As we were walking towards the crowded streets towards the Mansa Devi hill, we were constantly pestered by vendors selling Aarti/Archana bags. We eventually ended up buying one each for the two temples.

After you get the tickets, a ropeway/cable car takes you to the Mansa Devi temple atop the hill.

Flowers at the base of Mansa Devi Hill:

The view from the cable car was so beautiful! The vast expanse of the Ganges was a surprise!

The temple was extremely crowded. Everyone gave their aarti bag to some priest and I too did the same not knowing what to do. We got it back along with some prasad of pori (puffed rice). There didn’t seem to be any pooja done as such. The bag also had a strip of bindis which many ladies were taking out and sticking on a wall. I wonder why that is done.

In one of the shrines, a priest was slapping/tapping the people on the back! Made me wonder what form of a prayer that was!

From Mansa Devi temple, a van takes you to Chandi Devi temple. The place from the van starts:

After a wait that involved standing in a place that had lots of monkeys, the van finally arrived and the travel to Chandi Devi hill situated on the other side of the river took less than half an hour, made to appear even shorter with the panoramic views of the Ganges keeping you awe-struck all the while.

Crossing over the Ganges to reach Chandi Devi hill:

Again a ropeway takes you to the Chandi Devi temple. Chandi Devi hill is steeper than Mansa Devi hill. As we got the aerial view of the entire Haridwar during the ropeway ride, we were bowled over by the magnificence of Ganga! This made the trip to Haridwar totally worthwhile!

The hill houses two small temples, one for Chandi Devi and the other for Anjani Devi, mother of Hanuman!

This is the first time that I heard of a temple for Hanuman’s mother. Anjani Devi’s temple also had a shrine for Hanuman. There was also a Shiva under a tree and a shrine for Bhadrakali on this hill.

Chandi Devi Temple as seen from Anjani Devi Temple:

On the way back, we got down from the van after crossing Ganges and had to walk quite a bit to our hotel. Thus we ended up getting to know some more about the place that Haridwar is. It was just all sorts of Mutts including Kanchi and Sringeri mutts, more shops selling pooja articles, more pilgrims, locals and the sadhus there taking bath in the Ganges. The life of people there revolves around the Ganges and divinity.

One thing that irked me was the open and overflowing drainage in the streets! Why can’t such a popular pilgrimage place be made more hygienic?

After a quick breakfast of Channa Batura (which was when we got to know that there one plate of Channa Batura has two Baturas!) we caught a bus back to Dehradun and by evening were back in Mussoorie, having taken a taxi to Mussoorie from Dehradun railway station.

P.S.: Entire set of photos here

To be contd…

Lord Vinayaka:

He is followed by Kapaleeswarar & Karpagambal on the Adikaara Nandi:

The sight of Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal on the Adikaara Nandi being carried to the music by band and the beats of drums is indeed grandeur personified!

The beautiful deities adorned with lovely jewels and colourful flowers, the floral crown of Kapaleeswara, the beautiful idols of parrots on either sides and above all, the majestic Adikaara Nandi! Wow! Notice how even the deer in Nandi’s hand looks so beautiful!

Notice how the rear of Kapaleeswarar riding on the Adikaara Nandi is beautifully decorated with flowers too:

Following the Adikaara Nandi are Karpagambal & Subramanya:

Subramanya:

Karpagambal up close:

Bringing an end to the procession is Chandikeswarar:

Click here to view the photos in Picasa

It was a bright and sunny morning the next day which meant that, devoid of mist, we had an even clearer view of the surrounding hills. It was then that we realized that the view from Gun Hill was visible right from our room!

I could stand in the balcony and gaze at the snow-capped Himalayas to my heart’s content.

Knowing that the mighty river Ganges was just a couple of hours drive away from Mussoorie, we wanted to visit Hardwar and Rishikesh. So we were off to Dehradun in a Govt. bus that offered an almost rickety ride. The bus went till Dehradun Railway station. We came to know from some locals that we had to go to another bus stand (ISBT) to get buses to Hardwar and Rishikesh. There are a lot of share autos available to ISBT bus stand. With no specific plan in place, we got into the first bus that came our way, which was to Rishikesh.

We found out that the places to visit, Ram Jhula & Lakshman Jhula, about which I have read and heard so much, were at a walkable distance from the bus stop.

We first decided to stop over for lunch. The lunch turned out to be ‘unforgettable’, thanks to the plates piled with butter naan and an overload of paneer side dish that we were served. The last thing that we expected was such a big-sized naan and a huge quantity of the side dish!

After a good 10-15 minutes walk, we came across a bridge over a river that didn’t have water.

(See the drainage water! Sigh!)

We started wondering if we were seeing Ganga sans water!! It was only while we were leaving Rishikesh that we realized that faraway at the end of the pebble-filled empty river bed, water of Ganga was indeed visible!

