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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

Saptashrungi Temple, Vani - A different experience!

The mountains appeared in the distance, their peaks covered by the clouds.





As Samhith said, it appeared as if someone had tried to mix two colours – green and grey.



Moving further into the mountain ranges, the clouds seemed to disappear, and the lush greenery of the Western Ghats was clearly visible.



The higher mountains remained covered by clouds....



And as we moved towards them, the clouds came closer too..



As the roads took us higher, the clouds and the fog seemed to change the very landscape. Grey and green seemed to be having a contest to see who would triumph over the scene...



The vehicles ahead of us were no longer as apparent as they had been before..



Soon, we could see little ahead...



.....But the headlights or taillights of the vehicles ahead of us! Not even their bright colours could make them visible as the fog took over!



Soon, even the green grass seemed to disappear..



As for the mountains, they were nowhere in sight! it was difficult to believe that we were on a mountain, surrounded by peaks!



We were at the Saptashrungi Temple at Vani near Nasik. The temple is dedicated to the goddess Mahishasura Mardini, the slayer of the demon Mahishasura. She is named Saptashrungi for the seven peaks that surround her abode here, but none were visible as we began climbing the steps to her shrine.





The Saptashrungi temple holds an important place in my heart. I have visited the temple only once before... the day after Diwali in the year 2007. This was one of the few temples we visited as a family – me, Shankar, Samhith, my in-laws, my mother, my sister-in-law and her family – and it was a memorable trip then.

Even more importantly, this was the first temple I wrote about on my blog!

At the time, I had just the usual Kodak camera with me, and I only clicked a couple of pics of the temple as seen from the foothills and a shrine with a buffalo head representing the demon killed by the goddess. My photos were not particularly great, and the post was a short one, giving just some details of the temple, and nothing more. Yet, this post keeps turning up as one of the most read posts on my blog! Even more interestingly, this post has also found its way into the Saptashrungi Page on Wikipedia!

When we visited Nashik last weekend, and Shankar suggested we visit the temple, I was thrilled. It had been almost 5 years since I visited the temple. Much would have changed, and I could write about all the changes! I had a new camera. I could click some good pics of the temple, maybe even the inside, if they allowed it! As it turned out, from the minute we entered the environs of the temple, we could see nothing but fog!!! Standing at the place where the steps began, I could see nothing but the huge crowds and the steps. The mountain was almost completely invisible!!!



Climbing up the steps, it didn’t get much better. I couldn’t even make out how far we were from the temple! I could just see the next turning, and that was about all!!! The place was packed with pilgrims. It was a holy month, after all! But I couldn’t hear the cacophony that normally accompanies such crowds!! The fog seemed to deaden all the noise!


It was only when we reached the last set of stairs that the crowd and noise was apparent... the queue for darshan had spilled on to the steps, and we had no choice but to wait.... 



And this is what the view looked like from the top... As Samhith said, it appeared as if we were at the top of the world and the world below had disappeared!!!



The temple has been renovated and extended within the last 5 years, for there was a lot more space than I remembered. However, the queue was quite orderly, which ensured that we had a wonderful and peaceful communion with the goddess, albeit for a very short time!

One of the biggest changes I noticed is that there is now a separate set of stairs for going down, which wasn’t there earlier. Thanks to this, there is no confusion on the steps at least! Of course, this would have meant a whole lot of work on the hillside, and I have no idea what it looked like, since I couldn't see the hill at all!

Incidentally, there is also a ropeway at the temple... but only for goods, not for people!!!! I saw a board announcing that the ropeway was NOT for people, but thanks to the fog, the ropeway remained invisible too!

The whole village seemed to have transformed too... there is now a temple Bhakta nivas, and also some small hotels and lodges, but sorry, no information. We were in a hurry to get back to nasik before it got dark, and I wasn’t able to go anywhere and get information.

As we made our way down the hillside, the scene appeared blank for quite a while. It was only as we were almost at the foothills that the ground appeared once more...



Our trip to Nashik was unplanned and the temple visit even more so! We didn’t hire a car as we had done the last time, but instead chose to rely on public transport – choosing to cram ourselves inside one of the share jeeps on the way up, and managing to catch the last bus on our way down! My hope of photographing the temple remained unfulfilled, and this was certainly not the post I dreamt of writing. Yet, in many ways, this trip was as memorable as my first one... maybe even more so! After all, I might visit the temple again, and even take lots of photos, but the fog – I wonder if I will ever go there and see the same scene again!!

My post on Saptashrungi was the 3rd post on my blog. This one happens to be the 545th post!! What a long way I have come since then!!!! And somewhere, deep down, I believe that it is her blessings that have brought me this far!

I am also posting this under Skywatch Friday, since most of my post and photos seems to be about the sky!!  For more beautiful skies from around the world, visit the Skywatch Page!



Comments

  1. Wow Anu, the place seems to be floating above the skies... Lovely... and it was sweet reading about your early trip, the camera and the experience :)

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    1. Thanks Aarti!!! It was so amazing, I dont think i even managed to capture half of the beauty!!

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  2. Magnificent clicks. Loved that greenery and fog.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

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  3. Great journey! You do have the blessings!

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  4. Awesome clicks Anuradha! An absolutely wonderful post indeeed!!
    Following you!

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    1. THanks Amit! looking forward to seeing you more around here!

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  5. Great photos, pity the boy is in shadow though( fill flash would come in handy here or exposure compensation maybe).

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    1. Thanks Jane! Yes, i know he is in shadow... unfortunately, it was raining and I couldnt do anything much with my camera except shoot and keep it inside at once!!

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  6. The fog looked a little scary. Beautiful shots though. Happy sky watching.

    Skywatch

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    1. Thanks Liz! We actually enjoyed the fog for a change! probably because we so rarely get to see it here in Mumbai. What we do have lots of is smog.. so clouds and fog like this were a nice change for us!

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  7. A wonderful tour!! I love the photos of the fog!!!

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  8. Beautiful description & the fog captured aptly.......I have been following ur blog for a while and I enjoy the photos of various places that u post.....

    Deepa

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    1. Thanks so much, Deepa!! Looking forward to seeing you more around here!

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  9. Stunning photos. I have to come back and read more fully.

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    1. Thanks so much, Joyful!!! please keep coming back for more!

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  10. The journey and the place looks so mysterious with the fog!

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  11. Very descriptive and interesting write-up indeed, loved the foggy pics which makes me feel absolute ecstatic to be there during this time of the year sometime...

    I have gone thru' this very first blog of yours and look forward to reading more now...

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  12. The foggy pictures are lovely and make me feel like having adrak ki chai right now. :-)

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  13. I almost feel like I am there..what stunning pics and a lovely narrative..I admire the way you update so fast

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  14. Wow.. Now I am jealous.. That seems to be the place to be for someone who loves the color green...

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  15. Great post.............

    I am collecting the list of famous temples in & around Shirdi for visiting in our next Shirdi trip.
    In fact Saptashrungi Temple,Vani has reference in 30 adhyaya of SAI SACHARITRA.
    Nearly 100 years before Syama of Shirdi came to Saptashrungi Temple,Vani by that time Saptashrungi Temple priest was very eager to visit Shirdi for having grace of Saibaba........

    Thank You !!!!!!!!!!

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  16. Planning to visit Vani this weekend with my mom who has trouble climbing stairs.Can we drive upto the top of the hill or park at the bottom and take a doli for her.

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    1. Yes, you can.. you can go up the hill by car and then, you can get her into a doli where the steps begin. All the best for your trip

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