Lenyadri is pretty near to Ozar. We reached there in a little more than half an hour.
There are 300+ steps to be ascended. The steps are quite high and uneven. Be very careful during monsoon. Also beware of monkeys. Recommended is that you don't carry any food items with you. They might get snatched away from you by little thieving monkey fingers. Even if you take pooja thali, put all the stuff in a bag and carry. Recommended you carry a stick with you. It will aid you while climbing and help you fend off monkeys.
There is an entry fee of Rs 15 per head. The tour manager managed our entry. Also carry a small water bottle carefully. Fortunately there was no monkey business today. I guess it must be election time in the area so the monkeys must be busy elsewhere :P
The climb up can be strenuous to some. If you have a problem due to which you cannot climb well, then there is a palkhi service. They charge you 700 rs to carry you on a wooden seat bore by 4 men on their shoulders. They carry you to a point after which you still need to climb up a handful of steps to gain access to the main mandir.
The mandir is located within a huge ancient stone cave, similar to the caves found at sites such as Kanheri, Elephanta and Ajanta Ellora. There are a lot of cave entrances that one can detect from below. But some are not easily accessible and patrons generally only prefer to visit the main mandir.
There may sometimes not be enough space to occupy people on the steps. Though the steps are broad, the great Indian opportunists exhibit the same irrational and irresponsible behaviour they tend to show on the roads. Instead of keeping to one side of the way, they overtake others and occupy the entire breadth of the steps, thus blocking the way for those coming down the opposite direction. This especially happens on holidays when hoards of patrons rush to the religious fanfare. The fact that there is just a small door that serves as main entrance towards the cave that occupies the mandir, doesn't help either. In unsupervised situations, like today, things can get out of hand. I strongly urge people to please act sensibly in such situations. Please maintain queue discipline. Please don't rush unnecessarily. Today such a situation led to altercations between two groups of travelers. Such things only impact your peace of mind, which is counter-productive in God's place. All the rush only to lose your mental peace - its not worth it.
The mandir is located inside a huge cave carved out of stone. Due to the rush, there was a person driving away people even before they stepped in front of God. Shouting instructions to please move ahead. The men, he simply pushed ahead. The women he called 'Mauli' and then pushed them too. I couldn't help wonder at the irony. I was itching to ask him whether he treats his own 'mauli' (mother), this way? But dep inside I know he was doing the right thing. There was so much rush today that without keeping the queue in motion, the crowd would quickly become unmanageable. If you face similar situation though, don't get disheartened. After getting out of the queue just step back and you can pray as long as you like. The cave is quite big and people sit on the floor and pray to God. We did the same. It was another spiritual epiphany for me today.
And just like that our Ashtavinayak yatra was over. We had visited all the 8 famous Ganapati temples, prayed and aksed for His blessings. It was now time to head back home.
On the way back, one person was managing the flow of people at the small entry door. Turns out, he was just another patron. Seeing the rush and the madness, he had stepped in and taken up the take of managing contention at the doorway. He would allow the flow of people only one way at a time. After a minute of inflow, he would stop people outside and let the waiting patrons go out. Kudos to such spur of the moment social workers who manage things in absence of both, official workers (on part the government) and personal moral conscience (on part of the undisciplined opportunists)
The descent was uneventful. At the base of the steps, we bought some kandi pedhe and drank some kokum sarbat. If you are planning to buy something here, then the huge variety of dried grapes on offer here are quite famous.
We had an early buffet lunch at Hotel Girija. The lunch was good. Recommended if you plan to visit here. Its right on the road that leads to the temple steps.
We left at 1:30, took n early tea break at 3:30 at a small hotel near Murbad, and reached Kalyan by 5:00 pm. Back to Mumbai, yay!
Fortunately there was hardly any traffic. We reached Goregaon by 7:00 pm and were greeting home sweet home by 7:30 pm.
A lot could have gone wrong on our way back. I overheard the tour guide and the driver exchanging horror stories of tours where they reached past midnight or had to abandon the bus in the middle off the night due to too much traffic. Our being punctual helped and all that early morning waking up paid off.
I look at the small 10 Rs laminated photo of the 8 Ashtavinayak Ganapatis that we bought as a souvenir and all the tiredness just fades away as I reminisce snippets of memory – those few precious seconds when all the surrounding cacophony faded away and for a second there, I was one with God, or whatever Power makes the world turn… And remembering those handful of precious seconds made the entire trip worth it.
