Madh Island to Jogeshwari Caves via Versova Beach.

Madh Island to Jogeshwari Caves via Versova Beach.

(23/06/2013)

As my Saturday was reserved for Dan Brown’s Inferno, I asked Dev, one of our friends, who is fond of photography, if we can go on a trek to Karnala fort on Sunday, to which he agreed as usual. But in the morning, when I texted him, saying ‘At what time shall we leave’, he did reply after 2 hours,” We will go next week.” Huh. He is the kind of man to procrastinate things, lazing around. Lol

So, what then? I didn’t want to waste my Sunday! Moreover, though the journey to Inferno was still not complete, I could do that in between, as very few pages were left. So, my sudden plan to visit Madh Island, to which Deepali also agreed to come. And, two of us set out at around 11:30 for Madh Island, which took us around half an hour to reach there. And in contrast to the beautiful images posted in Google, Madh Island was quite the opposite; it’s like seeing the other side of the Metro, all polluted water, the beach encroached by the fishing community, stinking air all around. I could feel how Deepali would have felt as I read her expressions. Lol.  The moment we got down of the auto, we both looked left and right; on the right was Madh Island cum Beach and on the left was L & T’s Madh Campus. As the campus seemed quite attractive, we decided to trespass it. Quickly we were inside, and yes we both were mesmerized by the beautiful sight. No one was there, so after a while’s hesitation we made it our comfort zone and went in exploring it. Though it wasn’t that big, but it was full of greenery, and adding to its beauty, was a small and clean water pond, where we sat for hours. There was no noise except for the melodious songs, sung by different birds, which were quite soothing to our tired souls. J So, the disappointment on seeing the Madh Island was made up by Madh Campus. Heaving sighs of relief and clicking some pictures, we left with fresh minds & good memories to carry along.

Then, from Madh Island we took the ferry to go to Versova, and there we made the sudden plan to visit Jogeshwari caves, as we had enough time at our disposal. And yes, our decision was perfect. Jogeshwari caves were worth a watch. (Whereas pre-plan always fails in my case, the sudden instinctive decisions always work wonders, which made me a girl to shun planning and live the present moment.)

As per the historic accounts, the caves date back to 6^th and 7^th century, carved by Buddhist monks. It’s dedicated to Mata Jogeshwari, from whom the place got its name. Compared to Mandapeshwar caves, these caves are larger in size and more spacious. There were temples at different ends of the caves; just after the entrance was the temple of Mata Jogeshwari. And as we happened to come on vad savitri day, the wife of the pujari was fasting and offered prashaad. She told that during Navratras, so many visitors come that it’s hard to get a glimpse of the Mata, not to speak of paying obeisance from so close a distance. I said,” So, I am the lucky one, to have a good darshan of Mata ji.” J

Then, moving forward and crossing some rock cut gates, we reached the ‘temple of Lord Ganesha’, which was quite broad and painted fully orange in color. It seemed that these places would have been used as preaching centers for the monks in the past.

We kept going ahead, and enquired from some local children, if there is more to see? And they guided us up to the top, where there was a small temple of lord Hanuman ji. It’s here that we saw, some students, studying their textbooks. Of course in the tranquility of the caves, I guess more could they grasp in their minds. These kids seemed to live in the small houses, less like slums, which have encroached over most part of the caves. It’s not their fault of course, for the pace with which our population is exploding; we cannot preserve our past treasures for long, no matter how hard we try.

Then we descended down and moved towards left, where at the corner was located the temple dedicated to ‘Lord Shiva’. Though the caves are said to be old, the pillars and some of the carvings seemed to be the latest. We paid our obeisance there and roamed around the suuoundings for a little while more, and then we left, completely satisfied with the tour. Oh I forgot to tell you, another aspect of the caves, which attracted my attention lovingly, were the ‘Pigeons’; a lot no. of them, who have made the walls of the caves their home. So, they seemed to be the real cave dwellers, sitting and clinging there on the walls, guarding their homes with full pride. LOL

Still more to explore, ciao.  Keep smiling always. JJJ

                                                                                                    

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Weekend Outing to Mandapeshwar Caves & Gorai Beach.

