7. AMBAJI & MOUNT ABU (DELHI-DWARKA-DELHI IN 16 DAYS)

This is seventh of the eight blogs covering this beautiful trip.

Delhi - 265kms - Jaipur - 130kms - Ajmer - 194kms - Chittor - 120kms - Udaipur - 249kms - Ahmedabad - 231kms - Rajkot - 221kms - Dwarka - 456kms - Ahmedabad - 183kms - Ambaji - 51kms - Mount Abu - 737kms - Delhi 

Day 13-14: AMBAJI AND MOUNT ABU

Day 13^th, and we woke up at Ahmedabad to enjoy a lovely continental breakfast of omelette, sausages, porridge and toast prepared so graciously by our hostess and served with loads of love.

It was now time for our return journey. Luggage packed, petrol topped up, air-pressure in tyres checked and seat belts fastened; we were now ready for the next leg of the journey. As the return journey started, there was a queer feeling of loss in the heart. The sad feeling of this beautiful experience coming to an end had started raising its head in my heart.Once on the highway, we noticed that this part of the country was better in terms of availability of restaurants and we soon stopped for a cup of tea at a Hotel. But not a single customer was present there. How do they break even, the banker in me wondered. The pakodas were excellent. Not sure whether similar joints would come our way again, we decided to have some cheese sandwiches packed for lunch.

The road was lovely, smooth & clean

Fuelled well, we moved forward with our journey. The road continued to be excellent and traffic minimal. I was admiring the scenery along the road when hubby suddenly announced, “One Hundred and Forty!!!”  I was almost shaken out of my slumber, “Whaaaat?”
“Yesss….. We are driving at 140 km per hour. Did you realise that?”
No, I hadn’t. Our Hyundai i20 is just too good and I loved my car for this. Of course the road too was fantastic!

An excellent thought

Speeding like this, we spotted a neat and clean restaurant and craved for a cup of tea again. Driving on the highway, a cup of good tea is the best companion for tea-addicts like us.… and aloo ka paratha to boot was exactly what we needed at that time. Again no customers in the restaurant. We were the only ones.  Also noticed with admiration a thought written on the wall of the restaurant, “Beimaani ki ameeri se Imaandari ki garibi achchhi." Hmmm.....so true.

The drive to Ambaji was enthralling.

As we started off again, I received a phone call from a friend, “Where have you reached? You must visit Ambaji. The temple per se is like any other temple…. nothing much, but you will love the drive to the place. It will come on your right side…..just about 15-16 kms…. Worth the drive.”  And lo and behold, we spotted the indicator to Ambaji and spontaneously took a turn to the right. The hilly track to Ambaji was almost deserted and the drive was enthralling. Wasn't our friend so right?

AMBAJI: Nestled in the Aravali Hills, Ambaji Temple where Goddess Amba, is worshipped, is one of the important Shakti Peeths of Hindus. As soon as we drove in, a tout pretending to be a guide started tailing us and almost coerced us to the back-side gate despite our trying to shrug him off. His sole motive was to take us to a particular shop for buying prasada and flowers etc for offering to the deity. As we had no intention of offering any prasada etc, we refused to oblige him. Disappointed as a result, he dropped us and vanished. The next pain-point was the directions to deposit our mobile phones, cameras and purses etc. at the counter. So we decided to go solo. One by one, we both visited the temple and saw it. The temple was huge and for a cahnge very well organised without any confusion. The security was alert and directions clear.  It was quite clean as compared to most of other Hindu temples.

Darshan over and arti attended, we drove back on that beautiful drive till we reconnected to the highway. The drive, no doubt, was awesome. Aravali hills are hard rock while Himalayas are made of softer terrain. So the flora is quite different. Neither are they as high as Himalayas. The gradient is low and drive almost effortless. One can enjoy the scenic beauty instead of just concentrating on the drive. 

Hill-Desert combo on the road to Mt Abu

MOUNT ABU CITY: Mount Abu, the only hill station in Rajasthan, a state known better for its desert, is like an oasis of greenery with lush green vegetation all around. Cactii and palms growing on hill-side present a strange picture and have a unique charm of their own.  As per mythological beliefs, the town Mount Abu is named after a serpent called Arbuda distorted as Abu, believed to be the son of Himalaya who had visited this place. There is also an Arbuda Devi Temple which is the deity of the town. Temples, churches, the world headquarter of Brahmakumari order, a number of Jain temples, all located in the vicinity, there is a strong and palpable positive energy in the area. I couldn’t decipher whether it is because of the presence of so many religious places of different order here or is it because of this positive energy that different sects decided to have their establishments in this beautiful hill-station.