It was at that time that my camera stopped working!

We continued our hunt for Ram Jhula and it was only after another 15 minutes walk that we finally saw a road to the right which was crowded. Reaching the end of that road, we finally saw the clear waters of Ganga!

The weather was quite hot in Rishikesh in contrast to the cold weather of Mussoorie and we felt stupid being the only ones carrying our jackets in our hands!

Stepping on the cold and clear water of Ganges, losing myself in the lovely sight offered by the clear water, pebbles and the hills on the backdrop, walking over Ram Jhula, crossing Ganga on a boat on the way back, I just loved the place.

Seeing so many two wheelers whiz past us in Ram Jhula made me wish vehicles were not allowed through Ram Jhula. We didn’t visit Lakshman Jhula.

Debating on whether to stay for the Aarti here or to go to Haridwar, we finally caught a share auto to Haridwar.

Reaching Haridwar, we were greeted by Ganga flowing in full force. The first thing that struck me as we walked towards Hari-ki-pauri was the contrast between Haridwar and Rishikesh. While Rishikesh had an air of calm and peace, Haridwar was bustling with activity and the place was very crowded. A walk through the streets later in the evening showed that it was just shops and shops selling either food or pooja articles that formed a major part of the place.

We first checked into a hotel (Hotel Teerth) on the banks of Ganga. I wanted a room with a view of the Ganges and got it too.

The view from the room:

The room was pretty neat. I would recommend it for the beautiful view of the Ganges and the sunrise that you get to see from the room. The food wasn’t good though.

We went to see the famed Aarti which was happening very near the hotel. We had to cross a small bridge over the Ganges to see the Aarti from the other side.

The entire place wore a chaotic, ‘thiruvizha’-like atmosphere what with the ‘Jai Gange Mata’ Aarti song playing on loud speakers, vendors selling beautifully-decorated plates having lamp(s) amidst flowers everywhere and people pushing each other to get to the front to float their Aarti thali (plate) on the Ganges.

Having no clue whatsoever about what is there to see in Haridwar apart from the Aarti, we enquired about the temple that could be seen on a hill nearby and came to know that there were two temples (Mansa Devi & Chandi Devi) on two different hills on either side of the Ganges worth visiting. We were also told that there was a package offered by the Govt. for visiting the two temples for which you can get tickets at the base of the Mansa Devi temple hill.

To be contd…

Day 3:

We wanted to start the day with visiting the most-written-about place in Mussoorie – The Mall Road. Every website I checked had a mention of a walk on Mall Road as a must-do activity in Mussoorie. On enquiry at the resort, we came to know that a taxi to Mall Road from the resort would cost a hundred bucks, which was too high considering the fact that it was only about 1 km from there! So we decided to walk to The Mall Road itself and from that moment on, walking turned out to be the main mode of commuting for us.

Rickshaws and horses happen to be the main means of transportation for visiting places within Mussoorie. Seeing the effort involved for the rickshaw driver to pull his rickshaw in the uphill parts of the roads, we didn’t want to go by rickshaws.

There are a lot of monkeys and langurs in Mussoorie! You are sure to encounter them everywhere.

The Mall Road was nothing but a road full of all sorts of shops.

View from Mall Road:

Our first stop in that road was the aquarium.

I have never been a big fan of seeing fish even in a small fish tank. So unless you like seeing colourful fishes, that too in a place where there are not more than 15-20 breeds, you can give this a miss.

The next stop was Gun Hill. We took the ropeway/cable car to reach the top of the hill which offers views of the Himalayas. You can also reach Gun Hill by walk.

The moment you reach Gun Hill, be prepared to be pestered by ‘photographers’ asking you to get yourself photographed in traditional, colourful Kashmiri costumes. Seeing the photos being shoved at us, I got reminded of the photo of Aravind Samy and Madhubala in Kashmiri costumes in Roja

It was hot and sunny on top! There were petty shops selling snacks and tea.

View from Gun Hill:

I got my first glimpse of snow-capped Himalayas from there!

The sight of the Himalayan snow-capped peaks, though very faraway and appearing as only tiny specks, is the main attraction of Gun Hill. You can also see a close-up of it as well as some 4-5 places in and around Mussoorie like Lal Tibba, Yamunotri, etc. through telescopes by paying 20 bucks. It was only later that we came to know that men with telescopes and Kashmiri costume photographers were to be found everywhere in Mussoorie.

Parvati temple at Gun Hill:

We started walking back towards Mussoorie Library which is on one end of Mall Road, from where our resort was a kilometre away. It is near the library that Mussoorie bus stand is also there.

Mussoorie Library:

As we were nearing the library, we entered a restaurant called Uphaar on a whim and we found the food there so yummy that from then on, we ended up having our breakfast and lunch there everyday. There tasty Dosas and Idlis were available too!

