Vindhya Hills Haunted By Rocks, Rivers,Temples And Super Souls (Yogis) (Photo Story Part II)
The terrific response which the part one of the travelogue generated really overwhelmed me. It confirmed the sentiment that travelogues, loaded with good photos, leave an everlasting impression on all the sections of people, no matter to which nation they belong.
Photographs are like time machine since the flight of imagination, after viewing them, transcends the normal course of time to move either backward or even forward in an unusual way. They record the present moment for the posterity. That’s why the same photograph viewed at a later stage tells a different story to each viewer. That’s one of the reason why I am pretty conscious when I am dealing with camera. I was sad that I did not use a good camera, but in the aftermath, I felt happy that somehow I managed to get real good pictures.
The part two of this travelogue has awesome views of Siddhnath Ki Dari, a place one kilometer away from Shakteshgarh Fort; glimpses of landscape around that place; images of ancient Goddess Durga temple and images of Ganges flowing by the side of Chunar Fort. Although Part II of the travelogue unleashes some personal sentiments, it nevertheless never misses to create an universal appeal.
Like to inform the readers that Siddhanath Ki Dari is a place known for its huge waterfall, which comes alive in rainy season. However, it belonged to a Yogi (saint) named Siddhanath who in ancient times used to meditate here. I shall not forget a hilarious incident which occurred at this place, when my friend and I were held hostage by lots of monkeys. They did no harm to us but left us only when their gang leader came to us, searched our pockets and got in possession of few mangoes which we had kept inside our pockets! The gang leader did that in a very smart fashion without harming us!
I had no time left to have the photographs of Chunar fort, which as per legends was built by the king of Ujjain Maharaja Vikramaditya in 56 B.C. for his brother Bhartihariji- a great yogi who took samadhi inside the fort! The fort later came to be associated with Babar, Humayun, Shershah Suri, Akbar, and finally it came under the rule of Britishers. Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of Bengal, came to take refuge here for quite some time. It’s a matter of pride for me that my mother’s residence is adjacent to this fort situated on the banks of Ganges.
The Path Might Be In Bad Shape But The Spirit To Move Ahead Remains Intact!
Try Walking On It Barefoot!
Stones Also Have Life 🙂
Beautiful, Isn’t It?
Water At The Base Of These Ancient Rocks At Sidhhanath Ki Dari!
At This Spot A Group Of Monkeys Snatched Our Mangoes. One Of The Robbers Can Be Seen Here 🙂
Siddhnath Ki Dari Is Associated With Great Yogi Siddhanathji. Hope He Found My Gestures Fitting!
Such Scenes Possess The Soul!
These Rocks Come Alive In Rainy Season…For Me Even Now They Looked Great 🙂
Rocks And Blooming Flowers!
Preferring The Company Of Rocks Over Insensitive Human Beings!
These Ancient Rocks Touched My Soul And Made Me Smile!
A Lonely Path!
Rock What Do You Seem To Preach?
Finally Found Someone To Lean Against 🙂
Sitting On The Track For The Right Reason 😛
Railway Tracks Make Me So Excited. I don’t know why! Anyway, That’s Route Of Train Leaving For Chopan From Chunar. Trains Like Swarna Jayanati, CCM And Moori Express Run On This Beautiful Hilly Route!
My Friend Wajir Who Helped Me A Lot During This Trip. He Just Could Not Click An Ideal Image Of Mine On These Tracks. However, I Got A Picture Perfect Of His, Which Also Highlights The Beauty Of Rail Tracks So Well!
In My Hindi Language I Would Have Said: Geet Gaya Pattharo Ne 🙂
My Friend Was Really Worried That Someone Does Not Come To Steal The Petrol! So As Soon As He Got An Opportunity He Rushed To Check The Petrol Level. Oil Matters ..Ha..ha…ha… 😛 😛 😛
Now It’s Time To Bid Adieu To These Fascinating Turns…But Will Love To Move Again And Again On These Routes!
Awesome!
The Dusty Roads 🙂
Even In Peru I Can See The Walls Constructed That Way!