(J Happy Monsoon J)

Weekend outing to Mandapeshwar Caves & Gorai Beach.

Ever heard of Mandapeshwar Caves? Nah? Neither me, until last weekend i.e. 15^th June 21, 2013. The monsoon being fully set, I was wondering if there is any place nearby, where we could go for a day outing. Then, my eyes fell on the Mandapeshwar caves, on my places to visit in Mumbai’s list, which I made last year, just on my arrival in Mumbai, to explore Mumbai from the point of view of a fresh arrival. Soon the plan for the day was made. And we set out at round 1:30 pm; Me, Sweta and Lovely. We took a Rickshaw from Borivali (W) station, which charged us Rs. 22. We were expecting the caves to be on a remote area at a hill top. But contrary to our assumption, the caves were on the roadside (The swami Vivekananda Road) only and it covered just a small stretch of land. In front of the caves was an open ground, where the children of nearby slum dwellers were playing cricket. As very lesser tourists seemed to visit there, those children had their curious eyes on us, as we were the only visitors of the day. J

As we reached to the entrance of the caves, we saw some of the people including some police officials sleeping there. Hesitantly we went inside. Our eyes fell straightly on the Shiva’s statue and linga, carved out of rocks, as the caves were dedicated to Lord Shiva. The shrine of Shiva inside the cave was quite dark, still me and Sweta went in and paid our homage to Lord Shiva. The literal meaning of Mandapeshwar is ‘Mandap pe Ishwar’ i.e. God on Mandap.  History has it that those caves were made by Buddhist monks, painted by Persians and dedicated to Shiva, and earlier it was located on Dahisar river, which later on changed its course. Whenever I come across this fact that most of the caves were carved by Buddhist monks in the past, who were greatly fond of art and architecture, I feel proud of being connected to Buddhist lineage myself. J Then we went towards the other end of the caves which were both open and closed, with a slight rock cut small door of human size to pass through. There was no one in those areas, so we felt at our own. We danced; we touched the walls; we felt the past and clicked photographs in different poses. And coming out of the caves, we asked the pujari if we could go up the hill to see the remains of the church, which was built by the Portuguese, but destroyed later on. He pointed the way and told us to come back from there only. As we were ascending the mount, one of the boys, playing cricket shouted, “There is snake up there, don’t go.” There we first met with Sweta’s other side. She got scared and ran down, asking us to come as well. Lovely and I still went there in the hope of getting a glimpse of the snakes. LOL. When we reached up, we saw the remains of the church there, parted in small cubicles. But as one of the cubicle seemed to be occupied, we didn’t go around to see, and had to be contended ourselves by seeing one side of it only. Moreover we found no snake there. Hmm.

After the caves, we went up to the Church; The Immaculate Conception Church. Though the church was closed at that point of time, we took a round of the surroundings. It’s here that I came to see graveyard for the first time in my life. Lovely and Sweta prayed before the statue of mother Mary, while I kept staring at the graveyard and my heart tinged a little over the impermanence of mankind.

We still had time and we all felt we can at least cover one more nearby location. So, we asked a passerby about the nearest place to visit from our present location. She suggested us to go to Gorai Beach, which according to her was the nearest, as well as a beautiful place to visit in a rainy season. So, we hired an auto and left for destination ‘Gorai Beach.’ It took around 20 minutes by auto up to Gorai Khadi, from where we were supposed to take up ferry to reach the other side of the Khadi. Its here that Sweta started showing her another phobia; phobia of water and of ferry-ride in a rainy season. She was like ‘what if something happens?’ I assured her it’ll be a safe ride and nothing will happen. So, ignoring her plea we just got into the ferry and she followed reluctantly, her face showing her unwillingness to proceed. When we reached towards the other side, we came to know that the beach was still 5 kms away from there. We asked the people around, who told that either we have to take a rickshaw or a horse carriage. As the road was a lovely track, with lush green bushes at both the sides and the rain drops adding to its beauty, we preferred the Horse-carriage. The ride was quite smooth and lovely, but the continuous cry (not literally) of Sweta made it quite uneasy. I even warned her,” We have come to enjoy and have fun, don’t spoil the trip. Don’t let negative vibes infect our trip.” But she was so much overpowered with fear and apprehension that she made a huge frustrated and cowardly face. Still dragging ahead, we reached the destination. Gorai beach was still 5-10 mnts walk from where the carriage dropped us. The walk was quite awesome because of the lovely weather and green patches of trees all around. Lovely commented, “I am feeling like home. It’s almost like Kerala” So I could make how happy she would be. The only unhappy person in the group was Sweta. Lol.  (I hope she doesn’t read it ;-) Lol. Neah, she wouldn’t mind, I guess. J

