Wanderlust Tales : Trip to one of the holiest places in India - Nashik

GLIMPSE INTO THE HISTORY:

Nashik has mythological, historical, social and cultural significance.

Nashik, is one of the holiest cities in the country known to have its association from the epics of Ramanaya and is located in the Deccan plateau..

With a rich heritage it was here that Lord Rama spent his exile tenure of 14 years.
Because Lord Laxman, cut the nose(naak/nashika) of Shurpnakha when angry Lord Rama ordered him to do so for her inappropriate behavior, the city was called Nashik.
It was also in Panchvati where Sita Maa was abducted from Ravana.

It is here that the famous Kumbh Mela is organised which is participated by millions of Hindus across the country.

During the Mughal period, the city was called the Gulshanabad because of its beauty. The old name was restored when the Peshwas took over in 1751.
By the 1800, Nashik was famous for its gardens and vineyards.

During the freedom struggle too Nashik, had its fair share of contribution with Gandhi's non-cooperation movement with forest Satyagraha and other activities were performed.

From Ramayana to the freedom struggle - Nashik has been part of it all.

HOW TO GET HERE: 

Being in Pune,my Mom did not want to leave the opportunity to visit this highly sacred place.  Nashik lies at a distance of about 270 kms from Pune.

On a random day, we booked chair car tickets to Nasik via the Pune-Bhusawal train which runs daily at 11:45-ish from Pune railway station.

Nashik is well connected from Pune, trains and buses in plenty.

Our train journey was surprisingly very pleasant, and I enjoyed it even more since it was my train journey after a real gap of 2 years or more maybe. Train journeys bring back a lot of good memories. 😊
It is during these journeys you get to meet varied people, interact with them and strike a conversation with them. I tend to be more of a passive passenger where in, I love to hear the conversation which people crack up and observe the behaviour of the people travelling along. It is worth pondering on this unique creation of God - how each one is so different, some bossy, some calm, some carefree, some uptight and some just plain bored?!😉

This train journey was even more enjoyable with the abundance of nature trails that we witnessed through the way. This is the one time, when I give myself the freedom to indulge in loads of junk food, the train chai's/soups. Trains are next best window shopping medium with vendors selling varied stuff - toys,stickers,chikki, hair accessories, books and many other interesting collection sometimes. 😉

The train took about 7 hours to reach Nasik, albeit I must admit, by the evening we were little tired from the journey yet, we reached Nasik by 19:00 hrs.

The Pune-Bhusawal train passes via few of the most scenic places like Khandala, Lonavala and the ghats.The devious,huge mountains are just breathtaking.
There are numerous tunnels that you would cross through - the tracks have literally been built by cutting through these rough and tough rocks.

As it passes through Mumbai, you can witness the jam packed local trains just zooping to and fro - fast paced life for the Mumbaikers!!

Two of the best views through my journey - the one where we glanced upon another train running little far off, fell in love with the scenic breathtaking panoramic beauty.

And another was the ghats cut through to build roads, and you could see the layered edges and heavy vehicles plying through these roads. Looked so damn scary and risky yet that is the marvel of engineering, building across everything and anything. Nothing is impossible if mankind decides on.

On our way back from Nashik, we booked a sleeper bus, since the train timings did not suit us.The bus journey was rather more tiring I would say - and it did take almost the same amount of time to reach Pune.
On the way we stopped by to have dinner at a Rajasthani Hotel. The simple dish of roti and dal tadka was ultra delicious - total dhaba wala feel.
The bus dropped us at Pune Swargate by 01:45-ish and thus came an end to our Nashik diary. 💗

PLACES TO SEE:

• Ramkund
• Trimbakeshwar Temple
• Sita Gufa
• Pachavati
• Someshwar
• Kalaram Mandir
• Sitaharan Marichwad
• Ram Kund
• Pandavleni Caves 

NASHIK DIARIES:

• Holy darshan: https://xylo742.blogspot.in/2017/03/wanderlust-tales-religious-tour-in-nasik.html

• Trimbakeswar Temple: https://xylo742.blogspot.in/2017/03/wanderlust-tales-trimbakeswar-shiv.htm

• Ginger Hotel Stay: http://xylo742.blogspot.com/2017/03/hotel-anatomization-ginger-hotel-satpur.html

• Mantraa, Ginger hotel: https://xylo742.blogspot.in/2017/03/wanderlust-tales-religious-tour-in-nasik.html

Few pictures from the journey:

We had our dinner here at Hotel Rajasthan:

Ah, the Hajmola candy:

Cheers to life!!

~Journey  of a thousand miles begins with a single step! 😃

P.S All the photos have been clicked by me.