Trip to Nasik……..

A few days back in the month of September 2018, I travelled to this beautiful city among the Vindhyas Range of Western Ghats.

Nasik City.

It was after ages, I travelled in a train by the name of Dadar express, which travels from Amritsar to Dadar Station, Mumbai, a distance of more than 2000 km. As I was travelling from one breadth of India to another extreme of India I could see the beauty of India which only a train experience can give and show the beauty and diversity of India. The travel through Madhya Pradesh was quite something but for me most interesting was the lyrical names of the stations in Madhya Pradesh like Khandwa, Chadni, Hosagnabad, maybe, for this reason, Madhya Pradesh was one of the largest centres of Hindusthani Music. Coming back to my train travel, I must mention to you it was quite surprising from me that a train which travels for more than 2000 km does not have a pantry car and we had to rely on catering provided at different stations.

After finishing my work for which I came to Nasik and having a lot of time to spare, I decided to visit the famous Panadaveni Caves or known as the Nasik Caves and it was one of the reasons of going to Nasik. Panadaveni Caves are a group of rock-cut caves which belong to the genre of Indian rock-cut architecture. 

Entry to  the Rock Cut Caves.

The Pandaveni Caves or known as Pandu-Lena Caves/Pandava Caves /Trirasmi Caves is a group of 24 rock-cut caves in the North and North – East direction and is located in the North Face of the Trirasmi Hill (8 km from the Nasik City) and were donated to Theravadin and Mahayana Sects of Buddism by various rulers like the Satavahana Kings, the Kshatrap Nahapana, the Abhir Kings and by various merchants and common people. The said caves have been estimated to be built during the 2^nd Century AD/CE and were said to be discovered/first described by Captain James Delamaine in 1823.

Carvings on the monutain,

Royal Buddha.

Enough with the discussion about the history of the caves as the beauty of the Caves lies in seeing and experiencing the majestic caves and the beauty of the caves and the levels of Art which Indian Art had reached. Just to give you a perspective consider a mountain from which mere caves have not only been cut but highly artistic and intrinsic and detailed various figures of Buddha have been cut which are continuing to mesmerize and astonishing centuries later and communicating us their ideas, beliefs centuries later without any tagline.

Buddha as a royal figure. 

Intrinsic Carvings

Apprecitng in SIlence.

As they say “God Lives in the Detail”, you just have to appreciate the beauty of the artistic and intrinsic and detailed artwork like the mudra of Budhha or as to how Buddha is sleeping. You just have to appreciate the detailing work of the panel where Buddha is giving Sermon and the way the artist has taken detailed care of the posture of Buddha and just think that, all of this highly artistic detailed work has been done with no reference material except the stories which were passed from generation to generations and it raised the question that why we cannot reach that detailing when we have such access to reference work. Seeing and experiencing the highly artistic detailed work it reminded me of the words from Mona Lisa Movie, “Art is not required to be liked or appreciated but it is required to be considered” and that it demands our silence.   

Carvings on the rock cut temple.

Chaith - Prayer Hall. 

Another reason, Pandu-Lena Caves/Pandava Caves /Trirasmi Caves is the depiction of the transformation of Buddha from a rudimentary figure to royal figure or a saint figure. For a number of years after the death of Buddha, Buddha was never depicted in any human form but with the passage of time and was depicted only through certain forms, images and shapes. With the advent and the passage of time, when Buddha started being depicted through very simple rudimentary figures having no crown/jata or halo but again with the passage of time when royalty started accepting Buddhism, Buddha started being depicted as a saintly figure having a crown/jata and halo. The Pandu-Lena Caves/Pandava Caves /Trirasmi Caves are from that time period when not only Buddha has been accepted as the saintly figure but there has been mixing of other features from the local stories/mythology in the Buddism thought.

Apart from the Pandu-Lena Caves/Pandava Caves /Trirasmi Caves, there is also the Trimbakeshwar or Tryambakeshwar, an ancient Hindu temple which is dedicated to Lord Shiva and Kalaram Temple, but sadly no pictures are allowed. Seriously, someone this practice that you cannot photograph the old ancient temples has to be stopped.  

