Originally Posted on: Sunday, July 5, 2009
Following is a brief account of the third and final day of my stay in Yewat.
Another trip to Bhuleshwar
The next day, my paternal aunt came to visit my uncle, and we decided to go visit Bhuleshwar temple in the evening. This would be my second trip to Bhuleshwar temple in two day. But this time, it was not just me and my cousin – it was the whole family – my aunt, her husband, my uncle, his wife, my 2 cousins, and my grandma – and of course me.
My aunt had brought along their car. We decided to travel in it. But our head count was too high. We were, in all, eight people, and that was too much human substance to stuff within the confines of a Maruti Esteem car. And the road that leads from the canal to the Bhuleshwar temple is pretty rough. Soon we realized that at least one person will have to get down and hitch-hike his way to the temple. I volunteered.
I was lucky enough to quickly get a ride from a lone biker. But the biker was headed towards a village for which he would have to take a detour away from Bhuleshwar. He dropped me off near the foot of the hill of Bhuleshwar.
Before he left, I asked him – “Will I get a bus or another ride from here?”
He said – “No, you don’t stand much chance of getting a ride from here. But you can walk your way up the hill. You see that path?” He pointed towards a small path that lead away from the main road. “That path leads straight to the Bhuleshwar temple. It’s a shortcut. The main road is quite bad, and you will reach there faster if you take the path.”
With that he continued on his way and left me behind staring up the path at the hill of Bhuleshwar. It was the same path I had taken yesterday as I had hiked down the hill. But things were different now. Yesterday, we had hiked in broad daylight. But today, it was evening. The sun was about to set. It would be dark soon, and then it would be really difficult to find the path (The path was not really demarcated. It did not even look that well-trodden). Moreover, yesterday I had my sports shoes on. But today, I was wearing plain chappals – the type that don’t even have a support in between your toes, just two straps criss-crossing each other over the base. They were hardly an ideal choice for climbing a hill.
But I had no choice. So throwing the thoughts of risk to the wind, I simply set off walking. Initially the walk was easy. I had hard ground under my feet. All I had to do was avoid the thorny shrubs that grew in profusion along the base of the hill. But soon the slope became steeper and the going got a bit rough. But I kept going along the path. And that helped me – for the path ran right alongside a dried up waterfall-bed (if there is such a term). So there was less rubble and loose stones underfoot and this helped me.
At one point, I climbed a rough steep spot and reached a ledge. I had passed this point yesterday, but had never cared to stop and look around. But I was a bit exhausted and stopped to catch some breath. But the view I was afforded took my breath away. The sun was setting and the western sky was a painted veil made up of various hues of orange and purple. The few clouds dotting the sky were bathed with sunlight on one side, and were plain white as cotton on the other. Down below, the lands stretched for as far as the eyes could see. There were green farms and plain land criss-crossed with grey lines of the roads, pathways and irrigation canals. There were small clusters of dwellings scattered here and there. Birds were flying back to their homes. And there was the constant wind that lashed against my face, cooling off my body and drying off my sweat within moments. Sometimes the gusts were so strong that they threatened to push me back and topple me.
I stood there for a while awestruck by the beauty of nature spread before my eyes. Then it was time to move on.
As compared to climbing down the hill, I found that climbing up was much easier. And then I realized that when climbing down your weight becomes your enemy. But when climbing up, if you are fit enough, and if you do it properly, you can use your weight to your advantage. If you find a proper foothold – your heavy weight will give your feet better friction against the rock face.
After a while, I could see the dome of the Bhuleshwar temple up ahead. And then I realized that we had taken the wrong path while climbing down yesterday. Had we taken the path that I was following now, we would not have had so much trouble climbing down. This was because, even at this height, the path was made up of hard rock (probably washed clean of all rubble by the waterfall during the monsoon rains).
Soon I reached the Bhuleshwar temple where my family was waiting for me. I looked at my watch and realized that I had hardly taken half an hour to climb the entire hill!
When it was time to leave, I decided not to risk climbing down again – for the sun had almost set, and it was getting pretty dark. So we stuffed ourselves somehow inside the tiny confines of the car and we set off for home.
