English translation of the Kannada article I had written last year for Taranga, the Kannada weekly - Prior to the Kumbh Mela at Nashik:
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Come July this
year, all roads lead to Nashik, as
it is the turn of this ancient city to host the Maha Kumbh Mela again, after a gap of twelve years. The city is
already gearing up for its tryst with the devotees, with roads being widened
and re-laid all around, while temporary and long term investments are being
made with the construction of lodges and guest houses inside the city and on
its outskirts.
Nashik is one of
the four places where the holy Kumbh happens, Haridwar, Prayag and Ujjain being
the other three cities. Nashik has had a central role to play in Ramayana too.
Rama, exiled for 14 years from Ayodhya, spent most of his time in the forests
of Panchavati on the banks of river
Godavari. Panchavati today is a part of the city of Nashik. Nashik itself is
said to derive its name from the incident of Lakshmana cutting off the nose of
Shurpanakha, sister of Ravana. Nasika
is Sanskrit, of course, means nose. The Aranya
Kanda of Ramayana, is hence, set in and around Nashik.
As you get to hear
more and more about this city over the course of the year and ponder about
visiting the banks of Godavari, you must keep track of the places to visit in
and around Nashik. There are quite a few historically and architecturally
important destinations, and this article makes an attempt to introduce those.
The Godavari Ghats and the Surrounding Temples
The main ghats within the city is Ramkund, which separates the Panchavati
area from the rest of the city. The calm Godavari River makes its way slowly
through the city, via these ghats.
Picture 1: A view of the Ramkund Godavari Ghats on a calm
evening
Ramkund is surrounded
by many temples, small and big, but the architecturally important ones strike
you right away as you look around. Most of these temples were constructed in late
17th century and in early parts of the 18th century, by
the mighty Peshwas and the Holkars of Indore. Right opposite to the main ghat
of Ramkund is what locals refer to as the Gora
Nandi Temple – an 18th century Shiva Temple that has a
relatively newly placed marble statue of Nandi, leading to its popular name. The
temple, like many others in the region and of that time, has 3 shrines one
behind the other – a smaller outermost open hall that hosts the Nandi with a
dome shaped shrine on top, a middle larger closed hall, and the main sanctum
that hosts the Shiva Linga, covered by the elongated Nagara style shrine.
Picture 2: The Gora Nandi Temple at Ramkund
Not far away
from this temple is the famous Naroshankara
Temple, another huge Shiva temple built on top of a pedestal with intricate
carvings on the outer walls. Naroshankar Temple also has three shrines with the
innermost one being the sanctum, and has three additional horizontal shrines on
the outside entrance, and the one at the centre houses the famous “Naroshankar
Bell”, in memory of the victory over the Portuguese. The temple, dedicated to Rameshwara was built in 1747 by
Naroshankar Rajebahaddur. While the Nagara
style main shrine oozes symmetry and perfection, the large middle shrine is
equally impressive with carvings of elephants and lions. The outer walls
contain detailed carvings of Dattatreya, Ganesha, Kala Bhairava, meditating
saints and more.
Picture 3: A look at the shrines of the Naroshankara Temple
from the Godavari Ghats
Picture 4: The grand main shrine of the Naroshankara Temple
Right opposite
the Naroshankar Temple on the other side of the ghats is the Nilakantheshwara
Temple constructed by the Peshwas. The
architecture is similar to the other two temples, while the stones used for
construction appear to be of a darker shade. The inner sanctum hosts a marble Shiva
Linga and opposite to it is another Nandi carved out of marble.
Picture 5: Nilakantheshwara Temple, Ramkund at Nashik
Crossing the
road and going to the opposite side of the Ramkund takes you to the other
architectural spectacle of this place, the Sundar
Narayan Temple. In this temple, the Sundaranarayana form of Vishnu is
worshipped, along with his consorts Lakshmi and Vrunda. Inside the temple, you
can also find rare sculptures of “Standing Ganesha (Marathi: Ubha Ganapati)”
and “Sitting Hanuman (Marathi: Baslela Maruti)” among others.
