Malvan Magic

Malvan Magic

For the long weekend of 24th December, 2009, we decided to visit our native place Malvan. Due to the last moment planning it was very difficult to get the confirmed railwayand Bus tickets. All the buses & train tickets were already booked, So we decided to hire a car for our trip to Malvan.

On 24th Dec.2009, in the afternoon we started our journey at 4.30pm and we were total 8 people in the vehicle. By the time we cross the city limits, it seems people were heading out of the city for the long weekend. We decided to travel in the night so that we could reach at my Uncle's place early in the morning. But traveling in the day time to Konkan is fun, one can stop at various places to enjoy the scenery and food. We reached at my uncle's place at 5.00am, & directly headed to bed for the much needed sleep.

The real feel of vacation begins when you get up late in the morning and were not in a hurry to go for work. Also, for a change you wake up not with alarm but with beautiful birds chirpy songs. I love the mornings at the my native place as you can get up at any time, have your breakfast leisurely, and then take a bath or just sit somewhere with a book or just do nothing particular. This morning was also not different, and the best thing was my aunty made ghavane ( Neer dosa)for breakfast.

After feeding our taste buds, we started our journey for Malvan.Our first destination was Aangane wadi.Anganewadi Temple is very famous temple in malvan of Goddess Bharadidevi. This wadi of village Masure, is 14 Kms from Malvan . Every year, in the month of february, there is a big Jatra (fair) of Goddess Bharadidevi, Known as "Jatra of Anganewadi. The trust of Aangane wadi temple are in the process of beautifying the old temple. After taking the blessing of Goddess Bharadidevi, we started our journey towards my father's native place, Kandalgaon, where I wanted to visit our Kuldevata Lord Rameshwar. In Konkan, every village has Lord Shiva’s Temple, and the names will be different in each village. As per the legends, the original temple was build by Chatrapati Shree Shivaji Maharaj.

We decided to feast on Seafood for which Malvan is very famous. We decided to have lunch at hotel Chaitanya, at Bharad Naka, which is very famous for its mouthwatering fish thalis. My self, Dhanshree & Dinesh decided to try the different variety of fish thalis and Priti & Shubangi stick to vegetable thali. After finishing our sumptuous meals, we were unable to move anywhere and wanted to just take a nap. But we had to move because, we only booked one room and needed another one for three of us, but the availability of room was very difficult as all the hotels and home stay were packed. So the searched begin for our room after Dinesh & Shubhangi settled in their hotel. But it was our lucky day and

we somehow manage to get hold of a room with help of one Mr. Achrekar who was kind enough to contact the Sarjekot Machimar Society and requested them to accommodate us.To our delight, the Sarjekot Machimar Society was located near the sea shore. Sarjekot is asmall village of fishermen and near the society there was a small jetty where one can see fishing boats withtheir anchor down rocking with the waves.

After settling, we decided to head out to the famous tarkerli Beach to watch the sunset. But to our disappointment we miss the sunset by few minutes and only mange to capture the last remains of the magical sunlight. The beach was very crowded, it feltlike we were back in mumbai and sitting on juhu beach . But everyone was in holiday mood and enjoying themselves. We sat on the beach observing the activities happening around us and making joke of it. In city every day is a busy day wherein everybody is busy in their own life. But that day on the beach, all the activities were moving very slowly, Everyone was busy enjoying themselves.

After sometime we decided to call it a day, as next day morning we decided to go for the much anticipated Dolphins tour. When we reach our room, we were very tired, but stillDhanshree was making small talk with me & Priti, but during that conversation I just fall asleep.

On 26^th Morning, we woke up at 6.00am and got ready for our dolphin tour which cost us Rs. 600 for the boat. We were pretty excited and apprehensive about the tour (basically I was apprehensive because I cant swim….lol…. ). Everyone settle in the boat and we started our journey towards the deep sea for dolphins. I was very scared as the boat taking us away from shore (My imagination was running wild and I was having all the bad thoughts at that moment. It was a very scary feeling when you are in the middle of the sea and everywhere there is only water which is 15-20 feet deep and you can’t swim). Everyone was busy scanning the sea for dolphins and then Dhanshree saw the first dolphin. After that it happened like a movie and there were dolphins everywhere. We saw around 25 to 30 dolphins swimming around us. Everyone was very excited and  busy taking videos/photos. Finally, the dolphins got tired of modeling for us & went away in deeper sea.  The sight of dolphins opened the Pandora of chatter, and each one of us were talking about the dolphin sightings

We decided to head back toDevbaug Beach, as it is one of the beautiful beach in Malvan.Devabaug beach is confluence of creek & sea. In rainy season when we visited this beach  the sea was very rough and scary. The waves were trying to break free the sand barriers and were trying to swallow whatever blocking its way.