And finally, “Wow! The beach was awesome, the high tidal waves dancing at the tune of drizzling beats of the sky. I gasped and just ran into the water and stood on a rock, the waves constantly playing with my legs, falling on and off it. It felt awesome. Moreover, there was huge no. of people, enjoying and having fun in and around beach, contrary to our assumption of fewer people, due to its distance and remoteness. But, one thing about the people of Mumbai, which I like and appreciate the most is that even amidst of their busy and frustrating daily life, they make it a point to take some leisure, thus valuing their life.  Here also people were enjoying to the fullest; some jumping in and out of the water and playing wildly with it, while some sat on the nearby rocks, just looking at the waves and enjoying the sight to their heart’s fulfillment. I just stood on the rocks and observed everything around; the people, the waves, the lush green surroundings etc., while Sweta and Lovely stood on the bank itself, looking at the waves. I clicked some pictures of the sights first and then I turned back to click their picture and asked them to smile. Lovely was quick to respond and pose, whereas Sweta still wore a grim face, and finally I lost my patience and walked away, gesturing them to follow suit, as it was no use enjoy alone when your company isn’t in a mood.

I walked ahead and heard Sweta calling me, but I didn’t turn and kept walking and clicking pictures of the trees around. At last she reached me, and said,” What’s wrong with you? We could stay for a little longer.” I just let out my frustration,” I would’ve enjoyed more if I were alone. You just spoiled our day.” She was like, ‘I’ve got fear of water and ferry ride in a rainy season, I am not bold like you.”

“Then why do you always keep planning about treks and all?” I shouted back. And we were literally at the verge of a fight.

“Then we would be having a guide and it would be safe that way.” She blurted

“The guide will only tell the tale, but in case of any mishappening, you’ll have to be your own guide. For god sake do not act like a coward little mouse.” I got angrier, but once I let the volcano out, I felt at calm and then forced a smile. Things got quite lighter that way.

Later on, once again while she kept saying ‘sorry-sorry for spoiling the trip’, I said, “Come on, what are you afraid of, Death? That will eventually happen, then why to be afraid of it!”

She made a light smiley gesture, and said,” I still have to marry!” and I was just speechless. I smiled back and in my mind realized that not everybody takes life as lightly as I do. Every girl has her own dreams and aspirations and I am supposed to respect that. So, I learnt that part here, and I took the resolve to understand and respect others feelings, even though it’s contrary to my belief. And overall the trip was ‘A-Awesome.’ All smiles J J J

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{Escape from the dusty world}

{Escape from the dusty world}

Rewalsar: a lesser known place in devbhoomi Himachal Pradesh.

Not for three months, not for two months, not for one month and not even for a week, but only a single day’s full time work, in an Indian metro city like ‘Mumbai’, makes you get frustrated and fed up of not life only, but of the things and people around, including your own self. At such a situation, at every point you get the ‘I need a real break’ feeling. And things become even worse, when your boss rejects your leave application on your face. You feel like tearing the paper into pieces and throwing it on his face, uttering all the ‘beep’ and ‘k’ words, but alas! You cannot do any of these. Using abusive words for your boss and for all the people you get hit by while boarding the train, becomes part and parcel of your daily life. I am part of this life, which some people describe as ‘hell’ for more than six months now. And the moment I sensed the real lifestyle of Mumbai, I decided that once in every two months I’ll take my share of break. So, this winter at my parents call I went to Rewalsar, a small pilgrimage place in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, even after my boss rejected my leave and adding more to the woes, had kept sending me threatening warnings of Conduct and disciplinary actions to be taken against me. I uttered all the ‘beep’ words and my friends and roommates gave me full support, with their addition of still more ‘beeps’.

