Hello everyone!
been a member here for about 2 years, but posting for the first time. had thought of writing about my trip-reports last year, when had been to Pachmadhi, Dudhwa National Park, etc., after gathering info from the forum, but all that finally fizzled away as just that, a thought! :p
anyway, after reading a couple of threads some days back on a few members' trips to Pandharpur (from Thane), i set off with my family to the place on the morning of the Christmas that just went by. my Father and me were in ill-health prior that, so we were prepared to even cancel the trip, if we were not to get well, but with ooparwaale ki krupa, got well just a day earlier, booked our tickets with MSRTC the prior evening, and set off the next day! :)
here's the rundown:
1) the affair wasn't very well planned after all. we had thought of travelling by Shivneri (AC bus run by MSRTC), but on the eve of booking the tkts, got to know that on the Thane/Mumbai-Pandharpur route, only the day-ordinary bus is run. so booked the tkts for that. cost was 319/- per head + taxes. we booked tkts for the return-journey as well, so total cost came to be between 2200-2400/-.
2) the bus was a little late, owing to traffic-congestion. it was to come from Shahpur. even though late, it arrived well 35 mins earlier than the scheduled 'late arrival time'! very well! we didn't encounter any traffic-jam while leaving the city, mostly because it was a public-holiday.
3) the journey was a long one. on the way, after leaving Mumbai, we occasionally did encounter traffic-congestion here-and-there. since the bus was running behind schedule, it only stopped at Lonavala bus depot for refreshments. the route was via Mumbai-Pune mega-highway.
4) i was going to Pune after a long time. i was pleasantly surprised to see the sea of change that had taken place in the suburbs there, nigdi, pimpri-chinchwad, etc. such great roads, well-marked, well-divided, with BRTS, rows of plants on the road-dividers, and what to say of the change in the atmosphere and air! a far cry from the Mumbai atmosphere! :mad:
felt rejuvenated (yeah, had also dozed off in the bus before reaching Pune :) ).
plugged in my earphones, and played some nice cheerful songs of 'foster the people', and enjoyed my brief new 'Pune-darshan' with glee!
5) ok, now till Pune, the roads were good. after crossing Pune suburbs and city, the road started becoming bumpy. after Phaltan, they became worse. not so bumpy that you would jump out of the seats, but still, bumpy enough to make you feel uneasy. if you are travelling by car though, you may not feel much.
6) the scenario remained so more-or-less, till Maalshisar. i was already awaiting Pandharpur dearly. the bus hadn't stopped for lunch, plus, i eat and drink less when travelling by bus, and added to that the dusty-bumpy ride, all this gave me a headache!
7) finally, reached Pandharpur somewhere between 1900-2000 hrs. too late! the ETA was 11700-800 hrs. anyway, got down, hired an auto to Shree Gajaanan Maharaj Sansthaan. before leaving, we had called up the Sansthaan, plus Vedant Bhakt Niwaas, and the ISKCON aashram. The SGMS told us, as i knew, that prior-booking is not done there (and in no other Bhakta Niwaas there i guess), but if we were to come by noon, we could get accommodation; after noon, all AC/non-AC rooms get occupied. VBN told us that we will get AC room if we arrive by evening (fare - 1150/-). ISKCON aashram was already full.
8) we got down from the auto at VBN. since we were late, we were told that every room is full, AC and non-AC. the chap sitting at the counter was some old person. not quite polite in talking. i had to unfortunately raise my voice when talking to him, asking him the way to Hotel Aishwarya (known as one of the best, if not the best hotel in Pandharpur). VBN and SGMS are quite adjacent to each other, the latter being huge, having also a large, beautiful temple in its premises. hoardes of cars were parked outside it, while VBN, although seems good, appears like a regular 3-4 storied apartment-building. no cars outside it, but a couple of buses of pilgrims.
9) anyway, the town is small, and so are the distances too between various points. Aishwarya was about 1-1.5 km from VBN. asking directions from a couple of people, we reached near the hotel. its situated just beside the main road, that leads to the railway station and the bus depot. here, i decide to scout for accommodation on the right side, while my Father took the left. on the left was Aishwarya. i moved to the right, went to SGMS first to try luck, but found a board stating that no rooms were vacant. near the main temple, there are quite many Bhakta Niwaas and lodges. on the way to SGMS, i had seen the board of LaxmiNarayan Lodge. i had read about it on holidayiq or cleartrip. though to enquire there last. an auto-driver outside SGMS recommened me to stay at LaxmiNarayan Lodge, saying that its better for family-stay than the lodges near the temple, even though to me, those lodges and Bhakta Niwaas near the temple looked big and good (had 'deluxe' rooms too; but they are not so deluxe after all, which you will read below now). anyway, we were late, and just wanted to get a decent room and head to the temple soon.