Day 3 - (Dec 24th)
I stare at the blaring alarm. Its 4:50 in the morning. My eyes hurt, the head aches, the stomach churns with the acidic leftovers of yesterday's meals and I really don't wish to abandon the warmth of the bed. Sleep beacons me seductively. But alas. We are on a schedule and I don't want us to be late like yesterday...
Well, turns out we were late today too. In fact, to my horror, we were the last to arrive. We were late by 10-12 minutes. The entire bus was seated and eager to leave. I just hung my head down and entered the bus full of accusatory glances.
Left at 6:20 pm. Next stop Ozar.
While the sun is fighting to come above the horizon, night has descended on our bus. People, all cocooned up in sweaters and jackets, are dozing away as the bus blazes a shuddering trail through the darkness towards impending dawn.
Yesterday had been quite tiring, but a decent enough sleep can work wonders for your mood. I am feeling fresh and looking out at the nature's glory zooming past the window.
Ozar is more than 100 kms away from Chinchwad. The trip is scenic with farm lands on either side of the road. Especially past Junnar and Narayangaon.
A golden Sun reflecting off the water, green fields zooming past, the sky changing shades from black to dark blue to purple to orange to gold to light blue, a misty haze obscuring the horizon - such is the scenery that greeted those of us still awake.
We arrive at Ozar around 8 am. The air was cold, crisp and sharp - and very invigorating.
There is a footwear stand near the temple but many people leave their footwear at the very entrance.
Like Moreshwar temple, the wall-hugging queue, bordered in by ropes moves along most of the courtyard walls. Instead of making serpentine mazes to manage queues, they have erected a couple of makeshift metal staircases. You will need to climb up and down a few times - which can be difficult for those with problems in the knees.
Lady luck smiled on us today. There was hardly any queue and we were treated with a nice long Darshan of the Vighnahar Bappa. Just looking at the majestic idol I was overwhelmed. It was the first time in my 3 day trip that I had a modicum of spiritual solace.
So many of us go on pilgrimages, visit famous temples, throng the spiritual corridors, become small but necessary cogs in the machinery of Religion and God-business. And in all this rigmarole, we forget to spend a few seconds in silence simply contemplating and connecting with God. Not asking, not complaining, not even being in awe of the supreme being. Just listening to the inner silence - until we tune out the din outside and tune in to the rhythm of nature around us that is God. That was the overwhelming feeling I got as I gazed at the beautiful majestic idol of Lord Vighnahar.
The Darshan is also possible from the hall outside, if there is not too much crowd. We walked away satisfied and spiritually sated. By the time we were out, the queue had quadrupled and overflowed right out of the main entrance.
The public restrooms are a bit farther than the temple - just beyond Bhakt Bhavan No 1/2 and at one end of the huge open parking which lies near the lake. So the plus point here is that you need not go to the washroom barefoot.
Had a quick breakfast of upma and tea at Hotel Vignahar. Upma was quite nice, if a bit less in quantity. Tea was good too. Left by 9:45 am for Lenyadri where we would take the darshan of the last remaining Ganapati of our tour.
Jejuri - Khandoba temple
After the darshan at Moreshwar temple in Morgaon, the next scheduled stop was Jejuri - not a part of Ashtavinayak temples, but included in the tour package. Jejuri is hardly 30 mins drive from Morgaon. But it involves a long an arduous climb. It will take at least 2 hours to ascend and descend including just the mukh-Darshan (means simply viewing the face of Lord Khaderaya over a small TV screen. Actual Darshan takes way too long). So we decided to forego it and instead go to the last scheduled stop - the Prati-Balaji temple near Pune.
Prati-Balaji Temple - at Ketkawle, Pune
The Prati-Balaji temple is about an hour's ride beyond Narayanpur. The road that leads to it is secluded and scenic. We reached there at around 7:00 pm.
Points to remember - no wallets, belts, leather items, no phones allowed. We needed to take these all out in the bus itself. No facility to keep footwear that I am aware of. Footwear also chucked away in the bus. Barefoot we made our way to the entrance.
The Balaji Temple is a pretty impressive structure, from its massive entrance door to all the Gods and Goddesses within, to all the quarters and facilities built around it. But the way to the temple doesn't even have a proper road. After removing your footwear in the bus, you will be forced to walk barefoot over open ground studded with pebbles, stones and associated rubble.