Eternal Light: The emblem of Brahmakumari order

THE WORLD CENTRE OF BRAHMAKUMARI ORDER: The world centre of Brahmakumari order is established here. For the first time in my life, I tried a few minutes of meditation here and actually experienced peace within. Trying the same way in Delhi did not yield similar results. What a pity!! :-(

The Brahmakumaris outfit also runs a research centre here. J. Watumull Global Hospital & Research Centre, a state of the art hospital started about 20 years ago, which not only provides medical care to in-house paients, but also has outreach programmes for people in the remote areas. Most unlike a usual hospital where staff is rude and the place depressing, this hospital appeared to be exuding a lot of positive energy. The food served was ‘satvik’ in nature, ie, pure vegetarian food without potatoes, onions and garlic and also without red chillies and spices. But how it tasted so delicious, I don’t know.

Brahmakumaris' state of the art Hospital

Our stay arrangement was in the Hospital’s Guest House, a simple, no-nonsense, very Spartan and very functional place. A fully loaded kitchen..use it, clean it and leave it as you would like to see it when you enter it. One started wondering about the futility of unnecessary items we keep amassing in our houses.

Thick fog enveloped the roadside

GURU SHIKHAR:  Situated at ~1750m above sea-level, Gurushikhar having the temple of Dattatreya, is the highest peak in Mount Abu region. 

The morning was quite foggy and cold and driving uphill was quite a challenge but we were in an adventurous mood and started off. Tearing through the wall of dense fog, we reached the Gurushikhar base.

A roadside lake on the way to Gurushikhar

As we parked the car, we were pestered by the palki-walas (palanquin bearers) who tried their level best to scare us of the unending steps we will have to climb and hence should sit in their palki and get carried up there to Mount Guru Shikhar. We wrenched ourselves clear of their clutches and took our own time to climb hundreds of steps to reach the top. 

Way to Gurushikhar lined with shops

The steps to the temple were lined on both sides with shops selling Prasad, material for pooja and stuff like handicrafts, curios, tea and snacks. Each one was beckoning us to visit them as there  were hardly any  visitors at that point of time, it being cold, foggy and windy, not really the best time for tourists. 

Steps leading to GuruShikhar

The positive aspect of this was that we were able to stop at every turn to enjoy and capture the scenic beauty without being pushed around. Finally, we reached the top and saw the temple carved out on a massive rock.

Gurushikhar temple carved in a rock enveloped in fog



The Ancient Bell

The huge bell installed over there is stated to be as old as 1411 AD.  I enjoyed ringing the bell in the names of all our family members one by one, all the friends, humanity, global peace and whatever came to my mind. But when I turned around to look at my back, it was frighteningly steep. One step backward and I would have landed in the ditch thousands of feet down below and would have been in direct communion with my ancestres. Ha..ha..ha..  But nothing of the sort happened and I am sitting here typing away my blog :-)

Grass on Rock or a huge mouse?

Hot Bread Pakodas

On our way back, we stopped over to pick up some mementos and finally for a hot cup of tea and pakodas. By this time, we had compromised all our hygiene standards and had overcome all our inhibitions, fear of contracting amoebiasis and infection, fear of consuming burnt oil which could be carcinogenic, fear of fried potatoes which could raise our blood-sugar levels and fear of consuming too much tannin in the boiled tea leading to acidity.

We were now turning into real travellers. What a big relief!!!

A view of the Peace Park

BRAHMA KUMARIS' PEACE PARK: The next stop was Brahma Kumaris’ Peace Park. 

I don’t think I have ever seen a more peaceful park in my life. Aesthetically designed in a huge piece of land, the only sound one heard was that of chirping of birds. The myriad fragrances were so good that one wanted to inhale as much as possible and fill one’s lungs with it. The flowers of all hues and shades were a real treat to the eyes. 

We had to compulsorily listen to one short  sermon by a Brahma Kumar but the positive side of that was a realisation once again that God, if one exists, is dimensionless. It is only a point, a point of light. And this light is spoken of in almost every religion. 

Om

All the icons which are worshipped are only some kind of incarnation or children of God who were sent to this world as single purpose vehicle (SPV). It made sense. What is God? Who is God? Where does he reside? Who has seen him? So it reinforced what I think of God that God is the voice of your own conscience and he lives in your mind. Jab dil kare gardan jhuka, aur dekh le tasweer-e-khuda. 

