Skip to main content

Featured Post

2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Memories from Corbett Safari Resort

While on a vacation, I usually don't like to stay in a resort, preferring instead to wander and discover the area I am visiting. On my recent visit to Corbett, there were so many things planned that we spent very little time in our rooms, which is just the way I liked it! However, there are some things about the Club Mahindra Safari Resort which I shall always remember.... such as the towel art.....







And my first sighting of a Pied Kingfisher, and that too just outside our room!


Oh, and there were lots of other birds, too. But the only ones I managed to capture on camera were the Pond Heron and the White Browed Wagtail...



We were treated to a Kumaoni dinner one night, accompanied by folk songs and dances... and can you believe that the item I liked the most was one similar to the Khichdi???

Yes, that does look like a bagpiper...
apparently, the Kumaonis play a similar instrument!!!


On our last evening there, we had some spare time, which the others used to try and photograph the birds, while I simply wandered away (as usual) trying to see the parts of the resort I hadn't seen as yet!

This is how our rooms looked like from the front...


And here is the back- view.... facing the river... 

This wide expanse of green with a path for walking was so so inviting...

And the gazebo-like structure was the perfect place to relax and enjoy the cool breeze from the river...

What I shall always remember about the place, however, is the river... the Kosi, and the mountains on the other side...


I could just sit and look at the water for hours on end...... 


While I have this burning desire to visit Corbett again, I have been wondering what has been pulling me more - the jungle, the tigers, or the river? and I have begun to think that maybe it is the river which calls out to me....

Related Posts:



Comments

  1. Nice captures Anu.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely pictures Anu. For me sea has the same charm that you say about the river. Do you take sea for granted?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Mridula! I am actually rather afraid of the sea.. cant swim at all, and cant venture inside without holding on to someone! the max i usually do is stand near the beach with my feet in the water.... dont go much into the river either, but love to sit by it and watch the water flowing past, again, with my feet dangling in the water!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can so empthasise with your . Loattraction to the river. I feel the same for it too and like you I am intimidated by the sea and its vastness. Loved the pictures, especially the towel art. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with you. Looking at the river, I think even honeymooners won't mind a place famous for tigers. :)And towel art is Club Mahindra's specialty. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Zephyr! more similarities cropping up!!!! and apparently, their towel art is one of their specialties!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. right, Nisha!! I really wanted to go and sit by the river, but they dont allow anyone near :( and i always enjoy Club Mahindra's towel art! first saw it at Binsar!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.

Pandharpur Yatra 2023

The first time I visited Pandharpur was back in 2007 . The names Vitthal and Pandharpur, were just names to me. I had heard of them, but that was about it. Seeing the lord standing on the brick, hands on his hips, was memorable, but more memorable was the sight that greeted us as we walked out of the main sanctum of the temple. In the mandap just outside were a group of devotees singing abhangs , and dancing. This was the first time I had heard abhangs , and even almost 15 years later, I can remember the welling of feeling within me, listening to the songs, and how fascinated I was by the sight of the devotees dancing, lost in their love of the Lord. Over the years, as I have read more about Vitthal, and participated in Ashadi Ekadashi programmes at Puttaparthi, that first experience has stayed clear in my mind and heart. Every time I tell my Balvikas students of the saints who sang of Vitthala, it is that experience that I re-live. I visited Pandharpur again, in 2010, but that experie