The point of entry is provided from one side of the main entrance. There are separate queues for gents and ladies. These two queues finally converge at the temple entrance, so what's the reason for separate queues is logically beyond me. Oh and by the way, there is no queue. People simply rush and push and overtake at will. A prime example of Indian opportunists in an unregulated queuing system.
The queue circles the entire temple wall before converging and creating a bottleneck at the massive entrance door.
Tip: The mandir is closed for pooja between 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. And closes down entirely by 8:00 pm.
The washrooms are a bit farther inside the sprawling temple complex. But you can make it barefoot over pucca road all the way. The washrooms are decently clean enough.
Walking precariously over pebbles and stone and assorted dirt, we picked up our footwear from the bus and went into a nearby canteen where we had some tea.
Left by 8:00, we reached the hotel around 10:00. Dinner today was thankfully less spicy. Had some walk to aid digestion. The MIDC area is lonely at this late hour.
We were tired, sleep deprived, biological clocks gone awry and our digestive systems shot to hell. It had been a long day.
What I do not understand is, if its supposed to be Ashtavunayak tour, then why squeeze in Jejuri and Balaji Temple? 8 ke saath 2 free offer? I understand the economics and the rational behind the whole endeavour. The two religious places lie close to or on the way from one or more Ashtavinayak Ganapati temples. It is economical for people. Instead of spending same amount of time and money visiting the various pilgrimages again and again, might as well cover them all in one go. But what I fail to understand is - what's the point? Are you on a pilgrimage or a road trip? Isn't the idea of visiting all these temple is to pray and offer homage to the God? How can one do that when you are on a strict schedule? How do you pray when you are tired, worried, in a rush, suffering from acidity, feeling sleepy. Not to mention, badly constipated and suffering from bouts of flatulence? What's the point? To get up early, travel whole day, sleep late at night, tiring yourself - only to rush from one destination to another? As if its a religious marathon or joyride or something? I think pilgrimage has become Religious tourism - its as simple as that. The security guards never let you stay for a while in front of God and pray. They rush you. So do the tour managers who wish to ensure you get to visit all the destinations promised in the package. But no one minds people whiling away their time clicking selfies and snapshots or buying stuff not even remotely religious in nature. Are you on a pilgrimage or a picnic-cum-shopping-spree?
But economics always prevails - As the day ended with one of the passengers fighting with the tour manager for not keeping the AC on most of the time. It was suffocating, he claimed. We have paid the money for AC bus, he insisted. Why AC in the winter season, I ask? All he had to do was open the fucking window and he would have got air chiller and fresher than any AC could ever provide. But boss, he had paid the money, so he needed his AC...
We had a quick walk after a late dinner (to allow the food to settle in). The MIDC area can get quite lonely at night. it was just the two of us roaming the empty street outside the hotel, with a crescent moon high up in the cold black sky. It would have been beautiful and romantic, had we not been worried about getting up tomorrow.
We were supposed to get up early. The tour manager planned to leave by 6:00 am in order to avoid long-weekend traffic jam on our way back to Mumbai. We would need to get up by 5:00 am in order to leave on time for our first destination of the day - Ozar.
We hit the bed at midnight and winked out like bulbs...
From Siddhatek, it took us more than a shaky and jerk-filled 1 hour to reach Morgaon. By 3:30 we had parked our footwear at a stand without reading the sign first and were searching for the place where the unending queue would end.
Tip: When at Morgaon, if you happen to encounter a nice stand for safekeeping your footwear right besides the Mandir entrance, then first search for signboards associated with it. When we proceeded to deposit our footwear at one such place, a lady inconspicuously sitting on the ground some distance away from the stand highlighted that it was paid - 2 rs per footwear. Awesome. When, on the way back, we collected our footwear and I gave her a 5 rs coin and waited for change, she ignored me. Then seeing that I wasn't about to move on any time soon, she gave me a Who-are-you-mister? look. To which I replied back with a Keep-the-change look which was hiding a wtf behind it and moved on. If in doubt, buy some flowers and durva for 10 rs from a vendor and deposit your footwear with them...
The queue was long. It took us 2 hours of maze-running at snail's pace to take the darshan. Turned out, since Monday was a holiday, there was a huge crowd at all the temples starting today.
Tip: Avoid going for Ashtavinayak tour on an extended weekend.
