Shanichara Temple, Morena

The charming affair for exploring offbeat and marvellous hidden spots continues non-stop with Gwalior and nearby Chambal Ravines. I had a day in hand and thankfully got a car to drive, so Chambal Ravines were again the natural choice for exploring some more unexplored spots. What else this Vagabond would have thought of when Life gave him a spare day and a vehicle to drive.

It took me around one hour from Gwalior to locate, ask locales about the way and finally reach Shanichara Temple, situated deep inside remote corners of Chambal Ravines. Dedicated to Shani Dev, such a Grand Temple at such a remote location arouses curiosity to know about the history of the place as much as quest to explore another hidden spot.

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Triveni Dham, Shahpura

Whenever I used to drive to Jaipur from Delhi via NH48, I always used to thank government for the Smooth Ride. It was going on like this for ages, till one day I decided to explore what it is on right and left turns of this legendary highway. 

At one instant while driving from Delhi to Jaipur, one left turn had taken me to Bhangarh and ancient Neelkanth Mahadev Mandir. So, to explore what is there on the right side of NH48, I started Zooming-In the Google maps before Jaipur and I found one spot called “Triveni Dham”, approx. 12-13 km. from Shahpura.

It was the time to put to practice what I always tell - “Taking a couple of breaks to appreciate the beauty of the roads and surrounding spots will not delay your journey but will surely add the Magic to your spirits”. So, within half an hour from taking a right turn I was at Triveni Dham and in front of me was a grand temple premises at the bottom of a hill.

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Switch to Organic Foods with IsayOrganic

To think well, love well, and to sleep well one has to also “EAT WELL”. I feel fascinated when I come across people maintaining leading active life in their 70’s, 80’s and even beyond. And they are all roaring to go past 100 with same passion.

Whenever I come across these legends, I always gets motivated to their lifestyle and passion for long living. Some of them are practicing Yoga daily, some are doing mild exercise daily, some go for regular walking, and some follow strict disciplined daily routine depending on their choice. However, on thing common with all is that they all are also follow healthy eating habits. Foods promoting immunity is an essential part of their diets. And switching to Organic Food is an easiest way to EAT Well.

Contents in the pack: 

Kathal ka Achar (Jackfruit Pickle), Mushroom Soup, Black Grape Jam, Honey & Tea Gift Hamper, Roasted Flax seeds

Kathal ka Achar

Also knows as Jackfruit, it is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world. Eatable matter inside its thick, bumpy shell can be used for preparing a variety of dishes, it can be eaten raw or processed into delicious PICKLE.

However, to prepare pickle by yourself make sure you apply oil on your hands and the knife to peel the KATHAL to avoid sticking it to your hands. My mother used to prepare it long back. No-preservative’s, just right SALT preparation from ISayOrganic ensure the goodness and rich taste as our grandmother’s recipes. I loved it, so did elders and kids with Desi Ghee Lachcha Parantha. Half of the bottle was emptied within a day. 

Isayorganic.com can you send one more bottle?

Price - ₹ 380 | Quantity – 200 g.

 

Mushroom Soup

A warm bowl of soup so delicious with small tender bites of mushroom pieces, flavoured with pinch of garlic and black pepper to compliment the natural flavour of mushrooms.

Yes, this soup is good for individuals with heart issues and will invoke your hunger after 10-15 minutes of having it. Just follow the quantity mix mentioned on the bottle and enjoy the soup, healthy and sumptuous.

Price - ₹ 170 | Quantity – 100 g.

Black Grape Jam

As compared to other grapes, Black grapes contain high amount of antioxidants which protect your body cells from damage, help in faster healing from illness and in boosting immunity as well. 

Sustainably grown and freshly sourced black grapes from Nagpur are carefully crushed for a rich tasting Black Fruit Jam. The sweetness is also kept optimum to ensure it does not affect the taste of Grapes. Crushed portions of Grape multiply the delight of enjoying the Jam with your Bread, Cakes or may be Chapati. The price looks slightly on a higher side, shall be looked into. 

Price - ₹ 381.50 | Quantity – 300 g.

Honey & Tea Gift Hamper

Honey and Tea goes well for the combination. Replacing sugar with Jaggery or Honey is one of the easiest way step to improve immunity. So receiving the combo of Wild Forest Honey and ImmuniTEA made me feel great. 

The honey is polyfloral, where nectar is collected from many flowers.

Having a cup of Tea in morning blended with black Assam tea, dehydrated ginger, turmeric, giloy, Ajwain and an array of herbs & spices will remove toxins from the body. Both honey & green tea are rich in antioxidants that help renew skin cells giving it a glowing and younger look.