But You Would Not Discover Such Cute Huts In Any Other Nation 🙂
It’s Hard To Believe That Priyanka Can Dare To Roam In Such Wild Places 🙂 Anyway, I Admire The Guts Of Priyanka To Open A Photo Studio In This Jungle 😛 😛 😛
Lovely Hills…
A Cycle Repairing Shop On This Mountainous Route!
The Turns Always Fascinate Me 🙂
Trees By The Side Of Road: The Mute Spectators!
The Ancient Goddess Durga Temple In Chunar Amid Vindhya Hills!
It’s Full Of Distance Visitors!
The Landscape Around This Temple
That’s The Entrance – The Mata’s Dvar 🙂
The Way That Leads To The Temple !
Don’t Be Confused! That’s Not The Prasada Offered At The Temple! It’s Delicious Makuni Ki Litti Which Was Being Sold At Dhaba Close To The Temple. I Ate One Piece And Found It Tasty. Well, this is prepared by filling the flour with stuff called Setua and then fried in the oil. Then it’s served with mashed potato mixed with other items like tomato etc.
That’s The Tulsi Plant At My Mother’s Residence At Chunar
Notice The Building Made Of Stones…The Way Stone Has Been Arranged On The Walls Reminds Me Of The Walls That I Noticed In Peru’s Ancient Heritage Sites!
The Place Intimately Associated With Me During My Childhood…Now It Lies In Tatters….I Remember In My Childhood The Place Was Full Of Lively People! The Owners Left This Place And Now It’s An Abandoned Place!
Really Sad That My Mother’s Place Which Was Once Upon A Time Such A Terrific Place Is Now In Such A State!
That’s The Courtyard Which In Our Childhood Was Site Of Naughtiest Activities Even In Scorching Summer!
The Building Has Collapsed But Pillars Are Intact. Anyway, The Small Space You Notice Behind The Pillars Was Used By Us To Play Indoor Games In Childhood!
The Better View Of The Place Reserved For Indoor Games!
One Would Find Hard To Imagine That In Such A Small Space Two Groups Of People, Four Persons In One Group, Were Always Involved In Playing Cards! I Was Also One Of The Member 😛 😛 😛
The Dangerous Stairs…As A Kid I Fell Down From These Stairs Many Times..However, Except Minor Bruises I Never Got Hurt Badly..That’s Was The Case With Other Kids Too 😛 😛 😛
That’s The Eden Garden Of My Childhood…I Played Many Great Innings Here On This Pitch….Anyway, That’s The Front Portion Of Mother’s Residence 🙂
The Post Match Discussions Always Took Place On These Two Rectangle Shaped Stones 😛
View Of Ganges From Roof Top Of My Mother’s Residence 🙂
That’s The Great Chunar Fort As Seen From Roof Top Of My Mother’s Residence 🙂
The Muddy Path That Leads To Ghat Of Ganges!
That’s The Panoramic View Of Chunar Fort From The Ghat Of Ganges At My Mother’s Residence!
That’s The Ghat Of Ganges!
The View Of Ganges And The Fort!
The Usual Activities At Ghats 😛
Jai Ganga Maiyya….May Your Blessing Always Work Wonders In My Life 🙂
Panacea For The Soul!
I hope They Do Not Catch Dolphins Found In Ganges!
The Entrance Of The Lord Shiva Temple Loacted At This Ghat…A Temple That’s Closely Associated With My Childhood…I Used To Sit Here For Hours Alone Or With Other Kids…
The Cute Nandi- The Bull So Dear To Lord Shiva!
My Million Salutations To Lord Shiva!
That’s The Way I Also Used To Sit Here At This Temple For Hours!
Thanks To Lord Shiva That Even Today Also I Found An Opportunity To Sit At The Same Place 🙂 🙂 🙂
My Tryst With Vindhya Mountains: An Interaction With Breathtaking Beauty Of Deep Jungles! ( A Photo Story)
Writing is a hugely taxing affair, especially if you are doing it in unfavourable conditions. I always meet tough resistance from so many forces during penning of important posts. That makes it imperative for creative souls to venture into isolated corners away from the maddening world. That not only refreshes them but also tunes their mind to receive new insights. No wonder when writing affair starts turning into a routine affair, instead of being a source of joy, I take a short break and get lost in unheard corners of mother earth. Usually, I visit my village and mother’s original residence since both these places being set against great scenic backdrop offer solace needed by my soul.