10) i called up my Father to head to Laxmi Narayan lodge and enquire about room-availability. we got a room there, 'deluxe'. rent was 900/-. the room was just decent. small room, with a cot/bed for 2 people, and a small TV. bathroom was ok, not quite clean, but manageable (Indian-style toilet). hot-water was available on request, but i can manage with normal tap-water too in winters. i took a bath with normal (read, 'cold' water), got ready, and moved to have a quick dinner. the temple-gates were to close by 2300 hrs. 'bhookhe pet bhajan na hoi Gopaala'! since had read about the good food-quality of H. Aishwarya's restaurant, headed that way. was near, across the main street.
11) the restaurant i think closes by 2230-2300 hrs. we reached well before that. its a good place. food-rates were not cheap, almost at par with the rates at Mumbai. the waiter who took our order (a middle-aged man) seemed active and quick. we placed our order, and requested him to get the food made less spicy. however, the food still had the spiciness of green chillies. but the taste was good. chapaatis were more like paraathaas, but am surely not complaining! overall, it was a good affair! the restaurant opens up at 0700-0730 hrs for breakfast (didn't have it though).
12) went to the temple from there. took an auto. charged 30/- for the temple. its not very far from Aishwarya, but since we were getting late, decided to take an auto. we reached i think by 2230-2245 hrs. well on time! many pilgrims were returning. most shops were closed. very less chaos, and silence prevailed! good time to be there! the queue was well inside the temple. had a good darshan. then bought some tasty pedhaas and prasaad from a shop outside the temple. seeing us buying from there, many more flocked to the shop. brisk business for the shopowner at that hour! :)
13) though cellphones aren't officially allowed in the temple, security at the gate was lacklustre. the policeman sitting there just asked - "mobile?!"; i replied that am not carrying it. but i saw a few people carrying it inside, talking loudly on the phone.
14) before going inside the temple, we kept our footwear with a roadside flowers and garlands seller. he gave us 2 garlands for both the Boss-deities, each costing 100/-, and some other things like prasaad, gulaal, etc. total cost - 240/-. upon reaching inside, i saw a seller selling smaller garlands (not too small) for 5/-! nevermind though. :)
15) inside the temple, atleast at that hour, i didn't see anyone ('badwe' or priests) asking for doing pooja or for money ("donate more than 100/-!"). i may have spotted 1 or 2 asking some pilgrims to get a pooja done, but i can't recall now whether i actually saw them. hehe.
16) in the garbhagruh, there was public-congestion as usual. security-personnel pushing the crowd. however, even then, had a very good darshan of both the deities, touching their feet, getting to stay for more than a second in front of each's altar. too good!
17) after coming out of the temple, sat in an auto again, came back to the lodge (for 30/- again). had asked for extra bedding for myself from the hotel-staff. had got them earlier. now was time to prepare to retire. morning-darshan was doubtftul. it was past midnight now, and we were told conflicting timings of the Kaakad Aarti by various people. going to the temple in the morning again seemed highly doubtful, because we had to catch the bus as well at 0815 hours, and couldn't tell what the crowd was going to be like in the morning. good that we went for the darshan in the night itself!
18) my skin is i think sensitive to beddings of hotel, esp. the winter-blankets. i have noticed this during many of my hotel-stays. plus, the forest of hair on my body adds to the woes! almost the whole night i spent sleeplessly, trying to doze off either sitting, or just sit in a trance-like state, because the bedding gave me serious big, itchy, in the lack of recalling a better term, 'boils', over my face, neck, hands, feet. it was as if giant mosquitoes or some poisonous insect had bitten me (the latter has bitten me once). after incessant rolling and itching for a few hours, i humbly accepted my fate as Lords Vitthala & Rakhumai's grace to exhaust some of my praarabdha, and sat down for some time. then after some time of remaining dazed, confused, perplexed and what not, it struck me to wear my track-suit, coil up like a baby, throw aside the bedding and sleep on the cold floor! and this i did, probably about 3-4 in the morning, and then slept well for the remaining time, thinking to ask the staff in the morning whether they properly wash the bedding and then dry them up well or not (probably they are not stored well, without being put in the sun), but forgot all that in the morning! :P
19) the staff at the lodge was quite co-operative, and funny too. one of them requested us to give them some 'baksheesh' in the morning while leaving. :)
one of them got us an auto early in the morning the next day, and we left for the bus depot then.
