3 pm, and it was a bit quirky, so to say
the least. After taking a look at the place we were back into the vehicle. The
driver was now supposed to take us to some points at Chikhaldara. The points
were good, were not so extraordinary to talk about.
Today
was Laxmi Poojan, a very auspicious day in Diwali, and we had a problem. All
the hotel there were closed and we were wondering what to have for dinner. We
talked with a few people there and found out that someone prepare Tiffin here.
We contacted him and he was ready to prepare Tiffin for us. We don’t know his
name but his phone no is 9175603376. He prepared food according to our liking,
and we were happy having it. Then we took a stroll in the Chikhaldara town, and
took photographs of the beautiful Rangoli that was drawn in front of almost all
houses. Now it was late, and we were in our bed.
27.10.2011
Today
we had to have a look at the fort at Chikhaldara. The fort is Gavilgad fort. So
we got ready in the morning and were in the vehicle on the way top the fort. On
the way we stopped at the Devi Point, which has a wonderful temple and a small
stream that flows adjacent to it. When we entered the temple, water was
dripping from everywhere. This temple is in a cave. It has a wonderful scenic
view. From then on we went to the Gavilgad fort.
Gavilgad
fort is all ruins with a few notable structures remaining inside. We could not
hire a guide as no guide was available as it was a New Year day of Diwali. We
just roamed inside, walked almost for an hour, but there were no tourist
around, and we were very lonely. We were back at the gate of this fort in one
and a half hour, and called our driver of the vehicle. He came, picked us up
and dropped to our hotel. We relaxed for some time and then went to a small
lake at Chikhaldara where there is boating facility. But after hearing some
horror stories of the boats, just enjoyed the scene of the lake, instead of
riding a boat. In some time, after taking some photos, we were back to our
hotel. Having had the dinner, we were fast asleep, as had to get up at 5 pm. The
first bus from Chikhaldara to Paratwada was at 6 am.
28.10.11
Having
got up at 5 am, we were ready to go. The bus was at right time, and we were in
it at 6 am. The bus was to Amravati, and we decided to go to Amravati, and then
on get into the bus to Hingoli We were at Amravati in 2 hours time. From there
we got into a bu to Washim, as direct bus to Hingoli was not available anytime
soon. In 2 hours we were at Washim. It was almost 11 am now, and the bus stand
as it was bhau beej in Diwali. We has to let go 2 buses to Hingoli, but
struggle to get into the third bus. It was a one and a half hour drive, and the
journey was fairly comfortable. Once at Hingoli, I called my relative on phone,
and he picked us up from there. For that day and for the next day we were stay
put at there residence, hence would not like to elaborate on it.
30.10.11
Today
was our plan to go to Lonar. We got into a bus to Risod. From Risod, we took
another bus to Lonar. We got down at Lonar, and straight away proceeded by an
autorikshaw to the place where we could walk down to Lonar Lake. We walked down
to Lonar Lake and it was a breath taking scenery. The water was all green, and
we walked down to the temple of Kamljadevi Temple at Lonar. We had some
refreshment there, the ones we were carrying, and without polluting the
environment in any way, were back to where we started. We went to temple of
Gomukh, from where the water was flowing down into Lonar Lake. This place was
also called as Kada. We were there for some time and were back to bus stand. We
missed on Daityasudan Surya temple, as we really didn’t know about it. It is
said to be a mini replica of Khajuraho temple. Once into the bus, we were on
our way to Buldhana, as Ajanta was close from there. It was late evening and
getting dark when we reached Buldhana, and decided to call it a day here. It
was a bad decision, as we could not get a single decent Hotel here, and the
food too was very pathetic. But we had
so spent our night here, which we did.
31.10.11
Early
in the morning we were on the bus to Ajanta. But once in the bus the conductor
told us that it was Monday today and Ajanta was closed. The bus left us on the
highway to Aurangabad, and soon we were on the bus to Aurangabad. By mis noon
we were at Aurangabad, and checked into the room at 1.30 pm. The hotel where we
checked in was Hotel Sai Plaza. We hired a room there for Rs 600/- only. The
rooms were decent, with a large 32 inch TV, but the owner was a big fussy guy.
He was so fussy that we stayed there for three days still he refused to keep
our luggage for a few hours and demanded some more money as Cloak charges. I
thought it was very mean and unprofessional on his part, so would caution
regarding the same.
Once
we checked into the room, we thought of what to do. We had the entire day to
our disposal and nothing to do, as wife’s mommy and day were to arrive the next
day, and we had planned and outing with them. So just roamed around, relaxed
and went to be.
1.11.11
Today
Ellora was closed, as it closed on Tuesday, and my MIL and FIL were supposed to
come by around 2 pm. So on kids insistence, watched Ra one in a theatre close
by. As the movie ended, it was almost 1 pm. We went to our room, and relaxed
for an hour. In an hour MIL and FIL arrived. We had our lunch and quickly got
into a bus to Paithan. The road to Paithan was really bad and a journey that
should take one and a half hour took us two and a half hour.
On
reaching Paithan we went straight to the temple of Saint Eknath Maharaj. It is
a wonderful place with lot of history attached to it. There is a beautiful
Godavari flowing behind, and that adds to the serenity of the place. From there
on we went to the place where Saint Dyaneshwar made Ox to recite Vedas. This
place is also called as Nag Ghat, and again a very serene place. On the way
back we also went to the place where Saint Eknath lived which is now converted
into a temple. From there on we went to
the Garden at Paithan. It is a huge garden with fountains, and a musical fountain
show is held at 7 pm. We watched this musical fountain show, with a puppet
show, and then were back into the bus to Aurangabad. On reaching Aurangabad, we
had our food and retired for the day.