As, I was leaving Nasik, something just crossed my mind that Nasik has been for some reason one of the most important places in Indian subcontinent and is also a very ancient place as it has mentioned in the Epics of India and played a very important role in the Freedom Movement of India and the Dalit Movement of India. Geographically, one of the main rivers of India, the majestic Godavari River which starts as an underground and crosses about 8 states and then joins in the Bay of Bengal and is one of the main sources of irrigation starts in Triambakeshwar area (which is considered part of the Nasik region and is about 35 km from the Nasik city). Myth logically, it is said that Ram, Sita and Laxman in the Panchavati area of Nasik City when they were exiled for 14 years and that Sita was abducted from there, which was one of the turning points of the Epic Ramayana and it is also said that Hanuman was born/conceived in the region of Nasik. Nasik also has the famous “Kalaram Temple”, where Ram, Sita and Laxman are in black in colour. Further, the Trimbakeshwar or Tryambakeshwar, an ancient Hindu temple which is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas is situated in Triambakeshwar area (which is considered part of the Nasik region and is about 35 kms from the Nasik city). One of the unique features of Jyotirlingas is situated in Triambakeshwar is that inside the Jyotirlingas are three faces embodying/representing Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Rudra. Historically, it is where the famous rock-cut caves known as Pandaveni Caves.  is situated which was built in between the 1^st century – 2^nd century BC.  Nasik also played and continues to play a very important role in the Dalit movement of India, which dates back to 1930 and the most famous being the “Kalaram Temple Entry Satyagraha, At. Nasik (1930-1934)” for the right of Dalit to enter Hindu temples. At present Nasik also continues to be of the centres of Dalit movement and farmland movement in India like the historic walk of 25,000 farmers from the Nasik region to the city of Mumbai in the month of March 2018. Nasik is also the birthplace of Dadasaheb Phalke, one of the pioneers and greats of Indian Cinema (more specifically in Triambakeshwar).  

Just a note that I was leaving Nasik via a superfast train which stops at mere 4 to 5 stations does not have any pantry. The Indian Railways should come up with a uniform policy that trains which go for more than 1000 km should compulsorily have pantries.  

Garli Trip - Monolithic Rock Cut Temple of Masroor- Kangra Fort with Delhi Photography Club

A few months back I along with the 12 travel companions of Delhi Photography Club,  went to a quiet town by the name of Garli which is about 420 km from Delhi along with to Monolithic Rock Cut Temple of Masroor and the Kangra Fort in a tempo driver. As per our schedule and itinerary which was decided by Mr. Virender Shekhawat, the owner of Delhi Photography Club (http://www.delhiphotographyclub.com). 

We left at about 10.pm with the plan to reach Garli by early morning if the roads are in good condition. To our good luck, the roads were in excellent condition and we reached Garli well before time which gave us ample time to rest to meet the demands of our trip. On our journey to Garli, we also crossed the famous Nangal Dam on the Beas river. 

Garli is situated in Himachal Pradesh and was a major business community for the Sood clan during the 19th century who came from Rajasthan with various professionals and established a trading township in various articles, with teak being the most prominent and established a very successful business community/center or a commercial hub.  The richness and status of what may have been the commercial hub can be understood from the mansions which they built which are still existent today.

Apart from the mansions, another thing that attracted me was the greenery of the place which has become non-existent for urban dwellers. Another unique feature for me was the number of girl schools in this small place and after doing some research I came to know that the Sood Clan had specifically established not only boys school but girl schools early for promotion and education and those schools are still running. So  Corporate Sociable Responsibility before the word was even discovered. For me was the most attractive was sitting in the verandah of an old guest house where we were staying (Naurang Yartri Niwas, an old private guest house turned into a hotel ) was just silence and remembering the words of Simon and Garfunkel " Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again.................". Not to forget the fireflies which made me remember Rabindranath Tagore Song which is one of my favorites "O jonaki, ki shukhe oi daana duti melecho (Little Firefly, how happily    you open out those wings.)"