Taste - Infested with herbs, ImmuniTEA let us savor the flavor of all the herbs. Pinch of Ajwain  makes for a soothing experience and above all this Tea does not taste bitter like normal Green teas. Goodness of herbal Tea with taste of Masala Tea to summarize in few words. 

Price - ₹ 599 | Quantity – 1 unit: 200 g. Wild Forest Honey + 125 g. ImmuniTEA

Roasted Flax seeds

Loaded with fiber and provide good amounts of protein, Flax seeds need no introduction. Quality may be a concern at times, when buying in open. I am myself taking a tablespoon of these Flax Seeds with Milk, daily morning. 

Slight pinch of Salt makes munching of these roasted flaxseeds more enjoying. Trust me our native foods are more nutritious than any other supplements.

Price - ₹ 102 | Quantity – 200 g. 

Stay healthy with IsayOrganic and Travel healthier...

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Sahastrabahu Temple/ Saas bahu Temple

Temple which was originally called as Sahastrabahu Temple, is now popularly known as Saas bahu temple. How come?

In the ancient times, there was a king, King Mahipala whose wife was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. So, this temple was built by King Mahipala in the year 1092 depicting Lord Vishnu with thousand arms, Sahastrabahu. Hence the temple, an architectural marvel was originally called as Sahastrabahu temple. Located at eastern part of Gwalior Fort, the first look appearance of the temple is simply mind blowing. 

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Teli ka Mandir, Gwalior

When was the last time you drove for 6-7 hours since early morning, just to visit that splendid spot? 

When you are in the country known India, there are many such spots which are destinations in themselves. Even a whole day travel is worth to just spend 30-40 minutes at the spot. Ancient Teli-Ka Mandir in Gwalior is one such spot. Colossal size, splendid architecture, intricate carvings of Gods and Goddesses and image of Garuda, vehicle of Lord Vishnu make this temple a complete destination.

More than 100 ft. in height, the temple is a unique blend of different Indian architectural styles. It is the tallest structure in the Gwalior Fort. Check out the different styles of lower half and the upper dome.

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Alwar - Unseen Getaway

State where once Rolls Royce’s were deployed to collect garbage, could not have been an ordinary place. Legend of Maharaja Jai Singh of Alwar is well known, how he bought Rolls Royce company to its knees. Apart from the legend of Maharaja jai Singh Alwar is acclaimed worldwide for its famous dessert Kalakand (Milk-Cake). 

Located midway between Delhi and Jaipur, Alwar is one of the oldest cities in Rajasthan, with history going back to the time when Viratnagar used to be flourishing center. Viratnagar, the same Matsya Desh dating back to the times of Mahabharata, where Pandavas spent last year of the 13 years of exile. Despite located close to Delhi, Alwar somehow gets missed out from the itinerary as crowds prefer opulence of Jaipur or probably information about unseen spots in Alwar is rather limited.

Alwar City has several spots, which make it a worthy weekend getaway destination. Though Alwar is a dry region, but has a celestial Siliserh lake, which shall be the first spot in the Alwar itinerary. The Siliserh Lake is a big man-made lake, constructed by Vinay Singh in year 1845 AD and was supposed to provide the water supply reserves for Alwar state.

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Amazing Roads, Road trips in India

When I finally reached my destination, I realized that I was too tired. So, I had to sit back for the sake of recharging myself before I could have thought of exploring the destination.

 

While I was sitting and recalling the drive to the spot, a thought flashed to my mind – “Was this the RIDE, I should be PROUD of, or I will CHERISH FOREVER”. Probably not.

 

Perhaps in my excitement quest to reach the destination ASAP, I drove too fast and pushed myself to the limits. I forgot that “LIFE is a JOURNEY, not a DESTINATION”.

 

Essence of Life lies in enjoying the moments and Essence of TRAVEL lies in ENJOYING the Roads as well. This resonates with practically most of us, especially while driving. Being myself an avid Roadtripper, trust me “Taking a couple of breaks to appreciate the beauty of the roads and surrounding natural landscapes will not delay your journey, but will surely add the Magic to your spirit”.

 

For most of my trips till date I have been driving myself. Bringing you the collected and selected Roads from offbeat and hidden spots, for those who understands that “Journey is the destination itself”.

1) Road to Naddi Village, 3 km. from Mcleod Ganj - 

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Token of Baklava

To think well, love well, and to sleep well one has to enjoy his/ her food. Till it melted in the mouth, I did not realize that Turkish delicacy has been delivered to our doorstep. That feeling when Taste buds feel sumptuous as, perhaps next to nothing in this world.

