Gujarat Pilgrimage trip summer 2010

Summer Pilgrimage trip to Gujarat – May 2010

Pilgrimage Phase I


Our trip commenced on the night of 14th May 2010. We took a night flight to Ahmedabad. The first two days of our trip was spent on acclimatisation. ACTUALLY. When we left Mumbai it was 34 deg C. Ahmedabad on 15th was 46 deg C; hence acclimatisation. The two day acclimatisation included visiting various malls in the city and eating out. Thankfully it was ore of window shopping rather than actual shopping.



We had geared ourselves with caps, sunblock creams, sun glasses etc (sunglasses for each one of us). We had no idea of what was in store for us. We were told that the state government had issued a widespread warning about tremendous heat & advised people not to venture out of their houses/ places of work between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm and to go out only if absolutely necessary. We knew that we were already up against odds.

On 17th May, we embarked on our pilgrimage by road (a Toyota Innova). We left at about 8:30 am. A day long drive from the East to the West of Gujarat via,Chotila, Rajkot,Jamnagar, Dwarka and finally reaching Mithapur for the night.

We stopped at Limdi for a quick breakfast and equipped ourselves with bottles of water and cold drinks. We reached Chotila at around 11:00 am. First temple of the trip we visited was Chotila Chamunda Mata mandir. We prayed at the big mandir at the base of a small hill. We did not attempt the 900 steps climb to the hill top where the original and old mata mandir was located. Decision not to attempt was more to do with the time constraint, the heat and climbing up hill with kids. We carried on till 2:30 in the afternoon gulping down the cold drinks. Our lunch stopover was Khambhalia a small town, about an hr drive beyond Jamnagar, had food in a small restaurant called 'Hotel Milan'. We reached Dwarka at 4:30 pm and were in front of the temple gates by 4:45pm. The gates opened at 5:00 pm. We had a wonderful darshan of Lord Krishna – I say wonderful because we expected crowd there. On the contrary, there were very few people resulting in a pleasant darshan. We spent few minutes on the Gomti river before leaving Dwarka. We continued our journey to Nagnath to visit Nageshwar temple, one of earliest of the 12 jyotilings in the country. A huge imposing statue of Lord Shiva welcomed us to Nageshwar temple. We reached the temple at 6:00 pm. After offering our prayers at the temple and clicking some snaps around the temple, we also visited the small Aavad mata temple just outside Nageshwar temple. We were lucky to view an elaborated session of prayers and a session of foretelling for some devotees. We finally reached Mithapur at around 8:30 pm where we had a quiet dinner at MithaMahal guest house (the company guest house for Tata Chemicals). Then we took a small walk around the guest house before retiring for the night.

Temperature varied between 40 and 45 deg – most of the times on the higher side.

End of Day 1.



18th May, 2010:

We commenced our journey at around 8:30 am – post morning breakfast. Our schedule was to cover Bhet Dwarka, return for lunch and spend rest of the day at Mithapur. The drive to Okha was smooth and as per schedule. Incidently, Okha is the extreme tip of Gujarat mainland and it projects towards Kutch in Gulf of Kutch. We took a ferry to Bhet. Bhet is a small island in this Gulf. Although it was only 9:20 am in the morning we could feel the heat when we sailed in the ferry. It was a small ferry with seating capacity of about 20 people but was overloaded with approximately 60 passengers. Only about 25 of them were sitting, the rest just stood in the middle of the boat and a few daring ones stood on the edge of the boat holding on to anything that they could latch their hands on. The ferry trip lasted about 15 minutes. We reached Bhet. Once you walk along the pier into the island, a Bank of India signboard proudly displays “Bank Of India - Bhet branch welcomes you to Bhet”.



The Krishna temple is a walking distance from the pier. We had a comparatively easy darshan at the temple. We then quickly hired a Chakdi to go to a Hanuman temple called 'Hanuman Daandi'. A chakdi happens to be a hybrid of a auto richshaw ( from the front) and a small tempo (from the rear). There was no roof to this vehicle rather the roof consisted of a long bandhni dupatta tied to four corners of the vehicle and torn at a few places. It is a common local public transport (other than the rare buses of course) in these parts of the country. Incidently these chakdis were smaller than its counterparts in the mainland. We hired a chakdi for ourselves for the trip to Hanuman Daandi and back. It was a hot ten minute bumpy and shaky ride in open and barren countryside to the destination. Our chakdi was named Shiv and in the front it was decorated colourfully with various blow horns and loaded with a tape recorder and sound boxes. By this time it was already 10:15 am and the sun above us was almost tearing through us. Yet we especially kids, enjoyed the ride very much. We offered our prayers at this small Hanuman temple and took a small break before jumping into the motor called Chakdi. Our return in chakdi was even hotter. Back at the pier, we were tired. We recharged ourselves with some water and juices. Finally we walked down the pier (a short five minute walk but felt like a 30 minutes walk in midday sun). Our return ferry was even more crowded – about 70 passengers cramped into the middle of the boat. The kids soaked themselves in juices as a respite to the heat. On the mainland, we just rushed through the pier to jump into our car and returned to Mitha Mahal for lunch. As we were exhausted, after lunch we hit the bed for a long satisfying afternoon nap.

