27. In Search of the Spirits and for the Spiritual : A Trip to Devlali, Igatpuri and Nashik

Over the long weekend coinciding with Independence Day, four of us decided to go by train from Mumbai to Devlali and surrounding areas. The AC Chair car left me feeling a little frustrated as the clouded double glassed windows are not meant for enjoying the view outside. Anyway it was not hard to keep ourselves entertained for the short three and a half hours trip. The last 15 minutes spent peering out in the dark so we do not miss our two minute stop. As it often happens fellow travelers to small towns bond naturally, a few smartys (read army officers in civvies) teased us by saying the train driver has missed Devlali. While waiting for our local taxi to arrive, in this laid back city, we explored the near empty, tiny, rain drenched railway station, taking pictures with my mobile, while a Bengali gentleman complained loudly to his wife about my taking pictures in a prohibited area, who in turn asked him to mind his own business. Army town on the eve of Independence Day, I decided to take it easy.

Welcome Board at the Devlali Rly Stn.The time on the Grandfather clock was not correct

"Bholu the Guard", mascot of the Indian Railways

Siesta time! Outside the station

DEVLALI (Deolali)

Devlali, situated amidst the beautiful Sahyadri ranges on the banks of the River Darna, is one of the oldest military centres in India, set up by the British in 1861 and the original home of the Army Staff College and the Gunners. The School of Artillery of the Indian Army is located here, shifted, after Independence, from Quetta (now in Pakistan). It also has the Army Psychiatric Hospital. In fact because of the latter a new term “doollaly” was coined by the British soldiers, which meant going crazy. We saw the remnants of the sanatoriums and their Indian versions, the “Arogyadhams” in great numbers during our long morning walks.

City of sanatoriums and arogyadhams

Friendships formed during the long morning walks

A short toed lark

Indian Black Ibis

Seeing Ibis' nesting in trees in the middle of the city was a treat!

Weaver (Baya) Bird

Weaver bird nests in a well!

IGATPURI

On Independence Day we started early with the intention of going to the Sula wineries and see the Darna Dam enroute. However, our Taxi driver was a little confused about the location of the dam and despite Smita’s GPS directions managed to take us on the Highway to Igatpuri. It dawned on us that it being a dry day maybe the Winery was closed so we decided to go to the Vipassana Meditation Centre instead. So instead of searching for the spirits of Sula we were directed towards a search for the spiritual. Set up by Shri S.N. Goenka the Vipassana Centre, called Dhamma Giri, (close to Igatpuri railway station) regularly conducts courses in Vipassana which is a Budhist method of meditation. Surrounded by mist covered hills and sprawling lawns the centre is a beautiful place to be. The gentleman at the information centre also prompted us to do a short meditation after the audio. The experience made me decide to take the course as soon as possible.

The entrance to Dhamma Giri

Mist covered hills

The Information Centre

On the way back we stopped at the Manas Resort for lunch but before that we went to see the Tringalwadi fort and the Vaitarna Dam. As it was raining the photography was not very rewarding but the experience was great. 

Picturesque countryside

Vaitarna Lake

Rice fields

In the evening after returning to our place of stay in Devlali we went upto the Temple Hill and enjoyed the setting sun.

Temple Hill

The next day we spent our time exploring the local market and drove up to Cadet Hill and saw some Artillery guns firing and the fantastic view from the top. The ‘Kachoris’ of Garib Das Sweets in Levitte Market were rather good. The other place one can eat is Bharat Cold Drinks.

Barne's School seen from Cadet Hill

Front seats to the firing range

A temple on an adjoining hill. Daunting climb up!

SAPUTARA AND THE SULA WINERIES

When we had planned this trip our main interest was in going to Saputara, a hill station in Gujarat very close to the Maharashtra border. So, on the third day, at 5 am in the morning we had packed up and vacated our quarters with the intention of spending the night in Saputara and leaving next day directly by train from Nashik Road.

Sarpganga Garden around the lake

The Nageshwar (Shiva as the Lord of the snakes) Mahadev Temple.

A small bee-keeping centre

Artist's Village

The Saputara Tribal Museum

 

An exhibit

Saputara, meaning the 'land of serpents', is the land of the Dang tribals. It does not have the feel of the ‘Raj’ as most of the other Indian hill stations because it was a post Independence find. We were all geared up for long walks in the forests and around the lake but unfortunately it was raining and windy. So when we went to check into the Gujarat Government Tourism Resort (Toran) and found it uninspiring it did not take us long to decide to make it a day trip. We thoroughly enjoyed our walk around the lake in the rain, Rajeev and I squabbling like kids for the single umbrella between us.

 

Things we probably missed doing! I only missed walking in the forest and encountering a snake.

The umbrella protected neither of us

Drying out! On the way back from Saputara

Our trip got over by the afternoon so we unanimously voted to have our lunch at the Sula winery in Nashik. It was a great decision and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive, the food and the wine.

A yellow carpet of wild flowers amidst the Dindori hills

The vineyards of Sula

Enjoying the late harvest Chenin Blanc

Rajeev examining the Basket Press

Promoting the bubbly!

Muktidham

On the last day while we waited for our respective trains we made a trip to the Muktidham in Nashik and saw the Godavari river, in spate, after the monsoon rains.

Muktidham

Banks of the Godavari

An impassioned plea against female infanticide pasted on a wall near the river

After a sumptuous lunch at 'Purohit's' we parted to catch our respective trains. While we happily lazed at the station after the heavy lunch waiting for our evening 5pm train, Rajeev thought of checking our ticket printout for the first time. Through the haze of a Gujarati Thali induced stupor, it suddenly dawned on him that scheduled departure 05:10 means 5am and not 5pm. Well! needless to say the euphoria of the vacation soon evaporated and we ran from the Railway ticket window to the Roadways Bus ticket window (a hop and a skip away) and realised to our dismay that the long weekend had brought the whole population of Pune to Nashik! and they were all trying to get back home now. To tell you the truth I found it quite funny and enjoyed the faux pas and wondering what to do next. So to cut a long story short - we decided to catch the same train the next day and just about managed to get the tickets, but this time in the general class as the AC Chair Car was booked. So I finally got my desire to look out the window at the beautiful landscape of Maharashtra which comes to life during the monsoons. (But I've learnt to keep my mouth shut in future, in case the Universe decides to grant my wish, one way or the other). Spent the time exploring the market near the station, walking in the rain and slush under one umbrella!. Discovered a book exhibition and picked up books on birds, insects, stars and coins respectively, after checking into a small hotel near the station.