Purandar Fort

Quote of the Post:

Dhanya Ithli Maati, Dhanya dhanya haa 'Purandar'

Ithe Janmle 'Shambhu', Raje shaurya dhurandhar

- About Birthplace of Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj (Purandar)

The Monsoon express just arrived at pune, and it is raining daily since last one week, a bit or more. This was an arbitrary first trip after monsoon of this year. We started late approx 11 am. It was cloudy and expected to shover. We approached towards Purandar fort by our bikes, feeding food to our bikes. We had our brunch at Prashanna Dhaba (Happy restaurant).

Saasvad is the first checkpoint, where we have to turn to a classical Indian muddy roads, where the bike's tire have to undergo the stress testing. On our way, the road was blocked due to a giant tree falling down the roads spreading its wings. But it was surprised to see that Indian police, traffic system, and crane were quick enough to reach timely at somewhat remote area. In the meantime, We got the green signal from policeman to cross this crowded place. But our fellow Tara bhai couldn't catch that signal, and remain deadlocked till the time tree has not moved to road-side. As we (Anish & me) were already the other side of Tara-Pardeep. So my eagle eyes :) catch a beautiful temple and informed Tara - Pardeep to take next right turn just after this incident spot.

It was Changavteshwar Temple, (around 1-1.5 KM away from Saadwad, turn towards Purandar Fort). It is very old temple, contains very old history, being re-incarnated now. The temple have unique encarvings, designs and patterns. Some example of light decaration lamps are adorable.

After that we proceeded towards our final destination - Purandar Fort, 4,472 ft. above the sea, approx 35 KM away from Pune. There is a junction point, where one road address towards Balaji Temple and the another to the Purandar fort through spiral curvy roads. Pune-Narayanpur bus is also available to reach up to the base village, Narayanpur.

This area is under army hold and at the gate, The timings shown as 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. As soon as as you come more in, you will easily get to know, where is the parking spot. We explore some of the parts of this fort, mostly ruined. Inside one big hall, You can see the map of Purander Fort - Purander Smiriti Mandal.

This place is the birthplace of Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj (Shivaji's eldest son). The fort has two levels, lower level being machi, and the higher level known as Ballekilla. The surrounding of the place is really tranquil and serene and would like to be more greener, when monsoon express will boost-up in the month of July-Aug-Sep. We tried to capture high jump snaps, and managed to get some after some retakes. You can also enjoy some snacks and the drinks at the local shop.

So, Pack-up your shoes to start with Pune monsoon express.

Other Forts nearby Pune-Mumbai:

Kashid and Murud Janjira Fort

Sinhgad - The lion Fort

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Rishikesh

Rishikesh, The world capital of Yoga, is one of the holy cities in India. It is known as the gateways to the Himalayas and the starting point for traveling to Char Dhaam pilgrimage - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. It is the place where river Ganga leaves the Shivalik mountains in the Himalayas and flows out into the plains of North India.

It has many yoga (meditation) centres attracting thousands of devotees, pilgrims and tourists thoughout the world. Rishikesh is ideal destination for religious, wildlife, nature and adventure lovers. Prominent band, The Beatles composed nearby 48 songs during their stay at Rishikesh.

Triveni Ghat: It is believed that three mountain streams flow together on this spot making the ghat(bank) more sacred, and famous all over. The Ganga Aarti performed at dusk at the Triveni Ghat is popular with visitors. Anyone can enjoy the holy ritual - releasing tiny oil lamps on flower bedecked leaf boats and let them float down the river. The depiction of Geeta Saar is eye-catching specially at the eve, where Lord Krishna explaining Geeta to Arjuna at the lighting chariot. Another one is the prototype of Shiv-Parvati being at Himalaya. Nearby is the Rishikund or sages's pond.

Ram Jhula: This bridge is similar in appearance as Lakshman Jhula. You can enjoy the boating near Ram Jhula and have a bathe at the nearby ghats. Geeta Bhawan is the oldest temple in the nearby area. The famous Indian epic the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are scratched here on the walls. It also houses an Ayurvedic dispensary and shops selling khadi and religious literature. Similarly Parmarth Niketan is another most renowned temple and ashram in this area. The ashram organises excellent Ganga Aarti, hawan and other proceedings on the Parmarth Ghat at every evening.

You can also have lunch and snacks at the famous Chotiwala, who run their restaurants in a funny and innovative way presenting some Chotiwala person at their gate. You can enjoy a plesant 2 km walk from Ram Jhula to Lakshman Jhula alongside flowing and breezing Ganga.