In the evening, we visited a small temple adjoining the Tata Chemicals factory. Then we ventured out to roam around Mithapur. Divya wanted to see Mala's childhood houses, school and the town in general. We saw the hostel complex and visited Sagar dam and seashore just before sunset. Then we continued roaming in Mithapur visting Mala's childhood houses, school, the Mithapur hospital, railway station, local market and visited houses of some old friends. Mala revealed her childhood through memories and explained all of them to Divya throughout the evening. We returned back to the guest house at around 10 pm for a hurried dinner before going off to sleep.

Temperatures were again very high at around 45 deg C during the day (Bhet was especially very hot – could have been 46 or so).

End of Day 2.



19th May: Divya's birthday.

A long day covering Harshad, Porbandar, Upleta, Dhoraji, Virpur, Gondal, Jetpur, Junagadh, Vanthali, Keshod and finally ending the day at Somnath. We commenced our road trip at around 8:30 am after breakfast at Mitha mahal. We proceeded towards Harshad. Gayatri thoroughly enjoyed the wind mills spread across the countryside which we were traveling. Harshad is a small coastal town known for Harsiddi mata mandir. We visited this temple at around 10:00 am and proceeded towards Porbandar. Kids were eager to visit Gandhiji's birthplace and his house. We reached Porbander at 11:00 am and went straight to Kirti Mandir (Gandhiji's child hood house).Kids enjoyed seeing Gandhiji's house, his room, books, furniture and other artefacts used by him. Gayatri was extremely thrilled to see 'Paisa thatha' everywhere. After this we went to Sudama puri ( a temple dedicated to Sudama). By this time it was already 12:30 pm in the afternoon and sun was scorching in Porbandar. We had lunch at a restaurant called Swati in Porbandar. Then we travelled away from the coast towards Virpur and Gondal. It was extremely hot in Virpur. Although I could not get Virpur in google for weather but after experiencing 46 deg C at Porbander, I am sure it was hotter - must have been 46 or even 47 deg C. At Virpur we visited Bapa Jalaram Mandir. Surprisingly all devotees were served hot tea in this temple. After visiting the temple we shopped at the local market for some dresses; apparently they are cheaper here. The afternoon sun was devastating and we replenished ourselves with lots of water. Kids also had some juices. Then we moved on to Gondal. We reached Bhuvaneshwari mata temple at around 5:15 pm. After the darshan we moved on travelling through, Vanthali, Junagadh, Keshod to finally reach Somnath at 8:30 pm in the evening. But for us the day was not yet over. We directly went to the famous Shiv temple (the oldest of the 12 jyotirling in the country). Surprisingly, we had a very good and easy darshan with practically no crowd at all. Somnath Shiva temple is a big and extremely beautiful temple. We then checked into a hotel called Sukh Sagar in Somnath at around 10:00 pm and had dinner there. A very long and tiring day finally ended. We survived the day with lots of liquids.

Temperatures were very high varying between 44 and 47 deg C

End of day 3.



20th May 2010: Harini's star birthday.

Another long day starting with Shiva temple at Somnath going on to Veraval,Una, Diu, Ajara, Rajuli, Mahua, Baldana, Taloja and finally to Bahvnagar to end the day.

After breakfast at hotel, we went to Shiva temple again at around 9:00 am for a detailed darshan. At the original Shiv ling below ground, we could do some detailed puja with the help of the temple's main priest. It was a satisfying offering and darshan at this primary shiv ling. Then we revisited main Shiv ling. Due to extreme heat, crowd of devotees were not much – very unlike Somnath. Somnath is usually very crowded despite elaborate arrangements for devotees. The interior of the main temple is decorated very nicely. Other than the main temple there was a gallery of the 12 jyotirling statues with description about each shivling and the legend behind them. This was very interesting. Finally on our way out, we did some shopping at the roadside stalls of Somnath outside the temple.

