Initial plan as shown below:
Introducing Sandeep Maheshuni (Colleague of Quintilesims) whose initial talk of nearby Shani temple in and around Bangalore made me (Prathik Bhat) to push him for planning something big which involve Shani Shignapur initially thought impossible looking at the schedule then determined to go for it!!!
We had a quick look at the pricing of the flight and as it was off season, lucky to have pricing within budget.
Sandeep made a call to Durgesh Jhariya(Another Colleague of Quintilesims) who accepted to join our way. Initial plan shown here made by only me and Sandeep as Durgesh was out of town for 15 days. Durgesh had some experience of visiting Pune and Shani Shignapur but we both going to North for the first time. Go on to see how experience helped us in this trip ;)
We had the above initial plan until Durgesh Jhariya is back from his hometown and he started involving himself. We had the head storming sessions with which place to include and which one to remove and had a tough time ending up with only quarrel ;) All of our favorite place to visit Mahabaleshwar but I want to look at the sunset at a beach and thus Harihareshwar Beach was involved in the plan. Lavasa was Durgesh Jhariya's favorite spot so that was involved in the plan but nothing was getting finalized due to the journey. Sandeep's favorite spot was Alibag which again was adding up lot's of journey thus we were ending up nowhere with only flight ticket booked as below:
GoAir is delighted to confirm your booking. Your PNR is Z5TSHP for your flight G8 - 292 departing on 07 Sep at 2330 hrs from BLR to PNQ which cost Rs. 5289.00 for three persons.
Your Airline PNR for Go Air Flight G8-293@01:25 on Tue 12 Sep 17 from Pune to Bangalore is T83SJW which cost Rs. 4243.00 for three persons.
Total "to" and "fro" cost per person for the flight was rounded to Rs. 3177.00.
Well, we have all the information available infact a lot more than required which usually put us on confusion. Now, since there has to be some way or the other to come out I sat in front of my system on a weekend(August 5th, 2017), opened google map and put only "Mahabaleshwar". I was scanning through map and suddenly noticed "Kolhapur" down the lane which we never thought about it before. I always heard of Kolhapur Mahalakshmi temple famously known as Ambabai. I had a quick look at the bus from "Pune to Kolhapur" and it was available early morning by 2:20 AM to my surprise.
Details of the revised plan made by me as follows:
 |
| Plan for Day 1 |
 |
| Plan for Day 2 |
 |
| Plan for Day 3 |
 |
| Plan for Day 4 |
Well, I have made the plan but need to convince the other two was again a difficult task ;)
On the same day evening, I have made a call to Durgesh and the interesting thing about him is before you talk one word, he will complete ten sentence without break :D Anyways I made him to calm down and look at the plan made. Finally we both came to the same frequency in thoughts and later I spoke with Sandeep who was confident enough on us two and so he was least bothered :D
We booked the bus tickets as below:
redBus mTicket
Please present this mTicket at the time of boarding.
Route: Pune to Kolhapur
Ticket No: TK9J29576548
PNR: 63529281
Travels: Neeta Travels
Departure: 02:05 AM Sep 8, 2017
Seat Numbers: C2,C1,C5
Total Fare Paid: Rs.2195
We have also booked the train ticket as below:
Along with above we have booked a room in Nashik as per our plan.
We are very much excited now as everything was finally settled down and a plan is made. Day arrived so fast and our luggage all packed and there is nothing that can hold us back :)
DAY 1:
 |
| Sep 7th 11:30 PM at Kempegowda International Airport |
As scheduled, we boarded the flight and reached by 12:30 AM . It was raining outside and we booked a cab to the boarding point of bus to Kolhapur which is 23kms from Airport. We were at the boarding point by 1:45 AM and the bus arrived at 2:30 AM.
We took some rest during our journey to Kolhapur and reached by 6:30 AM. We booked an auto and went to Kolhapur temple. Auto driver was kind enough and took us directly to a room where we had hot water bath and changed our clothes.