The Moreshwar temple is supposed to be one of the oldest amongst the Ashtavinayak temples. At the entrance there is a very old and very huge statue of a Nandi. Also, on the floor is a huge engraved turtle that largely goes unnoticed. Some people bend and touch its feet. Some unknowingly step on it. The entrance archway is made of huge black stones and looks ancient, while the rest of the walls of the huge courtyard are modern.
The queue will go round almost 3/4th of the entire courtyard along the walls before taking a u turn and coming back to the side entrance of the mandir. The main entrance is blocked, or rather, it is no longer an entrance at all.
Along the walls you will notice various old idols rare to be found in any other mandir. Most of them are various avatars of Lord Ganesh, with a placard saying what each form is called.
The dome of the mandir is artfully decorated with effigies if animals and idols of Ganapati in various poses.
The Darshan was quite rushed, though we are allowed to take a close Darshan of the Moreshwar Ganapati Bappa.
After the Darshan the tour guide organized an aarti with one of the poojaris.
The restrooms are to the right as soon as you exit and descend the main staircase. They are not really clean and its advisable to wear footwear before going.
We assembled back at the bus by 5:30 pm. We were running late. We may not be able to cover both of the last 2 stops - Jejuri and Prati-Balaji. We would have to skip one... Finally, considering the rumours of long queues at Jejuri (it being a long weekend), we all unanimously agreed to go ahead to Prati-Balaji temple located near Pune.
After leaving Theoor, we took a short halt for breakfast.
We had breakfast at a nice hotel called Sonaee. It was quite nicely designed, decored and landscaped. Had idli, meduvada and tea. The tea was nice and thankfully available in quantity. The rest of the breakfast was sadly pathetic - cold and tasteless.
Left the place after 10:00
Siddhatek is the only Ashtavinayak Ganapati that lies in the Nagar district. So, we had a lot of ground to cover. We reached there around noon. The temple is a bit elevated, and does not have the usual walled courtyard. You climb in and follow the queue regulating partitions that adorn the outer hall until you reach an inner Hall from where you can get the Darshan of Shri Siddhivinayak Ganapati (not to be confused with Siddhivinayak temple in Dadar)
Lord Vishnu, so the story goes, did tapasya on a hill nearby where he achieved 'siddhi' - hence the name. Who established the Siddhivinayak idol is unknown. But the current temple was built by Ahilyabai Holkar. There is a precious stone embedded in the statue, and a diamond embedded in the navel of the statue. But since they apply sindhoor to the idol, these are hidden away. The pradakshina of this temple is 1 km long and it is a belief that whoever completes a full pradakshina, will have their prayers answered. The tour of course does not allow enough time for a pradakshina.
The guards hardly even let you stand for a second. So our Darshan was too swift for my liking. The tour guide organized an arti for our group. Before the aarti, the pujari furnished us with all the wiki I provided earlier.
If you happen to come across a guy selling tender coconuts at a corner on the way to the temple, be sure to have one. They are so fresh, full of water and cheap too.
We left at 12:45 for Morgaon back in the Pune district. But before that, a break for lunch.
Stopped for lunch at a no-name shack of a place somewhere beyond Daund on Daund-Patas Road. Huge tin roof covering row after row of plastic seats. No tables. Food was strictly ok. Too mild in taste - but that's certainly better if you are suffering from acidity - like I was.
Left the place just after 2:00 pm.
Theoor is quite nearby to Ranjangaon. In an hour, we had reached the Chintamani Ganapati temple.
The morning rays kissed away the night chill leaving the air fresh, cool and sharp. It was invigorating enough to drive away the sleep from our eyes.
Like most other Ashtavinayak temples, the main temple resides within a walled courtyard. There is counter to remove footwear for safekeeping just inside the entrance. But footwear needs to be removed and kept within big plastic bags provided by the facility. If you are alone or in less numbers then you may need to club your footwear with others' into a single bag. If that happens then stay with that group. So that you get your footwear at the same time that the main group takes the bag from the counter.
The usual queue winds its way through a wooden roofed open hall, the carved wooden columns of which hold a framed photo of each of the 8 Ashtavinayak Ganapatis. The hall leads to a prayer chamber with direct access to the Gaabhara. Just like Mahad's Varadavinayak, we are allowed to take a close and satisfactory Darshan of the Bappa. Most religious places are so crowded and one is so rushed and bullied around by the throngs and the queues and the security, that one hardly gets any opportunity to pray. Here we were at least afforded the luxury of waiting for a second or two close to the Bappa, staring Him in the eyes and sending our prayers His way.