But this time the sea was very clam and peaceful. We decided to take a boat ride covering the dolphin sighting, NivatiBeach, Nivati Fort,

Bhogawe Beach & island. When we were crossing the confluence of creek & sea, the waves became little rough and our boat stared rocking. In deep sea the color of water becomes mysterious emerald green and it looks very beautiful. We saw the Nivati fort, which was in a dilapidated state. It’s very sad to see thatwe have such rich history but due to the neglect by the state government and ignorance of people, all the historical buildings were turning into a ruin reminding us of our glorious History. After Nivati Fort we saw Bhogave Beach, which is very clean & unspoiled by humans(hope it remains that way ). Our next stop was Nivati Beach, where we got down on the beach & climbed one small hillock, which was facing the sea. The view from the hillock was very beautiful. The beach is in U shape, and the boatman told us that on this very beach the movie Kaho na Pyar was being shot.

After walking on the beach for few minutes, we started back towards the shore. When we visited the island, it was very sad to see that people had spoiled the island with garbage. Our overall tour was very satisfying , as we sighted 2-3 dolphins also. After reaching the shore we were famished and decided to have our Lunch. It was very crowded in malvan bazaar, everywhere people were waiting in the queue for the food. After unsuccessfully trying in 2 restaurants, we settled in Hotel Ruchira, where the food was not up to thestandard, but enough to satisfy our hunger pang.

After lunch Dinesh & Shubhangi headed to Amboli, and we return back to surjekot to freshen up. We went to the famous temple of Lord ganesha, which is made of gold. The teWe decided to proceed towardsSuvarnakada for the sunset. Our guide & boatman Pravin & his friend were very sweet and offered to escort us to suvarana kada.

Suvarnakada is a very impressive wall of mountainfacing the wrath of the sea. Due to the constant hitting of the waves on the wall, in some places natural caves are created. According to local stories some people smuggled gold on that particular mountain, and some of then in that process got hold of that gold bricks, and hence they name it as Suvarnakada.

The sunset was mesmerizing but without the shades but nonetheless beautiful. After spending some time and conversing with Pravin & his friends we turn back to our room.

When we were walking back there was a small grocery shop, wherein you get the fried fingers, which was a fun to eat. All three of us relived our childhood by eating milk pepsicola and the fried fingers. After Bath & eating delicious dinner made by the local women’s, we decided to take a stroll near the society. The night was peaceful and starry and we could hear the sound of waves in the distance and love talks of small insects....LOL...

^{On 27th ,morning, we decided to again go for the Dolphin ride. As soon as we started the ride, the wind started blowing fast, so the waves were little rough, resulting in rocking the boat from side to side. As the boat started rocking, myself & priti got very scared, and asked Pravin to turn the boat. Thankfully, we reached the shore without any mishap, but it was embarrassing also as the local people who were sitting on the jetty witness the entire fiasco and were laughing at us. To kill the time we started wandering on the shore, and decided to take photographs of the Eagle nest. We got some good shots of the sea eagle, but in that process we drove the poor eagles away from their nest a couple of times( Which was a bad thing).}

After checking out from our room & bidding bye bye to Sarjekot, we decided to visit 300 year old Aadinarayan Temple (Sun Temple), of Parule.

On the way to the sun temple, the scenery was very beautiful. Everywhere one can see coconut trees laden with coconut and in the air you can smell the sweet fragrance of cashew flowers.

The Temple is very peaceful and beautiful. It has a big sabhamandap and in the main temple one can see the idol of Suryadevata.

Next on list was Laxminarayan Mandir of Walaval village, theTemple is very beautiful. The carving on the pillars and also on the ceiling was beautiful. In the temples are very colorfully decorated and the deepmala enhance the beauty of the temple

Later, we headed to the famous picturesque dhamapur lake, this lake is situated between Are and katta village. This man-made lake was constructed in 1530 by the king Nagesh Desai. There is legend associates with this lake, in the ancient times, on the occasion of marriage, poor villagers of this village (Dhamapur) used to dip the basket full of flowers in the lake and wished for whatever they wanted for the ceremony. When the basket was later taken out, the flowers were turned in to the things the villagers ever desired. The only condition was that after the ceremony the villagers were supposed to return the things after there usage But onegreedy villager didn’t return the utensils after the ceremony and afterwards all the things stopped coming out of the lake. ( Konkan is full of all these legends & ghost stories, and hearing about them is my favorite passed time).