As you walk down the streets of Garli, you get a quintessential feel of a small town which is slowly disappearing away like a man reading a newspaper on a lazy afternoon or a lady making an embroidery.

Lazy Afternoon. 

For street photographers, it is a gold mine because the type of images and type of composition you can do you can hardly do it in a place in an urban place and not only that like a photographing a local bakery shop in the early morning hours or the local barbershop which the hub of news.

As you walk down the lanes of Garli, you will also feel a touch of melancholy on seeing the beautiful mansions which are in most cases inherited or the people residing in those houses left as the old business slowly gave way to the new modern business. With the advent of modern business and the destruction of old business the community slowly moved away from Garli and what was left was the brilliant and beautiful haunting architectural mansions. 

Oh, what secrets I hold in these walls.

Do I need to say anything else?

With the advent of heritage tourism, the descendants of the Sood clan are again trying to build up the place as heritage village though a lot of work has to be done. The beautiful architectural mansions are at present being inherited by generations of caretakers. The main attractive features of Garli town as I said earlier are the beautiful architectural mansions and the beautiful silence of the town.

Beas River,

About twenty to twenty-five kilometers from Garli are the Ghats of the beautiful and destructive river Beas (one of the five rivers if Punjab which originates in Kullu and later joins Sutlej). As you reach the place, the antiquity of the place can be understood by the classical temples of which are still standing the test of time. 

Carving inside the temple - when Urdu was not frowned upon

The next day after having delicious and stomach filling breakfast we left for Monolithic  Rock Cut Temple of Masroor which is about 35 - 40 km from Garli. The Monolithic  Rock Cut Temple of Masroor is said to be built in the 8th Century C.E and built in the Nagar Temple Style of North India. Though most of the temple has been destroyed in the devastating Kangra earthquake of 1905, it has been partially restored but it is our tragedy that most of the temple complex has been destroyed. It is left for us to wonder that what majestic must have been these temples must have been in its time.  As is the specialty of all the Classical Hindu Temples, is the intricate carvings or the detailing work which is present in the walls of the temples. 

Intricate carvings at a wall of the  Monolithic Rock Cut Temple of Masroor.

Intricate carvings at a wall of the  Monolithic Rock Cut Temple of Masroor.

Kangra Fort. 

After our visit to the majestic Monolithic  Rock Cut Temple of Masroor, we decided to proceed towards our last destination in the trip, the Kangra Fort which might be only of the few forts in India which were never captured. To say the truth the size of the fort intimidated me, it is massive. As per the information provided through the information provided in the Fort, Muhammed of Ghazni overpowered the Fort in 1009 CE. Given the strategic position of the Fort, various attempts were made by the Tuqhlaqs and Sher Shah Suri but no one could capture the Fort. Though Jahangir captured the Fort for a brief period of time, the Fort was ultimately captured by Ranjit Singh and then passed over to the British.   

View from the Kangra Fort.

Now that we had completed our trip we somehow forced ourselves in the bus to again move towards Delhi leaving the serene and beautiful sights and move towards Delhi but we all knew in our heart that though we are leaving the place we are taking back memories and which will remain with us forever and with the hope that we will come back to this place again.  

Blogging Again....

It was last in the year 2012, that I had written something and from that day 6 years have passed meaning 2190 days have passed that I have blogged. In these last six years, a lot has changed from my beliefs to reading habits to my choice of music, perception, prejudices but the most important one being is that I learnt and am still learning photography and have become addicted to travelling.

It is on the suggestion of my dear friend Mr Virender Shekhawat, the owner of Delhi Photography Club (http://www.delhiphotographyclub.com) and my photography teacher and travel companion to various places from like Spiti , Ladakh , Pushkar , Kila Raipur, Jaisalmer (just to name a few) over the past three to four years. I will in my later in my blogs explain my earlier in the travels in later blogs, so to again start my journey in the world of blogging let me start with my last trip with Delhi Photography Club which was to a quiet town by the name of Garli. So before I start writing about my travels, let me explain something that these trips with travel companions of Delhi Photography Club are not run the down the mill travel tours but are special travel journeys whose main aim is to photograph a place and not to be just tourists.