3/7 Roadway Shubham Sunthankar III Yr shubhamsunthankar64@gmail.com
We say a trip goes well when its unplanned. But this was a trip which was majorly planned. It was BTM paper I remember when my friend Vaibhav had approached me taking up this idea of visiting our dear friends’ houses this summer. Coming up with such a vague idea, we decided to leave immediately after the exams. Vaibhav, Suresh and Dedu had called up their parents regarding our arrival, making sure that we were leaving for this trip. I remember the morning when we were about to leave and my dear friend Harish had not yet spoken to his family about leaving, having his phone switched off got into each one of our nerves. Somehow, we managed to contact him and finally we started together from a common point in Hadapsar after a lot of disappointments which came up our way. So, there was six of us Vaibhav, Harish, Omkar, Suresh, Dedu and myself. Unfortunately, one more friend from our gang (Ayush P.) could not come due to a family emergency. On the way to our first destination, we halted at some architectural structures which included the Purandare Wada in Saswad. This is the location where some shots were taken for the Tumbbad film. Trailing along the roads in the hot May heat we finally reached Vaibhav’s House. There was time for lunch so we decided to trek ‘Jejuri Gad’, one of the main reasons to visit Jejuri. The spirutuality of people and the ‘bhandara’ in the atmosphere of the
Mandir situated right at the top of the Gad keeps the space vibrant. Taking blessings from Lord Khandoba we reached home for some pet puja. After having our lunch and a great nap we decided to visit some temples around in the evening which included the Pandeshwar Temple which had a tall stone post which you could climb up on and look over the river Karha flowing alongside. There was still some time for sun to set, so we decided to visit Bhuleshwar Temple situated on Daulatmangal Fort having a huge architectural importance. The carvings we observed on each element of the temple truly carved a deep impression on our hearts. The setting sun on the intricate details added a highlight to the temple and our day. On the way back, the five of us missed being with our mothers as it was Mother’s Day (though we had wished her while leaving in the morning) and hence we bought a cake on the way to give a surprise to Vaibhav’s mom. And what would be more cheerful than having a non-veg dinner with an IPL Final match of CSK vs MI to watch the nail-biting finish (but I personally believe it was fixed). Still discussing about the match and gazing at the stars we dozed off on the terrace. Our next destination was Suresh’ house in Satara which we had to reach the next day, completing some visits on the way before we reached. We started our day with Sangameshwar temple on our way in Saswad. The temple is situated on the Sangam of two rivers Chamli and Karha, hence called as Sangameshwar. We also visited Keykawala Balaji before going to Suresh’s house as it was on the way and had a lunch there itself.
Sangameshwar Temple, Saswad
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Bhuleshwar Temple,Saswad
By the time we reached his home it was about 3pm. Seeing us exhausted, his mother served us ‘Taak’ and it was enough for a person to doze off immediately where they were sitting. By the time we got up it was nearly 5 in the evening and then we realized it was a waste of time to reach out for the fort as it was 1.5 hours away from his home. While we were in that dilemma, Suresh’s Daaji suggested that we could take a short trip to Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani as it would take us approximately one hour to reach there. We hurried and decided to work out the details on the way. Firstly we visited Mapro Garden. Now, we still had time to leave so we decided to visit two points of Mahabaleshwar (Venna Lake and Sunset Point). After watching the beautiful sunset from a different perspective this time, we left for home. When we had started this trail in the evening, as we were going to cross Panchgani we remembered a project ‘Zostel’ done by Ar. Madhav Joshi, heard in one of the FEED Lectures. We were not permitted in the hotel due to some security issues. While returning in the dark, we were curious to know how it looked from the rear side. So, I and Omkar took some risk (I don’t know why) to climb down the hill in the dark with just mobile torchlights to capture the view. And at that point, we were satisfied because it looked beautiful at night. We managed to reach home with a cautious speed, then had a hearty dinner till we felt like our stomachs would explode. Again, sleeping on the extended corridor at the entrance, in an open environment, breathing in the ‘Gaavachi hawa’ was the best thing I experienced there.