However, this time I decided to move into valleys formed by Vindhya Mountains. “The Vindhya Range (Sanskrit: विन्ध्य) is a range of older rounded mountains and hills in the west-central Indian subcontinent, which geographically separates the Indian subcontinent into northern India (the Indo-Gangetic plain) and Southern India.”
I came to visit Shakteshgarh, located in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, nineteen kilometers away from Chunar, which is mainly known for Swami Adgadanandji’s Aashrama. He is a well known saint in this area, who has penned a commentary on Srimad Bhagvad Geeta known as “Yathartha Geeta”. The localites informed me that a visit during the monsoon period is more appropriate since gorgeous waterfalls falling in these region come alive at that point of time. Anyway, I found that even during the odd period, the places like Siddhanath Ki Dari, one kilometer away from Shakteshgarh, which encaptures the the charm and the seduction of a huge waterfall, appear so breathtaking.
During the end of this very beautiful and memorable journey into awesome valleys, full of mystic appeal, I came to capture beautiful images of Ganges flowing by the side of Chunar fort, adjacent to my mother’s residence in Chunar. Over all, the visit really uplifted my sagging spirit. For my readers, I have captured this beautiful images from not so good camera, yet I feel they would come to realize photographic sense is not dependent on a costly camera! You need mind’s eye and not a very costly camera to click a good image! I hope they also come to realize that India is really so beautiful that we need not to venture outside the nation to trace real beauty. The area I visited was haunted by Naxal terror, yet in the end only divine beauty prevailed in form of ancient temples like Durga Temple and etc.
That’s The Beautiful Road Which Connects Chunar With Shakteshgarh!
A Road To Silence
Miles To Go!
Beautiful Vindhya Hills
Truly Elegant
The Horizion!
A Road To Somewhere!
The Energetic Hut 🙂
Also Met With These Pretty Cows 🙂
And Here Arrives The Cowboy-The Gwala 🙂
The Local Khajur Tree
This Peepal Tree Was Quite Impressive!
A tree that made me get lost into introspection!
The Road To Shakteshgarh Fort!
The Main Gate Of Shakteshgarh Fort!
Marble Steps 🙂
Lovely Roses Inside The Fort!
The Saint’s Temple Inside The Fort!
Divinity!
Swami Adgadanandji!
Almost All The Mango Trees Inside The Fort Tempted Me!
Myself Inside The Fort!
Where are my lovely friends?
The Shloka from Srimad Bhagvad Geeta points out types of devotees engaged in bond with Lord: Aarta, Arthaarthi, Jigyasu and Gyani!
Green and Glorious OM 🙂
Mangoes Ripened..Yum..Yum 😛
My Friend Vajir Who Provided Me Great Support During This Trip! Also Clicked Some Real Good Images Of Mine 🙂
Kathal ( Jackfruit) Inside The Fort 🙂
It’s Me 😛
Feeling The Royalty Inside The Fort!
A Grand Statue Of Rhinoceros Outside The Fort!
Spotted This Strange Fruit Inside The Fort! No Clue Regarding Its Real Name But Someone Called It Bael Fruit (Aegle marmelos)
Fallen In Love With This Cute Elephant 😛
Who will not love to have lion’s share with this lion?
Black is beautiful…Say The Crows 🙂
Great Landscape Environs The Fort!
Texture Of The Soil!
The Instant Impact Of Visiting A Saint’s Residence 🙂
Dawn Of Realization 😛 😛 😛
Thanks To Lord’s Grace That I Can Look Back At My Past With Sense Of Deep Satisfaction!
Train On This Route Must Be Offering Great Sightseeing!
Life’s Turns Are Like Curves On Road!
Eyes Will Never Forget Such Beautiful Scenes!
Let’s My Association With Vindhya Mountains Remain Intact Forever!
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