Mahableshwar - Panchgani 2011 - Part 1

January 2011 - Family Trip to Mahableshwar and Panchgani......
Weather is pleasant at this time of the year...We took the road route from Mumbai...
Some places to see on the way...
Khamjai Devi...
Theres a small temple on ghat with stories that have been on for centuries...

Khamjai Devi Temple

The cave below Devi has water all the year..No one has been able to trace where it comes from , it is mountain water but origination is a secret....There are pillars inside the cave which can be seen from top...
Divine power and purity is what I experienced at this place...
Wai -
(Extracted from Wiki)
Wai is an old town - the newer part of the town is 200 years old, and the older part, over 350 years.
Afzal Khan, the general of the Bijapur Sultan, camped at Wai during his campaign against Shivaji. He forcibly took up residence in a mansion called Banawdikar Wada, and turned the wada into a 'Kutchery' or office. Banawdikar Wada was the scene of plots on how to capture or kill Chattrapathi Shivaji, until Afzal Khan met his death at the hands of Shivaji at Pratapgarh. The wada still exists in Raviwar Peth of Wai. The wada's main door is a solid wooden frame, with beautiful carvings in the fashion of the olden times.
About 200 feet up the road from Banawdikar Wada, stands a small Deshpande Wada. It was built by a disciple of Samarth Ramdas. Wai is also home to Nana Phadnavis. His beautiful wada stands on the banks of the Krishna. The house with its fading frescoes is worth a visit.
Dholya Ganpati Mandir- This temple is built by Raste in 18th Century on the bank of River Krishna, Wai is the first holy place of The pilgrims on Krishna, the people are known Wai as "Dakshin Kashi".also there are 7 Ghats on the Krishna's bank.

Dholya Ganpati....

Dholya Ganpati temple is one of the prime temples in Maharashtra. The idol of Lord Ganesh is extremely big and is situated on the beautiful ghats of river Krishna.

Kashi Vishweshwar Mandir
This is very old temple of Lord Shiva, the main feature of this temple is the nandi made by the same stone from which the idol of Mahaganapati was made, & this Nandi was decorated by the garlands & other jwellery, also there is a pendol made by stone & on which design is very beautiful.

Nandi Is Behind my Dad...

Kashi Vishweshwar Mandir

Beautiful Pendol

Lord Shiva Inside the Temple

Must see temples on your way to Panchgani...
I will be back with Inside stories of the trip...

Goa ----- BAGA

I went to Goa December 2010....Awesome trip and so was the journey.....Baga stole the show completely...Its the most happening Night Place and it is super safe for responsible girls....
Its very pleasant and you can always be engaged as there are so many things to do around...

• Watersports
• Food
• Tatoos
• Shopping
• Cafes / Bars
• Disco
• Hukka :)
• Beach (So Obvious lol )

There are some nice places to hang on the Baga Lane..
Kamaki Cafe
Kamaki Cafe is good to sit and have a beer or a peg...
Good crowd flows in to sit, chat and enjoy.....They have a dance floor inside but that not too happening....
Rating - 8.5 / 10

KAMAKI CAFE 

 

 

 Cape Town Cafe
Another cool place to chill and grab a drinkk..

The crowd is superbly Firang - Even the locals and Indians behaved Firangi Hahahahah..
Hang out at Cape Town than Kamakis...
Here also there is a dance floor inside and some nice sofas at the sides to chilll.....
Rating - 9 / 10

Mambos..
Great Place to dance and attracts the maximum crowd.
Rating - 9 / 10

Titos..
They have free drinks for Girls Everyday..
Bad Crowd...There were uncles around..Completely not happening
Rating - 6.5 / 10


Will be back soon.

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Part 3 - The SWEET Story at the Dalai Lama Temple on Tibetan New Year - 14th Feb 2010

Welcome back....When I reached the first floor...I saw huge stacks of bread with a flag on top.....Some kinda monster faces made of sugar....Beautifully made horse Scenes......

The Monster Faces Made of Sugar.....

A closer look at the Faces

They Look Scary .....

Beautiful Horse Scenes 

Its all made of sugar (have a closer look.)This Board like structure was part of their offering as well as decorations....Tourists flocked at the temple were clicking every corner of the temple...It was truly something which i had not imagined nor expected....

There are many things kept as offerings to the god just outside the temple and to my surprise there was a beer bottle,Royal Challenge Bottle along with chocolates,fruits etc......

There were long tables on which all the offerings were placed for display........

The Temple Finally...It was closed when we had come the earlier day....

People offered white colored shawl..It was called the KALI temple...KALI was  a framed, criss crossed pieces of coloured cloth.... 

The KALI

 

Something more scary at the temple..... In the image below..The head of the bull has skull like creature....Have a look...

Some more sweet idols inside the Kali Temple....

I will be back with more insight....Time for a BREAK...........C U SOOON.............