We all set to visit Kolhapur Mahalakshmi Temple and took few snaps inside. To our surprise though it was on her day(Friday) there was very small crowd and the experience can't be explained in words.
Details and Significance of Kolhapur follows:
Kolhapur city situated in the south-west corner of Maharashtra, India. Kolhapur is one of the oldest civilizations of the country. Kolhapur's cultural history is dated back to 17th Century. Situated at the banks of River Panchganga, Kolhapur is called as DAKSHIN KASHI.City situated on the banks of river Panchganga. Kolhapur is a blend of ancient tradition and modern influences. In 1945, excavations on the Brahmapuri in Kolhapur revealed the existence of an ancient town dating back to the Roman era. Kolhapur had different dynasties ruling it in the past, but it was under the rule of the Marathas that it became a cultural hub. Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaja is an architect and founder of modern Kolhapur. Chhattrapati Shahu Maharaja's reign lent a progressive spirit to the city and the king extended his patronage to arts like theater, film making, music, painting, sculpture, wrestling and crafts like tanning and jewellery's making.
The Shri Mahalakshmi Temple of Kolhapur in Maharashtra, India, is one of the 108 Shakti Peethas listed in various puranas of Hinduism. The temple is of special religious significance and is considered to be a place where Shakti (goddess of empowerment) manifests and as one of only six sacred houses of Shakti where worshipers can either be freed from or granted their longings.
We came out with full of positive vibes and back to take back our luggage. We also heard from the auto-wala that next to temple is Bhavani Mantap(Picture below). Although smaller in size than Mahalaxmi temple, Bhavani Mandap holds equal importance to the citizens and pilgrims all over the country. It is the temple of goddess Tulja Bhavani (also known as Bhavani) who according to mythology is a guest for elder sister Mahalaxmi's city Kolhapur.
 |
| Bhavani Mandap |
 |
| Kolhapur chappal |
It was already 10:30 AM and we went to bus station for boarding bus to Satara. To our surprise, we seen KSRTC bus running in Maharastra and we boarded the same bus to Satara. Quality of bus was better than state run buses. We reached Satara by 12:30 PM and since we had heavy breakfast, no one was hungry. It was actually difficult for us to point the bus as our destination was "Mahabaleshwar" from Satara.
 |
| MSRTC buses |
We somehow got a bus(laal dabba) at 1:30 PM which was completely packed and managed to get three seats for us :P. It was a long journey of 66.9km as the bus went via Wai Taluk. On our way, I and Sandeep who was seated next to me site a girl. She was on her middle age with some kind of uniform and to our surprise, full of make up with finger's are filled with gold rings and Mehandi :) She was standing on the midway and some how my eyes met with her ;) Sandeep noticed too and one more girl, probably friend of her noticed me, Sandeep informed the girl. Now to our surprise, girl started looking at me and a smile on her face made me little shy ;) She got somewhere in between and I had to bid bye to her though the experience can't be explained :P
Picture follows the amazing hill stations bus was going through and we reached Mahabaleshwar by 4:30 PM.
It was a sunny day and now, we were tired and started searching for hotel to have our lunch. Upon few meters from Bus stand, there was one "Pure Veg" Hotel and we decided to finish our lunch there. Food was really good and the hotel management had the arrangements to visit nearby places in a car for the minimal cost of Rs.550. We quickly had our lunch and decided to start as time was very less to roam around Mahabaleshwar.
Almost everyone in Mahabaleshwar would know Panchganga temple, the temple where the waters of five rivers Koyna, Krishna, Venna, Savitri and Gayatri come together. But not many know about the Krishnabai temple, which is just a few hundred metres away. Krishnabai temple is supposed to be source of the Krishna river. The temple is quite old and surprisingly clean, in spite of being in ruins. But that is what makes it very photogenic.
Picture below shows the mesmerizing beauty of Mahabaleshwar:
 |
| Panchaganga Temple |
 |
| Krishnabai Temple |
 |
| Mesmerizing view from Krishnabai Temple |
 |
| Origin of Krishna River |
 |
| Krishnabai Temple |
At a distance of 7 km from Mahabaleshwar Bus Stand, Kate's Point and Elephant's Head Point are the most picturesque viewpoints of Mahabaleshwar in Satara district of Maharashtra.
