MPdiaries Part 7. Panchmarhi

Like every state in India have their own hill station, Madhya Pradesh has its hill station at Panchmarhi at 1067 meters, commonly known as Satpura ki Rani. It has also been recognised as UNESCO biosphere reserve.

We checked into InderPrasad Hotel late in the evening after a long drive from Jabalpur.. We had a good room with twin beds and a beautiful view outside the window. There was a small market nearby, where we went to buy few local products. The lobby had a small comfortable cubicle, outside the dining hall, where we spend our leisure hours playing cards. Surprisingly, the wifi was free in this town and we had free internet access even when we were on the road.

Early next morning, we hired jeeps to go around the city. It is a city of natural beauty with caves, waterfall and temples.

Although there are lot of tourists visiting this place for natural beauty and caves, the infrastructure is very poor. The gardens are well developed but the roads are poorly developed. I needed assistance during my walks and I did not dare to walk up the steep hills. I wanted to see the Pandav caves, but there were narrow steep steps to climb up and I would not dare. I sat for some time under the tree, then decided to walk around the garden. The garden was well maintained and had manicured plants and trees. It had lots of cactus and rich flora and fauna.

The city has many naughty monkeys who surprise you with their sudden appearance and may even steal your belongings if you are not careful. The jeep driver advised us to pick up the sticks to scare the monkeys away. We walked down the dirt road with sticks in our hand and headed towards Mahadeva temple. We just climbed 52 steps to reach a cave. The cave was dark and wet. There was a small waterfall inside the cave, water was cool to touch, I washed my feet and walked towards the Shiva idol. The energy inside the cave was very positive and it really felt good.

 There were more caves in this area,  there was too many steps to climb, but then all caves will be same, you see one, you have seen them all, unless you want to be adventurous and do some more exercise, then it will be a good pastime to explore. Everywhere there was trident (Shiva’s Trishul). That is recognised as Lord’s ubiquitous symbol and there were hundreds of them everywhere….

After lunch, everybody went to see Jatashankar caves. I did not go because I was told that it would be too steep for me to walk. I rested at the hotel till they came back to fetch me for an evening drive to Priyadarshini view point to see the deep valley from the mountain top and later went to panorama point called Rajendragiri point where we were able to see beautiful sunset...

Later in the evening we went shopping again..In the hotel was this map of Madhya Pradesh and it was fun marking the route we had travelled during our trip

To be continued………

MPdiaries Part 6. Jabalpur

We spend lot of time on road trip all over MP, but bus journey was not boring. I am reminded of the movie ‘Bombay to Goa’ wherein you meet all kinds of people. Some are dozing, some fast asleep, some noisy, some want to sing, some want to eat. My friends spent most of their journey playing cards…just three of them across the aisle, they would play different games..it was a good time pass for them. I was occupying the front seat and could see the road from the glass window in front of me. I had made myself comfortable by tucking cushions behind my back and a shawl over my legs. I enjoyed the journey watching cities pass by.

After a long journey from the jungles of Bandaravagarh, we reached Jabalpur. We checked into Rishi Regency. It was quite a comfortable hotel with separate twin beds.

I was glad that the weather in #Jabalpur was pleasant, so i didn't mind climbing down 72 step to go for a boat ride at #BhedaGhat And what a ride it was! Surrounded by dark green water on all sides and the sun setting behind the marble stones.(that looked like Meccana's gold). We rowed on calm waters of Narmada river.

Our ferryman was an interesting person..he had humour and talent to speak in rhymes mixing Hindi and English ....."Water is deep,.marble stones on all sides, left or right only suicide is allowed

There were some kids standing at the top of cliff willing to dive and reach our boat for a fee of Rs50. The ride was very enjoyable. However, climbing up the 72 steps was quite a challenge......

At #Jabalpur, we walked through the narrow alley towards #Duandharwaterfalls. The lane is laced on both sides with shops selling handicraft items and articles made of pure marble. We walked across small alleys with shops selling artifacts, marble statues, incense stick holders, marble turtles, vases and everything that can be made with marble. You can even get your names inscribed on marble designs. Turtles seem to be the favorites they were designed in various forms and materials. There were some beautiful marble toys that I have never seen anywhere else in India. The lane seemed endless, stretched over more than a kilometre. I walked halfway but decided to take a cable car instead. This was the best option and the view from top was splendid. It seemed like a miniature of Niagara falls. The waters of Narmada river fall over glittering marble rocks with such force that it leaves you amazed at the beauty of the nature...