Of all the 8 Ashtavinayaks, Chintamani Ganapati of Theoor is my personal favourite. Ditto for my Missus. The better half says, He looks so cute and lovable. I feel all my chintas (worries) dissipate when I Iook at His gentle eyes and graceful form.
There is a public toilet off to one side. Since it is located within the courtyard, you will have to go there barefoot. But this one was much cleaner than its counterparts in the precious mandirs.
By 9:00 we set off for the next stop - Siddhatek
After a hasty darshan at Pali, we were looking at a very long drive all the way to Ranjangaon.
Fuming and fretting that I was due to the excessive cold thanks to the AC, now I was fuming and fretting for some cool breeze. For the bus operator was quite frugal with the AC supply - a typical uncle scrooge for the air conditioner. And the afternoon heat made things almost unbearable inside the closed bus. Add to that the dry climate of Pune and vicinity. For a Mumbaikar, the feeling of dry lips and dry nasal track are an alien feeling, I tell you. If they are going to keep the AC off for majority of the time, why the whole fuss about "AC bus only", I contemplate.
Ranjangaon lies just beyond Pune. We travelled the familiar Mu-Pu Expressway admiring the ghats of Lonavala and Khandala. Just before 6:00 pm, we took a rest stop at Nakshatram, a hotel that lies just past Talegaon. Had tea. Tea offerings nowadays surprise me and leave my tea-cravings yearning for more. In the name of 'cutting' they offer just a couple of gulps of tea in a plastic cup so small, it would put the tequila shot-glass to shame. But the tea was strong and super-sweet and thankfully bereft of unnecessary masala - just the way I like it. Freshened us up for the 2 hr journey that lay ahead.
By 7:00 we have reached Chakan. The bus halts for a while, giving us a grand view of "Hotel Chakan Gaavraan and Tanduri, Chinese Chicken". While I contemplate on and try to make sense of the multi-cuisine name, the bus suddenly does a mammoth-like-graceful about turn and heads back the way we came. The tour organizer steps back and announces that there was some change of plans. Ranjangaon is cancelled for today. It would take us till 9:00 pm to reach there, 10:00 pm to leave and midnight to reach hotel. With oldie-goldies making up the majority of the tour populace, that's a strict no no. We will head back to hotel now. Ranjangaon will have to be squeezed in tomorrow. But we will need to leave early. Early translates to leaving by 4:00 am... And I thought today was the earliest I had seen. I am wondering why bother sleeping at all...
Our tour stay was at Hotel Saptaruchi in MIDC, Chinchwad. Ok hotel, ok rooms.
Dinner was served at 9:30 pm. Most of it was only acquainted to chilli and oil. I would be reminded of how spicy it was the next morning.
Went to bed right after dinner. Nights can get pretty chilly in Pune, especially for a Mumbaikar who is only acquainted to 2 seasons - sweat and downpour. You get under the blankets and wait for the body heat to normalize the temperature of your temporary cocoon.
Dec 23 - Day 2 of the Tour
Deja Vu. Once again I am staring at the alarm which says 3:30 am. Damn these tours... I had slept like a log. We had not given ourselves enough time for the dinner to settle in before retiring to bed yesterday. The better half cold not sleep well because of minor bout of indigestion. She was reluctant to leave the warmth of the bed and the embrace of sleep. Finally and with much reluctance, we started getting ready. The hotel boasted 24 hrs hot water. Bovine droppings. You don't get hot water at the witching hour with solar heaters. Finally they provided some in buckets.
Finally we left the hotel at 4:45 am only to be greeted by the angry waiting stares of the passengers in our bus that was waiting outside the hotel entrance. Turns out there was 1 more family who arrived 15 minutes after us and took the major brunt of the passengers' ire. Thank God for small blessings. It appears that the tour manager had given wake up calls to almost all at the unholy hour of 2:50 am. But we never received the wake up call. Ditto for the last family. Though this makes me feel very guilty to have kept all those sleep-deprived people waiting for so long, inwardly I once again thank God for small blessings (that we never received the wake up call and got to sleep an extra 40 minutes :-P)
Now we make our way to Ranjangaon. The bus is jumping and shaking. The sleep is heavy on the eyes, but the shaking body refuses to relax... Damn these tours...
Tip: In winter carry your winter wear. This one is specially the likes of us who hail from winter-agnostic Mumbai
6:15 am. Most passengers were jolted out of slumber as we reached Ranjangaon. The cold was pervasive. And yet the locals went about as if it was nothing. The Mahaganapati mandir has a grand entrance with almost lifelike statue of a grand elephant. From the inside, the entrance archway has carved sculptures of all the 8 Ashtavinayak Ganapati avatars.