After, finishing our sightseeing we asked our auto rickshaw driver to drop us in Malvan bazaar near the athithi Bamboo resturant. We decided to have our lunch at athithi bamboo and which we didn’t regretted as the food was delicious and reminded us of our home cooked food.

By the time we finished our lunch, we decided to wait for Dinesh & Shubhangi, who were suppose to come from sawantwadi. After there arrival we visited the rock garden for yet another sunset. The rock garden was very much crowded, people were sitting on the rocks and waiting for the sunset. Each and every sunset is beautiful & different with lovely shades. One can never be satisfy with these mesmerizing sunset.

With the sunset, our trip of Malvan come to an end. We decided to shop for cashew nuts and other delicacies. After shopping we headed back to my Uncle’s place where my mom & my aunty cooked a delicious dinner for us.

On 27^th morning, we started our return journey, with a full a bag of memories.

~Destination: Kolhapur & Sangli~

~Destination: Kolhapur & Sangli~

Kolhapur, also known as Karveer, was at various times in its history ruled by the Kadambas, Andhrabratyas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Western Chalukyas, Silaharas, Yadavas of Deogiri, Bahamanis, Adilshah and finally the Marathas. Kolhapur remained an independent princely state till independence. One of its most famous rulers in modern times was Rajashri Shahu Chhatrapati who ruled from 1884 to 1922. In 1948 the state was merged with the Indian union, and in 1956 with the Bombay Province. In 1960 after the formation of Maharashtra, it became one of its important districts.

There are several interesting stories as to how the name Sangli originated. One of them is that, there were six (6) Gallies i.e. lanes on the bank of the Krishna River hence the name "SANGLI". The second one is that, the name of the village was Sangalki in Kannad language so in Marathi it became SANGLI. Another belief is that the confluence of Warna and Krishna rivers is near Sangli village. The word for confluence in Marathi is 'Sangam' and the SANGLI is the distorted version of the word Sangam.

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22.11.2008 ~Our Kolhapur trip started on a bad footing. I was having a meeting on that day which ended up very late, so I was late everywhere, but somehow managed to reach the pick-up point on time. When I boarded the bus.... got a shock of my life , the conductor of the bus told me that my bookings were not there in their list and so I have to get down. I was very upset and wanted to fire the Booking Agent of "Red Bus" left and right but I think it was her lucky day becoz her telephones lines were coming unavailable....thought of canceling the entire trip, but then to our gr8 relief the conductor accommodated us and we reached our destination early in the morning at 6.30am.....(Tip- Whenever you are traveling by Bus please call the agents and confirm your bookings on Phone if you are traveling by Red Bus)...one can go by train also to Kolhapur(Mahalaxmi Express).

23.11.2008~Kolhapur City and places around Kolhalpur:
We done our bookings in YHAI hostel (http://www.yhaindia.org/), to our surprise the rooms were clean and big but only disadvantage was that the hostel was little far from the main city. When we contacted the manager of the hostel for the information about the city he was very helpful but a bit talkative & patronizing (Me and my friend ran from there becoz we thought if he goes on like this we will never get a chance to see the city :))....We got the 6 sitter Rickshaw (Rs.5 per person and my friend was calling it as "tumtum" and in Kolhapur they call it "Vadap") which is very common/cheap means of transportation in the city and also easily available.

Mahlaxmi Temple-: The goddess Mahalaxmi is mentioned in many Puranas. The idol of the Devi is made of precious stone, weighing about 40 Kgs. It contains mater mixed with Hirak bits. This throws light on its ancientness. The form resembles the out-side of Shiva-Ling. It is standing on a stone square, in which Hirak & Sand are found. A lion stands behind. At the middle, there is a natural "Padma-Ragini" (Lotus). The idol is four handed bearing a cane sword & shield. Down the right hand holds "Mhalung" (A kind of fruit) and the left holds dish of "Pan". There is a crown on head, which is overshadowed by Sheshanag (Mythological Cobra with hood, the bed of lord Vishnu). According to research it is 5-6 thousand years old. Since 1000 B.C. the Mouryas ruled, since 30 A.D. Shaliwahan ruled, when in 109 A. D. Raja Karnadeo came from Konkan to Kolhapur, this idol was in a small temple. The Temple which is build after Hemandpanthi style has 5 tops.
Our first destination was Mahalaxmi Temple and if you go early in the morning it’s not crowded and one can take the darshan or pray peacefully. One good thing about this temple is that the temple surrounding is very clean and there is queue system so no pushing around each other to get the darshan (My Friend's mom & my mom typically like all other Indian mom ask us to pray the goddess for good groom :-) )…