 

Seeing the baklava, I went back into the memories of my Turkey trip, wherein a health nut like me could not resist having Baklavas in tonnes, be it morning or afternoon or any time of the day. It was an instant recall of the Turkey trip, wherein I loved munching on different food items everywhere as much I enjoyed exploring various places.

 

You can bring back the memories in form of pictures or souvenirs, but local cuisine can be bought back in limited quantity, if at all. You may enjoy local food as much as you can during the trip, but thereafter you can only crave for that sweet/ dessert or anything you tasted in your trip.

About Baklava - Baklava is a traditional Turkish sweet, blended with various dry fruits like ground walnuts, almonds, pistachios along with honey and nutritious elements. 

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Handmade Rustic Wall Shelves

Plain Walls may appear clean and elegant to many, however in actual plain walls are an opponent to creative and vibrant living space. Collecting original artefacts and art pieces is not an easy task as well. So how to illuminate the boring plain walls? There must be an affordable way to invigorate your home walls, while keeping exclusivity intact.

 

One fine day, I received these wonderful Royal Rustic Hexagonal Wall Shelves, as a gift from Exclusivelane.com.

 

The Product: Burned Wood, to be specific Mango Wood and thereafter painted with rustic green shades immediately took me back to the memory lane to the doors of our ancestral house in Rajasthan. Inspired from the rustic doors of Rajasthan, these Wall Shelves serves as the perfect souvenir that dates back to centuries’ old tradition.

 

Mechanical Engineer inside me was all excited and I was ready with my toolkit to fix these shelves on the Wall. Though I used the drill machine to drill the holes in the wall, but normal nails pushed inside the wall with a hammer can be also used to hang the shelves. Each Shelf has 2 concealed holes at the back for hanging on the wall.

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Temples of Dwarahat

Dwarahat in local language means “Way to Heaven”. You will have no doubt on it, once you reach here. Nestled amidst hills of Kumaon, this ravishing town of Dwarahat boasts of ancient holy temples built by the Katyuri Kings. Temples of Dwarahat are the main attraction here.

It took us around 75 minutes of driving from Ranikhet to reach Dwarahat. Temples are spread all around this town, so asking the locales about which temple to see first was a good idea. Mrityunjay Temple and Badrinath group of temples is on the main road. However we were guided by locales to see the Ratan Dev, Kachahari group and Golu Devta temple at first.

A small walk from the main road took us to Ratan Dev group of Temples. 

There are 6 temples present at this site, 2 temples can be seen in broken state and one more temple must have existed to make 3 temples opposite to 3 temples of right hand side to take the total to 9 original temples. There are a few broken pieces of the temples lying around in the premises define the grandeur of the past times.

Timeline of construction these temples goes back to around 11^th century and stark resemblance with Jageshwar temples further reinforces the timeline.

Now this was the way ahead in front of us for 10 minutes’ walk to Golu Devta Temple. Perfect harmony with the hills -

Golu Devta is an incarnation of Lord Shiva, in form of Gaur Bhairav and is one of most worshipped God in the hills. Being the highest point in vicinity, enjoy 360 deg. view of the nearby areas.  

Few minutes’ walk from Golu Devta took us to Kachari/ Kachahari group of temples. Kachari group of temples has 12 temples. 9 temples are at one site and 3 temples are located opposite and at elevated platform. 

Check out the stark symmetry of the Kachari Temples. Temples are dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Shiva. Presence of a well inside the premises ascertain this fact as water inside the temple premises is used for offerings to the Gods. Design is quite similar to Ratan Dev group of temples. Temple has been well taken care of the government and the locales as well. Kids will enjoy every minute spend here.

Getting down from the Kachari group of Temples, we came to Badrinath group of Temples. Out of 3 temples in the premises, main temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and dates back to 11th Century.

Out of other 2 smaller temples, one is dedicated to Goddess Laxmi and other one dedicated to Banasur has no deity.
 
Last and the final stop was the most prominent, most sacred temple in Dwarahat, Mrityunjay Temple. Meaning of Mrityunjay is Vanquisher of Death and so temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Temple has been constructed in Nagara style of architecture and consists of Garbhgriha, Antarala and a huge Mandapa. There is also a small temple dedicated to Bhairava, however which is not in very good condition. Timeline of this temple goes back to 11th century.

Now the drive from Ranikhet –

Follow the road signs and confirm with the locales because at times network is not there to support google maps and you will come across more than one turn going in similar direction. Do not take chance, ask the locales.

Road is in fairly good condition and in the way you will come across splendid natural settings to reinforce the fact that Nature is the best artist. Just before Dwarahat we stopped at this temple decorating the skyline of nearby hills.

From this spot we anticipated little that the place is indeed Gate to Heaven. Keep exploring Guys...

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