While all our group members had walked down for one and half kilometre to experience the waterfall, we were glad that we took a ride in the cable car and watched from the top. Of course, had we walked down closer to the waters, we could have wet our feet and enjoyed the spray on our faces, but then you cannot get everything…

To be continued…..

MPdiaries Part 5. Bhandarvagarh

After driving all day, we reached Bhandarvagarh late evening. I couldn’t see anything, but a narrow road and thick bushes on either side of the road. It seemed like a ghostly town with not a person in sight. The bus moved slowly  over uneven mud road till we reached the beautiful resort called Mogli Resort. We were to stay in the middle of the jungle. I was quite impressed with the rooms, it was large and spacious with all the comfort one could ask for. There was a big open ground surrounding all the villas and a dining hall across our room.

Early morning 6am, we set out for a long drive into the deep forest for jungle safari at Bandhavgarh National Park in an open jeep.

The forest is spread over1536 kms. I was hoping to see Bengal Tigers (for which this park is famous for) ..but was not lucky to spot any. The professional photographers wait for hours by the pond waiting for thirsty animal to come into their focus but we waited only for 20 minutes..then drove around for nearly five hours.

However I did spot deer at several spots..they ran swiftly behind the trees. The ride was pleasant through this tropical forest with lovely fragrance of leaves and the beautiful chirping of birds.

Evening at Bandhavagarh was spent playing group games. Since our group was divided into two groups, one group for 15days tours and second group for 7days tour. This was the last day for group doing 7days tour. We had evening of games..childish but fun…just being alert in pronouncing certain words….the person who was most alert was the winner, the distracted ones faltered. I had no interest in playing any such games but enjoyed distracting the players with my comments. till all my friends dropped out.

We were seated at open ground. It was getting chilly. Bonfire was lit, we sat around it in smaller groups and we began to relax as the warmth touch our faces and feet.

Later part of the evening was spent enjoying the traditional folk dance of MP called karma Nach. These dances are the reflection of rich heritage culture of the state. The dancers were dressed in vibrant colorful costumes. The women had their head covered and danced gracefully in rhythm with slow hand movements. Men had sticks in their hand striking the sticks of the persons on their sides and they all moved in circles adding the dramatic rhythm. They also performed acrobatic dance. Such dances are normally performed during festivals to celebrate the rich harvest by the natives of Madhya Pradesh.. 

Cross posted on my FB

It was the most relaxing evening spent during this trip.

MPdiaries Part 4....Khajuraho

We reached late evening at Khajuraho and checked into the hotel- Khajuraho Temple View. There was a beautiful view of lake outside the hotel and on the other side of the lake were the Khajuraho temples.

Early morning we set out to visit the temples. Day was spent visiting the monuments of Hindu and Jain temples.

First we headed towards Jain temple. The sadhvi dressed in white, with a peacock feather whisk, a metal water pot and scripture roamed barefoot around the campus.

There were hymn playing in the temples and you could hear them loud even if you did not enter the temples. All temples had high steps with no railing support to climb up. I needed help each time I wished to climb those steps

These temples are considered as the UNESCO World Heritage site.  There are about 22 temples in the campus. These are built of sandstones and are famous for their nagara architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures. There were about 84 postures of  erotic sculptures. We were asked to listen to the guide to understand the legends and the stories hidden behind these sculptures. There were beautiful carvings around the walls of the temples and I stood there admiring the art and workmanship of the artist. .. some sculptures depict the tantric activity in sex, some the lifestyles and the cultural history of the people that lived in that era. They told the story of how people spend their time,, men hunting and travelling, women grooming and entertaining.  There were apsaras elegantly dressed in finery and jewels, with mirror in their hand, applying kohl in their eyes or henna in their hair.

It tells the story of how people tried to keep the balance between their worldly pleasure and their spiritual life. Then there are sculptures of musicians, painters, army, animals, instruments used for different purpose, arm weapons, vehicles, transport and also flowers mainly lotus. Every God had their own vehicle. Just like Ganesha has mouse as its vehicle,  Kaam God (the God of passion) has parrot as vehicle Goddess Laxmi..wife of Vishnu has owl as her vehicle, Goddess Saraswati has a swan.

You can see the Artists' imagination in carving out the figures with profound expressions, such that, they actually speak to you. . I would have loved to go through all 22 temples but I needed help to climb those large stone steps. I wish they would install strong railings for support or maybe an escalator?

We stopped to have coffee at the café in the park and then went for shopping. Had a relaxing afternoon playing cards in the common room. 

In the evening we went to see the light and sound show narrated by Amitabh Bacchan.