Next we went to see Binkhambi Ganesh Mandir which is without any pillars and very near to the Mahalaxmi Temple. The temple has been built in 1882, but the idol is believed to be much older.
After the Temple tours, we were roaming in the market area searching for the famous Kolhapuri spicy Chivda(Deepak Chivada) and Kolhapuri Chapples...(Kolhapur is famous for its chapples, Misal and Pandhara/Tambada Rassa)…. We tasted the famous Kolhapuri Misal (CHOGULE MISAL- they say its the best in the city, but I couldn’t taste or enjoy the misal as I was suffering from cold) which you will find every where in the city ( Its like getting vada pav in every corner of Mumbai).....later on we decided to hire a car to do the sight seeing as the distance between each tourist spot was long ....(one can hire a car for Rs. 900/- per day and they show you all the tourist spot of Kolhapur including the Famous Fort Panhala and Jotiba temple).

The Palace Museum:- The Palace was constructed during 1877-1884. Being an excellent specimen of architecture build in black, polished stone, it has been an attraction for the tourists. It has extensive premises with a beautiful garden, fountain and resting ground. The whole building is eight-angled and has a tower in the middle. The clock on it fixed in 1877 .

(Don’t compare it to the Palaces in Rajasthan....they are very grand and the architecture is very beautiful). The main Highlight of this Palace is the Darbar where the King used to conduct meetings with his subordinates.....it's so grand and beautiful....it takes you in that era...you feel like someone has built a film set....very nice...In the Palace premises they have maintained a small zoo, where one can see dear, ostrich, eagles, rabbits and foreign origin birds....

Our next stop was Town hall Museum, where the Museum houses Satavahana-period items discovered in excavation at nearby Bramhapuri Hill...some of the artifacts are in very good condition...some of the artifacts were badly damaged(sometimes when I see these artifacts I feel very sad....we have such a rich heritage but we don’t take proper care....I have seen that on many such monuments people have written messages of undying love for their beloved....which is very pathetic….)

Then we went to see the Chandrakant Mandare Art Gallery who was a veteran Marathi Actor and also a Painter.....for the first time in my life I have seen such beautiful collection of paintings… most of them were landscape, nature and related to a real place....but very beautiful...worth visiting the art gallery...

Later on we visited the Kolhapur City's famous restuarant-Zorba....very strange sounding name...but the meal was good...not typical kolhapuri food but mix of everything....( if one want to eat the kolhapuri pandhara rassa or thambada rassa (Non-veg) then do visit to Hotel Padma…I have not tried it personally, but recommended by a friend who is from Kolhapur….May be next time I will try it)
After our lunch we were feeling very sleepy :)....but still continued with our sightseeing with our next destination, which was Panhala Fort.

Panhala Fort:- The Fort was built by King Bhoja between 1178-1209 and is the largest of all Deccan forts. It was from here that Chattrapati Shivaji beleaguered for over four months, escaped one rainy night to Vishalgad, while his faithful general Baji Prabhu Deshpande laid down his life holding down the forces of Siddi Johar at a narrow pass, since christened Pavankhind. In the same building, Sajja Kothi, built by Ibrahim Adil-Shah in 1500 AD, that Shivaji imprisoned his errant son Sambhaji who escaped... right into the arms of his father's foes. From Panahla Fort.

One can see from the top the entire panahla region and its very beautiful.... On panhala there are small stalls were people are selling butttermilk and the famous thecha with bhakari….Don’t forget to have the buttermilk...its very refreshing and tasty....me and my friend had 2 glassess of buttermilk....but our only regret was we didn’t taste the thecha & bhakri may be next time.....

When we were coming down after visiting the sajja kothi we saw the most beautiful sunset........clicked through the minds camera and try from digital also.....but will never forget the sunset....