The view from these points follows as our guys never got bored to click as many pics as possible.
Kate's Point area has 3 points in total; they are Kate's Point, Echo Point and Needle Hole Point or Elephant's Head Point. Kate's Point is named after the then British governor Sir John Malcolm's daughter. The original name of the point is Nake Khind and is situated at an altitude of 1290 m. Dhom dam as well as peaks of Kamalgadh, Pandavgadh and Mandardeo can be seen from Kate's Point.
Elephant's Head Point or Needle Hole Point is another popular vantage point in Mahabaleshwar, situated next to the Kate's Point. The overhanging cliffs of this point are similar to the head of an elephant and its trunk. Thus the point got its name as the Elephant's Head Point. One can see a natural rock formation with a hole in between, thus giving the name Needle Hole. Kate's Point and Needle Hole Point are often confused with Elephant Head Point which is near Lodwick Point. From this point, tourist can also get a view of the Sahyadri mountain range.
Caution to be careful if you have visit those places as there are chances of accidents.
Exploring Mahabaleshwar though it was long journey made us lost our mind with nature. Not to forget the strawberries which is in abundance and saw a farm which grow them. We missed to have them as time was running out and it was close to 6:00 PM however there was a street vendor who was selling carrots (yes, you heard me right). A giant carrots was being sold and we enjoyed our journey having them. My mouth waters by just the remembrance.
Our plan in the first pic did not worked now as it was impossible for us to reach satara station which will take close 3+ hours and we cancelled the train journey however we were lucky to had a back up. It was direct bus which was going from Mahabaleshwar to Pune and we reached Pune by 10:00 PM
Twist pitch in here as we didn't booked anything and as per Durgesh there was good network from Pune to Shirdi. As we were tired, had cane juice and vada pav at Pune which did not treat our taste buds well :( To our surprise/shock there was no seats were available in any buses going to Shirdi(Probably because of weekend). After lot of talk we got three seats in a Tempo traveler(TT) and upon a huge delay, TT arrived at around 12:00 AM. It was not even a "Pushback" to our dissatisfaction and we had to take it up as we didn't plan prior. TT was completely packed up.
DAY 2 :
The TT was heading to Nashik and except three of us everyone in the TT was going to Nashik. Driver did a trick here and made us to reach Nashik first but as per the route Shirdi comes first. Everyone in the cab got down and we shouted on the driver for not following the proper route.
Now since we already booked a room at Nashik and the checkin was at 10:00 AM, Durgesh and Sandeep wanted to change our plan to go Nashik first and it was only me who hanging around our plan. My reason was funny (we visited Kolhapur on Friday and Shani Shignapur has to be on Saturday) though I had to convince them to follow the plan :P
Upon lots of discussion, we finally headed to Shirdi which we reached by 5:00 AM and as per our plan (not scribled) we had to reach Shirdi by 3:30 AM for the Kakad aarati which will be done by 4:30 AM upon which gates will be closed till 6:30 AM. Since we already missed it, we just booked a room in Shirdi for few hours to fresh up and to take some rest.
By 11:00 AM, we went to Shirdi Darshan. As I was visiting Shirdi for the first time, I had no idea on how the place be like but our guys have already visited multiple times before. I was absolutely awestruck with the way the entire place is managed with absolutely no commercialization. We collected the pass at the entry which shown as below:
I, being a Shivalli Tulu Brahmin as a thought by many of my community, do not visit this place due to lots of misconception and my experience say with thoughts go as in I personally do not consider Sai baba as God but he is a teacher(Guru) and the place is not temple but ashram. I see Sai baba is performed many aarati as per hindu tradition considering him close to God but there are other places nearby which put one with lots of confusion whether he belong to Hindu or Muslim. Why don't "we give the benefit of the doubt".
