Quick Visit to Chennai

Location: Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

 

DAY 1
 

It was 27^th Oct 2013, ~3.30pm when me and my friend landed at the Chennai airport. We got out and took a cab to the Hotel Crystal Residency, where we already had a booking. It took some 20-30minutes to reach the hotel from the airport. We quickly got fresh and by ~5.30pm we were out on the Chennai streets to hang around.

Flavored Chutnies

Coffee in the steel glass and bowl

Chennai started making us feel it, by its humidity. Just 5-10minutes walk to find the restaurant made us sweat badly. The restaurant had a different ambience. They had kept four dishes at the entrance with their names, those were the special snacks items available at that time. When I checked menu, I saw some words which I struggled to pronounce. I understood that the regular dish named DOSA (in Mumbai/ Pune) is here known as DOSAI. Me and my friend ordered south Indian snacks. We got our food on the leaf of Banana tree. The leaf was cut round and placed inside the plate, and on that leaf the food was served. I must say that food was awesome, especially the chutnies of different flavors. I also liked the coffee served in steel glass and a bowl.  

It was almost 6pm, so we thought of just to be around our hotel and not to go anywhere else. Our hotel’s receptionist suggested visiting the nearby mall and theatre. 10minutes walk led us to the big mall ‘Express Avenue’. The mall was heavily crowded as that was the last Sunday for Diwali shopping. The mall was good but the best part was the top floor known as ‘Escape’, which was nothing but the theatre with 8 screens. The interior of this place was really good with lots of glass work. The projectors were kept outside the movie halls and were visible to everyone. The big screens showing the promos of upcoming films were really nice and appealed us to go check the availability of any movie that we can watch. We were unfortunate as all the Hindi\English movies were houseful. We spent some more time at the mall and then headed back to our hotel. On the way we checked out the theatre called ‘Sathyam’. Sathyam was 5-6 story building with 12 movie screens and dedicated floors for video games and bowling. We were so unfortunate that we did not find any show there as well. With the hope that we will try our luck next day we left for the hotel. We ended the day with dinner at our hotel.  

DAY 2

The view of chennai street (Anna Salai road) from the bus stop

A typical auto driver with auto

28^th Oct 2013, we got free by 11.30am from our work and we had rest of the time to spend wherever we wanted. After a long discussion with our hotel’s receptionist we decided not to hire any cab or auto but explore the Chennai using public transport. The real fun began then with the language. Most of the local people in Chennai know only Tamil language. We had really hard time communicating with them. But luckily there were people who understood English or Hindi language and guided us. We caught the bus numbered 23C to reach Adyar and from there another bus numbered 5E to reach Besant Nagar. 

The colorful dome of the Ashthalakshmi Temple

Typical pattern seen on the temples

As per our plan we reached the Ashthalakshmi temple at Besant Nagar. But we were late, temple got closed at 12pm. We could only see the exterior of the temple from outside. The temple had a very colorful dome with lots of idols on it. I think that’s the specialty of Chennai temples, all the temples that I saw there, had colorful domes with lots of idols of gods and goddess. 

We walked little further to reach the beach known as the Elliot’s beach. There were not many people around except few fishermen. There was a sign board warning not to enter/swim in the sea, and maybe that’s why the ocean looked clean. I captured few snaps of the clear blue ocean with fishermen working hard to set the traps for fishes. 
 

Fishermen trying their luck in the blue ocean

The Velankanni Church

Just near the church

 From the beach we headed towards the church called Velankanni. It was just 5-6minutes walk from the Ashthalakshmi temple.  Just outside the church there was an interesting setup (grotto) of a small hindu looking boy offering some pot to the divine Christian lady. I could not find any boards/signs telling more about this setup. On googaling, I came to know about the story associated with that boy and the divine lady. This story has connection with the big Velankanni church at Nagapattinam in Tamilnadu.

My friend enjoying the lunch

It was a lunch time and we were fortunate to find a good vegetarian restaurant in Besant Nagar area. I smelled the typical south Indian sweets, the moment we entered the restaurant ‘Shri Krishna Sweets’. My friend was delighted to see the south Indian lunch in the menu, which he quickly ordered. And I must say that we had a delicious lunch. 

