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Temples of Kashi - The Tilbhandeshwar Temple

The city of Kashi is filled with temples, big and small, old and new. There are temples at every corner, and you never know where you will stumble upon a small shrine. There are idols beneath what remains of trees (there are hardly any trees any more within the core area of the city), there are saffron covered forms resembling deities which seem attached to walls, an especially incongruous sight when the idol itself appears to be old, while the wall is evidently new…. And there are surprisingly large temples rising from what appear to be a bunch of houses. The city is sometimes colloquially said to be as old as time, and some of the shrines and temples are said to date back to times unknown, at least the deity itself, if not the structure. Not much remains of the ancient structures anyway. The city has seen more than its fair share of good and bad times. It has seen the heights of grandeur, and the lows brought about by destruction. The city that exists today has grown so haphaza...
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Mahabaleshwar

As trips go, the unplanned ones usually turn out to be the most fun, and our trip to Mahabaleshwar was no different. Looking back, it seems unbelievable that we went at all! The visit was a short one, but we managed to pack quite a bit into the time we had, but what was really memorable was the heavy rain which dominated our stay at the hill station. I have been to Mahabaleshwar before, but never in the monsoon, and the season certainly added an extra bit of gloss to the entire trip!



The Venna Lake is the highlight of Mahabaleshwar. I remember going boating on the lake on my first visit there, and it is usually packed with tourists... so packed that the last time I was there, we had to give boating a skip since the queue seemed to be never-ending! And here is my favourite photo of this trip - the Venna Lake in the monsoon! It was amazing how the clouds and the water seemed to merge....

That was just a glimpse of our trip. Read a more detailed account on my post on the Club Mahindra Blog....

Soaking in the spirit of Mahabaleshwar
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Location: Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. krishnaAugust 22, 2012 at 11:12 PM

    It seems that you have enjoyed a lot. I had been in Mumbai for 4 years. Many times I thought of going there, but unfortunately that never happened.
    http://from-a-girls-mind.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarAugust 23, 2012 at 4:56 PM

      Yes, we did, Krishna! you should go sometime.. but dont worry.. i visited Mahabaleshwar for the first time after living in mumbai for 25 years!! since then i have been there thrice! and there are so so many places i havent been to yet.. can u believe i have still not been to matheran?

      Delete
  2. R Niranjan DasAugust 23, 2012 at 4:40 PM

    Thats a beautiful click. Never been here.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  3. PanchganiAugust 25, 2012 at 11:15 AM

    Hi,
    Anuradha Shankar, We loved the way of your writing, we would like to make you our guest blogger. contact us at www.facebook.com/ravinehotel for further details.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarAugust 25, 2012 at 5:17 PM

      Thanks a lot, but can you please send me a mail at anushankarn(at)gmail(dot)com ?

      Delete
    2. PanchganiAugust 31, 2012 at 6:24 PM

      Ok,
      Done!!!

      Delete

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