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| Sandeepani Ashram, Ujjain. |
Date: 19th April, 2011, Monday.
Location: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Alarm woke me up at 4:30AM and by 5:30AM I checked out of the hotel. I walked for half kilometre to reach the railway station. Bhopal was still asleep even at 5:45hrs and it surprised me a bit. The sun wasn’t out and the weather was cool. I stood in the queue and purchased a passenger ticket to Ujjain. The passenger train was empty but as the departure time neared the train got filled with passengers. There was good amount of crowd in the coaches when it was 5 minutes to go for departure. I was comfortably seated in the last coach as I always like to travel in a coach far from the engine. BRC WAM-4#20561 was the power for my train and it was a good performer. The train had a bang on-time departure, but there were 3 incidents of chain pulling even before the train moved out of Bhopal station. So the train stopped three times and a minimum of 5 minutes was wasted in each instance.
At last by 06:45hrs, we pulled out of Bhopal. Erode WAP-4 was spotted hauling Jaipur-Chennai Superfast Express and it was a treat to watch. The weather was good and it surprised me. I expected weather in Madhya Pradesh to be hot and it wasn’t at least as of now. The ride in passenger train was memorable. It maintained good speed too hitting even 100kph (I followed through GPS for few minutes). At around 0745hrs, my train reached a station called Sehore. It was a typical Indian rural scene, with a couple of dogs sleeping in platform, women carrying pots on their heads, few men in typical North Indian dress(kurta ? pyjama?) sitting on a bullock and chatting about politics(maybe). The station master came out of his cabin only to bang the metal bar and my train started after getting the signal to go ahead. There was a station named ‘Shujalpur’ along the route and for some unknown reasons I liked the name very much.
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| Mangalnath Temple, Ujjain. |
I was enjoying some good music in my Nokia Xpressmusic 5800 as usual like any of my travels. Sound effects were good and the lyrics matched well with the scenery of the route. ‘Ke Tu Ji Rahi Hai Meri Zindagi, Sochi Kya Baat Hai , Yeh Ankhon Se Tu Dhere Se Sunega, Kyun Na Rok Loon Mein Yeh Din Yahin, Kissi Se Bhi Na Kahenge Hum, Na Yahin Pe Kho Jayenge’. I was having a good time. I wasn’t travelling to US or UK for a project or assignment to earn more money, nor to Swiss for a honeymoon or to Australia to watching Boxing Day Test match. I was about to fulfil my childhood dream of travelling to the ancient city. I had this wish when I was in 4th grade. It was a special moment in my life for me.
The passenger rolled into Ujjain Junction at 11:30hrs. It took less than 5 minutes for me to find a good hotel and it was near to the railway station itself. In 1 hour I refreshed myself and had my lunch. It was roti and dal again for lunch as well. After finishing my lunch, I came out and booked a tempo for Rs.200/-. It may sound costly, but I couldn’t bargain much. The initial rate was Rs.300/-. Tempos were previously used in Bhopal as well, but I believe they aren’t used now. The tempo ride was interesting. I haven’t travelled in a tempo earlier in my life and it was a great experience.
The following are the places which I visited in Ujjain:
Sandeepani Ashhram:
Lord Krishna and Sudama received regular instruction in this ashram of Guru Sandeepani during Maharabharata period. Beautiful photos and paintings of Lord Krishna were kept in display at the ashram resembling the glorious past of the country. The ashram was nice, clean and well maintained. The ashram still retained the same charm of Mahabharata era. The ashram was located on the outskirts of the city.
Bhartrihari Caves:
These caves are situated just above the bank of River Shipra near the temple of Gadkalika. According to popular tradition, this is the spot where Bhartrihari, the step brother of Vikramaditya, lived and meditated after renouncing worldly life.
Gad Kalika Temple:
This is an ancient Kali Temple. It is believed that poet Kalidasa was unintelligent without mental maturity. But after worshipping the Kali at this temple, he was blessed with knowledge and intelligence. He wrote many of his poems sitting on the banks of river shipra.
Kal Bhairav Temple:
This temple is dedicated to Lord Bhairav, a form of Shiva. Liquor is offered to God in this temple. I felt this practice to be strange. After having a quick darshan I came out of the temple. I didn’t really want to loiter around in a place where liquor is prominent. It’s always better to be safe than experiment when you are travelling alone.
Harsiddhi Temple Temple:
An important shrine with the image of Goddess Annapurna.
Mangalnath Temple:
This is considered the birth place of planet Mars. People having manglik dosha also visit this place if they are facing problems like marriage-delays.
