Lovavala, Khandala

We visited Lonavala, the popular hill station of Maharashtra for a day. There are many hotels and resorts available for stay. You need to hire a taxi for sight seeing. They charge around 1500 to 2000 INR to show all the points including Khandala ghat.

The Ekveera Devi temple is about 6 kms from Lonavala and is located on a hill and next to the famous Karla Caves. You need to ascend around 500 steps to reach the temple. You get an excellent view of the surroundings from the hill top.

Ekveera Devi Temple Hill

After we visited the artistic Wax Museum. It contains around 32 celebrity wax idols. It is a real fun being here. The ticket is 100 INR per head. 

Wax idol of Mahatma Gandhi at Wax Museum

In Lonavala, there is a Botanical garden, having so many ancient trees. We saw one tree was reclining for about 15 feet in length, and the other had a hollow trunk and inside some other tree had started growing. 

Reclining tree

Tree inside of a tree

There is a beautiful Bushi Dam located a few kilometers from Lonavala. In monsoon this dam overflows and the water flows over a series of steps on which everyone can enjoy the flow of water.  

Way to Bushi Dam in rain

The Mumbai-Pune express highway passes through the very famous Khandala ghat.  There is a public garden on the top of the ghat, from this garden you can see an artistic view of hills, Highway and many small waterfalls. The highway actually passes beneath this garden, making a long tunnel.

View from Khandala Ghat

View from Khandala Ghat

Khandala and Lonavala both are famous for their seemingly innumerable varieties of chikki. There are many local shops, where you can taste and buy them.

Marvellous Monsoon at Goa

This time we planned the trip to Goa in monsoon. Goa is popular for its long and clean beaches and also churches. Goa turns really beautiful in monsoon. You can see the colors of dark clouds over the huge sea.

Goa beach covered by monsoon clouds

We stayed in Goa for 3 days and 2 nights. There are huge numbers of hotels and resorts ranging from budget to super deluxe rooms. On the first day we visited Calangute and Baga beaches. These both are the most crowded beaches among all. Still you get so much fun being here. Calangute beach has very good shopping market nearby. You can buy good swim wares and local handicraft items.

Calangute Beach, Goa

Baga beach, Goa

On the second day, we visited very old and famous lighthouse and fort. At this place, you feel like being on an island. The view of the sea is amazing from here.

Light house, Goa

View from Light House, Goa

We also visited Vagator beach and Anjuna beach. Both these beaches have their unique beauty and natural scenery, and they are favorite places for movie shootings. Miramaar beach is cool and calm, famous for various kinds of food stalls.

Vagatore beach, Goa

Anjuna beach, Goa

The Dona-Paula beach is also famous as suicide point, as lovers named Dona and Paula had committed suicide here. This place is very well developed now and has become a favorite tourist place. In the evening, we chose to go for dance party on cruise. The ticket is 150 INR per head. You can enjoy for 1 hour on the cruise boat. They also perform some local dance arts.

Dona - Paula statues, Goa

On the third day, we visited The Basilica of Bom Jesus church. It is famous for patron saint Francis Xavier's tomb. The Church is very big and beautiful from inside. After that we visited Municipal Market at Panjim to buy famous Goan Cashew nuts.

Saint Francis Xavier's tomb, Goa

The Basilica of Bom Jesus church, Goa

Panjim city

You cannot enjoy different water sports in monsoon, but it is the cost you pay to enjoy wet and green Goa!
More photos of Goa are at Marvellous Monsoon at Goa - Picasaweb

Monsoon at Mahabaleshwar

Mahabaleshwar is a very famous hill station in Maharastra, India. It is situated on Sahyadri mountain range. Mahabaleshwar has beautiful natural surroundings and large number of tourist points. 

Hilly surroundings of Mahabaleshwar

We stayed in Mahabaleshwar for 2 days. There are many hotels available for stay, but it is good to select near the market or bus stand.

For sightseeing, we hired a taxi. The taxies have fix rate cards for different tours here. They show you the card and you need to select the tour accordingly. They have special tours only for monsoons also.