The Dinosaur near the entrance looked like the laughing one

We planned to visit the Guindy National Park, which we had seen on the way while we were travelling to the Besant Nagar. We caught the bus numbered 5E and reached the Guindy National Park in some 15minutes. We paid entry fees of Rs. 20 per head, plus Rs. 20 for the camera. It was actually a small zoo and a park for children. We moved around looking at those sleeping animals and caged birds. In the children park instead of children I found couples enjoying the silence of the park. There were no big wild animals in the zoo but freely moving deers were grabbing the attention of all the people. 

Deers at The Guindy National Park, My friend could not resist staying away from them

The statue of Gandhi

We spent some 1.5hr there in the park and thought of skipping Snake Park which was just near the zoo and decided to move for the next spot. We had a quick tea outside the park and got the bus numbered 29G to reach the famous Marina beach. It took some 20-25minutes to reach the Marina beach. We got down from the bus and started walking towards the beach. There was a statue of the great Gandhi posing with his stick as if he was ready to accompany us for the beach walk.

The guards taking a round at beach

The Marina beach runs for 13km, which makes it the longest beach in India and the second longest beach in the world. Swimming and entering in the sea was not allowed, there were guards riding on horses and keeping eyes on the beach. 

The beach was full of fishermen’s boats, and there were many couples sitting on the edge of these boats and enjoying the view of the beautiful ocean. There were some folks walking on the beach in their joggers suit, they looked like the regular visitors of that beach. I saw many groups of local youngsters trying back flips at the shore. Few local guys were selling the sea shells ranging from really small size to the big conch shells (Shankha), which could be blown to make sound.

The beautiful Marina Beach

The big entrance seen from inside

The tomb surrounded by big pillars

We kept walking on the beach towards the bright white structure which looked like the letter ‘M’. We nearly walked for 1 to 1.5km on the beach until we reached that structure. That M shaped structure was actually the entrance to the memorial of Tamilnadu chief minister Dr.M.G.Ramchandran. The memorial entrance was really huge. The statue of golden horse ready to fly with big wings looked amazing at the entrance. The tomb was surrounded by the big pillars looking like the giant tusks of elephants. We spent some 10minutes at the memorial and decided to get back to the hotel. We caught the bus numbered 25G from the nearby depot. In some 20minutes time we were at the hotel and with dinner at hotel we ended our day.

DAY3

 

29^th Oct 2013, the last day at Chennai. We were finished with our work by 12.30pm. We ended up waiting for our friend at hotel till 3pm and by the time we finished with our lunch it was almost 4.30pm. We had a cab to the airport at 7pm, so we thought of not to go anywhere. But we tried our luck to Express Avenue mall to catch up with any movie show at Escape. But again shows were full. We spent rest of the time at mall and caught our cab to the airport at 7pm. Flight was on time and I was back home at Pune by midnight.

In all I had a good time at Chennai. And whenever I think of this trip the first thing that comes to my mind is the view of that blue ocean at Marina beach. I hope to visit Chennai again, but next time with more time to explore more places.

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Visit to Shaniwar Wada, Pune

Location: Pune, Maharashtra, India

Attractions: Fort, Light and Sound show after 7pm (shows not available in monsoon) 
Visiting time: 9am to 6pm
Best time to visit: Anytime
Entry fees: Rs.5/- , For Light and Sound show Rs.25/-

Shaniwar Wada:
The place which had got the foundation soil from the palace where the great Maratha king Shivaji lived for years, The place which glorified the maratha warriors, The place which witnessed the majestic era of the Peshwas, The place which became the victim of mysterious fire and kept burning brutally for seven days until everything inside it got ruined. The place where today also on full moon night, local people claim to hear the screams of a Peshwa boy, who ran all over for the help but could not save himself from getting murdered. Associated with such stories and many such unsaid stories is the place known as Shaniwar Wada.

Shaniwar Wada

Shaniwar wada is located in busy area of Pune near Kasba peth. ~5-6KMs away from Pune railway station. I had to drive for  ~15-16KMs from Wakad, Pune to reach there. I was glad to see the free parking for cars and bikes just outside this big mansion or it would have been really difficult to find the parking place on those busy roads with crazy traffic.