Bade Ganeshji ka Mandir:
There is a sculptured image of Lord Ganesh in this temple, close to the tank near Mahakaleshwar.
Chintamani Ganesh:
An idol of Ganesh is worshipped here. It is believed to be self-formed.
Ram Temple:
Near the banks of river shipra, a beautiful Ram Temple is present.
Lord Venkateshwara Temple:
This is a private owned temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located at the center of the city. The shikar or (gopuram as known in Tamil) is in South Indian style.
Mahakal Jyorthirlingam temple:
I kept this temple as last in my list as I believed that it would take time for darshan. I expected that it would take a couple of hours for darshan, but darshan was over in 30 mins! I really couldn’t believe that I was in front of jyorthilingam which I wanted to see 15 years back when I studied about Ujjain in my history books. I saw this city just 4 months before I completed 25 years on earth. There wasn’t much crowd too so I seized the opportunity to stay for more time near the lingam. I couldn’t believe that I have just fulfilled my childhood ambition. Thanks to God for giving this opportunity.
I sat on one of the elevated steps opposite to the lingam and enjoyed every moment. There was no hurry. Since there wasn't much crowd, the volunteers weren't pushing anyone out of the place and people took their own time. There were numerous televisions installed which showed live pictures of the jyothirlinga in different angles.
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| Kal Bhairav, Ujjain. |
After spending a good time at the temple, I decided to return back to the lodge. The tempo driver was waiting for me patiently outside. It was already dark. I settled him and I made a choice to return back to lodge by foot. I wanted to see this ancient city in action during evening hours. Purchasing a bottle of Sprite, I started to walk through the bazaar filled with shops. Reminded me of Acharapakkam (Tamilnadu), Chakradharpur (Jharkhand) and Kalahasti (Andhra Pradesh). I liked the simplicity in the minds of the people. It gave me sense of satisfaction and happiness. By evening 7PM, I was back at lodge.
In the night at around 9AM, I took a walk for 20 minutes to watch night life in Ujjain and it was plain/simple. Shops were closed by 9:30PM. Then I went on lift to the terrace in my lodge and had a glance of the entire city. It looked beautiful just like any other Indian city, but this one had less light. The railway station looked beautiful. As I stood gazing at the trains, I wondered whether good moments in life would come often? I had to make the best of it now itself.
Date: 20th April, Tuesday.
Location: Ujjain
The entire day I spent exploring the city. As I have said earlier, the city resembled its glorious past. I observed a strong sense of work culture and activeness. I suddenly had an idea of catching a bus to Ratlam. Ratlam was a good 3-hr run away and I managed to get a direct private bus. The bus went through small towns and villages of which I had no idea. The vehicle was less crowded.
I could observe that these areas lacked some development and I personally wished that it should be little more developed with more schools, hospitals and other facilities. It is easy to say that a state is undeveloped. But what I believe is that a developed state should help an undeveloped state rather than leaving the undeveloped to suffer. The real smartness is to help others and to progress oneself on top of it and help other’s progress too rather than creating ‘politics’.
In a human body, a brain, heart, kidney, lungs function by co-ordinating with each other. If each organ were to compete in an unethical manner, I wouldn’t be alive to write this travelogue. It is to be noted that these organs were created by God, so maybe they know how to work and behave. After all, states and linguistic barriers were created by humans and humans are no good managers or administrators. The sad fact is that states would like to secede away to form a separate country. Imagine pair of kidneys trying to move away from a human body? What will the human body do after that? Or even the kidneys can survive alone? It could be a bit stupid to quote such examples to promote National unity, but sadly this is what is happening.
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| Kal Bhairav Temple, Ujjain. |
I stayed less than 20 minutes at Ratlam and I immediately caught another bus back to Ujjain. Before boarding the bus, I had some genuine Ratlam Sev with pickles. Before evening I was back at Ujjain.
I just had one more plan remaining. That was to visit Omkareshwar for Jyothirlingam darshan which was 132km away from Ujjain. The hotel owner was a kind man and suggested that I can travel in a small lorry belonging to hotel up to Indore which was on its way to Indore for some business purpose. From Indore, I can take a share taxi or a bus to Omkareshwar
Date: 21st April, 2011.
Location: Ujjain
I started in a lorry towards Omkareshwar at around 6AM. The journey was smooth. The roads were huge, wide and clean. The lorry ride was exciting and adventurous too. After reaching Indore, I travelled in a city bus to a place where I could get a direct bus to Omkareshwar. I managed to get one easily and I reached Omkareshwar by 10AM. The darshan was excellent and I spent a good 10 minutes near the lingam. I felt that I was passing throuh a good stage in life as I had the luck to have jyothirlinga darshan at ease without having problems like dealing with heavy crowds.
