SwapnilJirageTravelPost: Nashik Travel Blog

After our visit to the Statue of Unity, we travelled to Nashik to drop Renuka’s Cousin. We stayed 3 days in Nashik before leaving for Pune. This was my first visit to Nashik as a tourist as earlier visits were for a family function.

Read my Travel Blog On Statue of Unity here

About Nashik
Nashik city is situated at the Bank of Godavari River. It is 4th largest city in Maharashtra. As per Ramayana, Laxman cut the nose of Shurpanakha (Sister of Ravana) and thus the city was named Nashik. The city is famous for Kumbha Mela which held every 12 years. Nashik is also known as the wine capital of India.

Nashik

23 December 2019: Nashik Local sightseen
Our first destination was Nashik caves which are famous by name Pandav Leni. Pandav Leni name is nothing to do with Mahabharata’s characters Pandavas. I tried searching reason behind the name and found that earlier Caves name was Pundru Caves (In Pali language). After decades, people started calling Pandu and then word change (Term in Sanskrit apa-bhraṃśá/अपभ्रंश and in English corrupted form of a word by locals while passing name from 1 generation to another) to Pandav Caves. To visit Nashik Caves, you have to climb around 200 steps (around 20-25 min Hike). There is a total of 24 caves, one cave is chaitya (Cave number 18) and rest all are Viharas. Vihara means monastery for Buddhist whereas chaitya refers to Shrine or prayer Hall. These Caves carved between 1st Century BC and 3rd/4th century AD.

Steps to Nashik Cave

Cave numbers start from rightmost cave starting with number 1 to Number 24 until the Left most point of Cave. Cave 1 and 2 are small in size Vihara cave. Cave 1 looks incomplete whereas Cave 2 have sitting and standing Buddha carved on the wall. You can see water trenches just besides cave 2. Cave 3 is known as Gautamiputra Vihara. It is the largest cave of the Nashik cave complex. Queen Gotami, the mother of Gautamiputra Satakarni (Satavahana Empire), built it and dedicated to Buddhist Samgha. Total of 18 cells is present in the cave. The entrance has six pillars carved with the story. You can see Bodhi tree, Stupa, Chakra and Dvarapal (Gatekeeper) over the entrance. There is a script available at the entrance of the cave, which describes the glory life of Queen Gautami mother of glorious king Gautamiputra.

Cave No 3 at Nashik Caves

Inside Cave No 3

Caves 4 and 5 are destroyed and no script available on the wall of caves. These caves are small and you can see the few Monks Cells. Merchant dedicated cave 6 to Monks. Ascetic named Tapasini and Fisherman respectively dedicates caves 7 and 8 to monks. Cave 9 is small and no information is available.

Cave No 4 at Nashik Cave

Cave No 8

Cave 10 is Nahapana Vihara and it is second largest Cave from Nashik Cave complex. Nahapana was the Ruler of the Western Kshatrapas emperor. Total of 16 cells is present in the cave. Pillars and walls are carving are beautiful whereas carving on pillars is similar to Karla Caves from Pune. Carved script is available in Cave 10, which describes that Cave donated to monks along with 3000 gold coin and food after defeating Satavahana Empire in year 106 CE.

Cave No 10 at Nashik Cave

Cave 11 is Jain Cave and it has idol figure of goddess Ambika and Lord Indra. Cave 12, 13 and 14 are next to each other and small in size. You can see carved Buddha inside Caves and No script available in the caves. Cave 17 is Yavana Vihara and built-in 120 CE. It is close to the Chaitya Cave, which is Cave number 18. Cave 18 has Stupa and Pillars to complete Parikrama around Stupa.

Cave No 15

Cave No 18

Stupa from Nashik Cave

Cave 19 is Sri Yajan Vihara and it contained a total of 21 cells. Hall in the cave is large and Shrine at the end of the wall. Shrine area has two cells. Shrine has 10 feet high Buddha seated on feet on a lotus. Carving style of Inner and outer part of caves are different which denoted that is carved in two different ages. Cave 23 and 24 have different figures of Buddha and Bodhisattvas.

