2 day Religious trip to Solapur Gangapur Akkalkot Pandharpur & Tuljapur, ex Mumbai: 9th.

& 10th. June 2013

Hello friends. This time I would like to share my experiences on the 2 day
religious trip to Solapur. I happened to check the train availability and
fortunately there were just 3 tickets available in the 1
st
.class coach of
Siddheshwar express which leaves Mumbai at 10.45pm. I was fortunate to
get confirmed return tickets in the same class. My boss Mr. GM Bhuvan,
backed up my travel plans by providing me the necessary information for
hotel stay & to arrange a taxi driver for the local sightseeing in and around
Solapur. I called up the taxi driver & the hotel & both of them confirmed
their availability on the phone without even a penny advance. All this
planning took place just 2 days ago and I set off on this journey on 8
th
. June
2013.
The train arrived at Solapur by 7am on Sunday 9
th
. June 2013. The
Tavera taxi guy was prompt on time to pick us up from Solapur station and
drop us at Lotus hotel.






This hotel is considered to be the best hotel in Solapur at a cost of
Rs.2500/- per night on a 24 hour basis check in check out time. We were
pleasantly welcomed at the hotel, the rooms were very nice and clean. The
interiors were simply great. The complimentary unlimited breakfast
comprised of a dosa, uttappam, idli, bread butter jam toast & poha which
were all very tasty. Tea served was really good too. By 9am we headed
towards our first destination Gangapur.

GANGAPUR:
Later did I realize that Gangapur was actually in the state of Karnataka.
The roads were in a pathetic condition for half the time of our journey. Our
taxi driver Mr. Sanjiv (9767471113) was extremely helpful and guided us
throughout the journey. Mr. Sanjiv is a very good driver and he was very
caring. He maintained his vehicle meticulously clean and never drove
beyond 80km/hr. Of course on the way to Gangapur the speed never
crossed 40km/hr due to the bad state of roads.








We reached Gangapur by 12noon, paid Rs.251 for special darshan and yet
it took us around an hour and half. The Paduka darshan at Karma Sthan
takes place between 3am to 2pm only. There are three places of religious
importance in Gangapur and it seems the trip isnt complete without visiting
these places. They are:
1) Bhakti Sthan: Bhima Amarja Sangam, Audumber, Sangameshwar & Shree
Anugan Sthan
2) Karma Sthan: Datta temple& Nirgun paduka pooja
3) Mukti Sthan: Kaleshwar temple, Panchmukhi Gajanan, Swayambhu
Shaneshwar & Saptanik Navgraha Durga Parvati Shivalay
All these three places are within a radius of 2 km.
*) For further details please refer to http://www.shreeswami.org/gangapur-
sangam.htm
By 2.30pm all of us were really hungry and wanted to taste some authentic
local food but most of the restaurants were running out of food by then. We
were actually lucky to get some real tasty food in a roadside eatery named
Golden Star family restaurant.


We ordered for Mix Veg. Chana Masala & Dal Fry along with fresh hot
tandoori rotis. The taste of all the dishes was awesome and came at a
cheap price of just Rs.250, a.i.
We resumed our return journey from Gangapur to Solapur by 3.30pm. On
our way back we visited the Akkalkot temple by 5.30pm.

AKKALKOT:
It again took us close to 2 hours for the darshan. We left from Akkalkot by
7.30pm and reached back to our hotel in Solapur by 8.30pm.




*) Please visit http://swamisamarthofakkalkot.org/ for further details on
Akkalkot.
We were quite tired due to the day long journey and ordered for some basic
dinner meals in the room itself. I must say that the food at Lotus hotel is
indeed very very tasty. Even the dahi kadi & khichdi tasted yum.
A nice good night sleep at Lotus hotel and we were all set to embark on our
2
nd
day trip to Pandharpur & Tuljapur.