"Ramgir Bua, a devotee, testified that Sai Baba was dressed like an athlete and sported 'long hair flowing down to the end of his spine' when he arrived in Shirdi, and that he never had his head shaved. It was only after Baba forfeited a wrestling match with one Mohiddin Tamboli that he took up the kafni and cloth cap, articles of typical Sufi clothing.
This attire contributed to Baba's identification as a Muslim fakir and was a reason for initial indifference and hostility against him in a predominantly Hindu village"
In a span of 2 hours, we have finished our darshan of Shirdi along with few other places such as "Dwarkamai Masjid, Baba's Chavadi, Maruti Mandir, Dixit Wada Museum, Khandoba Mandir" and came out in search of our "Only Veg" hotel but we lost with too many options around. It is also to be noted that there are mostly only Veg hotels due to the sentiments near Shirdi for the information of Non Veg food lover's.
We finally landed up at Udupi style restaurant and had good food infact we were lucky to get good food everywhere at our go :)
It's time for us to go on to our next destination Shani Shignapur which is 72km from Shirdi. We checked out from the room and immediately left the place with our luggage. We boarded a "Tempo traveler" and just to take a note that there are plenty of options available who wanted to visit Shani Shignapur from Shirdi. Vehicle made us to wait for another half an hour and we started by 3:00 PM and to our luck(bad luck) tire got punctured on the middle of road. We struck there for around an hour while driver was arranging us other vehicle and we all stayed
nearby a home.
It was infact a good place with two cows and sugarcane plantation all around and clicked few pics.
We started from this place with another TT only by 5:00 PM and the driver stopped again at a place where fresh cane juice was available. It was already late for us however no one uttered a word and give the benefit for the driver as later we understand that he get his commission to stop at this place.
Finally reached Shani Shignapur by 6:00 PM and as most of them know that this place is filled with strong belief's with no doors for houses around but to our surprise there were doors for the newly constructed shops. Probably the only place we saw without doors was the place which got "Pooja items". TT stopped at a place opposite to a Shop and here there is a trick played by Locals.
Opposite to the shop, a tap water and jug is available to wash our legs. As soon as one goes in to wash there hands and legs here, shop people will wait to attack you as for buying the pooja items. It was tremendously disappointed me by the way people force here to buy and since me, Sandeep came here for the first time there was no escape while Durgesh came here before, known by the facts still couldn't save us :P
We spent close to Rs.700 per person (the pooja material, which is primarily the Mustard oil, til, used horse-shoe of iron, black cloth, sweets, coconut) and went to see the famous Shani Maharaj. As soon as we reached one more step where we need to put the purchased coconut, guy who stand there did some pooja and again wanted to take some money. One more Rs.100 gone there :( and we entered the temple and as most people know there only, the shrine for Shani consists of a five and a half feet high black rock installed on an open-air platform, which symbolizes the god Shani. A Trishula (trident) is placed along the side of the image and a Nandi (bull) image is on the south side. In front are the small images of Shiva and Hanuman.
The temple is believed to be a "jagrut devasthan" (lit. "alive temple"), meaning that a deity still resides in the temple icon. Villagers believe that god Shani punishes anyone attempting theft. The deity here is "Swayambhu" (Sanskrit: self-evolved deity) that is self emerged from earth in form of black, imposing stone. Though no one knows the exact period, it is believed that the Swayambhu Shanaishwara statue was found by shepherds of the then local hamlet. It is believed to be in existence at least since the start of Kaliyuga.
We have came out with positive vibes that is everlasting. We boarded same TT which dropped us there and he again played his trick of stopping in between our journey back to Shirdi in a restaurant(Off course they will get their commission) but now everyone was alert and no one got down the vehicle. It was already 8:00 PM as we all wanted to go back so fought with driver and he had to agree finally. We reached Shirdi at 8:40 PM and we searched for a hotel to have our dinner, then boarded a bus to Nashik. It was almost 10:00 PM and by our luck we found a guy who was also heading to Nashik in a bus. He spoke in Marathi and made us safely reach the hotel and we reached hotel by 11:30 PM.
