Trip to Aurangabad

Our trip to Aurangabad was an alternative since we had originally planned to go to Matheran for the weekend. But I'm glad we made it there. I had read about the beauty and importance of the Ajanta and Ellora caves in my text books way back in school(these are one among the World Heritage sites), so we decided to check it out. To reach Aurangabad, it took us a five hour drive from Pune. We checked into our hotel ( Lemon Tree) and after a couple of hours of rest and lunching, we went to see the Ellora caves which are just 35 kms from the city. I suggest you get directions before driving as the directions on the road are not clear, and you are often left to wonder whether you are on the right road or not. On reaching the Ellora caves, we hired a government guide who first led us to the Jain caves.

Here let me brief you about the Ellora caves. There are a total of 35 caves here out of which some are Jain caves, some Buddhist and the rest Hindu caves. The largest and most beautiful of all the caves is the Kailasa cave( Hindu Cave). Since the Jain caves are the farthest, we were suggested to go there first. Our guide led us from one cave to another and I was impressed by the marvel of the people way back then who made these beautiful caves by hand and without any help of the equipments that we have today. You gotto see it to believe it! I was already thrilled by the first cave that I couldn't wait to see what was in store for me as we moved further. After the Jain caves, we drove to the Buddhist caves. The 10th cave here is the only “Chaityagraha” which has a Stupa standing in the middle of the cave. This was primarily made for the monks to chant mantras and when the guide demonstrated by chanting “Om” , the cave was filled with his echoing voice. If one person could make this effect, imagine what numerous monks could do! And finally we reached the biggest and the most important cave of them all. Kailasa cave. You cannot and shouldn't miss this one. And boy, was it crowded!! All the photos that you see describing Ellora are form this cave. It took us one hour to cover just this one cave. Now this particular cave is not carved from the inside of a rock, but looks something like a rock temple. There is a Shiva lingam in side this temple ( hence the name), which is sadly being misused by our very own people. It was not a pleasant sight to see instant “pujaris” appearing and performing pujas and collecting money, when this is an important world heritage site which doesn't deserves to be contaminated with agarbattis and kumkum! Anyways, that was the end of Ellora.

Since we still had time on our hands we went to see the “Bibi ka Maqbara” built by Aurangazeb which is a sad replica of the Taj mahal. Now anyone who has seen the Taj cannot bear the look of this structure. It is not maintained well and looks so dirty. I just hope that people visiting this maqbara don't assume that the Taj would be something remotely similar!!! No people, Taj is something out of this world and something to visit before you die!! After taking a couple of snaps and purposefully wandering ( for the heck of it) we headed back to our hotel. We had our dinner and relaxed by lazing by the pool at night. Ah, superior bliss!!!

On our second day we couldn't visit the Ajanta because it is closed on Mondays. So, we drove around the city and had some fun in the hotel. We were supposed to leave on the third day, but before that we decided we just had to check out the Ajanta. And we drove off. It took us 2 hours and a couple of wrong turns(thanks to the road instructions!!!) to finally get there. By the look of it Ajanta seemed much bigger than Ellora. To reach the caves you have to take a bus and ride up to the caves. No private vehicles are allowed to the top. We reached there, bought a copy of the Ajanta caves from the Archaeological Survey of India counter and headed straight above. There is a little climbing to do before you actually get to the caves. Some info about Ajanta. There are a total of 28 caves here, some finished some half-finished. The Ajanta caves were re-discovered unlike Ellora. Meaning, the Ajanta were there all along but since huge trees had grown and surrounded the caves, none of it was visible unless it was accidentally stumbled upon in the early 19th century. These caves, in all, form a horseshoe shape and down below runs the Wagholi river. Since we had a time constraint ( as we had to get back to Pune the same day) we decided to visit only the important caves. These caves are all Buddhist caves, similar to Ellora, but you can see fragments of paintings too. Paintings done with natural colors which are wearing off, due to age and more importantly negligence. Nevertheless, if I had returned home without visiting Ajanta, I would have missed it big time! I am glad I made it. By the time we finished our little trip on the top and returned to out car, it was noon. And from there we headed straight to Pune and reached home by night.

Phew!!

Frankly, I never imagined our trip would go so well. Not only was it a nice change but it also helped me reunite with my old love, something that I had forgotten and let go during my busy life. Archeology, historical art and architecture. It reminded me what getting in touch with our past meant. This trip was wonderful and has left me wanting for more.

Our Temple Trip

Finally we decided to go on a pilgrimage tour. It was due a long time now. And since we had to go to Trivandrum for Varun’s first birthday, we decided to club our temple trips together. My parents agreed to accompany us.

We booked our flight tickets from Mumbai for the 4^th of August 2006. To reach Mumbai we had booked ourselves on KK Travels, a popular choice with the people who head straight to the airports in Mumbai from Pune. The bus picked us up from our individual homes and we set off. The view en route to Mumbai was astounding thanks to the rainy season. Anyways, we reached the airport only to find out that our flight was delayed by 2 hours. Now, waiting in the airport lounge, that too with a one yr old is a situation by itself and I’m sure those of you having a baby know exactly what I mean! Well, my prayers were heard and we boarded the flight and reached Trivandrum (after making a trip to Cochin too, imagine!) by 1:00 am.