Resort to Mall Road had been a completely downhill walk, which meant that after a heavy lunch, I had to have a tough climb back to the resort!

The road to Mall Road from Dalmia Resort:

As we were just strolling around our resort in the evening, we came across a path with very beautiful scenery of pine and other trees on both sides. The pleasing greenery and the pleasant evening air were really rejuvenating!

We couldn’t see even a single person in the vicinity. So we came back without knowing where the road would lead. It was only later that we came to know that the road would take us to Company/Municipal Garden.

Evenings in Mussoorie were really very cold!

To be contd…

(Photo of rain tree/thoongumoonji poo taken from the terrace of my house)

The last thing on my mind was going for a kutcheri, but when I came to know that Sanjay’s concert was to happen at a venue which is just a 5-minute drive from home, I thought I would try listening to it for 15-20 minutes at least.

But, nowadays, Sahana is keeping all of us at home so busy and she is the only one who has got all our attention, that all of us totally forgot about the concert! I suddenly remembered about it at 7:45 pm and rushed to the temple where the concert was happening. The concert was to start at 6:15 pm and it is only a 2-hour concert there generally. So I knew that I would be there just in time for tani Avartanam. And that was exactly what happened. Sanjay was finishing Mohanam swarams and Tanjavur Murugabhoopathy started the tani.

Post tani, the concert lasted for 20 minutes and the 20 minutes turned out to be a surprise. Sanjay started singing the viruttam ‘jAnAti rAma’ in blissful Kedaragowlai. Kedaragowlai was followed by Varunapriya and another rAgam having rain in its name – Amritavarshini. You generally don’t get to hear lovely sketches of these rAgAs in the tukkada section. Trust Sanjay to make even the last part of a concert special! Jonpuri was the last rAgam of the viruttam. As he included the tune of eppo varuvAro in the Jonpuri part, the audience’s enjoyment was evident. He followed it up with the song Dasharata suta, which I don’t think I have heard before. Varadarajan’s playing matched Sanjay’s singing throughout, as always.

Sanjay then sang mAvalla kAda in Maand and concluded the concert with Mangalam.

20 min or 3 hrs, duration doesn’t matter. Sanjay’s concerts are always satisfying even if you listen to it only for a few minutes!

P.S.: Can someone who attended the concert give me the full song list? Thanks in advance!

Day 1 (March 28th, 2011):

Flight to Delhi from Madras - Technically speaking, though this was the second time I was travelling by flight, since the first time was when I was just six months old (!!!), I can call this my first flight, can’t I? It so happened that in the last year and a half I had to frequently visit the airport for send-offs and receiving. That only made me wish all the more that I should go to the airport as a passenger sometime soon. So it was an excited-me who woke up early in the morning and got ready to catch the flight that was scheduled to leave at 8:30 am. My first flight experience doesn’t have anything extra special to write about except that I got the first aerial glimpse of my city and the capital city.

With a few hours left for our next flight to Dehradun, after getting our boarding pass, we roamed around the Delhi airport terminal 3, doing window shopping and gorging on the sweets and snacks bought from the Haldiram’s outlet there. Being a big fan of Haldiram’s products, seeing lots of sweets and snacks that are not available in Madras, I couldn’t help indulging in them.

Delhi Airport:

Just as we were all set to board the flight, we came to know that the flight to Dehradun was cancelled! Jet Airways gave an option to either go by bus to Dehradun which would involve a 10-hour long journey or to go by flight the next morning. We obviously chose the second option and ended up spending the evening in a hotel arranged by Jet Airways. The hotel was in Gurgaon amidst poorly-lit and congested roads. A walk on nearby roads showed that there was nothing nearby worth visiting.

Day 2:

Flowers outside the Delhi airport:

We reached Dehradun in the afternoon the next day. As the flight neared Dehradun, one could get a glimpse of the hills around the place.

We took a cab to go to Mussoorie which is about 60 km from the Jolly Grant airport, Dehradun. The cab cost was Rs. 1200. The uphill stretch had some nice views. The entry point to Mussoorie was the famed Mall Road, the hub of Mussoorie. From there we had to find the way to the resort where we were to stay - Dalmia Resort (Highness Heights).

Dalmia Resort:

There was absolutely nothing surrounding our resort. And except for some 5-6 staff members, there was nobody apart from us staying there either!

Our room offered stunning views of the hills and mountains and the valley below:

The best (and the only good) thing about the resort was their food. Be it the piping hot tea or their aloo parathas or the rotis and some paneer side dish which turned out to be our dinner menu everyday, everything was yummy. The funny part was since we were the only guests there, our dinner menu ended up being the staff’s too!

To be continued…

Part 2 here