DAY 3:
We took good rest in hotel and were back to track as planned earlier. Morning plan is to have bath in Ramkund and it was just 300mts away from our hotel. We woke up by 6:00 AM which was actually bit difficult ;) but
Your Hotel Booking NH2123159576899 for SINGHANIA GUEST HOUSE Check-In 09-Sep-2017 for 1 Nights 2 Rooms (Double bed non ac) is confirmed.
The significance of Ramkund is as follows:
River Godavari flows through Nashik and its Northern part is called as Panchavati. It is said that lord Shri Ram and Sita along with Laxman stayed at Panchavati for some time. Thus Panchavati has gained holy importance. There are five Banyan (Vad) trees and hence the area is called Panchavati.
The most important place in Panchavati is Ramkund. It is so called because Lord Rama is believed to have taken bath there. Mortal remains (Asthi) immersed in this kunda, are immediately absorbed in the water. A dip in this sacred kunda is considered very pious. Situated nearby is Gandhi Lake (Talav) having a memorable monument made out of white marble, in memory of the Father of the Nation. The ashes were dropped in Ramkund after Gandhiji passed away on 30th January 1948. Mr. Nehru was also present on this occasion. We missed Gandhi Lake.
The Ram Kund area has several temples like the Sundara Narayana Temple,the Naro Shankara Mandir and the Kapaleshwara temple. Ram Kund is also called Asthi Vilaya Tirtha, which dissolves the bones dead fropped into it.
During Kumbhmela the famous Kumbh Snan / bath is supposed to happen here in PAVITRA RAMKUND.
Ramkund Hundreds of pilgrims arrive here to take a holy dip at the 'Ramkund' in the river Godavari, which is considered the 'Ganges of the south'. Ramkund is the spot where the river Godavari turns to right at an angle of 90 degrees and gains importance, as Lord Ram is said to have taken his daily bath here, during his stay at Nashik.
Ram Kund is also where hindus perform the last rite of their dead.
 |
| Enjoying bath at Ramkund |
 |
| Sandeep with his divinity ;) |
Sandeep joined later while Durgesh was having so much fear and finally went only few steps to immerse himself in the holy river after I had to literally push him(Offcourse in words) to take bath.
We went to nearby temple and did shopping of few pooja items before going back to room and we can clearly say Nashik is a town of temples.
It was 7:00 AM in the morning and we got good amount of time to roam around. Our next destination is Sita Gumpha and Kalaram temple which is just 350mts from our hotel.
The Gumpha (i.e. Cave) is near the five Banyan trees in Panchavati. One can enter the cave with the help of a very narrow staircase. The cave has the idol of Shree Ram, Laxman and Sita. To the left, one can enter into the cave having the Shiva Linga. Devotees believe that Ravan kidnapped Sita from the same place.
It is very sad that photography is completely banned within the temple premises probably due to some nuisance from any of the tourist and the security was too strict.
We could see kalaram temple behind which was mesmerizing for all of us. I went inside twice to have a glance of idols and temple was too beautiful.
 |
| We are now going back to room and on our way purchased few pooja items |
Breakfast was not so good probably because we didn't like the local taste or hotel itself was not good one. Never mind, we booked uber to Mukthidham and reached there by 11:40 PM. It was too sunny by that time and Mukthidham did not fascinated us much but it was good enough for one time visit.
It was close to 12:00 PM by now and our next destination for the day is Bhandardara. Now there is a catch ;)
There were basically two bus stands in Nashik, one is old and the other is new. It was few meters distance between these stations and it was drizzling by the time we reached one of the old station.
I was actually adamant at that moment to go for Bhandardara as I understand that time was very much sufficient to cover two places at that moment. Everyone had to agree even though they were not interested. However, it was very difficult to track the bus to Bhandardara and while we were still on the decision making, bus left the place :) We had to wait for one more hour for the bus to come and it started raining heavily. Also the bus stand was not maintained properly probably because it was old one.