A small walk leads to the entrance of the main temple. There is a footwear stand outside the entrance. There was a queue even this early in the day. One of our fellow passengers ahead of us was an aged fellow, perpetually wearing a cap that does nothing to hide his fully white hair (is there a term "jet white" to complement the term "jet black"?). The tour guide had given us all same-coloured caps with the tour logo, so that they are able to distinguish their flock. This guy wore the tour cap over his own. Apart from the cap he also perpetually carried a muffler wrapped around his neck and dark numbered glasses. (I wonder if he removes any of his gear even while sleeping or bathing? Or maybe he had a fevikwik misadventure and now he cannot dislodge the cap, the spectacles and the muffler?? He reminded me of one of the avatars of Doctor Who - only a dark Indian version. Maybe he is the actual Dr Who reincarnated in India, who knows?) He was not wearing any winter wear. Shivering slightly, he declined my chivalrous offer to share my hoodie jacket. Must be a seasoned traveler...
The Darshan was swift and short. We had our tour aarti outside the main temple.
There are public toilets to the left at the back of the temple. Gents toilets are on the upper floor in a building tucked away farther down. You will have to go there barefoot.
The infant light of a new day had begun to lighten up the sky.
By 7:00 am we were off to next destination - Theoor - 33 kms away
Reached within 1 hour after leaving Mahad. The way is littered with narrow streets, which can get clogged if there is traffic from the other end.
At the temple, it is a tradition to first take blessings from Dhundivinayak ganapati temple located near entrance.
From there a serpentine queue will lead you to a stone temple. Walls made up of massive black stones with carved designs. A massive grind wheel. Also a map of all the 8 Ganapati temples that form a part of the Ashtavinayak pilgrimage.
The inside has a big hall flanked with what appears to be a mezzanine floor with wooden gallery on either side. Off to one side is a counter for donations and offerings for Abhishek. The hall leads inside to a smaller closed hall with a huge chandelier and a bug stone statue of Undirmama. This smaller hall leads to the actual gaabhara / Darshan chamber.
Inside we get the Darshan of the majestic Ballaleshwar Ganapati. All the 8 Ganapati idols that constitute the Ashtavinayak (8 holy Ganapati pilgrimage) are abstracts. None of them have distinctly carved shapes, and yet each idol has been so artistically shaped out on the stone, and painted the traditional saffron, that they all represent the aesthetic and majestic form of the beloved Bappa. The Ballaleshwar Ganapati idol stands out as the broadest of the 8 idols, with its broad sides representing the strong shoulders on which Bappa takes the weight of all our worries. Truly majestic to behold.
Darshan was too hasty, unfortunately. The tour guide organized an Aarti for all members of the tour. Some of the members got to hold the aarti dish.
On our way back, we had a tender coconut - same price as the city. Shacks offer juices, but we generally avoid outside drinks, unsure of the purity of water used and our cosmopolitan stomachs are too used to over-treated hyper-sanitized city water.
The public toilet is conveniently located on the way back.
Next we have a long 5 hour journey to Ranjangaon in Pune district.
But, before that, time to appease the hunger pangs.
It took us half an hour to reach Jambhulpada (taluka - Sudhagadh, Dist - Raigad). Near the Government Medical Center is a 'khanawal' - a mess (not the kind we do in work. The kind where patrons sit and people serve food). I think it's called Dixit Bhojanalay.
The food was sumptuous - home-made - and there were modaks! Yummy, my favourite! This was the best food we had during the entire tour.
We were done and ready to leave by 3:40. Looking forward to a long road-trek of 5 hours before we reach our final destination for the day...
Mahad is in Raigad district. Thus it is the closest of the 8 Ashtavinayak temples from Mumbai. Arrived at Mahad by 10:00. Had a quick breakfast (poha, 2 vadas and tea) at a place just outside the temple area. It was a simple shack with tin roof and a lot of plastic chairs. There were a few plastic tables too. Breakfast was served buffet style. It was a bit spicy but quite tasty.
Then we went for the darshan.
Tip: Don't buy anything before you arrive all the way to the entrance of the temple itself. There are a lot of shops available at the entrance of the temple. Go ahead and buy there.
