‘moments of peace’ – II

The Shiva Temple in Mankeshwar has a striking similarity to the Shiva Temple in Ambernath. Both, geographically far but architecturally on the same plate. Every single thing that my eyes saw at this temple made me drop my mouth in awe. The detailing of each sculpture, the carvings at the door to the idol, the pillars…

I wish to have so much time, money and everything else needed to sit at this temple for days and know everything I can about its architecture, history, folk tales etc.

The sunset view right outside this temple felt like the perfect end we could have to our adventurous day. But, the day wasn’t done yet. We drove to Tuljapur and ran to get darshan of the idol. We got the darshan and decided to sit for a while before we called it a day and found a place to eat and for accommodation.

As we reached, took tickets to worship the idol, ran for the same, walked in line to reach it, there was a constant sound of a bongo. It was played by a man in the temple with sticks. Every single variation, every single pause, each kind of rhythm he played got impressed in my head.

I closed my eyes, tried to only listen to the bongo amidst the chaos of my group and other worshippers around me. After minutes, it felt as it was only me and the bongo beats present at the temple, yet again I found my little moment of peace.

The entire day flashed in my mind, I felt blessed for what I saw and experienced the entire day. Thanked the superpowers for making this trip happen for me. For the first time in my many travelling years, in a span of a few hours, twice I experienced complete harmony!

After a sound sleep, we got up, ate a quick breakfast we headed towards Naldurg. On the way, I read about this fort which made me even more enthusiastic to explore it. The tales about this fort, the thought through planning while creating it are some things that are must-read even if you never visit this fort.

This time we carried water and were better prepared for the heat. This fort is protected by the Maharashtra department of archaeology and hence had water and other refreshments available. Around mid-day, we were done exploring the important parts of this massive fort.

The remains of the fort included rani mahal, rang mahal, and ambar kahan among other structures. The two huge cannons – Magar Tof and Hathi Tof are pure mesmerizing! These structures made me dive into the era and gave me a glimpse of the mighty living.

I imagined the life they must have had, had a reality check to my own and went into another parallel universe as I sat and saw the water body in the fort.

The way water was bought to this fort is one interesting fact. A dam on the river passing by was used to get water in the fort and then left from another end for the villagers. If not anything, visit this fort to witness how the marvellous minds of that time made sure that their people had water all year long.

Now we headed to Akkalkot Temple. We took blessings from the idol and left for Akkalkot Armoury Museum. This place gave me mixed vibes. At one side it made me feel all awe of the unique and varied armoury. On the other side it made me think about war, loss of animals, humans, worth of life etc.

I have never loved diving into the idea of war. My history isn’t great but everything about wars is especially worse. This museum tour of about an hour is the longest I have ever entertained the idea of war. I thought about war, learned about its existence, and its importance in history etc.

After an extremely late lunch on the entire journey to Solapur I listened to my playlist while others slept. I registered war as an idea in my head finally and figured why it was the reality of the time. I thought about how it isn’t really essential today yet why it exists. As I stepped out of the vehicle, I thanked the museum for helping me relearn a word.

Solapur is known for the famous Siddeshwar Temple. The train we took both times was also named after this Temple. The temple is very well maintained. The evening lights in the temple with its reflection on the lake is one serene sight.

We saw the huge outer walls of Solapur Fort and walked with it to reach a garden. The garden was shut for construction, but the walk was beautiful. Huge stone wall on one side, the reflection of the temple on the other along with the chitter-chatter of the bats around made the walk memorable.

We hogged some famous street food and headed to a friend’s place. His family gave us a warm welcome. We left from there to the station in a perfect mood to begin the long journey back home.

This entire two-day extravaganza of our group in Osmanabad and Solapur districts of Maharashtra had us explore many structures. There was an evident southern presence in the aura due to the fact that both districts are on the Karnataka border. Nizams ruled the south back then and hence a strong presence of that era was also felt.

A unique mix of the south, the Mughal and the Hindus make these places a must visit. If temples, architecture, history, and people interests you, this itinerary would be enjoyable for you. For me, this entire trip gave me my much needed little moments of peace…

I hope you liked this two post series. Check detailed itinerary here.
@nisha_navgire on Insta for pictures from this trip.