maheshwar

MAHESHWAR

day 2 in indore and as per plan we were to visit Maheshwar
the car rental guy suggestee we club mandu and maheshwar
i most certainly didnt want to do the mandundekho drive
maheshwar was to b an experience..mandu too
maheshwar has the fort. the chattris the ghats and then the maheshwar handloom sares

ghats n me

sare

small guide

palace
carvings
ghats
chatri
embrlem

shivling in the hand
father in aw said
selected her when she heard her sinfing
ahikyeshwar mandir
dahsbhuja vishnu
rehwa
sarees



women chhatru
maehswari aree
weaving at rehwa
experiments in silve zari

rekhwa and womens weave
womens weve run a handllomschool.. swedes as treiness
khadi sarees
spin weave.. 9k
tana bana
cotton sarees
experiments with cotton instead of ctton and silk

wld promote tana bana




chappan
food ar chhappa

indore

Diwali 2017

It's just 4 months since Sikkim...and i was yearning for a vaccation.  i didnt care much about where, as long as i got to go.   Go...away frm home...with the spouse and kids or kid... out of home..out of the city.  3 days 4 days.. i was okay with anything..anywhere....just take me, was the brief i had given

Bhuj and Dholavira, ahemdabad Modhera and Lothal.   Bhopal Gwalior and Sanchi/... Benares and Sarnath.. these destinations  were on my wishlist ..but this time I was in no mood to go exploring,  assimiliate and complile facts.  I just wanted to go. do nothing.

the daughter took another load of my mind when she suggested Indore.

several years ago, i had read in on of the inflight magazines about Indore, the sarafa bazar which transforms into a khau gali in the night... i had seen travel shows which explored this part of Indore.. the chaats, the street food had beckoned.  

also I had haoppened to see the movie Kinara wen i was a school girl. In the movie there s a shot of the fort of Mandu.  Mandu ..the name had registered and stayed fit.  the silhouttes of the turrets of the fort had stayed with ne over the years.  i wanted to visit mandu fort in the early mroning, in the evening...  I had nit even kniown of the other architectural wonders in Mandu.

This time I did not even wan t to do that much research and with 4 days in hand, we decided on a day in indore, maheshwar, omkareshwar and ujjain. 

it was diwali time.. i knew the palaces and musueums would remain closed .  had also found out that mionday is when these have their weekly day off.  but i was beyond care.  i am going on a vacation.  jo hoga ..dekha jayega.

i must milk this occasion as much as i can.. pack in as much as i can.. that thought took  a back seat.

jaao..ghumo..take a break frm the routine... enjoy the family time... bring back memories..

and here we were in Indore on teh 20th of october 2017.   8.20 am

once we had checked in into the hotel, we formulated the iterinary for the next 4 days.   google and MP tourism helpline suggested that all museums, rajwadas, palaces were closed on that daym, the New year of Diwali.  they didnt have any updtes for the next day either.  saturday, bhai dooj could be another holiday.  then monday was the weekly day off fr these places.

so we decided to visit Omkareshwar on that day, Maheshwar on Saturday, Indore sightseeing on Sunday and Ujjain on Monday.

the cab was booked and off we were on our way to omkareshwar

why omkareshwar ranted the daughter

she dislikes the crowds and mindless ritualism  that religion and religious places bring along with them

she loves visiting temples.. the onees which are ancient, known fr their architecture, which arent very crowded..by visitors and bhakts.

Omkareshwar would be crowsed

the drive takes you to the bank of the Narmada.  a walk across the bridge or a boat ride takes u across the river to the temple site.

on the same side where we alight is the Mamleshwar temple. 

omkareshwar closes for abhishek at 4

it is 3 pm and we diecide to visit mamleshwar later.

as soon as we alight we are accosted by pandas

darshan karayenge, abhishek karayenge.. mandir ghumayenge, aati waqt mamleshwar mein pooja karwaenge....

the daughter it put off

the heat doesnt make it any easierr.

there are the Brahma and vishnu temples on the banks too ..which can be visited if you take the bridge. 

the boat ride looks inviting. 