Our next destination was Jotiba temple....
Jotiba Temple:-The original temple was build in 1730 by Navajisaya. The interior is ancient and the idol is four-handed. This temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. This is also called Kedarnath and Wadi Ratnagiri. Mythology says, Jotiba helped Mahalaxmi in her fight with the demons. He founded his kingdom on this mountain. He belongs to the Nath cult.
After the darshan we started back our return journey to city lights.....our last stop was Rankala Lake.... . By the time we reached there it was very dark and we couldn’t see much...the only thing we notice that there were stalls everywhere selling snacks same like Juhu Chowpaty .....

Rankala Lake:- This lake was constructed by late Maharajah, Shri Shahu Chhatrapati.
After our diner to Gokul Resturant, we return to our Hostel with a tired body but not with a tired mind.......went to sleep immediately....

24.11.08~ Bahubali, Ramteerth, Khidrapur & Narsobachi Wadi
Our next destination was Bahubali & Ramteerth.... we went straight to Bus Depot and caught a bus for Ichalkaranji. Its fun in traveling in MRTC (we call it as 'ST' OR 'Red Dubba)....but I must tell you that the MRTC services has been improved and the people were very helpful in providing the directions....After reaching Ichalkaranji, we discover that both the Ramteerth and Bahubali are in opposite direction, so first we went to Ramteerth by hiring a Rickshaw, the legend says that the place is so named because Rama stayed here during his vanvaas or exile in the forest. The amazing thing about this Temple is that the shivling is in the cave, surrounded by water and inside the cave throughout the year the water sips in through the walls of the cave. The Pujari of the Temple informed us that in rainy season the shivling goes under water and it is one of the shivling out of 108 shivlings which Lord Rama has placed throughout India. He also showed us the faces of Lord Ganesha created by the water on the walls of the cave. The surrounding is very peaceful but not well maintain by the Govt.

In the same Rickshaw, we went to visit the Bahubali temple, which has a 28 feet tall marble statue of Bahubali and surrounded by the temples of the 24 tirthankaras or saints.

This "Aajii" was there at the Bahubali Temple, when we requested her she posed for the shutterbug.....the smile on her face was worth watching....

After the Darshan we came back to the Depot and caught a bus for Jaisingpur. and from there we got the bus for Kurundwad which took us to the Temple at khidrapur….

Kidrapur Temple :- The Khidrapur Temple (Kopeshwar), Ancient & artistic temple situated on the bank of Krishna is a fine example of ancient sculpture. It was built in 11-12 century by Shilahar. In the interior one can see first Vishnu(Dhopeshwar) and Shivling facing north. But there is no nandi who has separate Mandir. Separate Actor-Pendal, hall, old pillars, carvings of gods & male-female artists in various poses are attractive. The ceiling is semicircular with matchless engravings. On the outside complete 'Shivaleetamrit' is carved When sati Parvati jumped into Daxa's sacrifice, Lord Shiva was angry. He got peace of mind in this temple. From entrance to Shivaling, we feel peace, coldness and dark. The entire temple rests on a gajapeeth which is a semi-circular platform resting on the back of 92 carved elephants.

After spending some time at the temple, we caught a Vadap for kurundwad, have I mentioned that in that vadap 12 to 14 people can be accommodated…we got down at Kurundwad and caught a Rickshaw for Narsobachi wadi.

Narsobachi Wadi:- It is situated on the confluence of the rivers Krishna and Panchaganga. It is well known for the holy padukas or slippers of Dattaguru ( an incarnation of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh Alternatively, these stand for the three ‘gunas’ or qualities i.e.sattva, rajas, and tamas in people.). Narasimha Saraswati, considered an incarnation of Dattaguru lived here for 12 years.

At Narsobachi Wadi we stayed at "Bhakti Niwas" which is near to the Temple and very comfortable/reasonable…after the darshan we were sitting on the Ghat watching the activities.....The atmosphere was so peaceful.....On that particular day one group from Kolhapur was celebrating “Deepotsva” in the Tepmple, so they organized puja and Bhajan …. We enjoyed the evening on the Ghat, listening to the Bhajans and watching life goes by as the evening was turning in to night. They put lots of diyas on the steps of the ghat and decorated the premises with rangoli and flowers. From that group one Aunty started talking to us and we learned that for past 3 years they were celebrating the deepotsav everywhere in Kolhapur…..Then around 7.30 the Palkhi of Laord Datta’s paduka was taken out….the Palkhi was carried by the Pujaries of the Temple who were singing the bhajan praising the Lord Datta in their melodious voice….The entire atmosphere was magical…..Later on we lighted the diyas and also put diyas in the river as an evening ritual done by many ladies present on the ghat…After Lightineg the diyas the entire ghat and temple was looking very beautiful…..after watching the procession for some time we took the leave of Aunty, who invited us for diner…..but we declined their offer and proceeded towards the market in search of Restaurant. In the market area there are various restaurants which serves good vegetarian meals….we went to “Joshi Bhojanalaya”, where they have a thali system which is very reasonable ( Rs.35/- per thali) and the food was very tasty plus unlimited…..hmmm….double bonus for us….