Thus we skipped that place and headed directly to our next destination Trimbakeshwar. There were plenty of buses every two minutes to Trimbakeshwar thus we don't had to wait much for that decision :)
Approx 28kms is our next destination Trimbakeshwar temple.
Trambakeshwar (Trimbakeshwar) is an ancient Hindu temple in the town of Trimbak, in the Nashik District of Maharashtra, India, 28 km from the city of Nashik. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingaas.
It is located at the source of the Godavari River, the longest river in peninsular India. The Godavari River, which is considered sacred within Hinduism, originates from Bramhagiri mountains and meets the sea near Rajahmudry. Kushavarta, a kund is considered the symbolic origin of the river Godavari, and revered by Hindus as a sacred bathing place.
Anjaneri is around 5.6kms from this place which is the birth place Shri Hanuman.
 |
| Kushavarta Kund |
The extraordinary feature of the Jyotirlinga located here is the Linga in the temple is in the form of a three faced embodying Tridev, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.
The present Trimbakeshwar temple was constructed by third Peshwa Balaji Bajirao (1740-1760) on the site of an old temple. There are entry gates on all the four sides, viz. East, West, South and North. As per spiritual conceptions the direction East denotes the beginning, West denotes maturity, south denotes fulfillment or completion and the North stands for the revelation.
In the year 1954 the Sansthan was registered under public trust registration act. Shri Trimbakeshwar Sansthan takes care of daily three time pooja, all the festivals and gala carnivals of the year.
As you can notice in the picture, the climate was extraordinary and very much welcoming and we have returned back by 4:00 PM to Nashik. It was once again our turn to be surprised as a KSRTC bus was standing on the bus stand. As usual ;)I went to talk to the driver and as I started speaking on our local Language, he was very much happy to help us. He told clearly that since you spoke in Kannada, I had to help otherwise here people won't help much in guiding and we already came across this during our execution of plan to Bandardhara. As per him bus will leave the place in another 40min from the stand. We didn't notice any other bus around and our next destination for the final day is Bhimashankar.
There were few misleading videos which shows the trek to Bhimashankar but it actually depicts the trek of Brahmagiri which is near Trimbakeshwar.
It was 4:40 P.M and we need to go a long way of 210kms for our next destination. Bus started at 4:40 PM and stopped after few kms in a bus stand. Driver said it will take another half an hour to start so we went to have tea and the famous Vada Pav. The taste of Vada Pav here is very different with those who tried elsewhere. We were bit tired by now and it was drizzling here which was very pleasant.
We already had an information that any vehicles do not go or come from Bhimashankar after 6:00 PM in the evening as the place was covered by Forest. We came to know that there was a drought hit village which got buried completely and very few saved their Life. Later vehicles were being stopped by unknown and theft became common thus the rule been as "no entry" to the vehicles in the late evening. We reached a place called "Manchar" as per the suggestion from our conductor where we get budget hotel to stay by 8:00 PM. It was around 70kms from here to Bhimashankar, we searched for a hotel and Durgesh spotted one well maintained hotel within budget.
Bus stand was just few meter from here and we dropped our luggage here. The dinner here was mouth watering and cannot forget the taste of Dal Kichdi :P
Mostly if I had to be adamant to stick to my plans, I will say "I have my own plan" :P We met a different kind of service provider in a nearby stall where we had our dinner as in general those people who service will just suggest customers to try but this guy was adamant with saying "It is great and you should have it!" in a cute way :P Actually we listened to him and given extra tip for the service :D
Day 4:
We woke up early morning as per our plan and the first bus starts at 6:00 AM. We got into the local bus(Laal dabba) which was filled half. Below shows the route to Bhimashankar from Manchar which is mesmerizing.
Bhīmāshankar Temple is a Jyotirlinga shrine located 50 km northwest of Khed, near Pune, in India. It is located 127 km from Shivaji Nagar in the Ghat region of the Sahyadri hills.
History:
There was a demon Tripurasura who did penance in the jungle of Bhimashankar very long ago i.e., in Tretayug, to please Lord Shiva in order to achieve the gift of immortality.