We then moved on to Veraval where we visited Bhalka Tirth mandir, supposedly the place where Lord Krishna was shot in his foot and after which he left this world. After this darshan, we went past the clock tower of Veraval and continued to Una all through Junagadh. The heat here was too much. As there were no good place to have lunch in Una, we went to Diu (a union territory). Diu is a very nice place, neat and clean and well maintained. It has a good coastal view. We had our lunch in Diu and then visited the Diu fort. I liked the fort. Incidently this fort was built in the year 1535 AD by the Portuguese. The fort itself is surrounded by a huge moat on 3 sides making it practically in accessible from all sides. The main entrance to the fort is via a long walk bridge which spans the moat section. The fort is well fortified by a 2-tier big iron gates – absolutely historical. The whole moat area are well protected by number of guns and canons. There were a couple of other places of interest in Diu. But intolerable heat forced us to remain in the AC comfort of the innova. As a matter of fact, the heat was so much that we did not at all feel the cooling AC while travelling especially in afternoons. We travelled through Una to Mahua. After Mahua we took a diversion inside to visit a small village called Ajara. Here we visited a unique place. It was a open place of worship called “Ajaypaar dada nu Dham” with sculpted stones of some God / goddess (not identifiable). This was on a raised platform and the trees surrounding this platform were unique. All these trees were of the same breed. However the most unique fact is that in each tree there were 3 different kind of leaves – 1st: long, 2nd: round and 3rd: thorny. The story is that these leaves if crushed together and consumed, it can heal about 108 kinds of diseases. A small boy from that place went on to explain that in case of internal diseases, it has to be crushed into a paste, mixed with water or milk and consumed daily. For external diseases, the same should be crushed into a powder and consumed by mixing with water. As the story goes, there is enormous wealth under the platform. If one can tell the names of the 3 leaves correctly, he will be able to open the round stone locked on the platform. As of today, no one has been able to guess the names correctly. After this surprising visit we came back to the main highway and continued our journey. In the evening we took a diversion from the coastal road to the interior to reach a remote place called Baldana. Baldana is a small town 18 kms off the main highway. We reached Baldana at around 8:00 pm to visit Bapa Sitaram mandir. After a quick darshan (an evening prayer session was going on in the outside lawn of the mandir), we resumed our journey. Surprisingly, even at 8:30 pm in the night, the floor of temple premises was very hot as if it is open sunlight during the day. We reached Taluja at 9:00 pm and finally Bhavnagar at 9:45 pm. We stayed at Hotel Blue Hills. We managed to have our dinner at the hotel barely before the restaurant's closing time. We collapsed into our beds and slept like dead logs.

Temperatures were intolerably high. Certainly above 45 deg C all through. The hotel staff at Bhavnagar told us that the peak day temperature on that day was 46 deg C. Places like Junagadh and Una were definitely much hotter, must have been 47 deg C or more. However these places being remote interiors, there was no result when I googled for temperatures at Virpur or Una or Junagadh.

End of day 4.



21st May 2010: Last day of this round trip.

The itinerary was – Bhavnagar to Sarangpur (near Botad) and then to Ganapati pura and finally back to Ahmedabad. The previous night we slept late (the ACs were not working initially; after a few complaints, things got sorted out and finally we could feel cool air from AC late in the night). As such we left our hotel after breakfast at around 10:00 am. It was a pleasant drive to Sarangpur although the outside temperature had soared. We reached Sarangpur at 12:15 pm. We forced ourselves out of the car only to face abnormal heat. People were desperately looking for some shade like a tree or building to hide from the sun. Unfortunately the temple closed at noon. We were told that it would reopen at 3:00 pm in the afternoon. At around 12:45, we went to have lunch. The lunch consisted of simple roti, dal, rice, one sabji and dry sweet served by the temple administration as prasad. We were now forced to hang around till he temple opens. As they heat was too much, we booked ourselves a room at the temple dharamshala and all of us had a good relaxing slept for almost 3 hours. We recharged ourselves with lots of water, juices, chaas etc, to battle the heat outside again. When we came out of the building, a strong wind was blowing – extremely hot and dry, almost tearing through our skins. Even with sunglasses, we were unable to see outside properly for a few seconds. Gayatri ran back inside the building complaining that it is too hot outside. We had a good and easy darshan at around 4:00 pm.

There are some large and beautiful dharamshalas associated to temple. They look very good from outside and are basic inside. It suited us very well for a 3 hour halt. Immediately after the darshan, we jumped into our car – had more juices and fortified ourselves with fresh bottles of mineral water and resumed our road journey. We reached Ganpatipura at around 5:30 pm in the evening. It was still very hot. We visited the Ganapati temple a small temple with a large orange coloured Ganapati idol. It had considerable space outside; seemed to be under renovation or rather expansion. We then continued to complete the last leg of our trip. We reached Ahmedabad at around 7:00 pm in the evening.

Temperatures during the day in places that we covered were at 45 deg C and above. Bhavnagar was at 45 deg C and when I googled for Sarangpur weather it showed 46 deg C and storm. No wonder, it was so hot.

End of 1st pilgrimage trip.



Wow!!! We did it.



After this hot trip we badly needed rest. Continuous road journey for more than 8 hours each day and unbearable heat made us weak. We rested for 2 days. However our rest time activities included going out in the evening, visiting shops, watching movie and eating outside (in restaurants and at roadside). We had another 2 day commencing on 24th morning.



