Travelogue-Somnath and Diu

स्वर्ग में मिलेगी अप्सरा मुझे यकीन है,लेकिन अपने गाँव की गोरी भी तोह हसीं है ,
हुस्न का दीदार किया क्या बुरा किया ?

This song from movie Paramaatma (1994) came into my mind when we were returning from the 2 day Journey of The Somnath Temple (Gujarati:સોમનાથ મંદિર) located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India, is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of the God Shiva and Diu दिऊ دئو is a city in Diu district in the union territory of Daman and Diu, India. I will definitely write on this but in later part of the blog to maintain the sync :p

It was Pritesh who wanted to visit Somnath and I also wanted to visit it because it was a long time since I visited it. I visited Somnath when I was in 9th standard with my family but hardly remember anything so this was the time to deal with it and Diu was like icing on the cake.

एक राह रुख गयी तो और जुड़ गयी

मैं मुदा तो साथ साथ राह मूढ़ गयी
हवाओं के परों पर मेरा अशिअना
मुसाफिर हूँ यारों न घर है न थिखाना
मुझे चलते जाना है बस चलते जाना

As Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness”…It is so true!!! It brings me out of my routine and hangs me in the magical world for some time. We have internet now a days and we can have pics, videos and blogs instantly but World is like a book and exploring it on Internet is just like going through the index of the book. Travelling is to see the imagination in real; I always visualize the places and then enjoy them in reality. I love to compare the reality and imagination though it has its own pros and cons but it’s like…”Enjoyment lies in the HEART of the beholder (In this case it’s ME!!)!!!”

On 18th November, I called Mayur to drop me at Pathikashram to pick up bus from Gandhinagar to Kalupur. It’s always fascinates me how I hate to visit Ahmedabad and the city hates me as well and I never get Bus on time :D. It took almost 1 hour when I finally made it. Mayur told me to ignore other passenger who was insisting me to be in Auto-rickshaw to reach Kalupur railway station. Some how I found his logic more reasonable most of the time…even when I pretend to disagree with him {I know he won’t read this ever}. Sanjay, Shikhar and Pritesh were waiting for me in Sun Rise Hotel in railway station; we enjoyed our dinner and had some good conversation. I somehow enjoy the company of friends who are younger than me because they save me from becoming Buddha :D. I must accept and admire the mindset of these new kids…They are different and they are real modern representatives of India; their thinking is better than what I had in the same timeframe of my life and so I respect them more. We departed at railway station to our respective platforms and the Journey started.

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang but I miss my pillow in the Train always. It doesn’t allow me to sleep. I enjoyed each and every station where Train took rest except Virpur. It was early morning when we reached at Veraval though we were still 2 hours late. We decide to fresh ourselves in Veraval only and boy, it was 1 of the many wisest decision we took in 2 days of trip. We were ready in 1 hour and were on the way to the 1st destination; There is no final destination…you know why? Even The movie Final destination has 5 parts :D :D

We reached to the Bhalka Tirth which is a holy tirth (pond) in Somnath along Prabhas-Veraval highway. It is believed that this is the place where Lord Krishna was hit by an arrow shot by a hunter known as Jara. Lord Krishna was sitting under a Banyan tree in meditation when the hunter mistook the legs as a dear and shot at. There is a small temple built under the Banyan tree on the bank of the tirtha with a majestic white idol of Lord Krishna. The pink colored foot of the Krishna and an image of the hunter Jara with folded hands are also seen in the temple. It took me a while to recollect the story. I knew it because I loved the epics in my childhood and its an advantage because I know almost all things with blurred memory.

We arrived at somnath around 9:15 am and as suggested by the fellow traveler, we decided to attend the Maha Aarti @ Somnath Temple. This temple is constructed in the Chalukya style with a height of about 155 ft. The stone Kalash place at the top of main shikhara weighs about 10 tonnes. Marvelously adorned Jyotirlinga with flowers, silver and gold adornments is a special attraction in this temple. The aarati puja at this temple is invigorating and is best for spiritual enlightenment. Ringing of bells, beating drums and cymbals make the occasion reverberating with Shiv Bhajans.
As we entered in premise, we heard a rumor that BigB is visiting the Temple for blessing after Aishwarya and Abhishek has been blessed with a BabyB. I was extremely excited…The story was on Front page of the Daily but soon realize that it must be a rumor. Pritesh was excited too since he was fulfilling the wish of his mother; she wanted him to visit Somnath and so he was on the 7th sky. We were obliged by the “Darshan” of The Lord Shiva. Sea was playing its famous tune at Sea shore and we were delighted and overwhelmed to witness it.

