03 Mar

माता वैष्णोदेवी यात्रा भाग -६ (जम्मू – JAMMU – १)

माता वैष्णोदेवी यात्रा भाग -६ (जम्मू – JAMMU – १)

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मुबारक मंडी पैलेस

मुबारक मंडी महल की वास्तुकला में राजस्थानी , मुग़ल और यूरोपीयन शैली का समन्वय देखा जा सकता है। इस महल का इतिहास लगभग 150 वर्ष पुराना है। यह महल डोगरा राजाओं का शाही आवास था। इस स्थान पर हम लोग समय अभाव के कारण जा नहीं पाए थे. यह फोटो मैंने दूर से बागे बाहू से लिया था. 

बाहू के किले में माता के दर्शन करने के बाद, वंहा से निकल कर यंहा से नीचे की और बने मछली घर और बागे बाहू गार्डन की और आ जाते हैं. मछलीघर एक शानदार एक्वेरियम बना हुआ हैं. जो की जमीन के नीचे हैं.  इसका प्रवेश द्वार एक बड़ी मछली  के रूप में बना हुआ हैं. यंहा पर दुनिया में पाई जाने वाली विभिन्न प्रकार की मछलियों को प्रदर्शित किया गया हैं. यंहा पर भी फोटो खींचना निषेध हैं.

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Coorgi Delights – Reaching Coorg

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The shortest route from my hometown in Tamil Nadu, Tiruppur to Madikeri (Coorg’s largest town) passes through Mysore and is around 315 kms. But going by this route meant a difficult climb on the Dhimbam Hills from Bannari Checkpost in Tamilnadu right upto the TN-Karnataka border just past Hasanur (An almost vertical climb with 27 continuous hairpin bends in just 16 kms). This was a strict no-no because my wife has a chronic allergy to hill travel and vomits incessantly during hill rides, of which I have had many unpleasant experiences, especially during one trip to Munnar on a packed Innova and during another ride on the Palani-Kodaikanal route last summer. Inexplicably she never has any problems when riding up hills on a bike and that is the reason for my many bike trips to nearby Ooty (Thanks for small mercies). So, I had to choose a relatively less adventurous route and picked the Bangalore-Mysore-Madikeri route as my best option. Although this doubled my travel distance (Tirupur to Bangalore to Madikeri is 575 kms by road) there was no other choice.

Travelling to Coorg from Bangalore, though has its own attractions. The stretch between Bangalore and Mysore is dotted with many tourist hotspots. The ride is almost a tracing back of river Cauvery from the plains to its birthplace in Coorg district. Srirangapatna an island situated in the midst of Cauvery river, is renowned for its famous Ranganathasamy Temple and the historical sites connected with the reign of the brave Tipu Sultan and his encounters with the British. Further on the route, a mere 6 kms after Srirangapatna is the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, the largest of its kind in Karnataka. Here guided Boat tours are available throughout the day to watch the birds. Along with the birds, the riders on the boat can also enjoy the thrilling sight of huge crocodiles, sun-bathing on the rocks, precariously close to the boat’s edge.

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ओंकारेश्वर……………चलो एक बार फिर से.

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शाम करीब ७ बजे हम लोग औंकारेश्वर पहुंच गये। औंकारेश्वर में ठहरने के लिये हमेशा हमारी पहली प्राथमिकता होती है श्री गजानन महाराज संस्थान यात्री निवास, तो हमने सीधी राह पकड़ी संस्थान की और कुछ ही देर में हम संस्थान के सामने खड़े थे।

स्वागत कक्ष पर कुछ जरूरी औपचारीकतायें पुर्ण करने के बाद हमें हमारे कमरे की चाबी मिल गई। हमारा कमरा यात्री निवास नंबर ४ में था. अब चुंकी बहुत जोरों की भुख लगी थी अत:निर्णय लिया गया की सबसे पहले भोजन किया जाये। यहां यह बता देना सही रहेगा की श्री गजानन महाराज संस्थान के हर यात्री निवास में किफ़ायती दर पर भोजन की व्यवस्था होती है, चुंकी हम पहले भी श्री गजानन संस्थान (शेगांव) में रह चुके थे तथा भोजन भी कर चुके थे और वहां हमें भोजन बहुत पसंद आया था अत: हमने आज भी भोजन यहीं भोजनालय में करने का निश्चय किया और चल पड़े भोजनालय की ओर।