Lakshman Jhula: It is an iron bridge, made over river Ganga. It is said that Lakshman crossed Ganga on juite ropes between the place where this bridge is built. The bridge offers a magnificent view of the Ganges, greeting you with the cool breeze from the river. You can also feed the fish in the river below from the bridge itself, the fish gather at the place where people drop food for them. Similarly you can feed gram (chana) or peanuts to the friendly monkey nearby.

Two temple at one end of the bridge, adds beauty to it surrounded by green mountains. One of them is famous Tryambakeshar Mahadev Temple (13 Floors). One can reach "Neelkanth Mahadev Temple" from here through trek or through zeep, situated 12 KM away. It is a popular place for rafting for different levels. It is also a center for hiking and backpacking.

There are many holy societies, Ashram and ghats exist and developing. You can directly get auto from Lakshman Jhula or Triveni Ghat to Haridwar. You can also visit the Panch Tirth within Haridwar.
At this closing note, Har Har Gange!

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Haridwar - Gateway to the God

Quote of the Post: "The more you dip in the Holy Ganga river, the more you will desire to dip." - Quote about Ganga and Har-Ki-Paudi - Sachin Kumar Gupta

Goddess Ganga invited us to Haridwar. I am not a preacher, but according to Hindu religion, It is said that whenever you go to any holy place with open heart, that is direct call from the almighty God. :) Haridwar itself stands for Dwara of Hari (Gateway to God).

The Panch Tirth (Five Pilgrimages) within Haridwar are, Gangadwar (Har-Ki-Pauri), Kushwart ghat, Kankhal, Bilwa Parvat (Mansa Devi) and Neel Parvat (Chandi Devi). Lords arrived here in different avatar(forms) and converted Haridwar as celestial and immortal land.

We have visited the place when Maha Kumbha Mela (celebrated every 12th year) was at its eleventh hour. Millions of pilgrims and devotees congregate here from all over the world to celebrate the holy event.

Har-Ki-Pauri (Footsteps of the Lord):

As per Hindu scriptures, Few drops of nector (Amrit) fell over this ghat(bank) when the nector jug was carried by Gods after Samudra manthan. Other holy places are Ujjain, Nasik, Allahabad where drops of immortality spilled over from the pitcher, where the Kumbha Mela is celebrated once every 3 years in any of these 4 places and after a period of 12 years. The most sacred spot where the nector fell is considered to be the Brahma Kund at Har-Ki-Pauri. It is said that ritualistic bathing on the banks of the river Ganga, is equivalent of washing away one's sins and wrong-doings to attain Moksha and heaven. People used to take round of the temple during bathe. The holy water of this sacred place is carried by pilgrims for solemn occasions.

The evening "Aarti of Ganga" is the most awaited event at this place. The whole atmosphere during that time becomes the centre of attraction as well as admiration. People chanting mantras, ear-loving sound, floating fire-lamps, flowers with different colours, all hands in air, and above all its reflection in the holy water makes it eye-catching. The other nearby places are the Temple of Ganga, Asthi Visarjan Ghat, Haricharan Temple, Brahma kund, Birla Tower.

Kankhal:

The place is most known for Daksheswara Mahadev temple. The mythological story about this place is that Daksha Prajapati, son of Lord Brahma performed a yagya and deliberately didn't invite Lord Shiva. Seeing this Sati (Lord Shiva's first wife), daughter of Daksha felt embarrassed and burnt herself in the fire of the yagna kund.

King Daksha was then killed by the demon Virabhadra, who was born out of Lord Shiva's anger. Later the king was brought to life with goat's head by Shiva. You can directly get auto (transport) from Har-Ki-Pauri, Haridwar to this place.

Chandi Devi Temple (Neel Parvat):

On the eastern bank of River Ganga, On the top of Neel Parvat is the temple of Goddess Chandi, 4 KM away from Har-Ki-Pauri. It is said that two local demons Shumbh-Nishumbh (who captured the kingdom of heaven) were beheaded by Goddess Chandi, after which this place known as Chandi Devi.

It can be reached by following the trekking route or recently introduced rope-way cable car (Udan-Khatola) service. We taken the ropeways to the God (Udankhatola) service and enjoy the scenic views of Ganga river and Haridwar. The point where ropeways service exit, has two ways, one to Chandi Devi and the other to Anjana Devi temple. (Mother of the monkey-god Hanuman) The temple is open between 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Mansa Devi Temple (Bilwa Parvat):

The temple of Mansa Devi is exactly opposite on the bank of River Ganga, on the Bilwa Parvat. It is said that Mansa and Chandi Devi, the two forms of goddess Parvati always reside close to each other. Mansa Devi literally means the Goddess who fulfills desires (wishes). Same as chandi Devi, this place can also be reached by rope-way as well as trekking route using stairs. This time we proceeded with the trek and enjoyed the pictsquare view of Har-Ki-Paudi alongwith the Ganga and Haridwar at various stops. It is one of the three such Siddh Peethas (where desires get fulfilled) located in Haridwar, the other two being Chandi Devi Temple and Maya Devi Temple.