Dilli Darwaja

Spikes on Dilli Darwaja

The moment when I had the first view of Shaniwar wada with giant entrance, my mind started imaging about the time when this place was at its best. The entrance has sharp spikes for the protection and to stop elephants from attacking it with their head. This entrance is called ‘Dilli Darwaja’. I got inside the wada through small door on Dilli Darwaja. Just inside there is a counter, where you need to pay entry fees of Rs.5/- to enter the premises.

Cannon near the entrance

There was a cannon kept near the entry point, this golden cannon looked well maintained. When I observed carefully, I could see the blurred paintings on the entrance walls. I could make out the face of lord Ganesha and Lord Vishnu resting on the snack having multiple heads.

Pillar at front balcony of Nagarkhana

The Nagarkhana

Once I crossed the main entrance, I reached the open area of this wada. Where once there were the residences to accommodate more than thousands of people, is now just a park with some ruins. I started walking along the edge and found a small entrance with stairs. I climbed up and reached the point which was the top of Dilli Darwaja and that area is known as Nagarkhana. From here you can have a clear view of the entire park inside shaniwar wada. Nagarkhana has lots of wooden work. The entire ceiling is made up of woods. Also there are beautiful wooden pillars and windows forming the balcony at front area. Through the balcony you can see the big stage just in front of the wada entrance. Many cultural events are organized in this area.

The view of garden inside Shaniwar wada from Nagarkhana

I checked out bastions on both the sides of Nagarkhana. From bastions there starts a narrow path which goes along the top edge of massive walls of this wada. I kept walking on this path and realized that it goes along the entire wada as its perimeter. While walking on it you can see the busy streets on one side and the ruined interiors of the wada on your other side. This path had many openings with stairs to reach the ground area inside the wada. There was nothing extra ordinary on this path except bastions at corners and at midway on the sides. While walking on this path there was just one thought wandering in my mind “was it the path on which that young Peshwa boy might have run screaming for help to save his life?"

Path along the edge of the walls of Shaniwar Wada

Stairs going to the ground from the path that I walked on

I finished one round of walking on the narrow path along the walls and again reached Nagarkhana, I got down and started walking towards the park area. At the entrance there are two cannons and a back part of big cannon established right in the middle as if it was to symbolize the strength of this wada. Just nearby these cannons, I found informative boards which talked about the history of this wada.

Peshwas who played the roles of minister for Maratha kings, were later the rulers of Maratha empire. It was the peshwa Bajirao-I who laid the foundation of this mansion on Saturday, January 10,1730. Construction completed at the cost of Rs.16,120 by January 22,1732. This mansion was built for Peshwas as their residence and as the day of foundation was Saturday, this construction got its name as ‘Shaniwar wada’. In local marathi language Shaniwar means saturday and wada means residence. There were many alterations made in this wada over the period of time by the successors of Bajirao-I making this mansion even more beautiful and secure than the time it was constructed.

I started walking around the park area and came across many ruins and also some partially renovated structures. One of such place was the Ganapati Rang Mahal, this hall was designed to celebrate Lord Ganesh’s festivals by the Peshwas. This was known for its splendid interiors. Currently it seems to be renovated but definitely not like the way it used to be.

Ganapati Rang Mahal area

As I moved around I found the big fountains in the central area of the park. One was ‘Hazari Karanje’ (thousand sprayed fountains). It is of the lotus shape with sixteen petals. This is believed to be the master piece of that time. Besides it I saw Pushkarini fountain. Present state of these fountains is not that great, it’s up to you how well you can imagine about that splendid scene where these fountains were in excellent state. Apart from these fountains there are ruins of Peshwa’s office area, reservoir, quadrangles of servants and ‘Arse Mahal of Nanasaheb Peshwa’. This palace had a seven storied building and from the terrace the spire of Alandi temple was visible, but the destructive fire has gutted everything.

