Pandharpur & Kolhapur

Time: 24th Aug - 27th Aug, 2023

Place: Kolhapur & Pandharpur

Company: Wife & Daughter

Highlights: Pretty much the same itinerary I had done when I was a teenager with my parents. Wifey hadn't see P'pur and daughter hadn't seen both, so decided we could cover these two religious places during the Varamahalakshmi long weekend holiday.

Day 1: Left YPR at 9 pm previous night and reached Solapur on time at 8 am. We had booked the next train to Pandharpur at about 9ish and it reached P'pur at about 11 am. Took an auto to our booked resting area which was Shri Vitthal Rukmini Bhakta Nivas . Pretty vast, clean and nice Nivas. Relaxed for some time, took bath and then headed to darshan. Another auto to temple entrance. We had booked online for darshan, so had to take token at a nearby counter (where food is offered). Then got some suggestions how to enter, followed the crowd. It was a huge queue but moving. Within about an hour, we were done with the Darshan. I guess this is the only Lord Krishna temple where they allow to touch the idol. Visited all other important idols in the temple like Rukmini, etc.. Sat for some time and enjoyed the ambience - some local folks were dancing, it seemed like a ritual because whosoever passed that courtyard, they were locking hands and rotating with great speed in joy!

Darshan done, we went out and thankfully there was one restaurant who was still open for meals. It was almost 4 pm. We finished meals, it was so spicy! And then we walked towards the Chandrabhaga (Bhima) river. Hardly any water and whatever was present was too black and looked dirty. Many were taking bath even in that. Visited couple of temples on the river bank and then we took an auto to the Kaikadi Maharaj Mandir which houses a great many idols/statues of important events. I had written an article when I visited last in the early 1990s, and it still remained fascinating. The line was labyrinth-like and serpent-ed left, right, up, down, north, south, etc.. Quite a laborious task indeed! Finally we were done, and then we walked back towards our Nivas. Came home, had light snacks and retired for the night.

Day 2: Got up early like 5ish, refreshed and checked out by 6 am. Took an auto to the bus stand where we immediately got a bus to Kolhapur. Reached K'pur by 10 am where we thought we will have light breakfast first (but we should have ideally visited the temple, since the queue was not much). B'fast done, took an auto to the temple. The darshan of the Goddess was quick, maybe took just about 30-45 mins. So, we had lot of time. Hence just relaxed in the temple premises itself. Sat at various locations, had prasadam, visited many idols, did circumambulation, saw Goddess from different locations, etc.. Finally we were done with the temple, and we headed out to have lunch nearby since b'fast was not all that great. We went hither and thither but suddenly came across Anna prasadam (food hall) by temple authorities themselves where food was offered free for all devotees. What better place than this, so had good lunch here. It was delicious.

Took an auto back to the bus stand. An incident happened here - wifey got robbed of her purse. Did not lose much cash but still it was the first time we faced it in our lives. So it kind of pulled us all down in emotion. Anyways, got a bus to Miraj - it was just an hour away. From Miraj bus stand to Miraj railway station was another auto and we were ready to board the train as soon as it arrived. It was just 20-30 mins late, so waited for it. Had ample time - so read novel, ate some snacks, drank tea, had conversation, etc. to kill the time. Finally the train came at about 4:30 pm and rest of the journey back home was uneventful. More conversations, more quality time spent with family. Reached BLR and home on time Sunday morning. Our initial plan was to stay in K'pur for a night and see nearby places, and take train on Sunday to come back on Monday morning, but this was better since we had one day rest before Monday morning.

All in all, a short trip yet something that we wanted to do since a long time. Many times this year, we had heard about Pandharpur and its wonder (including in one of the Carnatic concerts in Rama Navami festival in April), so the timing was right. Seemed good to have had the blessings of Vittal, Rukmini and Mahalakshmi.