We had time till 12 on our hand since Maha Aarti was expected to start at 12 so we had our breakfast and some shopping in the local market at Somnath ans it was fun. We again entered in the Temple premise and everytime I entered there, I could see my mother there...I could feel her presence because she was so excited when we visited 1st time. She is a Shiv Follower and she has extreme faith in Lord shiva. Environment at Maha-Aarti was divine. Pritesh & I was feeling the same and we were in the spiritual zone for the moments and forgot that there are some good girls around :-). Though 1 thing distracted both of us time and again in the Maha-Aarti and that was the Center Lane where Police was roaming and we expected that Amitabh Bachchan is about to come..."Hope"...It’s a strange thing!!!

We took our lunch at Somnath Trust Bhojnalaya and I must admit it was a decent food than we have in our canteen. 25 Rs. Per dish is nothing in today’s world. Water purifying system at the same place was an eye catcher. After lunch we were ready to visit other Temples and places in the city. I had created a document so we knew what we are going to visit in next 2-3 hours.
1st was Triveni Sangam, Triveni Ghat in Somanth is the confluence of three holy rivers namely Kapil, Hiran and a mystical River Saraswathy. It is believed that the rivers flow to the ultimate destination of Sea from here. This symbolizes the human birth, life and death. This is a sacred location for taking dip in the Triveni Sangam. Triveni Ghat has a significant place in Hindu Mythology and Puranas. We Indians need to blame ourselves for making these Ghats ugly. It was so dirty that you can’t stand there and still people were taking bath because it is believed that the holy bath in the waters at this Ghat offers relief from all curses and ills happened in the whole life. I had to see some stuff of Idols of Lord Krishna off ceremoniously as instructed by my Mom with a heavy heart because I don’t like to be a part of community who contributes in the river pollution but I had no other option .
Our 2^nd stop was Geeta Mandir, placed at the confluence of three holy rivers known as Triveni Tirtha, is a Krishna temple built by Birla family in 1970. Mythology says that Lord Krishna walked about 4km from Baluka Tirtha to here after hit by the arrow by a hunter Jara. Gita temple, also known as Birla temple, is a marvelous architectural beauty in Marbles. The Mandir is constructed in such a way that one can hear the echo of his voice inside the temple, so that the Krishna bhajans by the devotees can be echoed in the environments.

Lakshminarayan temple is located closeby to Gita Mandir (Birla temple) in Somanth. It is ideally located at a pristine location in the Somnath shore. The presiding divinity of the temple is Lord Lakshminarayan, a manifestation of Lord Vishnu. This temple is placed in a very big complex in a spiritual environment. Daily Pujas are offered in this temple. The idols of many other Hindu Gods and Goddesses are also enshrine the temple.

Next destination was Kamnath Mahadev temple, built about 200 years ago by a Mayurdhwaj King, is a renowned temple located in Somnath. This is a large temple complex with a holy pond known as Dudhiyu Talav, a water well known as Gangvo Kuvo and a bathing pool named as "Mahadev no Kund".

The legendary stories claim that the pond water has majestic healing powers and it is believed that Mayurdhwaj King recovered from leprosy after taking bath in this place. There was a saying in Gujarat, which means, “He who does not bath at the Kund is as good as dead or is a living dead". There were some shops nearby the temple and I took Mobile cover for my sister. Pritesh was busy in taking the snaps of pigeons.