 My parents and some of my relatives had already arrived in Rewalsar, to spend two months of winter there; resting, rejuvenating and washing away the sins of the whole year. It has by now become a custom to the people of hilly Buddhist regions of Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti and some of the Tibetan refugees to visit this holy place, which holds a legendary story to make everything you witness there as ‘authentic’. I took the road trip from Chandigarh by bus to Rewalsar along with my cousin, and it took us almost 7 hours to reach our destination. The air of the place had already started showering its magic, when entering to the place did let me ease my stressed mind, tightened stomach and overloaded heart. And I was lucky enough to have my mother’s company, who is a great story teller as far as holy Buddhist places like this is concerned. 

'My Mother from whom I've inherited my spiritual side.'

As per her account, the legend says that once there lived a king ‘Zahor’ Raja of Mandi principality. He had a daughter named ‘Mandarawa’ who in addition to her charming beauty had a kind and spiritual heart, with religious bent of mind. Nothing of her father’s wealth pleased her, but the search for true knowledge and the quest for learning ‘dharma’ were the things, which she craved for. So, in order to practice Dharma, she went uphill and shut herself in a cave, putting herself in deep meditation. Its during her meditation that influenced by her deep devotion, the great dharma guru ‘Padamsambava’ entered through a little hole of the cave riding in a chariot driven by the sun. Soon the rumour spread in the kingdom that the princess had been putting up with an unknown man in the cave. So, in order to punish the princess and padmasambhava, the king called his men to drag the guru and the princess through the hill and burn them alive in the jungle. The order was followed and soon they were put on fire. But the smoke from the fire didn’t stop even after months of the incident, to enquire about which the king sent his men again. And to everybody’s astonishment, instead of fire there was a beautiful lake and in the middle of that, there was a huge and beautiful lotus flower, on which the guru and the princess were seated with a smiling faces. Everybody apologized for the grave mistake they had committed, including the king himself.

So, with the legendary story in our mind, we set out the next morning to take the parikarma of the lake, which welcomed us with its warm and calm gesture.

'Tso-Pema'

It is the religious belief and faith of Buddhist people, to take rounds of the places or monastery they consider divine by walking, at the same time chanting God’s name ‘Om Mane Padme Hung’. I followed my mother’s instructions and did as she told, and yes’ it did magic. While walking around the lake and chanting God’s name, admiring the big statue of around 123 feet on the top of the hill, feeling the blessings coming straight from the heaven, in fact I was talking to myself. And when I was sitting near the lake ‘crossed legged and looking with awe at the fishes in the water, struggling to get their share of food which the pilgrims would throw into the lake for them, I was in fact observing the innocence of the little creatures. The whole environment was in contrast to the one in Mumbai. At places like this you will feel nothing, but all good. People around giving a long lasting smile, which comes straight from the heart, would make you compare it with the momentary smile or grin you’d be unable to identify of the frustrated lot of the people in the city. It’s at such places that you will hear nature singing its melodies, which in the big city would mingle with the big noise and rather would give an unpleasant and irritating noise.

Rewalsar is a holy place, not only for Buddhist’s, but also for Hindus and Sikhs. Here you will find the existence of Buddhist Monastery, Hindu temples and Sikh Gurudwara side by side and the visitors of all the religions paying their obeisance to all the shrines irrespective of their caste and religion.

'The statue of the Guru; it looks so alive'

Going with the legendary story, when we drove one hour uphill to the caves, all the story I heard from my mother, which otherwise I took for just a story, did appear to me at least to be authentic account. In one of the caves, which was supposed to be the Princess’ meditation cave, where Padam Sambhava had come through a little hole riding sun’s chariot, the whole set up was the same as I imagined  while listening to my mother’s narration. And in another cave, there was the foot print of one of the feet of the Guru, which also appeared to be so real.