On the first day we visited Panchgani, which is famous for its strawberry gardens and Jam - Chocolate factories. We visited Manama and Mapro companies and their gardens. You can taste and buy the products like jams, syrups, squashes, fruit jelly and pulps, etc.

Strawberry garden, Panchgani

Panchgani is also famous for its Table Land point. The place is called table land because there is 4 KM wide flat area, on the top of the hill. 

Table land point, Panchgani

 Then we visited Parsi point, here you can get an excellent view of river Krishna flowing through the wide range of hills, and also its dam.

View from Parsi point, Panchgani

On the other day, we went for local Mahabaleshwar sightseeing. The main points we visited are:

Echo point - A fabulous point over the hill, the view of river and dam, you can hear echo of your voice if you shout loudly, amazing experience.

Echo point, Mahabaleshwar

Elephant's Head point - You can see an elephant's head and trunk shape in the hill, beautiful sight.

Elephant's Head point, Mahabaleshwar

Lingamala falls - You can totally enjoy this place if you be here in monsoon or after monsoon. There are 3 small waterfalls adjacent to each other, a good family picnic point.

Lingmala falls, Mahabaleshwar

Panchaganga Mandir - An ancient temple is dedicated to five sacred rivers namely Krishna, Savitri, Gayatri, Koyna and Venna. All the five rivers together flow out from the Gaumukh, the holy cow's head.

Mahabaleshwar temple - The very big and famous Shiv temple, the shivlinga is believed to be around 500 years old and Swayambhu (Self Oriented). It is in the shape of Rudraksha and it is honoured by the title ‘Mahalingam’. 

Venna lake - The Lake is surrounded by greenery, is a popular hang out at Mahabaleshwar. Numerous amusement activities like boating, fishing and horse riding are available here. Various food stalls and fruit stalls attract tourists.

Venna Lake, Mahabaleshwar

Connaught Peak - It is the second highest point of Sahyadri Mountain Ranges, from here we can get an amazing view of the whole Mahabaleshwar, the Krishna river and its surrounding mountains, and even the clouds running below you. 

View from Connaught Peak, Mahabaleshwar

Babington point - Here you get an excellent view of Koyna Valley and Chinaman's waterfall. 

View from Babington point, Mahabaleshwar

Sabarmati Ashram‏ - Peace in the simplicity !!

Sabarmati Ashram is the place where the father of the nation Mahatma Ghadhiji lived for around 12 years of his life. It is situated on the bank of river Sabarmati. It takes around 2-3 hours to visit the ashram. The ashram timings are 8 AM to 6:30 PM. It closes after the evening prayer. Camera is allowed here.

Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad

The center of the ashram is called Hriday Kunj, Gandhiji's cottage. It is very peaceful and simple. In the front part of it, there is a "Charkha", which is always loved by him. Apart from this, there are other small cottages of  Vinoba bhave, Miraben and Maganlal.

There is an open air Prayer place, where the daily prayer is performed. Anyone can join this prayer. It feels very peaceful in the mind during and after the prayer. 

There is a Museum and Painting gallery, displaying things and life size paintings of Gandhiji. There is also a library. You can read or purchase books and materials related to Gandhiji from here.

The ashram has many number of trees which are the home for thousands of birds. Therefor, the best time to visit the ashram is the evening time when these birds come back to their nests.

Chittorgarh

Chittorgarh is a city famous for its hill fort. It is situated about 60KM from Udaipur. We travelled by a cab through national highway. It takes around 1 and half hour to reach Chittorgarh. To go up on the hill there is a good road. It is allowed to travel inside the fort by car. At the entrance of the fort, we hired a guide charging only 50 INR. The guides ask for 50 to 450 INR, and it all depends on your bargaining skills. There is only one time ticket to see the whole fort.