2.11.2011
Today
was our plan to visit Ellora, and other places in Aurangabad. We had hired an
Aurorickshaw for Rs 650 for 4 of us, another one at the same cost for MIL and
FIL. He was supposed to take us to all the important places in Aurangabad. So
we started with Daulatabad Fort, also called ad Devgiri Fort. It is a wonderful
fort, almost like the red fort of Agra, but not as grand. We had a look at the
Bharat Mata temple, the minar, Andheri Gupha, or dark alley, chini Mahal, the
palace of Nizam, and Bardari of a palace with twelve doors at the summit of the
fort. There is also the Samadhi of Janardhan
Swami who was known to be the guru of Saint Eknath.
From
there on we were back in to the Autorikshaw. We went to Bhadra Maruti Temple,
where Hanuman is seen as sleeping. This temple has a beautiful mirror work all
around and is like a sheesh Mahal. From there on we went to Grishneshwar temple
which is a very holy place and one of the 12 Jyotirlings. Dedicated to lord
Shiva, is has intricate carvings on the inside and outside. After visiting this
place we were on our way to Ellora. We were just eager to see this great place
which is a world heritage site. We went straight to the cave 16 which is the
best and most elaborate cave in the entire Ellora. We spent almost 2 hours in
this one cave alone. This temple is carved out of a mountain and was constructed
from up to down. That also means that the entire complex is in one piece stone.
With the carvings depicting Ramayana on one side and Mahabharata from the
other, it is one of the wonders of the world, how such grand structure was
conceptualized and then made almost 1200 years a go. It took almost 200 years
for this grand structure to be made. It is really very surprising, that the
artisan with very rudimentary tools could accomplish such a beautiful art form
and that too spanning around 200 years, which means almost 8 to 10 generations.
This is a true masterpiece that would make any Indian proud of its heritage.
Then we quickly saw all the other caves some of which are good, and some of it,
in bad shape. There are some Buddhist
caves and some Jain caves. Cave no 32 is also a good one, and not to be missed.
A photo journey can be taken by visiting the picassa site. Now it was late and
we were back to our place. Next day was allotted to Ajanta.
3.11.2011
As
Ajanta is around 100 kms away from Aurangabad, we decided to an early morning
bus, so that we can reach early and have enough time to have a look at the
world famous caves. So we started early, and reached the foot hills of the
caves. He had some meals here, and proceeded in the government bus to Ajanta.
On reaching Ajanta, we started to have a look at one cave after another.
Because of the deterioration of the paintings in the caves, a very low
intensity light is focused in the caves. It takes some time to get adjusted to
this light, but once adjusted it becomes easy to enjoy the spectacle. The local
caretaker of the cave can be hired as a guide at a very nominal cost and he
gives a very interesting piece of information. The best mural paintings are
found in cave no 1, 2, 16, 17, and 19. The best sculptures are found in cave no
1, 4, 17, 19, 24 and 26. These caves are seen to be believed, so without
elaborating on it, I would conclude the day here. We got a bus from the foot
hills of Ajanta back to Aurangabad and soon were in the comforts of our room.
4.11.2011
Today
was the day when we had a train at night at 11.45 pm. So we had our entire day
at our disposal. We started at around 9 am after having our breakfast and
visited the Pan chakki, a Water mill build by a Muslim saint some 33 years
back. From there on we went so see Bibi Ka Makbara, a mini Taj Mahal, built by
the son of Aurangzeb in the memory of his mother. It is a nice structure, but
if you compare it to Taj Mahal, if is a very simple structure. But it is
considered to be one of its kind structure in Deccan Region. By 12 in the noon
we were free and came back to our room. We had to check out from the room at 2
pm, so we relaxed for some time. At 2 pm we checked out, and went to the
Siddharth Udyan, which is next to the Central bus Stand. This is a zoo and a
garden. So we went there, and MIL and FIL taking care of our luggage, went to
have a look at the Zoo. The zoo is nice with Leopards, Lions, and Tigers in it.
The tigers and Lions are kept in open enclosure, so it is nice to see them
frolicking. We had a nice look at these animals and were there till 5 pm. At 5
pm, the zoo was closed and we came to the park. We had fun in the park till 8
pm, till the time of closing of the park. Once the park closed, we went to a
restaurant to have food, and then proceeded to the railway station. We waited
for our train, and once it arrived we into it and back to our favourite place
our SWEET HOME.
Thus
ended our wonderful tour to a part of Maharashtra. I Hope after reading this
travelogue, some of you might be be tempted to visit this place.
Take
care and Happy Journey
The photos of the journey are available at https://picasaweb.google.com/sndarvekar/Maharashtra2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJuW6ISRsIDwJw&feat=directlink
The photos of the journey are available at https://picasaweb.google.com/sndarvekar/Maharashtra2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJuW6ISRsIDwJw&feat=directlink
We have a travel website which is a Maharashtra travel Guide in which we have a page for Chikhaldara with lot of information regarding the place. We are trying to include
ReplyDeleteinfo regarding Chikhaldara Hotels. We also have a page for blogs on
Chikhaldara. Do let us know if you would like to feature your blog in the Chikhaldara Blogs page in puneritraveller.com.
Please write to puneritraveller at gmail dot com
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