Picture 6: A side view of the grand Sundar Narayan Temple,
Nashik
There are more
temples within the radius of a couple of kilometres of Ramkund, including the
Ganga Godavari Mandir, the Sita Gumpha, the five Banyan Trees indicating
Panchavati, The huge sculptures of Dutondya Maruti, the grand Kalaram Mandir constructed by Sardar
Odhekar of the Peshwas where Dr. Ambedkar fought to achieve entry for everyone,
and more.
Triambakeshwar Jyotirlinga and Kushavarta
The Triambakeshwar
Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas
across India, is about 28 kms away from the Nashik city. Brahmagiri Hill, which
provides a great backdrop for the temple, is where River Godavari takes birth. According
to a popular belief, Sage Gowtama performed penance on top of the hill to
please Shiva and get River Ganga to flow at Triambakeshwar, to wash off his sin
of accidentally killing a cow. Ganga came, in the form of Godavari, but was
tough to find and contain as she flew down the hill and through the hermitage
of Gowtama. He covered up a section of the land with long grass and succeeded
in containing the flow of the river there and took bath to ward off his sins.
This area is known as Kushavarta (Kusha means grass in Sanskrit and hence
Kushavarta means surrounded with grass), a kund
treated extremely holy by the pilgrims flocking to Triambakeshwar.
Picture 7: Kushavarta Kund at Triambakeshwar
Reconstructed by
Balaji Baji Rao Peshwa (Nanasaheb), the Triambakeshwar Temple looks majestic,
made out of five shrines with huge and strong architecture. The inner sanctum
houses the jyotirlinga that is believed to have aspects of Shiva, Vishnu and
Brahma, and is worshipped all through the day. The serenity of the environment
must be experienced to be believed.
Picture 8: The main shrine of the Traimbakeshwar Temple, with
Brahmagiri as the backdrop
Pandu Lena Caves
About 8 kms to
the southwest of Nashik city, a group of 24 caves capture the imagination of
history buffs. Known as Pandu Lena (Lena in Marathi means cave), these are
Hinayana Buddhist cave temples carved between 3rd century BC and 2nd
century AD. The cave temples are situated atop the Trirashmi Hills, and can be
reached after climbing about 250 steps. While monks and commoners of that era
have donated considerably towards the development and maintenance of these cave
temples, profuse contributions towards their construction were sanctioned by
the rulers of the time, the Satavahanas, the Kshatrapas and the Abhirs. There
are invaluable inscriptions from the times of Satavahana kings Gautami Putra
Satakarni, Vasisthiputra Pulumavi, Krishna; Kshatrapa kings Nahapana and
Usabadatta and many more on the walls of the Viharas and the Chaityas.
Picture 9: Chaitya at Pandu Lena – An architectural marvel
from nearly 2000 years ago
While most of
the carved caves are empty with large gathering areas, there are quite a few
beautifully carved images of Buddha and Bodhisattva across them too. There is
even a beautiful and rare “Reclining Buddha” carving inside the 24th
cave. The main prayer hall, Chaitya, can be seen in cave 18 with perfect
looking apsidal ceiling supported by two rows of octagonal pillars, and a huge
cylindrical stupa at the back of the nave.
Picture 10: Calmness in stone. One of many enchanting Buddha
statues in Pandu Lena caves
The caves
themselves got the name Pandu Lena on the back of the word “Pundru”, indicating
yellowish colour of the rocks of the hill. A beautiful scenic view of the
entire Nashik city and its outskirts is another advantage the tourist gets by
climbing up to Pandu Lena.
Nashik is also
close to the home town of freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The place
is Bhagur, 17 kms from Nashik, where his home has been converted into a memorial,
with a collection of rare photographs of the life and times of the much revered
soul. Nashik also has many other temples of significance and memorials,
including one dedicated to Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the father of Indian
cinema. So, if you plan to visit Nashik during the Kumbh Mela, don’t forget to
explore its many facets.
Picture 11: State Government of Maharashtra has converted Savarkar's home at Bhagur into a memorial
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