There is a Sun Temple nearby Kamnath Mahadev Temple. is also an ancient temple dating back to the origin of Somnath temple. This temple is situated at the north of the Triveni Ghat, the confluence of three holy rivers. The temple was set up to offer prayers to Sun God. The temple architecture is amazing with many images of elephants, lions and other birds and animals. This temple also was attacked many a times by Muslim foreign invaders. But later it was renovated to present structure. The temple is a rare specimen of worshiping to nature and is praise worthy symbols of Hindu cultural heritage. Old temples have some magic and you can feel it when you enter in it. Sun temple was one of the magical temples I have visited till now. There was no big fuss about it but still it was warming the heart.

Just in front of Sun Temple, there is a cave where Hinglaj Mata’s temple is situated. Entry in the cave is so narrow that its difficult to enter and the temple itself is in the place where you cant even stand. Hats of to the lady who was sitting there whole day. It was challenging.It took around 3 hours to visit all places and we had lot of fun in Somanth. As per plan we were 2 hours late and waiting at the Veraval Bus station to catch a bus for Diu. Pritesh & I were extremely tired because of Tree Photo shoot and so we grab our chance to rest in the Bus itself. Around 6:30 pm we reached Una which is 15 kms away from the Diu. We were tired and were not in a situation to decide whether to stay in Diu or Una. As usual Tea came for our rescue and after having TEA we decided to stay at Una. We took our Dinner at 8. We loved the Pau Bhaji and specially the Boy who was serving us. Little boy was so happy while serving it that we immediately noticed the innocence of him Pritesh worriedly told me that that kid doesn’t know his future. It’s a reality of our nation; due to family issues and financial situation kids are just wasting their childhood. Their right to enjoy has been looted by our society. It’s so unfortunate and still it’s the reality of India.

After cursing ourselves for the situation, we went to the Una bus station to check timings for the Bus and then returned to Dhanaraj Hotel where we stayed and then I didn’t realize when I slept.

A beautiful blend of sea, sand and sun, Diu is a God's gift to those in quest of a blessed land where the weary weight of this unintelligible world can, for a while, be lightened and the waking soul can hear the music of the nature. This tiny island of breeze, beauty and serenity situated off the southern tip of the Saurashtra (Kathiawad) peninsula of Gujarat, lapped by the Arabian Sea, is a picture of calmness with superb beaches and a fascinating history.

With an area of 38.8 sq. km., and a coastline of 21 km, the island of Diu is separated from the coast by a narrow channel on the north. Of the two tiny mainland enclaves, Ghoghla is the entry point to Diu if you arrive through Una, a town in Saurashtra. The branching palms, popularly known as Hoka trees, introduce from Africa by the Portuguese and coconut palms swaying and whispering in the gentle intoxicating sea breeze extend a fascinating welcome to the visitors in Diu. The climate of Diu is pleasant throughout the year. It has sunny weather throughout the year and the annual rainfall is only 60 cms.

The historical Portuguese Fort, imposing churches, the golden sand beaches, blue sea waters, latest water sports, clean environment and friendly local population make Diu a perfect getaway for all seasons. It has excellent all weather road links with Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Vadodara. It also has daily air link (except Saturday) with Mumbai. Veraval the nearest railhead (90 Km) is connected to Ahmedabad.

According to mythology, Diu was ruled by the great king Jallandhar who was a daitya (Demon) and was killed by Lord Vishnu with his Sudarshan Chakra (disc). The temple of Jallandhar still exists in Diu. Gazetteer of Goa, Daman and Diu says that Diu was known as Jallandhar Ksshetra during Satyug and is famouos for its Jallandhar temple. As daitya (Demon) Jallandhar harassed the Gods, Lord Vishnu left Sudarshan Chakra after killing Jallandhar is known as Chakra tirtha which is situated in Diu.

Diu Fort was the 1^st destination of ours in Diu at 8 am in the morning. Among the places of tourist interest, the Fort of Diu occupies a prominent position. It is an expansive and imposing structure, situated on the coast of the island. The fort commands a magnificent view of sea. It was constructed between 1535 and 1541 AD.The fort is skirted by the Sea on the three sides. On the fort stands a giant Light House. Several canons still stare menacingly from top. The main front wall is having five huge windows with stone galleries. The Fort has been creatively lit, which creates a breath taking views at night.