Budhha Statue inside Cave Number 19

You need around 2 to 3 hours to explore Caves properly. All Caves are facing east hence; morning will be the best time to visit the caves. After exploring caves, we visited the Dadasaheb Phalke memorial. He was the father of Indian cinema and made first Indian Film. Memorial has information on Dadasaheb Phalke’s films and on Indian cinema journey.
We had our lunch and decided to explore the Panchvati area. According to Ramayana, Lord Rama along with wife Seeta and brother Laxman was sent to exile (Vanvas in Sanskrit meaning residence in Forest) for 14 years. After completing 10 years, they can on the northern bank of Godavari River near Nashik and lived for 2.5 years. This place is known as Panchvati. Our first destination was the Kalaram Temple. Kalaram temple name derives cos of the black status of Lord Rama. Temple was built in the year 1766 and Sardar Rangarao odhekar had a dream that statue of Rama is in River. He took that Statue and built the temple. Temple is an old and most important temple from Nashik city. Architecture and Carving on the temple are beautiful. A kilometre from Kalaram temple, there is another temple as Goraram temple. Statue of Rama in this temple is in White Color. Temple is old and carved in wood.

Kalaram Temple

We went to see Seeta Gufaa. Photography is strictly not allowed here and you have to pass through the narrow cave. People with Asthma, Heart disease and obesity are not supposed to visit the Gufaa. It is believed that Lord Rama and Seeta use to worship Lord Shiva during their exile. Shivalinga is present inside Cave. Outside Cave area, there are five old Banyan trees. Due to which this area is called as Panchvati (Panch means Five and Vati means Banyan tree). Many Temples are located in this area, which linked with Ramayana.

Panchvati

We explored the Panchvati area and then went to Ganga Ghat. It is one of the main Ghat on Godavari River in Nashik. A Lot of old temples are present on Ghat along with holy Rama Kund. Water is considered as Holy water and devotees come here for holy bath. Water is not clean at Ghat. This place hosts the Kumbha Mela (Gathering of Sandhu and Devotees) which happens once in 12 years. Last Kumbha Mela in Nashik was in the year 2015 and next will be in the year 2027. It is mainly known as Simhastha Kumbha Mela. When Jupiter and Sun enter in Sinha Rashi (Leo Zodiac BUT as per Hindu calendar) and when the lunar phase of the new moon (Amavasya) comes at that time Kumbha Mela begins.

Ganga Ghat, Nashik

According to Hindu Mythology, when Amrit (immortality drink) Kumbha (Pot) appeared from Samudra-Manthan (churning of the ocean to find Treasures between God and Evil), Lord Indra asked lord Jayant (son of Indra) to take it away from evil. While carrying Amrit Kumbha, some drops of nectar fall at four places on earth as Haridwar, Prayagraj (old name Allahabad), Ujjain and Trimbak (Nashik). A Kumbha Mela is celebrated at these four places every twelve years for this reason. People believe that after bathing there during the Kumbha Mela, one can attain moksha (spiritual freedom). We went home after a visit to a holy place.

Ganga Ghat Nashik

Expenses:

Pandav caves entry: INR 75/- for 3 person
Phalke museums entry: INR 30/- for 3 person
Car parking at Phalke museums: INR 10/-
Lunch at Sayali mutton: INR 680/- (chicken, Mutton plate, egg Burji n Rotis)
Snacks: ₹320 (2 Pani Puri, sandwich, 2 coffee)

24 December 2019: Nashik sightseen

We left home by 8AM and visited Sadhana chulivarchi Missal for breakfast. It is considered as one of the most famous Missal from Nashik. Nashik along with Pune and Kolhapur is famous for Missal Dish. There are many famous Missal joints in Nashik and due to Time limit, we only able to taste this one. Overall missal was good in taste but Farshan factor was on the higher side rather than other ingredients. They have huge space and overcrowded on weekends. We went on a weekday so we got the table without waiting in the queue. Will try other missal joints in our next visit to Nashik for sure.

Sadhana Chulivarchi Missal

After Breakfast, we went to Saptashrungi gad. It is around 55-60 km from Nashik city. Saptashrungi temple is dedicated to Goddess Saptashrungi. This place is considered a half Shakti Peetha from Three and a half Shakti Peetha of Maharashtra. There are 51 or 108 Shakti Peetha (Number varies in India based on different mythology account/Book) spread across the Indian subcontinent. The story behind Shakti Peetha is based on the death of Goddess Sati (Wife of Lord Shiva). When Lord Shiva got to know the death of Sati, he carried her body and roamed around it. Her Body parts fell on earth to become holy places known as Shakti Peetha.