Mysterious door on the wall of wada

Apart from the main entrance (Dilli Darwaja) there are four more entrances in this wada. Once you enter through Dilli Darwaja, starting from left you will see ‘Mastani Darwaja’ named after the second wife of Bajirao-I. Old name for this door was ‘Natakshala’. One more name associated with this door is ‘Ali Bahadur Darwaja’. Near Rang Mahal area you will see door named ‘Khidaki Darwaja’. This door was always closed except a small window. Other names associated with this door are ‘Dindi Darwaja’ and ‘Kavathi Darwaja’. Next is the ‘Ganesh Darwaja’ which was used to access the lord ganesh's temple. And last is the ‘Narayan Darwaja’. I passed by all these doors and I was upset to see their states. They are all closed and lacking proper care. I spent lot of time walking around the park and looking at the massive walls of red bricks. There were many small doors which were kept closed but I felt as if these doors have many mysteries locked inside them and have lots of tales to tell about the past.

After spending good amount of time in park area, I decided to move out of the wada. But just before leaving, I thought of having one more look at it from Nagarkhana. The cruel time has taken away all the charm of this place, but still today this place gives good time to families and romantic couples. I could see many young couples sitting in the park area, big families enjoying the walk and stories of this wada, many college students busy posing for their solos. I was just watching all these people and suddenly heard the warning whistles. It was 6pm, the closing time for wada. I got out of this wada and decided to spend some more time sitting at the front stage area.  

Statue of Bajirao-I

The front stage area was full of people. I could see the groups of older people who looked regular visitor to this place to enjoy the evening. Some young people practicing flute. The students enjoying with their groups. Small kids playing and staring at the eagles flying very low around the wada. And in all these there stands a statue of mighty warrior Bajirao-I, riding the horse and with spear in his hand, He is all set to attack and protect his people from the enemies. 

I attended the Light and Sound show at 7pm. It was in Marathi language but they do have this show in English as well (but may be not daily). It was a one hour show about the history of Shivaji and Shaniwar wada. This show could have been even better, but considering the entry fees of Rs.25/- I would rate it as good. I came out at 8pm and spent some more time outside looking at the wada illuminated by big lights. Finally at 9pm I moved out as it was the closing time.
 

The night view of Shaniwar Wada

Tips:

• Best time to visit is between 4pm to 6pm.
• You can skip Light and Sound show unless you have absolutely nothing to do.

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Trek to Purandar Fort

Location: near Saswad, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Attractions: Fort, Trekking
Best time to visit: Monsson (July-Sep)

It was 15^th August 2013, India’s Independence day, when me and my friend Ashish decided to explore the fort Purandar. We started really late at 11am from Baner, but considering the distance of fort from Pune it was not that late too.

Route:

I started from Wakad and picked up my friend from baner.

From Baner, get on the Pune-Banglore highway and drive towards Katraj. Cross Warje bridge. Get on the left road skipping the bridge before Sinhagadh road(the bridge will take you towards Kapurhol). Keep driving on this road to reach Saswad. Saswad is ~22-23Kms once you get on this road. At Saswad junction take right to get on the Narayanpura road. Keep Driving on Narayanpura road for ~8-9Kms and you will see the HP petrol pump, at this point take left to reach the base of the Purandar to start trek.

Other route:

From Baner, get on the Pune-Banglore highway and drive towards Katraj. Keep driving on Pune-Banglore highway until you reach the Kapurhol junction, at this point take left to get on the Narayanpura road. Corss the ghats, Naraynpura village and take right at the HP petrol pump to reach the base of Purandar.

Purandar is almost at the same distance (~65-70 Kms) via any of the above route. Going via Kapurhol will give you relatively traffic free road compared to other route, but you need to pay toll (~12-13Kms before Kapurhol) to enjoy the ride on highway.

You can drive all the way up to the fort. It will be some 15-20 minutes drive through the ghats.

Purandar trek:

Purandar under clouds

We reached the base at around 1pm. We decided to trek, so parked our bike and started by 1.15pm. From the base We could see the fort Vajragadh on the left side and, the fort Purandar on the right was under heavy clouds. 

Vajragadh

We kept walking and capturing the beauty all around, on the way and as we reached halfway it started raining. It made the path slippery and really difficult to walk. We saw couple of guys coming down with mud all over them and I could imagine how difficult it is going to be for us. We really had tough time to clear couple of steep slippery patches on the way. I literally prayed that this path should end soon. After struggling for some half an hour we reached to the point where path looked better to walk on (Very narrow path through the bushes). After having last 15minutes walk on the relatively descent path, I was delighted to see a small waterfall just before the fort entrance. I could clean myself under it and felt fresh after that quick shower. It took almost 1 hour to reach the fort entrance, but in dry season it should not take more than 30 minutes to reach there.

