Serenity redefined...

To perk up my mood and ofcourse to have a much needed break, we went on a bumpy and windy ride to a place called Harihareshwar. The route (via a place called Bhor) was scenic and breathtaking...we halted quite a number of times to take snapshots of the beauty that we couldn't get enough of. It was nothing like what I have seen earlier...there were milky waterfalls, alright but what made the trip worthy was that the roads were just laid adjacent to the lake...It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was the best drive I ever had in India...I could compare the experience of being in Seattle and enjoying the drizzly weather with a laid back attitude. The weather was perfect, occassionally showers turning to serious rain and then just pure mist - atop hills and engulfing us...we checked out into a hotel in a nearby place called Srivardhan and left early morning to Harihareshwar where we had darshan of the Trinity and Parvathi and Kalbhairav. Then off to a place called Dive Agar (pronounced something like Divyaagar) where we got to see 'Suvarna Ganapati' meaning Golden Ganesh which was found in a nearby lake abou 7-8 years back intact in a copper casing. History says that someone had made it perfectly well and dropped it in the banks of a river and that the Golden Ganesh was found and then idolized immediately and devotees keep flocking here especially during the Ganapathi pooja time. So we were lucky to go there by sheer chance at the right time. Another deity we paid our darshan was 'Somjai Devi' in Srivardhan. The devi was all dressed beautifully and shone brilliantly with all her might and prowess. You know what I would have prayed for...with that our trip ended and we came back via Tamhini Ghat and this time though it was not close to the beauty we witnessed while going, it was still a classic picture perfect route that put us back in Pune by dusk...and though it was aching all over my body, the mind and soul sure seemed to have enjoyed the spirit of the mini-vacation.