Rugged yet gentle, fierce yet loving. The majestic structure stands on the coast of DIU as a sentinel. Once inside, you are overwhelmed by the gaunt majesty of the ancient stone work which transports you to a bygone era of gallant soldiers where time stands still. St. Paul's Church, St. Paul's church is dedicated to our Lady of Immaculate Conception. The construction of the church was started in 1601 and was completed in the year 1610. The main facade of the church is perhaps the most elaborate of all Portuguese churches in India. The facade has been illuminated by flood lights.

The church adorned with curiously treated volutes and shell - like motifs and the magnificent wood carving is considered to be the most elaborate of all the Portugese churches in India. St. Paul Church, built in 1691 is consecrated to our Lady of Immaculate Conception. In architectural style it resembles Bom Jesus Church at Goa. The dominant features are, no doubt, Gothic. The wood - panelling of the church is rated one of the best in church craftmanship.

Jallandhar Beach, Diu - India ...Story of Great "Daitya" King
Jallandhra is not a mystery to me because I read one book on his life when I was a child. My Father used to take us in the library near Nava Bhavnath, village in Bhiloda taluka. We used to go to library on Cycle and it was such a fun in those days. There was one other library which had a Book shaped cartoon and I used to love it. Whenever I used to enter in those 2 library, I used to feel a smell which I loved a lot…Those were the days when girls were not in the priority list…now also they are not…I lost in between though. Let’s get back to the track :p

Jalandhra, the son of the Ocean: According to Hindu mythology, the Tulsi plant was a woman named Vrinda (Brinda), a synonym of Tulsi. She was married to the demon-king Jalandhar. Due to her piety and devotion to Vishnu, her husband became invincible. Even god Shiva, the destroyer in the Hindu Trinity could not defeat Jalandhar. So Shiva requested Vishnu - the preserver in the Trinity - to find a solution. Vishnu disguised himself as Jalandhar and violated Vrinda. Her chastity destroyed, Jalandhar was killed by Shiva. Vrinda cursed Vishnu to become black in colour and he would be separated from his wife. Thus, he was transformed into the black Shaligram stone and in his Rama avatar, his wife Sita was kidnapped by a demon-king and thus separated from him. Vrinda then burnt herself on her husband's funeral pyre or immolated herself due to the shame.

Jallandhar Shrine is located on a hillock close to the beach. This small shrine crowned with a dome houses a stone carved face of Jallandhar a mythological demon who was killed by Lord Krishna. Near by there is also a temple of Goddess Chandrika. The beach is at a distance of 1 km from Diu Town.

Before we left for the trip, lot of people gave –ve reviews for Diu and tobe honest it helped us. We didn’t expect great things but found good things and so we were delighted. Jalndhar beach was one of the best place we visited. None was there at the beach and we found the joy in the peace. We really loved Diu as you can see in the photo.

Chakratirth Beach was also lovely and peaceful. Only 1 foreigner couple was there and at that place Pritesh became Jalpari :p He was jumping and dancing like a small kid and I was removing the pics sice the memory card was full. Then we headed towards Gangeshwar Temple.

This is situated 3 Km away from Diu in Fudam village. Five shivlings, are located in the midst of the rocks on the seashore, washed by the tidal waves of the sea. It is believed that the 5 Pandavas during their exile worshipped Lord Shiva in this temple.

The gentle sea waves offering their obeisance to the "Shiva Lingas" in stone have a mystic aura around them in the cave temple of Gangeshwar where the Lord makes his presence felt.

My father was restless to see the pics of the Gangeshwar temple when I was showing them pics from the trip. He wanted me to see the Temple because water touches the cave constantly.

It was around 12:15. Our bus from Diu to Veraval was at 2:15 and we still had to cover the main beaches…Nagoa & Ghogla and Sea Shell Museum.

“A hobby is hard work you wouldn't do for a living.” Sea shell museum is a Hard wark by Retired Navy Officer.