Pilgrimage Phase II



Phase II itinerary: Ahmedabad – - Ambaji – - Nathdwara – - Ahmedabad. Leaving Ahedabad on 24th morning with one night halt at Nathdwara.



We left at 8:45 am from our residence in Ahmedabad after a quick beakfast. About 45 minutes outside Ahmedabad was our first stop: Adalaj. We visited the adalaj step well. This oblong step well is a technological marvel. It is a five storeyed well builts in 1498 AD. The top most storey is at ground level and the remaining floors are below ground in descending order. It is supported by eight pillars with a landing platform at every level. There are stairs are going down up to the well. The well is currently closed. This step well site as been declared as a place of national heritage by the Central Government. We continued thereon. The drive to Ambaji was smooth but time consuming. Needless to say that it was very hot and water and juices was gulped in bulk. Most of us slept in the car during this longish journey, almost till Ambaji. We reached Ambaji at around 12:45pm in the afternoon, the last 20 minutes drive was an ascent. Unexpectedly, due to extreme heat or rather thanks to this heat, there were not many people visiting the temple. We could comparatively get an easy and long darshan. On our way out we did some window shopping in all the stalls along the temple. Finally we came out of the temple premises at around 1:50 pm. Unable to bear the heat, all of us pounced upon the nearest juice vendor. We had some tasty thirst quenching lemon pudina juices and a few other variants. Some went for a second course of mirinda thumsup etc. We then returned back to the car. By this time it was already 2:30 pm in the afternoon and we had to have lunch. It was past lunch time in some known hotels. Finally we had lunch at a small restaurant which was open throughout the day. We then proceeded towards Nathdwara. As it was very hot outside, the cooling AC in the car acted as a strong sleeping pill to all. Knowing that there is a long drive till we make the next stopover, most of us went to sleep blissfully. During this period, we quietly moved into Rajasthan, and very soon we were into the national expressway. This stretch of the ride was very comfortable. There was hardly any traffic. However, since it was a hilly area, dry winds were blowing at good speed generating a dust storm. The only view that we had of outside were barren hills and large boulders. At pockets of this expressway, there were signboards cautioning us that it was a landslide prone area. We finally reached Nathdwara at around 5:00 pm (wih the last 25 minutes again an ascent to slightly higher altitude). Nathdwara is a small town. Existence of the whole population is one way or the other connected to the Shrinathji temple. Its narrow lanes with shops on both sides close to the main temple are unique worth taking a walk if one can survive the heat. We had little difficulty in locating our hotel (Gopal Niwas). At the end we realised that it is in one of those narrow lanes very close to the temple entrance (less than2 minutes walk). Since the darshan for the day was over, we had nothing else to do, we took a walk along those lanes window shopping almost all the shops. Finally we reached a shop which sold paintings of Shrinathji. We visited the godown of that shopowner where he expalined that he does not trade on those paintings but actually paints them himself. After seeing many of his works we placed an order for a very expensive Shrinathji painting. We expect the painting to be done and delivered to us within 2 to 3 months. We then went to Sankalp restaurant for dinner after which we returned to our hotel for the much needed rest.

Next day, as planned, we had two darshans of Shrinathji in the first half namely: the gvala

darshan at 9:00 am and the Bhog darshan at 11:30 am. Between the two darshans we went back to the same shop and ordered for some small laminated pictures of Shrinathji. After the second darshan, we went back to our hotel to check out. We then had our lunch at the hotel's restaurant. It was very hot and even the small walk from the hotel to the car park was extremely tiring. Our driver exclaimed that he has never found the Nathdwara car park so empty – thanks to intolerable heat wave. We came to know that the previous day the peak temperature at Nathdwara was 50 deg C. For a moment, I regretted not being there to witness and feel 50 deg C; but I was happy to know that this day was 1 degree lesser at that time in the afternoon. We got into our car in afternoon at around 1:30 pm, settled into comfortable positions and almost all of us went off to sleep immediately. This time the return route was direct from Nathdwara to Ahmedabad with no halt at any place. Well... there was just one bio stop accompanied by some snacks and lots of cold drinks and ice creams. We finally reached Ahmedabad at 6:30 pm in the evening.



Wow!! We did it again.



During the whole pilgrimage phase I and II, we experienced unprecedented heat (some say that the temperature in most places that we visited had touched levels which were not witnessed in the past 15 years) and humidity in the coastal region. The heat waves in some places were skin piercing. At the end of it, we had the most comfortable and easy darshan that one could imagine, courtesy these heat waves.



Personally, for me this summer trip was in total contrast to my 2009 trip to Ladakh where the struggle was to survive extremely dry cold and river water in sub zero temperatures.