Such are the places which make your belief in some divine existence in the past much stronger. Here you will feel your inner vacuum being filled with an invisible spiritual upliftment. While touring around, you’ll magically feel at peace with yourself. And coming to me, I had no fear anymore of the punishment my boss would be going to impose upon me, and at the same time I realized my own folly for all the ‘beep’ words I used for him and others, and I took out time to talk to myself and ask for God’s or my own conscience’s forgiveness for all the wrong things I did. It is here that while sitting near the lake, crossed legged, I found time to pull out my phone and call all the valuable people of my life, whose call I always missed, being lost in the city commotion and unable to talk after whole days work, returning to the room dead tired, just to sleep almost like dead, not realizing anything which my heart would aspire for, and the inaudible sound of the soul, just vanishing in the polluted air without being heard.  

It’s very important to talk to yourself once in a while, which you don’t do especially in a big busy city, where you wouldn’t get time and where you’ll be forced to show your anger, even if momentarily you think that it’s bad, and you will end up fighting and calling out names at things big or small, which you think has irritated you or caused you some harm. Given the obligations of the world and for the sake of the little stomach, we are duty bound to be working like anything at the cost of our good health; physically and spiritually, but at least once in a blue moon, we can take a break and go and visit a place where you’ll feel nothing, but yourself and all the goodness of the people around. Ultimately, you’ll get back fully rejuvenated and refreshed, the fuel being enough to keep you human’ at least for a month or two, in the big city life. And when the dissatisfaction and frustration starts all over again, just plan for another tour to another magical and close to nature place which is not hard to explore, especially in a country like ours; India: The magical world!!

Things to explore in Rewalsar:-

Statue of Guru Padamsambhava: the 123 ft. statue, newly built just above the lake.

Cave of Guru Padamsambhava: the uphill drive to the caves, is the most memorable experience of the visit to Rewalsar, without which it would be an incomplete pilgrimage, the legendary tale of Guru Ji’s preaching Manadarawa and his meditation revolving around these caves, where the footprint of Guru ji on the rock, is considered as an authentic evidence. In the main cave a huge statue o Guru ji is erected along the cave wall. The Buddhist devotees from different parts of India & many other countries come to pay their obeisance and tie colorful prayer flags, which are so many now in number that you can have a glimpse of the colorful beauty from a distance.

Gurudwara: Dedicated to Guru Govind Singh ji, who visited and stayed at Rewalsar during one of the wars, for which he came seeking hill Raja’s help. Here Langar is organized everyday to all the disciples without any discrimination.

Rewalsar Lake: it is the main attraction, situated at the middle and surrounded with beautiful and peaceful hills. It has many floating Islands where as per the legend stays the soul of Guru Padamsambhava.

Budhist Monasteries: Tso pema ogyen Heru kai Nynmapa Gompa & Debung Kagyut Gompa. These two monasteries are the indo-Chinese architectural marvel, and the statues, paintings and murals on the walls would keep the visitors just admiring its beauty with awe. The ts-chu, in the month of March every year is celebrated with all enthusiasm to celebrate the birthday of the Guru Ji and pilgrims in lakhs would assemble there with full devotion.

Raja Rajeshwari Temple: It’s located on the top of the hill and is dedicated to goddess durga.

Lomas Temple: the lomas temple, built in ancient architectural style is dedicated to Lomas Rishi, who was a great devotee of Lord Shiva, and who observing the serenity and spiritual significance of the place, chose it for his meditation.

Kunt Bhayo Lake: Situated at an altitude of 1750 meters above the sea level, and a half an hour’s drive from Rewalsar has the legendary story of its association with Pandavas.

Naina Devi Temple: located at an altitude of 11000 meters above sea level, at the beautifully enchanting 7 lush green hills, this temple is dedicated to Goddess Bhagwati, one of the incarnations of goddess Durga. It is one of the 52 Shakti peeths of India, which is considered to be the origin of divine power , that has originated from the scattered parts of the body of pious sati, whose eye i.e. naina fell on this place. That’s why this is named as Naina Devi. And one of the unique feature of this temple is that here the goddess is worshipped in pinda i.e. small semi circular ball of stone. The drive through the lush green and zigzag roads with fresh air caressing your cheeks and brushing your hair, really makes you feel the miraculous touch to your senses.

Mini Zoo: the mini zoo, just along the Rewalsar lake is a beautiful compliment to add to the beauty of the place with its lesser but rare species like deer and porcupine to catch your attention.

So, what are you thinking? Just pack your bag and plan your itinerary to Rewalsar and feel the magic I felt.