Backpacking India III- A Classic Pilgrimage!

Backpacking India- Part III was much awaited. Two years ago I wanted a monsoon-visit to Maharashtra which didn't work as planned because my mother had to undergo knee replacement surgery. Many things happened after that! With the loss of a parent I found myself as a victim of a disaster. The feeling of void was paramount and I thought of finding peace in praying for my departed Dad. Couldn't really take the restlessness anymore and I started with the plan of visiting only Varanasi- that is what I told my family. But, then continued for almost 70 days until I was left with no money in hand. On my way, crossed the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu before reaching home in Bangalore!

Though there are few National Parks in this part of India it wasn't possible to visit them without the prior plans and permissions. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar weather wasn't favorable in the month of December. Through the thick fog nothing much was really visible. In Orissa, some parks were closed for counting animals- that is what Odisha tourism personnel at Kolkata office told me. And internet, guidebooks and most of the travel material pointed more to the religious places than any highlight on the rest. Without any complaints I ended up going on a long pilgrimage!

I spent most of the time in the temples or near temples, near rivers or ocean fronts. The sound of bells and devotional hymns, chanting of mantras, music of the crashing ocean waves, gentle flow of river water, fragrance of incense, camphor and flowers like jasmine and champa, bright colors of kumkum, turmeric, vermillion, marigold and chunari, the cool inside granite temples, the darkness inside the sanctums, everything was mystifying experience. Nothing new but, still so mysterious ...

Rest of my experience was very diverse. I started from Vadodara, Gujarat in a train- Sabarmati Express, slowest of all, traveled almost across India from west to east for about 36 hours to reach Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. In Uttar Pradesh- I was totally bewildered in Varanasi, amazed at the size of Dhameka stupa in Sarnath, had an unbelievable boat ride to Triveni Sangam near Allahabad, got lost exploring the labyrinth of Bada Imambra in Lucknow, visited Ram Janmabhomi amidst the armed army in Ayodhya, communicated with Buddhist monks from Japan and Sri Lanka in sign language in Khushinagar. It took little more than 10 hours by bus to reach back Varanasi from Khushinagar, about 255KM or 160 miles! 

In Bihar- visited ruins of ancient Pataliputra in Patna, experienced the private bus rides of Bihar when reaching Vaishali, Nalanda and Rajgir, learned many mythological stories in Gaya, amazed to see the butter art at Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya. Then, set afoot in Jharkhand to visit Vaidyanath Jyotilinga. In West Bengal- wandered around the peaceful campus of Tagore's Shantiniketan, traveled by passenger train from Burdwan to Bholpur which seemed like stopping every 5mins, ate lots of sweets made of nolen gur (jaggery made from dates/khajur) in Kolkata. 

In Odisha- temple-hopped in the temple town of Bhubneshwar, visited Dhauli the sight of infamous battle of Kalinga, enjoyed the golden sand of Odisha beaches in Puri and Chilika, enjoyed hide-and-seek played by irrawaddy dolphins, went on an autorikshaw ride up to the hill of Tara-Tarini temple in Berhampur. In Andhra Pradesh- wondered why singles are not allowed in Srisailam! Ahh! Can you believe? You are single that means your are suicidal!

In Tamil Nadu-put on weight eating idly-vada-sambar-chutney, went counting the thousand pillars of the temple in Rameshwaram, got backache on the rough ride to Dhanushkodi, enjoyed the art in that magnificent temple of Madurai Meenakshi, my feet hurt while I stood in the line for free darshan in Srirangam on a dwadashi day, saw the (huge) brihat-lingams at Brihadeeshwara temples of Tanjavur, Darasuram and Gangaikondacholapuram, once again temple-hopped in Kumbakonam and enjoyed that divine decoction of Kumbakonam-degree-coffee, tried to understand the Chidambara rahasya in Chidambaram, another round of temple hopping in Kanchipuram before getting into the bus to Bangalore. 

I could go on forever ... Well, in this trip my luggage was reduced to half of that of my last backpacking trip. I no longer need 40L backpack, 20L is enough! Spent 30% less money than that of my last trip! Chocolates and cookies didn't get into my bag, I enjoyed local fruits and street food as mid-day snacks. Well, I consider the upset-stomach in Patna for 3 days as an experience :) I didn't find much time  to update my blog though I had my iPad traveling with me. Didn't bother to buy any souvenirs, instead collected pictures, memories and experiences. Not sure that makes me look like wise-traveler or a hobo :)

Look for posts on my experiences in all these destinations ... Come back again and be part of my journey, you will not be disappointed :)

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Scrapbook- A Travel Blog by Kusum Sanu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.