Lord Shiva, who is specially known for his kindness towards his devotees, was pleased with Tripurasura's commitment towards him. So as usual, he blessed him with the power of immortality with a condition that, "He should strive in the best interest of people, or he may be sued permanently for violating the condition."
With the flow of time, Tripurasura forgot the condition to which he was abided, and eventually started harassing people as well as other deities. There was a chaos for which all the deities approached Lord Shiva for remedy. Thus in order to sue Tripurasura, Lord shiv prayed to Goddess Parvati(Kamalaja Mata) in order to help him to accomplish this task.
Accordingly Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati underwent a new form which is Popularly known as "Ardha-Narya-Nateshwar" and killed Tripurasura on karthik Pournima which is known as "Tripurari Poornima"
After the death of Tripurasura his wives (Dakini and Shakini) went to Lord Shiva with a question of their existence without Tripurasura.Thus Lord Shiva blessed both of them, with the power of immortality and thus the name "Dakinyam Bhimashankaram".
Nearby Temples:
Datta Mandir
Kamalaja Mata Mandir
Ram Mandir
We could notice the pooja timing written in Marathi Language. We happened to visit the temple on Monday and there was very little crowd at Temple.
We given pooja to Lord and came out with his blessings. In fact I felt his true being in this place which is calm and full of vibrations.
We came here by 7:00 AM and spent around 10:00 AM here.
Durgesh was happy as he found a baba who was from his hometown near the Hanuman Temple. Later we inquired the route to the Nagphani and it was just a km from that place. The route from here is bit steep and since I used to go for trekking, it was not much difficult while it was tedious for other two. Anyways trek was fun and the place is filled with Lush greenery all round.
We took few snaps here and it was mixed emotions for all of us. Durgesh was too much feared as he never thought as the depth was unimaginable.
Trick happened here as we were enjoying the moments!! Yes, you guessed it right ;)
Few monkey came and started doing monkey business. First it came to the water bottle but it was not much interested in it as the place has good flow of water and its the origin place of Bhima river.
It came near my camera bag and I was stun at that moment however distracting its attention by showing water bottle. Durgesh was shouting camera bag, and Sandeep got hold of it :D Camera bag had few accessories in it "Zoom lens, 8GB memory card and a battery" :P
By now monkey was angry and we had to leave that place. Came back to temple by 1:00 PM and did shopping, finished our lunch. Surprise again as we saw KSRTC at bus stand which go directly to Pune. Conductor(Lady) became friend to Durgesh :P and he talked all along. Bus stopped at Manchar and we requested to give us sometime to get our remaining luggage from Hotel. We(Me and Durgesh) ran and took the luggage.
We reached Pune bus stand and along the route, I checked nearby attractions in google. We were extremely tired but I was enthusiast to visit few places. Both our guys were disagreement and I had to be adamant :D First thought was to go for Shanivar Wada but since it was closed by 6:00 PM, decided to go to Pataleshwar Cave Temple as I read in comment section that the place is not much crowded and we can relax. We walked from Shivajinagar bus station which was a mistake as auto was much convenient.
Anyways all the way Sandeep and Durgesh were scolding me :P as we were tired however everyone was relaxed once we reached the Pataleshwar Temple. From here again I had to become adamant to visit Dagdusheth Ganpati Temple.
Anyway after visiting the Ganapathi Temple both of them had to take back their words ;) Few snaps taken at the place, finished dinner and left to Pune airport.
I am going to end this blog with a note from Albert Einstein:
The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one's own efforts. For the most part I do the thing which my own nature drives me to do. It is embarrassing to earn so much love and respect for it. Arrows of hate have been shot at me too; but they never hit me, because somehow they belonged to another world, with which I have no connection whatsoever.
I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.
-- Albert Einstein, "Out Of My Later Years" (1956)
I thank each and everyone who gone through our journey and lord for all his showering upon us in the entire trip.