PANDHARPUR:
After having breakfast at the hotel, we checked out from the hotel by
9.30am. The hotel manager was generous enough to allow us to use the
room for two hours without any extra charge. This time the roads were in
excellent condition and we reached Pandharpur by 11.00am. Please note
that carrying mobile phones is strictly prohibited in the temple premises. As
expected there was a big rush of devotees at the temple and we too placed
ourselves in the long que. We managed to get darshan after 2 hours. One
thing which hurt me the most was that all the priests at the temple extract
money out of your pockets in the name of doing a pooja or by means of
giving Prasad etc. After taking blessings, we proceeded towards Tuljapur.

On the way we stopped by for lunch at a road side restaurant which is well
known for serving local delicacies.




This was the fastest ever thali served to me till date. The service staff was
very courteous and prompt. They somehow knew exactly our preference of
taste buds. The restaurant was huge with two sections for family people
and another for single walk in customers. We ordered for a thali which
comprised of jwari bhakri (Sorghum flour bread), potato brinjal vegetable,
pithla (preparation made from besan (chickpea flour), a spicy lady finger
preparation, shengdana (peanut) chutney (traditional favorite) with curd, a
big bottle of sweet buttermilk, rice, dal & to end up a big long kulfi
(traditional Indian ice cream).
*) For further details please refer
to http://solapur.gov.in/htmldocs/rpandharpur.pdf

TULJAPUR:
We were done with our lunch by 3.00pm and proceeded to Tuljapur where
we reached by around 4.30pm.


There was a huge line of devotees here as well and we preferred to pay
Rs.251 and take the express way route. Still it took us an hour. If you pay
additional Rs.100 or so the priests at the temple do a special chanting of
mantras and you are allowed to stand in front of the Gods idol for at least a
minute. Else just a glimpse and thats the end of your darshan.
*) For further details please refer to http://www.tuljabhavanimandir.org/
We left from Tuljapur by around 6pm and visited Pulgam textiles in the city
of Solapur.


We purchased the famous Solapur bedsheets here and this shop is quite
big with people shopping in huge numbers. From here we visited the
famous Siddheswar temple of Lord Shiva in Solapur. We reached the
temple by around 8pm.


This location is very scenic as there is a lake around the temple. Luckily
there were not too many people here and the darshan took place within 10
minutes. We opted to have the free Prasad for dinner and believe me I had
the tastiest sheera (semolina based sweet dish) ever of my life. The Prasad
consisted of chapati, cabbage vegetable preparation, dal, rice & sheera.
We all ate to our hearts content and then offered a donation of Rs.251/- to
the temple trust as a heartfelt thanks to all the cooks who prepared such a
delicious meal.
Then it was time to bid adieu to Solapur and we headed back to Solapur
railway station. Our train was scheduled to leave by 10.45pm and it
reached an hour late though back in Mumbai the next day morning by 7am.
Overall a very hectic two day religious trip but time well spent with the
family. A few tips though: kindly carry enough cash as there are very few
atms in other places except Solapur. Also please carry change which helps
always. Children do get bored and a bit sick of travel, especially during
such religious tripsso ensure you have some source of entertainment for
them. No food available in Siddheswar express so please carry dry
eatables/ fruits, just in caseBe aware of duplicate similar named
packaged drinking water bottles such as Oxycool instead of Oxyrich,
Paileys instead of Baileys & Pisleri instead of Bisleri. I am glad that I
managed to do this trip at this age of mine (39)probably it would be tough
to travel the same route 10 years down the line due to the rough roads &
dusty weather. Most of the devotees are from below poverty line
backgrounds and it is difficult for a Mumbaikar like to me to adjust in such
surroundings for more than a few hours. There are beggars everywhere
and to find basic clean public toilets is a challenge in this entire circuit. The
priests at all the temples meant money in the name of God which truly
hurts.

All said and done, a good experience overall. Travel teaches one, many
things which one cant learn from a book or in school. Hope you like this
blog which is a small attempt to help all the Mumbaikars who are always on
the hunt for a weekend destination.