Other Places and Temples in Haridwar:

ShantiKunj Haridwar, a serene and tranquil place, is a world in itself. BharatMata Temple, Mata Lal Devi Ji Temple, Sri Ram Temple, Shivanand Dham, Paavan Dhaam (The temple of Glass) are the temples worth to watch from ShantiKunj to Har-Ki-Paudi way. Many consciousness camp, holy preaching, spiritual campaigns, celebrations and festival like events happen throghout the year at this place.

Get, Set and Go to the Gateway to the God (Haridwar).

- Jai Gange!!!

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Kashid and Murud Janjira Fort

After a long time, Our team finalized to enjoy a weekend. (Some couldn't come at the eleventh hour due to their personal reasons), but we managed to execute our plan successfully. Thanks to Shaju and all enthusiastic people for travel like me.

We decided to go to Kashid Beach and Murud Janjira Fort and prepare the plan one day back. We started early in the morning approx 6 a.m. Murud Janjira is approx 200 KM away from Pune. We followed via Mumbai Pune Expressway - Khopoli - Pen - Alibaug - Kashid - Murud. Our first stop was the breakfast point at Mumbai Pune expressway, where we have a little breakfast, which two of us (including me) puked out near Alibaug. After that, we reached Kashid beach as per our execution plan.

Kashid is a small place but attracts the people residing in Mumbai, Pune and nearby regions for weekend vacations. Kashid is famous for its white sand, blue seas, green mountains (greener during monsoon), rivulets (small river) and paddy fields. We enjoyed some time under the sun, have the horse-cart ride near the sea. Having one friend (Zabi) knowing Marathi was beneficial throughout our tour.

Some of us scrabble their names in the sand with effects :) After that we move forward to Murud area, that is approx 20 KM away, which have good hotels and has many good places for sea food lovers in this region. We have our lunch there, that was satisfying. In the way, We viewd (Kasa Fort and Murud Janjira Fort). The view covering the beach and the fort in the sea is eye catching. Janjira fort was our next spot.

Murud Janjira Fort: It is beautifully constructed in the sea (not beautiful now as most of the area is converted to ruins), but still it is worth to watch. The name may have derived from the Arabic word Jazeera (meaning 'an island'). Some people also named it as "JAL JEERA" (Fort in the water). You have to go through sail-boats to reach this fort. I wouldn't be inking more about the history of this fort.

We reached here when the sun was just above our head. This was the most hilarious part of the day, when we were boating towards the fort from the beach, as the high tides bring water three times inside the boat. You can see the thrill behind the specs of Shaju, Anjali and Shweta holding their nerve and the tightly hands being almost at the end of the boat.

The entrace is not visible till the time you reach in front of the entry stairs of this fort. While being on the boat, it reminds the song "Ye Jo Desh Hai Mera" from SRK acted "Swadesh". I captured some video with this song in its background. The sailer sails the boat technically using the wind direction and boat-curtain applying boat balance at the same time.

The entrance fee is 20 INR (Including to and fro ferry ride). The guide fee is 30 INR (per person.. also depends on, How many people are in your group to get the discount) Though they wouldn't narrate much, but the benefit you will get with them is to cover most of the part within that time span. They also said, If you are not in the same returning boat (or missed that), you have to give them 800 INR to get on the other boat.

Other than that, the fort has 4 mosques and 1 temple in it. At the middle of the fort, there is sweet water (I would say soft water) that is strange in itself as the fort is build in the sea area [No need to mention sea water being salty]. The guide told us that there is an underground natural spring (Water fountain) below the sea level.

From the top of the fort, You can see every part of the fort. At this point, wind keep on chatting with you, but you will like it even being it hot. From this fort, you can watch another fort (Padamdurg Fort, now known as Kasa Fort), that is not accessible to general public and requires special permission from the Navy.

In the rainy season, The fort remains close (mainly June-Sep mid), as the sea level increases, and there are much higher tides. Again we returned to the Kashid beach to have some sea-sports and enjoyed till the sunset. For the time being we have a cup of tea and relaxed here.

During our return, We play Antaksari (All language songs singing) throughout. Thanks to all - Zabi, Shaju, Anjali and Shweta who made this weekend trip more enjoyable. [Missing other team-mates who couldn't manage to make this somehow]

Wanna to have a look to another Fort nearby Pune-Mumbai "The Lion Fort"
Enjoy the nearby places and beaches at Alibaag.

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