20) purchased some eatables at the bus depot, thinking that the bus again might also not halt for lunch. got a solapur delicacy, viz, 'shenga chutney', or spicy groundnut chutney. we were having a tight schedule, else, would've took the early morning darshan, as well as had explored the surroundings.
the place is also far away, so can't say when can we go the next time. :(
21) the bus was right on time this instance! the return journey was very good. less crowded bus. spotted a cyclist on the small state highway. i was pleasantly surprised to see him! had all his backpacks loaded onto the bike. he was a foreigner, alone. must be practising for some biking tournament. i also have a rockrider 5.2 (old model), and have been thinking about rides on highways, but have never went beyond the Ghodbunder road, and beyond Thane. :|
22) the bus halted for lunch at a restaurant. food was good, almost non-spicy, and quickly served as well! had a hearty lunch, followed by a couple of guavas, giant plums, peanuts, all had a very good sweet, rustic desi taste to them!
23) we reached back Thane again at the right time, at about 1700 hrs. got down at Thane railway station, as came to kow that the bus didn't halt at Vandana or Khopat. till now, the pleasant memories of Pandharpur and its Lords haunt me! :)
SOME QUICKIES:
-A) from Thane/Mumbai, only day-ordinary bus to Pandharpur; another option is passenger train starting from Dadar. bus-fare is ~350-400/- per person.
B) bus timing (onward journey) - 0800 hrs (i hope so; can't recall exactly)
ETA Pandharpur --> 1700-1800 hrs
return journey - Pandharpur --> 0815 hrs
ETA Thane --> 1700-1800 hrs
C) if planning to stay at an aashram/bhakta niwaas, try to reach by noon itself. atleast 4 such options there, namely:
1] Shree Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan - very near the temple
2] Vedant Bhakta Niwaas - a few furlongs ahead of SGMS
3] Shree Raool Maharaj Bhakta Niwaas - don't know the addr.; a google-search would reveal though
4] ISKCON guest house - http://www.iskconpandharpur.com/ (i remember the bhaktas collecting donations for the proposed beautiful ghat being built there, at the Juhu ISKCON temple).
there are a few more bhakta niwaas near the temple, as well as a videocon bhakta niwaas i had read; don't know where it is (but possibly near VBN), or if its VBN itself.
D) if you wish to stay at a hotel, hotel aishwarya, hotel Vitthal inn, and hotel shamiana are probably the best of the lot; but call them up in advance before leaving, and book room(s) for yourselves.
E) at the main street leading to the temple, there comes a mobile bakery shop (Balaji bakery). attracts crowd of people. if free, do buy a few items, like maska paav (cream bun - my favourite!), khaari, sugar-khaari, maska bread (cream bread, more like a pastry, sans its decoration), cookies, etc. i found them quite good!
F) cellphones are not allowed in the temple. there are several shops in the vicinity providing lockers at a fee.
G) one is not allowed to 'throw' flowers/sindoor/gulaal at the deities' idols, but one has to give it to the priest sitting nearby. there're ample boards in the temple notifying the public about the same.
H) winter is not very cold there. but do carry some warm clothing, as the mornings are indeed quite cold.
I) the temple-gates close by 2300 hrs, so if you happen to reach the town by night like me, make sure to get a darshan by that time; quietness prevails, with little-to-no chaos, and far less crowds.
can think of these only for now. let me know if anyone wants to ask about anything. if i recall anything else, i will add to the OP.
P.S. - sorry for no pics. my photography-bug went into a deep coma many months ago, and i've turned quite indifferent and disinterested in it, to the point of not even carrying my digicam to click some random-pics for record, or to use my cell for the same. this was anyway a very short trip, the main event of it being covered by night, so would've as it is not been able to show any worthwhile pic here; or so i think. [Blush] :)
credits to aragorn, vijkrish, aarosh!