Saptashrungi Gad

There is enough parking space available at the base. Many shops on road allowed you to park your vehicle without any parking fees but the catch is you have to buy Saadi and other Pooja stuff from the shop owner, which will cost you starting from INR600 and above. We parked our car in the parking area and took the funicular trolley to reach on top. Another option to reach on top is by climbing 510 steps. Trolley area is well maintained and the waiting area has shops to buy Pooja material for Goddess. Once you reach the top, you have to be a queue for Darshan. Time to take goddess Darshan depends on the date and time of your visit. It is believed that Goddess Saptashrungi took rest after defeating demon Mahishaasura.

Funicular Trolley

After Visit to Saptashrungi visit, we went back to Nashik. Our evening destination was Vineyard. Though we do not drink Wine or any alcohol base drink, we visited the place to understand the process. We visited Sula Vineyard where you can take a tour to understand the Winemaking process. Overall, the vineyard was well decorated and maintained. They also have a tasting tour (Not sure but you can taste a couple of wine by paying some charges) and restaurant. We went to York winery which is a few kilometres from Sula. They also have some facilities like Winemaking tour, Wine tasting, and shop to buy Wine and restaurant. We got to know that food is good at York winery. We had a good dinner before our day ends.

Sula Vineyard

Expenses:

Car petrol: INR 2100/-
Missal: INR 398/- (3 Missal, Jilabi in Sweet, water bottle)
Entry fee at Saptsrungi: INR 30/-
Ropeway ticket: INR 270/- for 3 people
Parking at Saptsurngi: INR 50/-
Dinner at York: INR 1500/- (Soups, 1 veg and 1 Non-veg Starter, Veg Pulav, Chicken Biryani and Cold drink)

25 December 2019: Nashik and Travel back to Pune:
We woke up at 8AM and left Nashik after breakfast. We decided to visit places like artillery museum (Deolali), Veer Savarkar smarak at Bhagur (Birthplace of freedom fighter Veer Savarkar), Gargoti mineral museum, Sinnar and Gondeshwar Temple at Sinnar. Our first destination was the artillery museum. Due to national holiday, the Museum was closed but they allow us to see the artillery, which is kept for display in open ground. The museum is located in Army camp from Deolali. There are old artillery weapons, Tanks, canons and Aircraft displayed in open ground. The museum building was closed due to holiday. Detailed information is available for each artillery.

Artillery Museum, Deolali

Post artillery museum visit, we went to Veer Savarkar smarak. It is the birthplace of great freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. House has resorted and now converted into a museum. You are allowed to roam in the house. Volunteer/Caretaker of property explains to us about the place. We spend some time inside the house for meditation. There are books on Veer Savarkar available for sell.

Veer Savarkar Smarak

Our journey begins towards Pune. We took a small detour to Sinnar for Gargoti Museum. It is one of the biggest private mineral collection. This museum has a collection of beautiful natural mineral and gem found in India. The museum has two-floor, which divides the collection into Deccan plateau collection and Prestige Gallery. Deccan plateau gallery displays mineral and crystals collected from Maharashtra and nearby Maharashtra state. Prestige gallery contains a collection of exclusive and rare collection from India and around the world. They have rocks from Moon and Mars as well as fossils. A guide from Museum gives you detail information about the huge collection. There is one shop where you can buy a few crystal, Gems and ornaments. It required more than an hour to see the entire museum.

Our last destination was Gondeshwar Temple. It is located at Sinnar and temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Temple was built in 11 or 12 century during Yadav dynasty. Temple Complex has Shiva temple at the centre and 4 small temples of Lord Vishnu, Lord Ganesh, Goddess Parvati and Lord Surya (Sun). Temple is built in Bhumija architecture. The main shrine contains Shivalinga. You can see scenes carved on the wall of the temple are from epic Ramayana.

Gondeshwar Temple, Sinnar

After a visit to the temple, we had lunch on the highway and reach Pune safely by 10PM.

Expenses:

Gargoti museums entry: ₹300/- for 3 people
Lunch: 340/-
Toll: ₹70/-
Coffee ₹50/- for 2 coffee

Places which we missed due to lack of Time
1. Trimbakeshwar Temple: This is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India
2. Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary: Bird Sanctuary. I have visited this place a few years back but went without Camera hence skipped blog on it. Best time to visit is from December to Mid March.
3. Someshwar Temple
4. Jain temple
5. Gangapur Dam
6. Anjneri Hill and Waterfall
7. Other Famous Missal Joints.

I will try to upload more and more travel blogs. Thanks for reading this Travel Blog.