one can book seats on the boat to get aacross the river and back, or also book one exclusively for yourselves.  they also offer packages.. the temple and back.. the temple and some sight seeing from the boat - which involves a ride to the sangam of the nRMda, the invisible tawa and the ....

he also will take you to another end of the ghats and then back to where u boarded.

this was what we opted for.  the boatmen, young men, maneouve their boats supely.   the bioats are deisel operated...

 though i enjoy the boatrides, the boarding and alighting is stressful for me.  i managed and survuved

we climb the steps of the ghat and then the temple

at the ground kevel we see 2 caves..caverns..the brick walls of which are painted a strawberry milksahke pink

the floor has atleast 3 inches of water and we are loathe to enter

jaaiye jaaiye...shankaracharya jee na wahan  tapasya kee thi they tell us.   no thank you is our reply... what we utter is a polite aatey hain..hai .. mandir ho aatey hain

i am armed with a book.

the book says that on the first floor os the omkareshwar shiv linga

on the secind floor is

there are temples dedicated to annapoorna, shuka , and many more.

the pandaas are back again.  150 rs mein abhishek araa dete hain.. just to get rif of them  and also realising that this is theri only means of income,, the husband agrees.  the happy pamdaa rushes and returns with a small bucket of 'jal'

the ancient stone tempek has been conveniently renovates woth granite claddings at spots, ftitted with tubelightas fans and also an ac in the garbha gruha

the garbhagrha is at an abriupt right turn.. the shiv link now eroded is not more than 3 incjhes in height.  it is not the tyoical shaope of a shivlinga either.   the daughter is flitting on her feet, not liking the ambience... a man randomly sprinking water.. the hustle and bustle of the pandas.. and though there are not more that 15 20 people she is looking at me accusingly.   she turns behind and sees a small flight of stairs on the top of which is an idol of a man in dhyaan.  frail,,, mendicant look.. asheen in color.   we are told that is the staure of Shuka.  Shuka the son of vyasa?  must look yp.

the shivling is shielded by a sheet of glass.  abouit 4 feet high.  so though one can uptourn a balti of jal ove the glasss, offer bel patri and floweres over the glass, one cannot touch the shiv linga.  i am glad

the abhishek done, we are out of the sanctum.  

not many know of the shrines on the 2 upper floors.  no one stops us as we cimb the 2 sotreys.  the balconoes there offer a great view of the narmada below and the ghats below and across the river.


behind the temple is an old rajwada..palace which the locals say nobody inhabits.  no scope for exploration - the place below the palace is almost of litle shanties with drains overflowing.

we take as much as we can oof the sight and head back to our boat.

an enjoyABLE  20 min boat ride and we are back on the ghat  every vacation is a learning..u see something hatke.. we saw a boat being built.  the skelotn was being built.  nails were being hammered,.  the nails were not our typical keele.  they were stirps of iron which were being heated in a sigde, picked up with a pair of tongs, hammered in place and a bottle of water poured over it.  

the chai wala was making chai in a sigdi fixed in a bucket, the bicket was loaded with oalls and to n=blow those embers was a mechnica blower.  u rotate the handle and air was directed to the sigdi, 

sigts of a small boy amusing himslef by oretending to help his dad/ uncle by movine around bits of wood.... were an amusing sight

lots of stpres were sellving narmadeche gote.  the stoones frm the narmada are roud=nd.. oval... fitted as shivlingas

mamleshwar was another beatiful temple.  the pics will speak for themselves



friday night.. dinner was at sarafa.

bhuttey ka kees
garadu
tikki chole
kulfi
coconut crush
dahiwade from joshi wadewale
kachori
pavbhaji
paan

Baradevi, Parel

A couple of years ago, I happened to attend a lecture by Dr Kurush Dalal. In the course of the lecture, he mentioned the Baradevi in Parel.