खाना सचमुच बड़ा स्वादिष्ट था, ३० रु. में थाली जिसमें दो सब्जी, रोटी, दाल, चावल तथा एक मिष्ठान्न के रुप में हलुवा……शुद्ध सात्वीक भोजन और हमें क्या चाहिये था? सो भरपेट करने के बाद हम लोग अपने रुम में आकर थोड़ी देर के लिये लेट गये। अब हमें ओंकारेश्वर मंदिर में शयन आरती में शामिल होना था जो की रात नौ बजे शुरु होती है. इस समय साढे आठ बज रहे थे और यही समय था शयन आरती के लिये निकलने का, अत: हम लोग मन्दीर जाने के लिये तैयार होने लगे.

चुंकि वातावरण में बहुत ठंडक थी अत: बच्चे तो इस समय बाहर निकलने में आनाकानी कर रहे थे लेकिन उन्हें हमने चलने के लिये मना ही लिया और अन्तत: हम लोग उनी कपड़े वगैरह पहनकर अपने रुम से बाहर निकल गये। बाहर सचमुच बहुत ठंड थी और हमें तो नर्मदा नदी पर बने झुला पूल से होकर ओंकारेश्वर मन्दीर की ओर जाना था जहां और ज्यादा ठंड लगने की संभावना थी।

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Cochin – Sightseeing by cruise and Cherai Beach

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As weather was hot, this ride was giving us good relief from heat. For first 15-20 minutes it was just like a normal cruise experience similar to Mumbai Gateway of India cruise ride or cruise ride at Rameswaram. But we were happy as kids were enjoying this ride with lots of space to sit as well as to run inside the boat and to see sparkling water.On our way we got to see many boats like country type, Russian yacht etc.

Although, it was a pleasant journey but I didn’t find it worth or it’s not value for money. Boat sailor but surely took us at the midst of sea and we saw numbers of Dolphin fish. Watching Kochi Harbour, Bolgatty island resort and Dolphin were good experience. Chinese Fishing net is an icon for Kochi but I didn’t find anything interesting watching that. The total time we spent here was 02 hours and we found it tiring. We came back to Marine Drive. Marine drive is a nice hangout place with many eatery joints.We had some light lunch and icecreams and came back to our friends place at 1730 hrs.

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A trip to Mewar, Raj – Jaipur Once again

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painting section: Second floor of this magnificent museum consisted of some rare books on display and a series of Raagmala paintings on display.These paintings are based upon different Ragas and Raginis of Indian classical music system. Different types of Raagmala series have been painted in different parts. Pahari style, Deccan style, Rajputana style. Each Raga is personified by a specific color, mood , time of its singing is mentioned on the painting and a story is told about a Nayak and a Nayika. I had read about tese paintings but was seeing these for the first time. I also had the privilege to see the paintings based upon stories from Hitopdesha and Panchtantra.  Just beautiful. Another surprise for me was the the presence of classic book JANGNAMA by Shah Muhammad(original).

Overall we spent about 2 hours in the museum and were tired. The big walls of this museum are adorned by the life like portraits of erstwhile kings of Jaipur state. Now was the time to have some snacks for the evening and visit the famous zoo of Jaipur, if not so big then not too small also. Dear Pavani’s desire was to have a look at the lion and the tiger which was duly fulfilled here.

THE ZOO: The desire was of Pavani was duly fulfilled as the first cage in the zoo was that of Leopard and next to it lay the cage of Tiger (wish double fulfilled).