Following is a brief account of the third and final day of my stay in Yewat.
Another trip to Bhuleshwar
The next day, my paternal aunt came to visit my uncle, and we decided to go visit Bhuleshwar temple in the evening. This would be my second trip to Bhuleshwar temple in two day. But this time, it was not just me and my cousin – it was the whole family – my aunt, her husband, my uncle, his wife, my 2 cousins, and my grandma – and of course me.
My aunt had brought along their car. We decided to travel in it. But our head count was too high. We were, in all, eight people, and that was too much human substance to stuff within the confines of a Maruti Esteem car. And the road that leads from the canal to the Bhuleshwar temple is pretty rough. Soon we realized that at least one person will have to get down and hitch-hike his way to the temple. I volunteered.
I was lucky enough to quickly get a ride from a lone biker. But the biker was headed towards a village for which he would have to take a detour away from Bhuleshwar. He dropped me off near the foot of the hill of Bhuleshwar.
Before he left, I asked him – “Will I get a bus or another ride from here?”
He said – “No, you don’t stand much chance of getting a ride from here. But you can walk your way up the hill. You see that path?” He pointed towards a small path that lead away from the main road. “That path leads straight to the Bhuleshwar temple. It’s a shortcut. The main road is quite bad, and you will reach there faster if you take the path.”
With that he continued on his way and left me behind staring up the path at the hill of Bhuleshwar. It was the same path I had taken yesterday as I had hiked down the hill. But things were different now. Yesterday, we had hiked in broad daylight. But today, it was evening. The sun was about to set. It would be dark soon, and then it would be really difficult to find the path (The path was not really demarcated. It did not even look that well-trodden). Moreover, yesterday I had my sports shoes on. But today, I was wearing plain chappals – the type that don’t even have a support in between your toes, just two straps criss-crossing each other over the base. They were hardly an ideal choice for climbing a hill.
But I had no choice. So throwing the thoughts of risk to the wind, I simply set off walking. Initially the walk was easy. I had hard ground under my feet. All I had to do was avoid the thorny shrubs that grew in profusion along the base of the hill. But soon the slope became steeper and the going got a bit rough. But I kept going along the path. And that helped me – for the path ran right alongside a dried up waterfall-bed (if there is such a term). So there was less rubble and loose stones underfoot and this helped me.
At one point, I climbed a rough steep spot and reached a ledge. I had passed this point yesterday, but had never cared to stop and look around. But I was a bit exhausted and stopped to catch some breath. But the view I was afforded took my breath away. The sun was setting and the western sky was a painted veil made up of various hues of orange and purple. The few clouds dotting the sky were bathed with sunlight on one side, and were plain white as cotton on the other. Down below, the lands stretched for as far as the eyes could see. There were green farms and plain land criss-crossed with grey lines of the roads, pathways and irrigation canals. There were small clusters of dwellings scattered here and there. Birds were flying back to their homes. And there was the constant wind that lashed against my face, cooling off my body and drying off my sweat within moments. Sometimes the gusts were so strong that they threatened to push me back and topple me.
I stood there for a while awestruck by the beauty of nature spread before my eyes. Then it was time to move on.
As compared to climbing down the hill, I found that climbing up was much easier. And then I realized that when climbing down your weight becomes your enemy. But when climbing up, if you are fit enough, and if you do it properly, you can use your weight to your advantage. If you find a proper foothold – your heavy weight will give your feet better friction against the rock face.
After a while, I could see the dome of the Bhuleshwar temple up ahead. And then I realized that we had taken the wrong path while climbing down yesterday. Had we taken the path that I was following now, we would not have had so much trouble climbing down. This was because, even at this height, the path was made up of hard rock (probably washed clean of all rubble by the waterfall during the monsoon rains).
Soon I reached the Bhuleshwar temple where my family was waiting for me. I looked at my watch and realized that I had hardly taken half an hour to climb the entire hill!
When it was time to leave, I decided not to risk climbing down again – for the sun had almost set, and it was getting pretty dark. So we stuffed ourselves somehow inside the tiny confines of the car and we set off for home.
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