Though we were aware of the hot summer that had already set in, and these regions already touching 40 degrees, we were all set with things required to keep us in shade.
As we were 8 of us including Malini's family, we decided to hire a bigger vehicle and share the drive, instead of driving in 2 cars.
After a thorough exploration of Self driven cab rental option, finally found "San Carz" who offered Tata Safari on rent with self drive option. There are very few in the market who would offer SUV on Self drive option.
Aware of the risks involved with such an option, finally decided to go for it.
Commercially, the self drive option works out same as hiring a vehicle with driver, especially with such long trips.
It costed Rs. 3,200 / day as rent + diesel cost (Rs. 10,000).
30th March being Malini's Birthday, we had a small celebration before we started the journey.
So, with the excitement of driving an SUV & privacy without a driver, we started our looong journey to Pandharpur, Maharashtra on Saturday morning by 7:00 AM.
The rear seat being 2 baby seats, was difficult to manage the seating & space; hence we opted to load all the luggage on the carrier.
It was an effort through out the trip to load & unload the luggage from the carrier, each day. Dad & Mihir handled it efficiently though.
The excitement & fun of travelling together was obvious.
Me & Madhu shared the drive & covered half stretch each. Tata Safari felt heavy initially, with the vehicle being a 2008 model the obvious wear & tear could be felt with loose gears, tight clutch, breaks and slow acceleration.
The sheer size & road presence gave a good feel of driving.We did stop for long hours; had some nice food at Agarwal bhawan, Hotel Malligi & a Dhabha for breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Finally reached Pandharpur by 10:00 PM. Mr. Dhyaneshwar Mahajan (Nithyanand Maiya's friend from Nanded) had organized/booked accommodation for us at Sadhu Maharaj Seva trust. It was a decent accommodation with A/C rooms, could't expect a better place at Pandharpur. After some confusion in finding the place, finally reached the ashram by 10:45 PM.Though not too tired, 15 hour long journey took some energy out of us. We really had a sound sleep that night.
We started the day early on Sunday & headed towards Vittala temple by 8:00 AM.
It is quite well organized there & anyone can easily manage to find the way inside the temple, with decent security measures including metal detectors, cameras & baggage scanners.
We were in the Queue for almost 1 hour, which was constantly moving without long stops.
The entire atmosphere through out the Queue was very spiritual, with everyone chanting songs of Lord krishna / Vittala. I've not seen too many temples where people engage themselves in chanting & singing songs praising the lord, during the wait till they reach the sanctum sanctorum.
Our long wait in the Queue ended & we were in front of lord Vittala. It is probably the only vaishnava temple where devotees are allowed to touch the lord's feet. It was a great feeling to be in front of the lord & touch his holy feet.
Thousands of people were so well behaved, disciplined without any usual crowd chaos. Everyone waited for their turn patiently & each one of us could spend quite some time in front of the lord.
The usual suspects being the priests & the guides all around who do their best to exploit & extract as much money as possible from the devotees. Ignoring them helps one to focus on the main agenda - to be with the lord!
We moved out of the temple and wandered on the shopping streets for a while.
Some googling helped me discover Sri Sathyadhyana Thirthara brindavana in Pandharpur. We reached the Mutt by 11:00. The mutt hosted the moola brindavanas of Sri Sathyadhyana Thirtharu, Sri Vedanidhi Thirtharu and mruthike brindavana of Sri Raghothama Thirtharu.
The mutt was very traditionally maintained by a family of 4. Each one of them were very devout & sincere in ensuring all traditions & procedures was strictly maintained.
We spent some quality time in front of the gurugalus chanting mantras.
The family hosted us a nice traditional meal.
We then headed back to the ashrama where we stayed, rested for a while, & started packing the luggage.
We started our journey towards Hospet, stopped en-route in Bijapur to visit Gol Gumbaz. Unfortunately we had reached the place just 10 minutes after their scheduled closing time (5:40 PM) and we could only get a glimpse of the amazing monument from a distance.
After a good coffee break in Bijapur we continued our journey & reached Hospet by 10:00 PM.
We had made bookings at Hotel Hampi International, which is one of the nicest hotels in Hospet. The hotel had all amenities and facilities required for a comfortable stay.
We all had good food at the Hotel & ended the day with a sound nap in a very comfortable & clean room.
Monday, we started the day early and headed towards Nava Brindavana in Anegundi. Nava Brindavana is on a small island between Anegundi & Hampi. It is a bit difficult to reach the place, as one need to reach Anegundi from Hospet by road, and reach the island by a boat. It was uthara aradhane of Sri Vyasarajaru on that day & devotees were pouring in; Lot of chaos with people thronging near the boat to reach the island, with only one boat (could carry upto 15 people) to transfer people on both sides of the river.
Nava Brindavana is the place where 9 of the great gurus of Madhwa parampare are eternally resting.
Prominent gurus include Padmanabha thirtharu (direct disciple of the Sri Madhwacharya himself), Vyasaraja Thirtharu (earlier avathara of Sri Raghavendra thirtharu), Sudhendra thirtharu (Sri Raghavendra thirthara gurugalu).With these 9 great saints resting at one place, it is considered to be one of the most powerful places.
It was festive mood all around and entire place was well covered with shelter. The sight of Nava brindavana was enticing with pooja being performed through out the morning.
It was hypnotic to see the abhishekha of Sri vyasarajaru. We did all poojas & sevas that we planned for. We felt blessed to be a part of aradhana celebration of the great guru.
Some of the Madhwa philosophy scholars had visited the place and were submitting the works of Sri Madhwacharya and proving Dwaitha sidhantha to be superior & realistic and striking down Advaitha philosophy.
After having theertha prasada in front of the brindavanas, we headed towards the river to catch the boat. It was a contenting & fulfilling experience. It is truly a place for all Madhwas to visit as many times as possible.
The long wait & chaos, waiting to board the boat was taxing, with no shelter or shade, it sucked energy out of each one of us.
Finally we boarded the boat & reached our car.
While driving back to hospet, we were amazed to see the richness of the area in & around Anegundi that was very fertile and the rocks adding to the beauty of the place.
We visited TB Dam & had some relaxing time there.
We headed back to hotel room after having a quick bite at the restaurant.
Tuesday, we had planned a site seeing tour in Hampi. We started with Virupaksha swamy temple.
We hired an auto & covered Kishkinda patna & Yanthodharaka anjaneya temple.
A small trek of around 250 meters and we reached the temple.
Yanthoradharaka anjaneya was installed by Sri Vyasarajaru, and it was very peaceful to sit & recite songs of lord hanuman in such peaceful environment.
We drove back & covered many prominent monuments & temple ruins in Hampi.
The beauty, sculptures, architectural marvels of the great Vijayanagara empire need not be described in words, as each structure depicts the richness of the kingdom at that time. Each picture captured oozes grandness & majesty of Hampi!
It was time for us to leave the place & drive back to Bangalore.
It was an ideal family vacation with the right mix of fun & spirituality.
The harsh sun kept draining us down & we kept ourselves moving with gallons of water & juices through out the day.
The roads through out the length between Bangalore to Pandharpur was amazing, with 8 lane highway upto Chitradurga and 2 laned spotless roads till Pandharpur. Driving on these roads was effortless & stress-free.