Thiruvananthapuram

Trivandrum. Or Thiruvananthapuram(that sounds better!), is one place I always wanted to visit. Especially the Padmanabha Swamy temple. I guess it was the Lord’s doing that I got married to Reghu, who belongs to Thiruvananthapuram. Sometimes I wonder if I was deliberately kept away from coming here. Maybe it was destined that I visit this divine sanctity with my husband! Whatever the reason, I feel blessed!

So, the next morning we went to the temple and performed Varun’s choroonu. By noon, my parents arrived and in the evening we visited the Attukal Bhagavathy temple.

It was exactly 6:00 am in the morning the next day when the quails reached the doorstep and we all left for a 2 day trip to Rameshwaram, Madurai and Kanyakumari. Our first stop was for breakfast at Gowri Shankar restaurant on the highway. We instantly took a liking to the place when we saw the three different types of chutneys served there. My husband Reghu still raves about those chutneys!

The next stop was at Thirunelveli where Reghu’s cousin, Sunder anna, stays. We spent an hour there and returned to our journey after getting our lunch packed by Chitra bhabhi.

It takes 10 hours to reach Rameshwaram from Thiruvananthapuram by road. The heat was on and we could notice the vast difference in the landscape as we moved deeper into Tamil Nadu. After a short stopover at Madurai for lunch (needless to say lunch was delicious, as is the case with home made food!), we reached Rameshwaram at 5:30 pm.

Rameshwaram

To reach Rameshwaram, you have to cross the Pamban Bridge which connects it to the mainland. The view from the bridge is breathtaking…one has to see it to believe it!

I have always had a fascination for Rameshwaram. Firstly because of it’s value in Hindu mythology and secondly, due to its geographical location. Now, for those of you wondering what’s so great about the location of this place, let me tell you that it is situated at the tip of the Indian sub continent, and just a few kilometers away is the island of Sri Lanka. Surrounded by two big oceans at the tip of the mainland, now, isn’t that exciting?!?

We checked into a TTDC hotel and from our rooms we got a wonderful view of the sea. That evening we took a dip in the holy waters, and surprisingly, my son, Varun enjoyed it too!! The next day, we made our visit to the temple and also to Dhanushkodi. On the way to Dhanushkodi we halted at our President, Mr. Abdul Kalam’s residence. Yes, you read right! Our President is from Rameshwaram and anyone is free to visit his house. His house is just like any other in the neighborhood and that itself explains the simplicity behind him.

The road leading to Dhanushkodi has a few trees on either side and it bore a deserted look. The guide informed us that during the high tide the water from the seas flow till the road. There is also an abandoned railway line which was used long back, but was discontinued after a severe cyclone not only destroyed the train and passengers within but also the Dhaushkodi village. A few kilometers of driving and you reach the last check post of India located at the shores of the Indian Ocean. You still have to go further down to reach the tip of India, but there was no road. I would have gone if it wasn’t for Varun, who was fast asleep on my shoulders. Someday, I told myself, I will return and see where the land ends and the two mighty waters, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean meet.

Back at the hotel after having lunch, we packed and set off to Madurai, 3 hours from Rameshwaram. We reached in the evening and could not resist a visit to the Madurai Meenakshi temple. This was my first visit to the temple.

Madurai

Well, what can I say? You can just stand and stare at the enormous gopurams (entrances) of the temple in awe! So fantastic is the art work on them. And even more pleasing was the Goddess herself!

The first thing you would notice about the Goddess is her shimmering nose ring and her beautiful madisaaru (a nine yard sari). There she stood, majestically with a parrot on her right hand ……. I thought I was dreaming! She looked so heavenly!

I would have loved to stay but there were closing the temple and we returned to our hotel to realize how hungry we were!! Yes readers, food will always be discussed in my blogs, both me and my husband being ardent food lovers! (we hope to raise our son, too, the same way!) Our hotel had a rooftop restaurant and we could have a beautiful view of all the four gopurams from there. But we had to hurry our dinner as my dear son, could not bear our discussion anymore, and insisted on being attended upon!

Kanyakumari

The next day, too, we visited the temple and set off again, this time to Kanyakumari. Kanyakumari is not new to me, but I just love the waters and the sight of Vivekananda Rock that I never get bored no matter how many times I go. We visited the temple there, I bought some shells (the ones I don’t have already), went to the waters and were on our way back to Thiruvananthapuram after taking a break at Suchindram too. Finally we reached home at 9:00 pm and settled for the talks and discussions.

On 10^th August, 2006 we celebrated Varun’s first birthday grandly with all near and dear ones. Then we left for the other half of the journey. We took a train to Guruvayoor, performed choroonu, thulabharam, etc. there and left for Palakkad by car the same day. Peruvumbu, in Palakkad, has a bhagavathy temple which was my kuladevam before marriage. All necessary poojas were performed there also. And from there we went to Tirupathi by train. Other than the usual Tirumala darshanam, this time we also visited the Kalyana sundara temple in Tirupathy and also Kalahasti. The next day was our train to Pune, my parents were to leave for Bangalore directly from there. And there ends the 12 day long trip.

We also had Chidambaram in our minds, but since the distance was too much, we decided to carry forward it to the next temple trip. Yes, there will be another one too! Will keep you updated with the plans!