I spent around one hour at the temple premises taking photos. Kids were playing around, running here and there. Few people were enjoying the boat ride in the river below. The bridge was the one that fascinated me a lot. It reminded me of Howrah, but it wasn’t so massive and wide, but still it had some charm of Howrah. I liked this place more than Mahakal. But I don’t know why. Maybe because this temple was situated in outskirts unlike Mahakal which was situated inside the city. This place seemed to be more close to nature with mountain-like rocks around.
After spending some time at the temple, I took a walk around the town. It was calm, silent and peaceful. I haven’t felt peace like that in cities. City life is also peaceful, but still there is always a bit of “hurry” in a city. My idea of a good time is to work smart in city and then take a break and live rural for a week.
I managed to get a bus till Indore for my return journey. On my way back, I took some snaps using camera mobile as the bus went through rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. The driver halted the bus at a small tea shop on the high way which was near a Navagraha temple. Few passengers got down to refresh themselves. A small boy carried tea cups and went around the bus trying to sell tea to passengers sitting inside the bus. I know I was luckier in life than him. But when it comes to patience I must learn from him. It was evident by the way he picked the cups and filled with tea from the can. Not even a single drop was spilled. Living economically is not a shame, but it’s a talent. I seized this opportunity to visit the Navagraha temple. To my surprise, the bus started only after 30 minutes. Why the need for such a long break ? No one in the bus bothered to ask as well.
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| Gadkalika Temple, Ujjain. It is believed that Kalidas was blessed by this Kali |
After arriving at Indore, I waited close to 30 minutes for a bus to Ujjain. Had a couple of samosas as well to pass time. There wasn’t bus available, but there was a taxi returning empty to Ujjain. He charged me Rs.100/-only as he was returning empty handed. I thought it was a good deal. By this time, the climate was damn hot and I could observe “water vapour like” things on the road ahead as my car flew at 100kph+ on the high way. There weren’t many cars in the high way. Not even lorries! I was surprised!
After returning back to the lodge, I informed to the hotel owner that I would be checking out the same day night. I took a 3-hr nap and when I woke up it was around 6PM. I watched one of the IPL matches for some time and killed the remaining hours as well by browsing through various TV channels. At around 9PM, I checked out. This was probably my last day in Ujjain. Not sure whether I would travel again to the same place, but I would like to extend my thanks to the people of Madhya Pradesh for their hospitality and care they showed on me on those three days.
As I entered Ujjain railway station, I heard a typical diesel honk. Some goods train was passing through Ujjain junction without stopping. The night wasn’t cold and overall it was a good weather to do some night rail fanning. Lot of Ratlam diesel locomotives like WDM-2, WDM-3A were seen busy hauling their respective goods/freights/expresses. WAP-5’s were also spotted. I also remember spotting a Royapuram (Tamilnadu) locomotive in Ujjain when I did an afternoon rail fanning on the first day I arrived.
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| Lakshmi Venkateshwara Temple, Ujjain. (South Indian style) |
Shanti Express was expected to arrive at 00:10hrs. To my surprise the train arrived 5 mins in advance. A Ratlam WDM-x rolled in with my train in a grand manner. Trains are amazing things to watch. I got into my 3AC coach and went to sleep immediately. When I got up again the train was at Ratlam, patiently waiting for signal. I was interested in taking rest, so I went back to sleep again. When I got up next, the train has entered Gujarat and was nearing Anand. It was a good run till Nadiad. From Nadiad onwards till Ahmedabad, the train wasn’t so fast. At 08:55hrs, my train rolled into Ahmedabad.
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| I rented this tempo for Rs.200/- for 6 hours. |
Date: April 22nd, 2011.
Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
At 08:55hrs, I kept my foot at Ahmedabad railway station marking my first visit to Gujarat. After drooling at trains for some time, I searched for a good accommodation near the railway station itself and got one too. I didn’t do much on that day, except for rail fanning. For my entire duration of stay at Ahmedabad, I had rice with various different type of parathas like Gajjar Paratha, Sugar paratha, Aloo paratha, Methi Paratha, Mix-Veg Paratha with curd and North Indian side dishes like Panneer Butter Masala, Palak Panneer, Kaju Masala. These were my breakfast, lunch and dinner. I prayed to God that I shouldn't fall sick. Thank God, I didn't....
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| Ram Temple, Ujjain. Near the banks of river shipra. |
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| Mahakal Temple(Jyothirlingam sthalam), Ujjain. |
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