Chittorgarh city

The fort contains many ancient monuments telling the stories of the kings of the Mevad. First we visited Mira Mandir built in the memory of the Krishna’s one of the great lovers Mirabai. Then we visited Vijaystambh built by Maharana Kumbha to commemorate his victory over the Muslim rulers of Malwa and Gujarat in 1440. It is a huge nine storey tower, and through the inside staircase we reached to the top. All the inner walls of the tower are carved with sculptures of Gods, Goddesses, dancing idols, etc. From the top floor of the Tower, we had an awesome view of the whole fort.

Meera Mandir, Chittorgarh

Vijay Stambh, Chittorgarh

After Vijaystambh, we went ahead to see Rani Padmini palace centred in a big pond and Rana Kumbha palace. The queen Padmini was very beautiful and the mughal emperor Alauddin Khilji attacked on this fort to get her. Alauddin Khilji won the fight but he could not get her because she did Jauhar (an act of self immolation by leaping into a large fire). We also saw this Jauhar kund. Including Alauddin Khilji, this fort is attacked three times. We saw the debris of the carved walls, gates, pillars, idols, etc. at many places in the fort.

Padmini Palace, Chittorgarh

Then we visited Gaumukh kund. There is a continuous flow of water from the idol of cow’s face.

There is one more tower called, Kirti Stambh is dedicated to Rishabha, the first Tirthankara of Jainism. It was built by a merchant and is decorated with figures from the Jain pantheon. The main entrance gate of the fort is called Ram Pol. Actually there are 7 different gates to this fort, but this one is huge, and if we see the view here, it is marvellous. We could see small farms, gardens, lakes and villages from this point of the hill fort.

Kirti Stambha, Chittorgarh

At last the guide brought us to visit a local shop of handicrafts. If you don’t want to buy anything from here, I would suggest you not to go inside or leave as soon as possible. The salesmen here are much trained to sell the products like handmade saris, blankets, shawls, bed sheets, etc.

It took around 4 hours to visit the whole fort. It was really a nice visit to the Chittorgarh. From the lowland of the hill, the fort walls look like they are still guarding the pride and spirit of the great Rajput kings.

I would rate the monuments in Chittorgarh starting with best being first as:

1. Vijaystambh
2. Rani Padmini palace
3. Rana Kumbha palace
4. Ram pol(The main gate)
5. Gaumukh kund
6. Kirtistambh
7. Mira Temple

Kumbhalgarh Fort - Second longest wall in the world!

Kumbhalgarh fort wall is the second longest wall in the world. From outside as well as inside, it looks fabulous. The travel distance is 100 KMs from Udaipur and 10 KMs from Ranakpur.

Kumbhalgarh Outside View

On the way from Ranakpur to Kumbhalgarh

It takes around 4-5 hours to see the whole fort. Don't forget to carry water bottle with you. Hiring a guide is optional. We didn't hire any. The architecture of the fort is so wonderful, that every visitor gets impressed.

Kumbhalgarh Gate

From the topmost part of the Palace you get the best view of the surrounding hills. In the palace, rooms are really cool by the child air flowing. We saw The great Maharana Pratap's birth place here. The elephants were used to make such a huge fort. We saw paintings showing bravery of elephants on the palace walls.

Palace of Kumbhalgarh

Elephant painitings at Kumbhalgarh

Apart from Palace there are big and small Hindu and Jain pilgrims in the fort area. We visited Shiva temple. The Shivalinga was huge. After the sunset, Light and sound show is also a good attraction.

Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh

I would suggest to avoid visiting this fort in summer or you may enjoy it less.

Ranakpur Jain Temple - Mind blowing architecture and design!!

Ranakpur is a village situated in Pali district of Rajasthan near Udaipur, and mainly famous for its Jain temple. Ranakpur jain temple is another beautiful Jain pilgrim like Delwara's jain temple on Mount Abu.

Ranakpur Jain Temple, Rajasthan

It is an ancient architectural structure but still well maintained. The whole temple is built in beautiful carving of white rajasthani marble. Each stone in this temple reveals some story about Jainism and Hinduism. It takes around 2 hours to see the whole temple. The main Characteristic feature of its structure is, it is viewed similar from all four directions.