Tip: Remove your footwear at entrance instead of at the vendor’s. Because public washroom is off to one side behind the mandir. So, on exiting, you can come back, wear the footwear and go to toilet instead of having to go barefoot.
We bought 1 pooja plate - coconut, kumkum, sugar pebbles (saakhat phutane) for 30 Rs and a simple haar (flower garland) for Rs 10. God-accessories are cheaper here than in Mumbai!
The queue was quite long, meandering through every nook and cranny of the mandir. There was a gaggle of school kids on picnic right behind us. Noisy but sometimes disciplined by kid-weary teachers.
This getting up early is bad business. Your bowel movements are thrown off the bio-rhythm. Since I wasn’t able to contribute anything to our sewage tank in the morning, there was a steadily building pressure in the abdomen. I was constantly worried, lest I make my flatulent superpowers be known the olfactory and auditory senses of the poor gullibles behind me in the queue.
The darshan was satisfactory. Got to go all the way into gaabhara (the chamber where the God's idol is located) and get an up-close-and-personal darshan of Shri Varadavinayak Ganapati Bappa, thank you. Also got good darshan of Shankar bhagwaan's pindha besides the main gaabhara.
There is one more Shri Datta Mandir at the back beyond the public toilets and near Bhakta Niwas. Nice and quaint and much neglected. Do visit.
Next stop - Pali, again in Raigad district - expected travel time 1.5 hrs.
Tip: When you buy coconut you can either keep the coconut there at mandir, or carry it with you as prasad after offering it to God. The pujaris at all the 8 ashtavinayak temples give back your coconut after touching it at god’s feet. If you plan to carry the coconut back, the weight of 8 coconuts will drive you nuts. In order to avoid that, just buy 1 coconut and offer that same coconut to God at all the temples - if you don't mind rationalizing the God-business.
I had booked the Ashtavinayak tour with a famous tours and travels firm at Dadar more than a month back. It was a 3 day package which included bus travel, 2 nights stay in hotel of their choice, breakfast for 3 days, lunch for 3 days and dinner for the first 2 days. Usually these packages also offer complementary trip to Jejuri and Prati-Balaji temple near Pune, along with the 8 Ashtavinayak Ganapati temples.
Our Tour Itinerary was something like this:
Day 1:
Pickup starting at Borivali
Mahad (District Raigad) - Varadavinayak temple
Pali (District Raigad) - Ballaleshwar temple
Ranjangaon (District Pune) - Mahaganapati temple
Chinchwad MIDC - Hotel stay
Day 2:
Theoor (District Pune) - Chintamani Ganapati temple
Siddhatek (District Nagar) - Siddhivinayak temple
Morgaon (District Pune) - Moreshwar temple
Jejuri (District Pune) - Khadoba temple
Prati-Balaji temple near Pune (Ketkawle)
Back to Hotel
Day 3:
Ozar - Vighneshwar temple
Lenyadri - Girijatmaj temple
Back to Mumbai
I was looking for a simple non-AC bus with non-AC rooms. Who in their right minds would like an AC in winter season? Apparently a lot of denizens of Mumbai are not in their right minds. For they called me at the last minute to inform me that I can have a non-AC room – no issue. But they did not have enough patrons for a non-AC bus. I would have to switch to an AC bus package. I had no say in this matter because by then most other tours were sold out. It was an extended weekend, with 25th Dec being a Christmas holiday. I was banking on that while planning this trip. Friday-Saturday-Sunday tour and Monday (25th) reserved for rest. So I settled for whatever they were offering.
I have had a previous tour with this firm. Our trip was quite satisfactory at that time. Except for the hotel. This time the hotel was better, but the rest of the things were not up to the mark. Previously they would carry a cook, cooking utensils, stove and gas cylinder and foodstuff along with them on the bus itself. Everytime we took a halt for lunch or breakfast, they used to cook and provide the food to us. The food was quite good. Even dinner was prepared by their own cook at the hotel where we stayed at the time.
This time though, they did not carry any cook or cooking ingredients and utensils. Which is good, because is it really safe to carry a gas cylinder with you on a bus ride? But then, the food was arranged at the local hotels where we took a halt for lunch or breakfast. Some of the meals were good, some not up to the mark. The dinner was offered by the hotel where we stayed. It was strictly ok.
We stayed at Saptaruchi hotel in Chinchwad MIDC area.
The hotel room was ok - certainly an improvement over the one where we has stayed during our previous trip.
