A long drive to visit various religious and tourist places by road was in my mind for many years. At last, the wish realized in Nov-2018 with company of Sadhana, Vijumama and Shubhdamami. We traveled a distance of more than 6,200 km and touched 10 state of India by my Tavera and visited many places of religious, historical and geographical importance.
The Group - DY, Sadhana, Raju, Mami, Vijumama- L to R |
My 2007 Tavera made my dream a reality...!!! |
Overall route was decided at the start of the tour which got changed when we reached Konark and we decided to visit Varanasi, Maihardevei and Bhedaghat instead going to Tirupati Balaji and Kalahasti. Staying arrangements were done on the fly providing some flexibility to travel. Travelling late at nights especially in Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh was exciting with risks of wildlife and overall environment. We lost our ways 3-4 times, but moving in deep forest on a kaccha (raw) road from Chakrdharpur to Ranchi brought some worry in the mind. Traffic conditions, while reaching to Varanasi, were really worse, passing through through big trucks and trailers was an ordeal. Otherwise there were no challenges in the travelling. Getting accommodation in the hotels was by large smooth except a couple of times - in Rewa (Madhya Pradesh and Keonjhar (Odisha)
Click here to see the route of the tour:
The following links show day-wise places visited on that day:
Day 01- Mahad, Narayani, Shikhar Shinganapur and GondawaleClick here to see the route of the tour:
The following links show day-wise places visited on that day:
Day 02-Mhasvad, Velapur, Narsingpur, Aran, Akkalkot
Day 03 - Gangapur, Vijayapur
Day 04 - Almatti, Kudal, Aihole, Pattadakal, Banshnkari, Hospete
Day 05 - Humpi, Raichur
Day 06 - Kuravpur Mantralaya
Day 07 - Mahanandi, Srishailya
Day 08 - Srishailya to Pithapuram
Day 09 - Pithapuram to Chatrapur
Day 10 - Puri and Konark
Day 11 - Konark Sunrise, Pipili, Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneshwar
Day 12 - Sasaram
Day 13 - Varanasi
Day 14 - Maihar Devi
Day 15 - Bheda Ghat
Day 16 - Raisen, Sanchi, Tropic of Cancer, Ujjain, Indore
Day 17 - Omkareshwar, Mandaleshwar
Day 18 - Chandwad, Saptashringi, Dombivili, Thane
After the tour, I was wondering we travel a lot, visit many temples but we get a few seconds for darshana and we are pushed out of the sanctum sanctum of famous temples. But the consolation comes from passion for temple architecture, nature, places,people, and culture.
We covered four of 12 Jyotirlings (Srisailam, Varanasi, Ujjian and Omkareshwar), one of the nine Mahanandis, 2 sacred places of God Dattatreya and one pitha ( i.e. Puri), historical places (like Humpi, Aihole, Vijayapura etc.), and places of tourist attractions (like Konark, Nallamala Hills, Nallamalai Hills, etc.).
An exciting tour which will be remembered for life time by all of us... !!!