After our meals we took a stroll in the market. In the late evening we sat on the Ghat watching the river and stars….I love watching the stars…..whenever I get a chance to go outside Mumbai my favorite pass time is watching the stars as we don’t get a opportunity to watch them in Mumbai because of towers and pollution….And I have noticed that in villages the night sky looks very beautiful with all the stars in their full glory…..after spending some time on the ghat we turn in for the night because next day we wanted witnessed  the Sun rise….

25.11.2008~ We got up at 5.30am and proceeded towards the ghat for the darshan and to see the sunrise….To our amazement even though it was little early by Mumbai standard….people were there for darshan or taking a bath in Krishna river…for us it was a different sight as our mornings are so different, always running around, getting ready for the office, eating the half breakfast to catch the loacal train….hmmmmm, we are always in hurry to reach somewhere…never stopping to watch or enjoy the sunrise or sunset.. while  observeing people, the rive, one feel very  good, refreshed … the surrounding  made me think, where my life is heading and maybe like everyone else am I also one of the participant in the  rat race???......I dont remember ever seeing any sunrise or sunset which was so beautiful and without any hindrance....
The Sun rise was awesome, and  enjoyed every second of sunrise, every minute the Sky was changing its color...... There was fog on the river and the entire atmosphere became magical...... the entire scene was breathtakingly beautiful....and every time different scene being created.....as if someone was painting the sky with different shades......

Afterwards,  our breakfast we slept for a while as we have to cover only 2 destinations that day and were not in hurry.

Later in the day, we caught a bus for Sangli City and from there we hire a Rickshaw for Haripur to see the Sangameshwar Temple and Lord Ganesha Temple. Sangameshwar Temple is an ancient temple in Haripur at the 'sangam' i.e confluence of Krishna and Warna rivers. One can easily see the sangam of these two rivers...one can see clearly the confluence of two rivers....it feels like by his presence the bird is making waves....

After the darshan we returen back to bus depot to get a bus for Audumber. But at the bus depot everyone was giving different directions…so got confused but finally got the right bus for Audumber and reached there in the afternoon….The followers of Lord 'Dattatreya' believe that Shri. Narsinha Sarswati' is the fourth incarnation of Lord 'Dattatreya'. He resided in Audumber for a year. Hence, they built a temple near the Krishna river…..like Narsobachi wadi, the surrounding of this temple is also very peaceful….I simply enjoyed sitting on the ghats and watching the birds....

after spending 1hour there, we started our return journey as our last stop was the famous Lord Ganesha Temple of Sangli…

The Ganapati Temple of Sangli:- The Ganpati Temple is regarded as the most beautiful temple in south Maharashtra. It is situated on the banks of river Krishna at Sangli. Thorle (elder) Chintamanrao Patwardhan consecrated the idol in 1843. The temple has been artistically built with black stone brought from Jyotibha hills. There is a platform, a hall and a 'Nagarkhana' inside the vast two acres complex of the temple. The entrance door has been carved out of different coloured natural wood. The idol of the Lord Ganapati is made of copper. The idol has been kept in a way that it is visible from any part of Ganapati Peth. They say during our freedom struggle, the premises of this temple were used as meeting place. Lokmanya Tilak amd Mahatma Gandhi has held meeting here.

At the Temple we met one girl…she directed us to various places in sangli and was very much surprise to hear that we were traveling alone…I forgot to ask her name though....

After visiting the temple me and my friend started for our shopping towards the market area to buy the Jaggery, which is very famous in that part of Maharashtra. We end up buying lots of things….then with our all belonging, we went to one restaurant call “Pai Prakash”….the Food was really good…I took the mini thali and they serve us the typical maharashtrian food like Bhakri, thecha and stuff bringal…..it was a gourmets delight ….

Our train was at 9.45pm so we were passing our time in the restaurant ….after some time it was time for us to leave for the railway station…. back to the ground reality of life…to Mumbai...to Home…office…work…

With all the memories we bid goodbye to sangli city……in search of next destination….