Ranakpur Jain Temple, Rajasthan

Camera is not allowed inside the temple. There is a token facility to keep your mobile, camera and luggage. You can buy the literature about the history of the temple in the form of Books or DVDs from the adjacent book stall .

The temple is renovated many times. The temple is now managed by the Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi trust. There is a Jain dharamshala for stay and a Bhojanshala. Here there is a facility for lunch between 11AM to 2PM and dinner before sunset.

Udaipur - All about the city of lakes!!

I visited Udaipur, Rajasthan with my family in the first week of March. It was a fabulous trip because we choose a good season to go there.

We started from Ahmedabad by train. From Ahmedabad to Udaipur, the train line is meter gauge. It was a different experience to travel by meter gauge. And in the morning before we reach to Udaipur, the last 2 hours were awesome as we could see the hills from the curves of the train line.

Our first day at Udaipur was truly colourful, because it was Holi and people of Rajasthan plays Holi from their heart. Every single person was wearing different colours on the face. We also enjoyed playing with them.

Udaipur is the city of Lakes as here we see many big and small lakes. The main lakes are Fateh Sagar lake, Lake Pichola, Rajasmand lake, Udai Sagar lake, Doodh Talai. We can enjoy Boat ride in Fateh Sagar and Lake Pichola. The famous Nehru Garden is surrounded by Fateh sagar lake. We can enjoy paddle boats in the artificial lake at Sukhadiya circle.

Fateh Sagar lake, Udaipur

Lake Pichola, Udaipur

Doodh Talai, Udaipur

Sukhadiya Circle, Udaipur

The city palace is the main attraction here. It takes 3 to 4 hours to see everything inside it. You can hire a guide to explain everything. It’s an architectural beauty, and the view of Lake Pichola (The Lake behind the palace – “Picchevala”) is marvellous from the Zarokhas of the palace. The palace has thousands of painting showing Rajasthani arts, culture and bravery of their ancient kings.

The City Palace, Udaipur

The City Palace, Udaipur

The City Palace, Udaipur

The City Palace, Udaipur

The City Palace, Udaipur

The other nice attraction is Bagore Ki Haveli situated adjacent to the palace. Here there is cultural show held every evening after the sunset. The light and sound show displays the fabulous various Rajasthani dance arts. The performers were very enthusiastic and they performed each difficult step very smoothly. If you are planning to visit Udaipur, you must not miss Bagore Ki Haveli.

Bagore Ki Haveli, Udaipur

Bagore Ki Haveli, Udaipur

Bagore Ki Haveli, Udaipur

The other nice places in Udaipur city include, Saheliyon ki Badi means garden for princess and her friends. We can see very beautifully maintained flower beds, lotus pond, many small fountains, trees of various fruits, etc. It feels lovely being here in the morning.

Saheliyon ki Badi, Udaipur

Saheliyon ki Badi, Udaipur

Saheliyon ki Badi, Udaipur

We can enjoy Rope way ride to visit Karnimata Madir on the hill. From here you get the best view of the whole Udaipur city. Railway station, Bazaar, Row Houses, Lakes, City Palace, Gardens, etc. everything looks so awesome from this top of the hill.

Moti Magari is basically known for the statue of the great king Maharana Pratap riding his favourite horse Chetak. Chetak is as adored by the people of the lake city as Maharana Pratap. There is a circle named on Chetak displaying the statue of this giant Arabian horse.

Moti Magari, Udaipur

Chetak Circle, Udaipur

There is Main bazaar around city palace area. Here you get to see and buy various art pieces of the Rajasthani style. Paintings, Handicrafts, Home decoration things, cloths etc. are showing typical Rajasthani colours and moods.

In Udaipur, there are many fast food stalls, restaurants, cafes, etc. Nice Rajasthani food is also a good option. Delhi gate is famous for restaurants and dining halls. Near sukhadia circle and Fateh Sagar lake there are many fast food stalls.
More photos of Udaipur are at Udaipur photos - picasaweb