The food was not so good on Day 1 and strictly ok on day 2.
They have Solar heaters and claim 24 hours hot water. Which is a myth. You will probably get hot water throughout the day and even before retiring to bed. But the nights are cold this time of the year. And not a drop of hot water can be found early in the morning, when you need to leave for the tour. Of course, the hotel did provide hot water in tubs on calling the reception.
Mosquitoes can wrack havoc on your sleep. We suffered sleepless nights swatting away mosquitoes during our previous trip. But fortunately, this time, it being winter, we could get away with always keeping the windows locked - thus saving ourselves from the mosquito menace. Prefer an AC room if you plan to take such tours during Summer or Monsoon. If, like us, you cannot stand AC, then better carry an arsenal of mosquito repellents.
The success of any tour depends on how punctual all the passengers are. And a bit of luck of course. In our tour, almost everyone was quite punctual. And we were quite lucky to start off our 3 day tour on Friday instead of on Saturday. Monday being a holiday, many people had booked for Saturday-Sunday-Monday tours. And we heard and read horror stories of passengers stuck in extra-weekend traffic and/or in the very lengthy and very crowded darshan queues. Prefer to take such tours during normal days, and not on extended weekends.
There is a reason why the tours start off so early in the morning. There is a lot of ground to cover and any number of things can slow you down. But getting up early, sleeping late, eating oily and spicy food at odd times, all of these can mess up your digestion pretty bad. Be sure to carry any medicines or foodstuffs that help you relieve acidity and digestion problems.
The queues can be quite long sometimes. Some temples, like the Girijatmaj temple at Lenyadri may demand a strenuous climbing effort. Even sitting too long on a jerky bus ride can cause back-ache. Ensure you carry pain-relieving medications if you need any.
Ensure you relieve your bladder every opportunity you get - especially during Winter. Some rides can take longer than expected and there may not be any rest stops in between. I have included details about restroom availability near each temple.
During your Hotel stay, prefer not to give your key for room cleaning. Tour guides do a good job but they are not infallible. And the hotel staff can sometimes mess up your reservations. When we returned on day 2, some of the rooms had been allocated to other guests and the luggage and stuff belonging to people from our group had been unceremoniously dumped outside. There was a big row and it took a couple of hours of haggling before things got sorted out. It can be really aggravating to return from a tired and long trip only to encounter such unnecessary problems. So keep the key with you if you don't mind coming back to a lived-in room.
And a final word of caution. The tour entirely depends on the punctuality of all members and on luck. But nothing is guaranteed. If it takes you too long in one temple, the others may get cancelled. During our tour, we could not visit Jejuri due to time constraints. be mentally prepared for such eventualities.
All right, enough of the instructions and guideline. Let the tour begin!
The day starts!
Dec 22
I am staring at the alarm which says 3:30 am, and wondering why the tours have to start off at such unearthly hours? The alarm clock has no answer. So I reluctantly leave the sweet embrace of sleep in order to get ready.
5:00 pm reporting time.
Left home at 5:30.
Walked to Ratna.
The damned bus arrived at 6:00.
A prime example of Indian punctuality.
Seats allotted 19-20. Its a big bus, so I assumed the seats would be somewhere in the middle. Fat chance - they are bang above the rear tyre. This, even after requesting for a good seat in the middle of the bus. So much for customer satisfaction. The seat numbers can be deceptive. The first 3 rows of the bus were numbered using alphabets. What did they use - the hexadecimal system for numbering? No wonder the seats 19 and 20 were towards the rear. What a ripoff.
The bus driver must have been blind because he never slowed down at potholes or speed breakers. Or maybe he played Road Rash too much? Whatever the case, sitting in the back of the bus, we could feel every contour in the road on our backsides. Now my spine knows exactly how the seismograph must feel during a Richter 10 quake.
The AC vent was right above my head, making my arid head fell like a windswept Antarctic landscape. Good thing we carried my jacket with the hood.
Too cold and jerked about, I finally wrote a premature one-star bad review on google.
We took a halt at Dadar. There was a public toilet just outside, beside our halt point. We used it to relive early morning traumatic bladder. The gents toilet is free of charge. But not so the ladies toilet. The ladies toilet person charges 5 rs for keeping the toilet unclean and ugly - a not-so-silent testimonial to Swaccha Bharat Abhiyaan.
It took about 9:00 am to clear Mumbai after all the pickups.
Today's Itinerary was: Mahad, Pali, Ranjangaon
