Does blogging about some place bring u a luck of visiting that place again? Well, this funny thing happened with me. I blogged about my first trip to Shirdi (May 2012) and one week later, I was in Shirdi again!
So, anyway, the way it all happened was quite funny. I believe and I'd like to quote Paulo Coelho from The Alchemist, "When you want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you achieve it." In this case, I'd say it was my mom's wish. So the set up was that my Mom was to visit Shirdi with my Maasi and a whole lot of her people from Chandigarh. Basically, the Sai Baba temple there had arranged this 'yatra'. Anyway, my mom was getting all senti and didn't wanna go without me. And I had no reservations so I could not go with her! So finally, we decided that I'll take the tickets for chair car and sit through the entire journey (while others sleep in the sleeper) or mom and I will share the sleeping berth (dunno how that would've happened, considering both of us have a plus size!).
So, on the day we were to leave my Maasi called up at 7 in the morning and said that one uncleji fell sick and got his tickets canceled, and my Maasi has quickly grabbed those tickets for me! So, I got confirmed train tickets, hotel bookings, etc. Miraculous, it was!
Coming back to the actual trip, Mom & I boarded the 12715 Sachkhand Express from New Delhi Railway Station (Platform # 4), while the rest of the lot came down from Ambala (in the train). Our lunches & dinners, throughout the trip were taken care of by the temple people, i.e. they had made all those arrangements and it was all superb.
Now that we were in the train and had a 20 hour journey, I decided to make good use of my dear Kindle that I had bought recently. After showing it off, something that a true punjabi does, I finished "The Alchemist" for the 2nd time, while absorbing it with maturity, and started reading my first Chetan Bhagat, "2 States". Commentary on the books will be given later coz I have a bad habit of digressing from the main topic.
On reaching Manmad, we were filled into taxis and taken to a nice hotel called Sai Sharan, near the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Complex. The entire hotel had been booked for us and I must say that the arrangements were fab. If you ever get a chance in life, you must visit some religious place with the 'sangat', i.e. with a whole lot of other pilgrims. Just make sure there is no stampede though :P
Post lunch, Mom and I quickly went for darshan in a luckily, almost empty temple. "Darshan achhe hue", i.e. the pilgrimage was successful. It was actually surprising to see very few lines irrespective of the fact that it was a Thursday, i.e. Sai Baba day. The moment I thought this, crowds came in rushing. We later realized that we had entered in the afternoon which is usually a lean time. Hence, we were lucky to get through fast. Post darshan, we went to another place called Shani Shignapur.
A taxi outside the Sai Baba Temple Complex would take you to the famous "Shani Temple" and back while charging Rs 100 per person. They start with Rs 120 or 150, but come down to Rs 100 on bargaining (Sigh! I'm so bad at that!). Throughout the ride, we listened to bhajans (religious songs), while viewing the sunset over fields of grapes. It is famous that women are not allowed to enter the Shani Temple. However, the system has changed and the priests have learnt their lessons on gender equality for women now ARE allowed to enter the Shani Temple and even perform the pooja. This temple and city/village is famous for 3 reasons:
1. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shani (Saturn). According to Hindu mythology, Shani was the son of Sun and was disowned by him. He, thus, developed hatred for his father and toiled day & night to attain a position of his own. The day dedicated to Saturn is Saturday and it is believed that people should avoid buying iron or other metallic items on Saturday as this invites the wrath of Lord Shani. The punishment that Lord Shani gives you is that you become lonely, toil day & night (like him) while achieving minimal results. There are believed to be people who have faced extreme illnesses & abject poverty coz of Lord Shani. Hence, people are scared and wish to avoid any kind of astrological issues pertaining to the phase of Saturn. It is not that Saturn is always bad! For some people, Saturn is lucky, for it teaches you how to be meritorious on the basis of your hard work and not luck. It might keep you away from your homeland, but may give you a whole lot of progress on a foreign land. The Hindu mythology and astrological studies are full of such stories and beliefs.
Coming back, the temple at Shani Shignapur is one of the most famous temples dedicated to Lord Shani and people from different parts of India come here to get rid of their phase of Saturn. Hence, it is said that once one have performed the pooja, one must not turn around and look at Shani again coz if you do, you'll take it back with you in place of getting rid of it.
2. There are no locks in the city. People in the city do not lock their doors as no one in this steals anything, i.e. there are no robberies in the city. It is believed that anyone who performs a robbery in the city gets punished by Lord Shani and either dies of extreme illness soon or goes insane.