Enjoying Peace

The Peace Park also had a few Meditation Rooms where you could just walk in and sit either on the floor or on the chair in absolutely peaceful and dimly-lit interiors and meditate. I liked the practicality of the approach considering that most of us find it miserable to sit on the floor now.

I am becoming a fan of this system and did not feel like leaving but had to as hubby was getting worried about my probable conversion into this order.

The road to Achalgarh

ACHALGARH FORT: The next destination was Achalgarh Fort which was built by Rana Kumbha in the 15th century. It sits atop a mountain peak in the Aravali hills and has strong battle-walls around it. The road to the Fort was ordinary but the scenic beauty superb!

The wind eroded rock on the way to Achalgarh

On the way to the Fort was Achaleshwar Temple, a temple of Lord Shiva built in the 9th century with a Nandi of Ashta Dhatu at the entrance.

Overall it was a beautiful drive with the wind eroded rocks hanging in the air adding to the superb scenic beauty.

Dilwara Temple

DILWARA TEMPLES: It was already lunch time but the pakodas were sustaining us quite well and we decided to visit Dilwara Temples too before settling down for lunch. The white temples looked very inviting from outside but the instructions to deposit the cameras, the purses, the mobiles everything at the counter somehow put us off. So we decided to take turns and visit the temple individually. I kept standing in the queue for over an hour but the queue was not moving at all. Finally, we decided to skip this and left the place to settle down for a nice hot lunch in a nearby shack.
Though bereft of fears of hygiene now, I wondered why no good chain of hotels and restaurants has ever thought of opening a restaurant here. Is it because the tourists are mostly from economically weaker section and lower middle class of the society and may not be able to afford eating in high-end joints? Perhaps, yes!  The next thought that raises its head, is it the economically weaker sections of the society who are real believers in God and form the bulk of the pilgrims? Do we need God only in times of dire necessity? To fall back on? To derive succour from? Many questions, many answers... I'll leave it for some other time.

Nakki Lake

NAKKI LAKE: 

Lunch over, we drove down to Mount Abu and went straight to Nakki Lake which is in the heart of the city of Mount Abu. Nakki Lake is considered holy by the locals as it is believed that it was dug up by the Gods using their nails (nakh in Hindi). 

Benches provided by SBI as a part of Community Services

Strolling around the lake, it was nice to see beautiful houses and hotels around the lake. There also were benches engraved with SBI logo and name. Good community service initiative by the local branch! 

 

A rainbow was visible in the fountain near the lake

On the road encircling the lake, was Bharat Memorial made by Sahara group. We enjoyed observing the rainbow on one of the man-made fountains. Also saw the profile of Toad Rock which looks like a toad, but is actually a wind eroded rock.

A tourist floating in a balloon in Nakki Lake

The time was also utilised for a long walk and going around the market on one side and the lake on the other. A tourist enjoying floating in a balloon was a unique site. 
I resisted the urge to shop and limited myself to buying a cardigan from the Tibetan Bazar.

 

Sunset at Sunset Point in Mt Abu

SUNSET POINT:

As the evening dawned, it was time to drive towards sunset point. Having parked the car at a designated place, we started walking towards the sunset point. Now it was time for poney-walas to pester us for hiring them for going to the sunset point.  We had to ignore them as we had no intentions of sitting on a poney and be led in some cases by 7-8 years old pony-walas. I wonder how people do not mind being led by such kids while riding a horse.

Sun is soon going to set

We walked up to the sunset point app 2kms. The trees lining the way were tall and majestic and we enjoyed the scenic beauty ignoring the overpowering  horse-dung smell. The sunset point was already crowded and people were taking positions. There was the atmosphere of a big carnival. The place was littered with wrappers of Lays Chips, Tiger biscuits, Coke bottles, plastic tea-cups and mineral water bottles. It looked like it had not been swept for days on. "Don't look down, look up", I told myself.



A sky so pure and the moon so radiant

As the sun started setting, all the shutterbugs got active. We also took a lot of photos and once the sun set, turned around to go back. Public was now pushing each other to go back. What an impatient lot we all are!

The moon rises as the sun sets

What I noticed at that time was the magnificent moonrise and tried to capture the moment on my camera which is posted here for you to see. From sunset to moonrise!

It is time to go back now. Tomorrow morning, we are heading off to Delhi bringing the journey to an end soon. 

             *****