Inside Story at the Dalai Lama Temple on Tibetan New Year - 14th Feb 2010

Around a month Back...I was at the Dalai Lama Temple at Mcleodgang..It was 14th Feb 2010...The continued story about the Tibetan New Year...The temple was completely lit at 10 in the morning...Huge crowd was flowing in the temple to pray and see the yearly celebration at the temple.
Inside are statues of various figures including Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, and Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion and Green Tara 
The Dalai Lama addresses and blesses the people at the temple, which happened early morning that day which I missed :(
For those of you not familiar with the Dalai Lama, he is the rightful spiritual and political leader of Tibet, an area now encompassed within China. China invaded this peaceful Buddhist Kingdom at the ‘roof of the world’ in the early 1950’s, feeling that they were helping a poor nation in need by giving them infrastructure and reuniting the Tibetan and Chinese cultures, when in reality, they massacred thousands of Tibetans and nearly destroyed their way of life with the “Cultural Revolution” where hundreds of monasteries were destroyed, monks were killed and forced to kill each other at gunpoint and forbidden to practice their religion, and the Dalai Lama, in 1959, was forced to flee to India on foot over the Himalayas, in fear of his life and the lives of his people. Since then, thousands have followed him, trying to rebuild their lives and retain their fleeting culture, but many have died trying to make the journey. Each pilgrim that reaches McLeod Ganj is personally greeted and welcomed by the Dalai Lama himself. In 1989, the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in trying to free his country in a peaceful manner
NOTE: THE DALAI LAMA STAYS JUST BEHIND THE TEMPLE..TEMPLE IS ALSO CALLED AS THE "HOME OF DALAI LAMA".BUT, MOST OF THE TIME LAMA IS TRAVELLING.THUS CHECK WITH THE LOCALS YOU MIGHT JUST BE LUCKY TO SEE AND MEET HIM....

There are number of lights lit in closed,cupboard like structures made of wood and glass spread across the entire temple.Similar to one showed in the below image.Fire Lights are not let loose anywhere in the temple.

 

DECORATIONS.....

The entire temple had buntings across..As I walked around,I saw flags on the first floor.I inquired with one of the local and she shared that theres an auspicious KALI temple at the top.I waited in the queue awaiting to see whats different that Tibetans do and have in store for me..the wait was blissful..

When I reached up,I saw poles on three sides of temple with flags on them..I wondered why have they put so many flags and here's the answer to it...I had seen lot of flags across houses on my way to temple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flag/  Please visit this site to read more ...

Locals dressed in traditional Shuba (More info an this is mentioned in my earlier post.) The youth wore western as well...Tibetans are very welcoming and enthusiastic...The lady in Green was super fun..She posed the moment she saw me clicking them :) She was Sweet :)

Well there's more to come..I take your leave now to come back with small happiness's that's a joy to me...My journey with you will continue.............................  

Tibetan New Year at Tsuglagkhang Temple , the Dalai Lama's temple Mcleodgang..14th Feb 2010...

Tibetan New Year at Tsuglagkhang Temple , the Dalai Lama's temple Mcleodgang..14th Feb 2010...

It was a super experience to be on streets on Tibetan New Year...Not many shops were open & huge Crowd going towards the temple dressed in traditional Tibetan SHUBA Dress..

Their costume is not elaborate. It normally consists only of a shuba, a long capacious robe with wide, elongated sleeves which hang almost to the ground. This is caught up at the waist by a woolen girdle, so that its skirts reach only to the knees and its upper folds form an enormous circular pocket round its wearer's chest.

 The Tibetans hardly ever do their shubas up over their chests. The right shoulder and arm are almost always left free, and when they are on the march or at work the whole top part of the robe is allowed to slip down so that it is supported only by the belt. This leaves them naked above the waist and clad in a very odd-looking sort of skirt below it. They hardly feel the cold at all and in the depth of winter, heedless of frost or snow or wind, they trudge imperturbably along with their bosoms bared to the icy blast. Their feet, too, are bare inside their great high boots.

Tsuglagkhang Temple , the Dalai Lama's temple, Mcleodgang Celebrations for New Year..
Infact before I entered the temple, saw many people celebrating.There were monks just outside the temple to receive offerings..

The Temple is decorated once a year and there was a long queue to see something on the first floor..Well I wondered what would be so special  and waited for an hour to reach the temple, but the wait indeed was blissful...
Temple was beautifully lit by light and decorated by flags and bunting all around..
Will be back with inside stories..Its gonna be very SWEET ........... :)

Experience for Life - North Trip 2010

It was the First time I was out with Gang who has consistently been on move...I was excited at the same time very nervous...I was a little scared at the same time confused..i decided to be there 100%.I just dived in without ideas..And guess what was in store was huge...Super excitement and Joy...I felt like a child having super fun every moment...Pedro and Fams were Hilarious in the Dumb Charades..Peds "Ittefaq" was super...Peds clapped his hands in anger when people could not understand :)We played it with songs and believe me Fams is Jukebox and Chandu is the next one....I remember Roops could not guess Manya one of the Favourite songs..He tried hard but he was outstanding...Round Applause for Manya......:) Uno and cheating was wow...Me and Gayu were crookss...We picked cards from the pack and downloaded cards back also....I remember whispering movie names to Nanu and is an actor man aise behave kiya jaise use pata tha...lol.....Theres More to come ..The inside story will be revealed...