First entrance named 'Binni Darwaja'

We could see the Indian flag waving at the top of the first entrance - BNNI DARWAJA. After crossing it, the board guided us to keep walking straight to reach the fort. We saw old church which was visible from the base, and a small shiv-temple on the way. There was one more shiv temple called PURANDESHWAR, which really looked old. A small snake like animal (not snake) was grabbing attention of the people outside that temple. We too clicked few pics of that attraction and stopped by a small food stall near that temple to have some snacks and tea.

Old church on the way

 

As we walked further we had picturesque views on our left in the valley. Vajragadh was also very prominent. 

The view of valley (The route seen is the one via which you can drive all the way up to the fort)

Sar Darwaja

After some easy walk, there started a trek again with raw path. The path was comparatively less slippery. We got up and crossed two more entrances “SAR DARWAJA” and “KEDAR DARWAJA”. We were on the fort now, but still not at the top point. We kept walking towards the hill which looked the tallest point. The path gave amazing views in the valleys on both the sides. The various shades of green, clouds and sunlight illuminating some patches on the hills, all these elements along with the cool fresh air were rewards for the hard time we had while trekking up on the slippery paths. 

The view of valley

The view of valley, bright patches are illuminated by sunlight

The view of valley through the clouds

Way to Kedareshwar temple

Kedareshwar Trishul

But then to change the environment, clouds started approaching the hill and were slowly setting up around it. Path to the top point which was clearly visible before, now was on and off in the fog. We kept walking towards that point and climbed up the steps to reach the top of the fort “KEDARESHWAR temple”. This was again a lord shiva’s temple. A big shining trishul (lord shiva’s weapon) was an attraction for people for taking pictures with it.

People really wanted to let everyone know that they have reached there at the top, they were screaming “Jay Bhavni Jay Shivaji” (praising the goddess Bhavani and the great Maratha king Shivaji) at their full pitch.

After spending some 10-15 minutes there at the top, we started walking down by 4.15pm so that we reach the main entrance of the fort by 5pm. Fort visiting time is 9am to 5pm. 

In ~15-20 minutes we reached back to the food stall at Purandeshwar temple. We had a tea break and quickly left from there. It was really getting dark due to clouds all around us. We decided to walk down by different path and so we kept walking on the straight road instead of getting down via Binni Darwaja (through which we came) . 

Mighty warrior: Murarbaji Deshpande

On the way we saw the famous statute of Murarbaji Deshpande. This big black statue of mighty warrior looked amazing in the foggy background. The fog was so intense that, on the way we could not even realize that there is a big pond just 2 meters away on our left side, it was Padmvati lake. I could not actually see the entire lake except a small patch which was visible  through the fog.

This fort is a camp for military training so many areas were restricted. Many paths were not allowed to enter. We managed to see almost everything that was visible and allowed to explore in some 2.5hrs. We got out of the fort crossed the visitors parking area and kept walking down the road. We were lucky enough to get the free ride in car to reach the base. Thanks to those friendly guys !!

The entire path was scenic with greenery all around. And the moment we reached half way I could see the bright sun and blue sky. Was it a sudden change in the weather ? No, because once we got down and looked back up at the purandar, it was still completely covered under dark black clouds.

We picked up our bike and were ready to leave Purandar by 5.15pm.

We decided to drive via Narayanpura-Kapurhol, on the way we stopped by at famous Datta temple of Narayanpura. As it was a Thursday and national holiday the place was really crowded. It is worth visiting Narayaneshwar temple just besides it. We took blessings and left the place. At the kapurhol junction, we had a tea-snacks break and then reached Baner,Pune by 9pm.

Some numbers:

Trek time (up): ~1hr

Trek time (down): ~10minutes via car

Total distance traveled (to and fro Wakad,Pune): ~141Kms 

Total duration: ~12hrs

Tips:

• If it rained and you see initial path slippery avoid taking trek path or you will have tough time later.

For more pictures of trip visit: On Facebook or Panoramio