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A trip to Mewar, Raj – Pushkar and Jaipur

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A small and picterusque town famous for one and onky temple of Brahma Ji, the town is also famous for the foreigners coming to the time to learn Yoga and instrumental music in the streets of Pushkar and numerous cafes adorning the streets. I can vouch for only temple perhaps my main motive was that only so I did,nt bother to look out for the guests from abroad or cafes. After inquiring my way to the temple of Brahma Ji, I straight away drove in that direction until I reached the place where Ghats were located. I thought may be temple is located in the centre of the sarovar there. So we all went towards the Ghat area and the thing that I  wanted to avoid at all costs followed us , hounding by various priests(pandas to have one or other form of puja for salvation of soul. As a person I m dead against these things as it seems to me more as an economic activity of these priests, nothing more(my personal opinion). Many persons were involved there in one or other ceremonies per their beliefs. But I did,nt want to listen to these priests about all this. One priest said “Unless you take bath in these Ghats and perform a puja your visit to Brahma temple would be incomplete” Why so? I just asked myself. After enquiring again about the temple from a family , we came to know that it was just on the next end of the street. I just pulled my family members from there hearing this. While walking towards the temple, in one corner , there was a small shop(PANDIT JI KI LASSI). Iski story baad mein bataoonga.

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Chennai Temples

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It is a very beautiful temple with numerous fixed glass windows permitting maximum sunlight thus saving lot of energy. All windows are nicely painted with mythological pictures. Beautiful wall painting, pillars and a huge darshan hall makes this temple very attractive. I really like the wooden doors of the enclosures where deities reside. It is a huge wooden door with beautiful carvings. Every Sunday , a special programme is held in this temple which includes bhajan, Bhagwat Gita course, Aarti and at 1315 hrs lunch Prasadam for everyone.

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Delhi to Hyderabad By Road – Road trip – Part 1

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The road conditions were really good looked like the same good roads from Krishnagiri to Chennai. Smooth 2 Lane Highway.

There were some minor ghat sections on the way which were super smooth laid and the car was able to do them at 80+

I had initially planned for stay at Sagar, but the roads were inviting and on the Highway I missed the entry into Sagar town, so I thought of stretching the limits and reach the next town which I hit.

It was already 7:30 and it was dark all around, stopped at a roadside Dhaba for my dinner and enquired about the roads ahead and the general safety in the area, once assured, I took a decision to venture ahead and reach Narsinghpur which was another 150 Kms from Sagar.

The Road till Narsinghpur was not complete fully and had a lot of diversions in between with non existent roads. As I had my last petrol filled at Jhansi, and I was planning to start early morning from my stoppage to Nagpur, I had to get the fuel filled so that I have a tank full in the morning. Before Narsingpur I passed a small town of Kairali and found a good petrol pump.

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A trip to Mewar, Rajasthan – Ajmer Sharif

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The hotel owner had warned me beforehand that Ajmer was a congested place and rightly so I also observed that. As usual we had no bookings and were in search of a decent budget hotel with parking facility. Mistakenly I asked a man about the way to Railwat Station as our experience has told us that such places could be found near Railway stations and Bus Stands. This time I was wrong and what I encountered was a very congested area full of crowd near Railway Station. My car was in chaos now with cycles and rickshaws all over it. It seemed to me very difficult to me to come out of it but anyhow came out of it nd just drove to a wide road about 1 km before the Railway Station. HOTEL NAGPAL was the sign board that attracted me. I  just parked my car and asked for the 3-bed room and parking facility. The hotel had both the facilities and I checked in. Tariff at that moment was Rs. 800/. Time was about 8.15 P.M and we were very confused whether to go for Dargah Ziyarat at that time or early morning. My wife suggested to go for  walk up to the Dargah of Khwaza Moinuddin Chishti  and try our luck at that time only.

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Ride to Rajasthan (Pune to Mt Abu) – Return trip, Reaching Vadodra

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After some discussion we decided to start and see where we are by 5 pm.

Hats off to Brzzz and the Biker community – A Biker is a fighter – We conquered against all odds

After 5 days 1400 kms, 40 degrees, we were all ready to fight. Ayush was not feeling very well waiting at the mechanic shop so he started moving, and he was feeling better so it was better that he starts covering as much ground as possible.

We decided that I will definitely move and reach as much as I can even till late night so that I could reach Pune by next day evening. Prateek agreed to come with me.

So now we had split in 3 groups … Ayush was riding alone, I was riding at High Speeds of 110-120 kmph with Prateek and all the others were riding together.

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