3. The only areas covered in the temple are the paths on which people walk. Usually, in any Hindu temple, an idol of the Lord to whom the temple is dedicated to is placed under the arch of the temple (gumbad). However, for the Shani temple at Shignapur, it is said that many people tried to build an arch above the idol of Lord Shani (which isn't even a proper idol) but have failed miserably every time. This is so coz the Lord wishes to stand under the Sun (his father) and face him eye-to-eye.
The vendors outside the temple who sell flowers & incenses for pooja inside the temple, typically scare everyone for money (ridiculous, I tell you!). Some people do believe in all that those guys say and buy a whole lot of stuff coz of their superstitions. Everyone who believes in all that, would call me stupid but I believe that superstitions have no end. Once you do one pooja, you'll end up doing a hundred of them. Anyway, after visiting the temple, we merrily came back to the hotel and slept like logs. Hence, went Thursday.
Friday was the day to go to Nasik (Nashik). 11 of us (along with 2 kids of someone) bundled up and hired a taxi (Typically Rs 200 per person return) to go to Nashik. Nasik is about 90 kms from Shirdi. Reaching there, we first visited Mukti Dham, the Birla Temple in Nasik. With a whole lot of idols, it gives the visitors a feeling that they've actually visited all the Dhams. Following this, we visited Trimbakeshwar Temple. While returning, we visited the Ram Ghat area, which I had described in full detail last time.
Saturday morning was the turn of another round of darshan at the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, surprisingly in the VIP line this time. Post this, we ran back to Manmad from where we boarded our train back to Delhi/Ambala.
Few other details worth mentioning:
- Sai Complex is the name of a shopping mall right next to Shirdi Sri Sai Baba Temple. This mall houses restaurants like Rajdhani offering good food and some shops selling ethnic clothes. Typically, shops in the malls don't bargain. However, the shops there too. One of the ladies in our group actually bought a saree for half the price quoted!!
- Vendors sell a bunch of red roses for Rs 10 outside the temple. These roses are usually purchased by pilgrims and are offered to the idol of Sai Baba in the temple.
- Ram Ghar at Nasik is made at the banks of River Godavari. At this Ghat, there is a 'sangam' of 3 rivers namely, Aruna, Varuna and Godavari. Apparently, there are 12 different temples in this area, at the banks of the river. The pooja for 'kal sarpa yoga' in horoscopes is also done at Panchvati.
- Normally, we see a whole lot of people begging for food. Whenever you offer food to them, they instead ask for money coz they actually don't want food. However, during this trip, we had 2 instances where we offered actual food. First, I met a man and a lady who were visually challenged outside the Trimbakeshwar Temple. On asking them what they want to eat, the gentleman said that he wanted to have something sweet. So Ma and I bought some sweets (laddoos) and distributed to all the people there who happily ate the food. On the second instance, we met a lady begging for food. When we offered to take her to a restaurant and pay for her, she agreed and took us to a nearby cheap restaurant offering idlis and dosas. Here, we ordered idlis for her. Looking at her situation and age, I ordered tea for her and touched her feet for I felt that blessings of one needy and worth a lot.
- Kolhapuri chappals sold in this area are cheap (Rs 150 per pair on bargaining) and of good quality. For those who don't know, Kolhapur is a city in Maharashtra which is famous for the chappals made there (and now of that kind) and a special type of chicken dish (Chicken Kolhapuri).
- Shirdi and Manmad lie in Maharashtra. Hence, one gets to see ladies with green bangles wearing a Marathi style saree all around. The men in Maharashtra wear dhotis and wear the hawaldar type caps in white on their head (Recall the 'Main Anna Hoon' caps).
- This entire area houses fields of grapes. Hence, grapes and raisins are sold a lot in this area and of course, for a very low price. The 2nd shop on the left of Sri Kapaleshwar Temple in Nasik or the shop outside Mukti Dham in Nasik offers good quality dry-fruit for a sensible price (no bargaining I mean).
- Another famous item of Nasik is 'Kondaji Chivda'. This is a kind of salty snack (namkeen) which is quite famous in the area.
- Green coconuts, again, are quite famous in the area. I remember drinking the water myself and offering the 'malai' to Mom (she doesn't like coconut water). Eating the coconut malai reminded her of her childhood days. On one incident we bought the fruit 'shareefa' (custard apple), often misquoted as 'seetaphal'. This fruit is pretty expensive, but cheap in this area, and my Mom used to enjoy it during her childhood in Kolkatta.
- The sweet shop opposite Sri Kapaleshwar temple offers 'khurchan' which is awesome mawa. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, all I'd say is just go and please eat it for it is a milk sweet and is absolutely delicious.
- The laddoos prasad is sold at Gate #2 of the Sai Baba Complex and each packet contains 3 laddoos.
Phew! Quite an exhaustive list of things.
