Nashik- A treat for traveller

Nashik, the Treasure Chest

We were traveling to Pune and while searching for a route to come back to Belgaum, journey via Nashik seemed to be a reasonable option. Let’s spend two days in Nashik, we thought. It was such a pleasant surprise to see that Nashik had so many places of varied interests to offer. Nashik is a major Hindu pilgrimage center in India and… the wine capital too.

It is hailed as the land that produces the maximum types of fruits and vegetables, being marked as the green belt area. Lord Rama is believed to have spent a part of his exile in this land. Laxman, brother of Lord Rama, cut off the nose of Shurpnakha and thus this place was named as "Nasik"(from Sanskrit word 'Nasika').

We arrived in Nashik in the Brahma muhurta, 4 am. After taking a short nap, got ready and started off our two days sightseeing with a visit to the ...

Trimbakeshwar temple

which has one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. Kumbh Mela is celebrated at Trimbakeshwar, once in 12 years along with four other cities in India, when millions of pilgrims come here to wash away their sins in the holy river, Godavari. Luckily for us, there was not too much crowd for darshan.

Muktidham temple

It is built in pure white makrana marble of Rajasthan, and has verses from the Bhagavad Gita inscribed on the walls of the temple. In the temple one can find the idols of almost all the saints, Gods and Goddesses, and also beautiful replicas of the 12 Jyotirlingas.

Pandav Caves (Pandav Leni)

After climbing about 200 steep steps, one reaches this architectural marvel. These caves were carved out on the side of the mountain 2000 years ago. One can see beautifully carved icons of Gautam Buddha. Many large pits that serve as storage tanks for water can be seen all around. A man with his small son was walking in front of us. I was shocked to see him throwing a plastic cover into the water body and when I looked down, I saw so many plastic bottles and covers floating in the water. Oh God! When will our people show some social responsibility?

Large halls within the cave complex were used as the meeting places of the disciples where sermons were preached. I was drawn to one particular meditation chamber and meditating inside it, got a spontaneous recall of one of my past lives as a Buddhist monk. My body was huge and I could almost feel my shaven head!

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