Lord Shiva, who is specially known for his kindness towards his devotees, was pleased with Tripurasura's commitment towards him. So as usual, he blessed him with the power of immortality with a condition that, "He should strive in the best interest of people, or he may be sued permanently for violating the condition."
With the flow of time, Tripurasura forgot the condition to which he was abided, and eventually started harassing people as well as other deities. There was a chaos for which all the deities approached Lord Shiva for remedy. Thus in order to sue Tripurasura, Lord shiv prayed to Goddess Parvati(Kamalaja Mata) in order to help him to accomplish this task.
Accordingly Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati underwent a new form which is Popularly known as "Ardha-Narya-Nateshwar" and killed Tripurasura on karthik Pournima which is known as "Tripurari Poornima"
After the death of Tripurasura his wives (Dakini and Shakini) went to Lord Shiva with a question of their existence without Tripurasura.Thus Lord Shiva blessed both of them, with the power of immortality and thus the name "Dakinyam Bhimashankaram".
Nearby Temples:
Datta Mandir
Kamalaja Mata Mandir
Ram Mandir
We given pooja to Lord and came out with his blessings. In fact I felt his true being in this place which is calm and full of vibrations.
We came here by 7:00 AM and spent around 10:00 AM here.
 |
| Breakfast Point at Bhimashankar
Started from here by 10:30 AM to the much talked about place called Nagphani. Took permission from forest guard and it is just 2kms from the temple through the jungle. Started walking as per the route mentioned by Guards with camera on my shoulder. Few clicks on our way :)
|
 |
| Durgesh enjoy the route
We saw few monkey's on our way to Hanuman Temple which is the first point to go to Nagphani view point.
|
Durgesh was happy as he found a baba who was from his hometown near the Hanuman Temple. Later we inquired the route to the Nagphani and it was just a km from that place. The route from here is bit steep and since I used to go for trekking, it was not much difficult while it was tedious for other two. Anyways trek was fun and the place is filled with Lush greenery all round.
 |
| Stunning view of Nagphani |
Trick happened here as we were enjoying the moments!! Yes, you guessed it right ;)
Few monkey came and started doing monkey business. First it came to the water bottle but it was not much interested in it as the place has good flow of water and its the origin place of Bhima river.
It came near my camera bag and I was stun at that moment however distracting its attention by showing water bottle. Durgesh was shouting camera bag, and Sandeep got hold of it :D Camera bag had few accessories in it "Zoom lens, 8GB memory card and a battery" :P
By now monkey was angry and we had to leave that place. Came back to temple by 1:00 PM and did shopping, finished our lunch. Surprise again as we saw KSRTC at bus stand which go directly to Pune. Conductor(Lady) became friend to Durgesh :P and he talked all along. Bus stopped at Manchar and we requested to give us sometime to get our remaining luggage from Hotel. We(Me and Durgesh) ran and took the luggage.
We reached Pune bus stand and along the route, I checked nearby attractions in google. We were extremely tired but I was enthusiast to visit few places. Both our guys were disagreement and I had to be adamant :D First thought was to go for Shanivar Wada but since it was closed by 6:00 PM, decided to go to Pataleshwar Cave Temple as I read in comment section that the place is not much crowded and we can relax. We walked from Shivajinagar bus station which was a mistake as auto was much convenient.
Anyways all the way Sandeep and Durgesh were scolding me :P as we were tired however everyone was relaxed once we reached the Pataleshwar Temple. From here again I had to become adamant to visit Dagdusheth Ganpati Temple.
Anyway after visiting the Ganapathi Temple both of them had to take back their words ;) Few snaps taken at the place, finished dinner and left to Pune airport.
I am going to end this blog with a note from Albert Einstein:
The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one's own efforts. For the most part I do the thing which my own nature drives me to do. It is embarrassing to earn so much love and respect for it. Arrows of hate have been shot at me too; but they never hit me, because somehow they belonged to another world, with which I have no connection whatsoever.
I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.
-- Albert Einstein, "Out Of My Later Years" (1956)
I thank each and everyone who gone through our journey and lord for all his showering upon us in the entire trip.
