The absence of ancient Hindu structures in Kashi is something I have always lamented about. The shrines are certainly ancient, and that is something that has always attracted me to the city. However, I miss the beauty of the ancient structures that we see at other sites. This feeling is intensified when I see marble and concrete and tiles in temples that once would have been beautifully adorned with evocative sculptures, and worn by the passage of time, touched by the hands of seekers who came before. This time , this desire to see some remnants of an ancient Hindu structure in Kashi came true when I managed to visit the Kardameshwar Temple. The Kardameshwar temple is not one of the main temples in the city. It is part of the temples on the Pancha Kroshi yatra, a pilgrimage which takes one on a circumambulatory tour of the whole city. The temple is located on the outskirts of the city, on the western bank of a tank called the Kardama Kund. The Kardameshwar temple is one of the...
There are so many places to visit in and around Binsar that it was difficult to decide which to see on this trip and which to keep for another… for one trip is surely not enough for such a wonderful place. Faced with the prospect of Bageshwar-Baijnath and Kausani v/s Patal Bhuvaneshwar, for only one could be completed in the only day we had left, we decided to settle for Patal Bhuvaneshwar, giving precedence to spirituality over tourism. Looking back, it was a good idea, for the trip to Patal Bhuvaneshwar was truly unforgettable, and Kausani is a place we can visit at leisure another time! The trip began on a positive note , the scenery on the route being even more beautiful than anything we had seen so far. The snow capped mountains were visible just over the peaks of the nearer mountains, and I tried vainly to get them on my camera. Unfortunately they were still too far off to be captured, and by the time we approached them, they were enveloped by clouds, refusing to show us ev...