What is referred to as Baradevi is a slab of rock,around 10 to 12 feet in height, on which are carved 7 images of Shiva and 5 images of his ganas. This can be traced to the Vakataka period he had said and can be dated to the 5th 6th century AD. This unfinished sculpture was found when the road there had been dug up in order to lay a road near the Haffkine Institute.
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The museum, realizing the significance of this discovery, wanted to place this sculpture under it's care. Arrangements were made for transportation but while it had  barely been lifted off the ground by a a crane, the belt snapped and the Baradevi slab fell back. this was interpreted by the locals as the deity's unwillingness to move to the new abode. they refused to let go of it. since then it has remained here in Parel. As this is an unfinished sculpture, it is not in worship and it remains secure in a structure, behind a grilled gate. The museum has taken a cast of this piece of art and have placed it in their premises.

This sculpture, the Baradevi has 7 images of Shiva carved on it. None of these are ornately embellished. However the hands..the fingers are beautifully carved. 3 images appear one above the other at the centre of the slab and the other four are slightly reclining images on either sides of these. The Shiva murti at the top of this slab has 10 arms and seems to wield a sword in one. the 3 (standing) central images have the distinctive crescent moon carved on the jata. 5 Ganas are visible in the lower half of the panel. The image of one gana is faceless. They are shown playing musical instruments like the flute and the harp.

Some scholars have accounted for 8 Shivas on this monolith..and that has been when they have included into their count, the entire stele which is shaped like a Shiv linga

There are 2 more temples in the vicinity of this Shiva monolith. on its right is an ancient Chandika temple. A little ahead, on it's left, and atop a flight of stairs is the Vagheshwari temple. The Vagheshwari devi as the name implies... rides a tiger. The origin of this temple can be traced back at least to 1857 says Mr Mhatre, whose family looks after the upkeep of the temple. There are records to prove it too, he says. He loves conversation and getting to know his visitors. He asked about us, our place of residence, our native villages.. and proudly said, Mumbai, this place is my native place.
Both the Chandika temple and the Vagheshwari mandir, remind me of the Gavdevi mandir of my childhood, or even of the temples in Goa. simple no frill structures .They have an old world charm , as if time has stood still here. This is a Maharashtrian neighbourhood with families who have been residing here for generations. I am taken back to my childhood, where the neighbours were mostly Maharastrians and i realise that I haven't heard the language being spoken with such fluency and ease in a long time. Nostalgic moments and i feel strangely secure. little memories seem to have been brought to life and i want to linger here a bit longer. I sit on the wooden bench there...comforted.

P.S.     Baradevi is a little ahead of the KEM hospital.   After the signal at KEM, one has to drive/walk a little ahead and on the left hand side, appears a flight of stairs, leading up a hill.  This is the Golanji hill.  As you are climbing, the dome and kalas of the Vagheswari temple are visible.  The approach to the Vagheshwari temple is via another staircase which leads you straight  to the small kerchief sized aangan of the temple.  

Once atop the Golanji hill, the Baradevi and the Chandika mandir are a 2 minute walk from the Vagheshwari mandir.

Napgur Madhyavarti Sangrahalay

A trip to Nagpur was on my wish list for many reasons.

I had been there in 1991 on a work related trip and wanted to revisit  a couple of places with my family.   Tadoba and Hemalkasa beckoned.   And I also wanted to visit the Central Museum at Nagpur.

While I was studying mythology, we had a lecture on Mythology and Temple architecture.  

When talking about how mythology was depicted in and on temples, the expert, Dr Vaishali Welankar, spoke aout how  the sculptors who adorned the temple walls with their art, were well versed in mythology.. the stories they were to depict.  Also sometimes the artist did take an artistic liberty so to say.

She mentioned a sculpture currently housed in the museum at Nagpur,  depicting an incident from the Vishnu mythology  - The distribution of Amruta after the Amrutamanthana.

In this particular piece, the sculptor has shown Mohini with a pot of Amruta, standing on Kurma.  And then there is Vishnu too, with his shankha and gada.  The Kurma is shown craning its neck in between the two figures of Vishnu and Mohini, waiting to sip on any drop  of Amruta that might flow out of Visnhu's outstretched palms.

Thus in one panel, the artist had depicted Lord Vishnu as well as his two forms, Mohini and Kurma.

Rani Prabhavati's fort. Vakataka period