It is the first museum in Asia which has maximum sea shells and where sea shells are displayed in magnifying glass of various sizes. The collection of about 2500 to 3000 sea shells in museum is just outstanding example of the passion of the man. Place: Near Nagoa Beach, Near Airport East, Diu

We visited INS Khukri Memorial in bit of a hurry. Indian Naval ship Khukri was a frigate of the Indian Navy. During the India Pakistan War in 1971 she fell prey to three torpedoes fired at her by a Pakistani Submarine She sank 40 nautical miles off the coast of Diu taking down with her a crew of l8 Officers and 176 sailors. Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla Mahavir Chakra (Post humous) of the Indian Navy, the then Commanding Officer of the ship, chose to go down with the warship. The heroic act of Captain Mulla and his valiant crew is a shining example of unyielding spirit and indomitable courage glorifying the heist traditions of the Indian Navy. There is an amphitheatre just adjoining the memorial. It was writer there that all navy officers took Jal Samadhi in between see. I was wondering with sadness…Did they have any other Option.

Nagoa Beach…Only 10 minutes…Yeah, we spend only 10 minutes. Gujjus have made the beach as if it’s a Garden in Gandhinagar. I still respect the way people outside Gujarat behave after having number of drinks and here in Diu people were just behaving in rubbish manner. Just because its available people cross limits and don’t know where to stop…As Shahbuddinn Rathod says…If you know where to stop, Half of your problems won’t exists.

It is located near the Nagoa hamlet of the village of Bucharwada. The Beach is exceptionally beautiful and quiet. In this horse - shoe shaped beach, various water sports facilities are available. It is completely safe for swimming. Plenty of Hoka trees whisper and sway in the intoxicating sea breeze all day long. The virginity of the beach and serenity of the surroundings give the visitor peace and pleasure beyond expression.

A perfect semi circle beach where the gentle lapping waves beckon you to wade into them for a fun filled time of swimming, gamboling or just lolling around the soft sand shores or to find you napping under the palm trees filled with the soothing breeze.

Ghoghla Beach, Diu - India ...The Ghoghla Beach is a sandy beach. A tourist complex nearby provides all basic amenities to tourists. It is the largest and gentlest beach of Diu. The Golden sand beach undulates into the horizon while the Arabian Sea laps away at the edge as though imploring the sands to let it find its own peach. You can do swimming, sunbathing, parasailing, surfing etc.

We visited Ghogla for only 5 minutes and left. We enjoyed our time on Jalandhar beach and Chakratirth and we were satisfied with the trip.

You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.

“All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it” and boy it was a better place.

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” And believe me this Brutality is far better than reality. It breaks constraints and keep you in reality even though you are far away from reality (Real World).

And believe me, we left no place unvisited in Diu; we used the Diu Mapextensively and Pritesh made sure that Ghogla & Diu market didn’t become the unexplored places. I told him in the train at night that his enthusiasm won against my cautiousness to not to miss the Bus at 2:15 pm.

Now regarding the first 2 lines, when we were returning from Una to Veraval, we had a fellow traveler village girl. She was extremely cute…and she obviously gained our attention. First we thought she is a married girl with 2 kids but then there were some doubts about itbut the logical conclusion after some discussion was that she was married. Nevertheless that innocence is not there in modern girls for sure. I would prefer the village girl rather than plastic hearted modern girl any day. Now some people may judge us here but let me remind the 2^nd line again: हुस्न का दीदार किया क्या बुरा किया ? (Girl in Yellow...I can't reveal the Innocence, Can I?)

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard. A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” From this journey I learned about the self respect person has when he works hard for something and other person just want to have benefit of it and the person take stand against it. He was a little boy and boy, he was having an attitude. At one temple, one boy explained us the history behind it in between one another boy of same age started following us. We thought he will ask for something…but to our surprise he didn’t ask anything. We were amazed with that and overwhelmed by it…That was self respect…we offered both boys Coconut and at the same time the boy who explained us stopped us from doing it and said, “He was just wondering and didn’t do anything so don’t buy him coconut”. I was stunned but happy. This is the common mentality where we give things to all even some person doesn’t deserve. It’s a bad thing for the person who gets unfair advantage because he will always try to find the easy way in next endeavors.

I was happy because that little boy stood for his right. It was treat to watch. I hope & pray he will become a good person and serve the country and will make life of people better.At the end, “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

We completed the trip with new plans in future.