Brahmanand Swami Samadhi

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The Samadhi was not on our list of places to visit in Malvan.  But as we were sightseeing we asked a couple of locals and they told us about this place, which is a cave.

Brahmanand Swami Samadhi

As caves are a matter of interest for me, we headed off to see it.

The Samadhi is located around 5 km away from Malvan City in Ozar. It is located near to Rewandi Village which is on the way to Achara.   There is a board put up near the Samadhi so that you don’t miss it.  We took the services of a rickshaw to reach here. . This place looked deserted, now I am not quite sure why? 

Cave premises

The time was around 3 pm when we reached here.  There was no sign of any human or any vehicle there.  

Legend says that this cave leads to Sindhudurg fort by a underground roadway. We tried to explore but there was no sign on it.  Shri Brahmanand Swami mediated here and after his death his Samadhi was built here.

Temple in its premises

We sat in its premises and rested in the shade of the lush green trees. I felt so calm and relaxed here. I can now co relate with Shri Brahmanand as to why he selected this place to mediate. I so didn’t want to go exploring other places.

The premises consist of cave where he mediated, a Shiva temple, a reservoir and many trees which offer a good shade in the scorching heat.

To enjoy peace of mind, do visit this place.

Hithakshi and Me at Tarkarli Beach

So as all good trips come to an end, so did this one. Thanks Hithakshi for making this trip a memorable one. 

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Rameshwar Temple at Achara

Friday, March 14, 2014

After having done with Devgad Fort, Devgad Port, Devgad Beach, KunkeshwarTemple and Vijaydurg we headed back to Malvan.

As there was no direct bus to Malvan in the morning we decided to do a stopover trip, we boarded a bus to Achara. Btw the bus was going to Achara only.

We alighted at Achara after a three hour journey in the interiors of this place. It cost us Rs. 58 for this journey. 

Premises of Rameshwar Temple in Achara

We asked the locals around and they told us to visit Rameshwar Temple at Achara which is located at a walking distance from there. They told us that it would take us around 30 minutes to reach this place.

We walked on the road as we were directed and reached the entrance of the temple. This temple is beautiful. The pillars of the temple and the colors it was painted in, pushes one back in time.

There are a few old diya stands in the fort premises called as stumbhs in Marathi, they were constructed in the 17^th century.

Old Diya stands in the Temple premises

Chhatrapati Shambu Raje of Kolhapur had given this Iman (Iman means land given by Kings and Emperors to people for the achievements) to Shri Dev Rameshwar (i.e. Lord Shiva) this temple is dedicated to Shiva.

We decided to have our lunch at the temple premises. The lunch consisted of rice, dal curry, kidney beans and a sweet dish. The women in the temple premises prepare food for all the devotees who come here and serve it to them. The food is free of cost. The women serve food as they believe that they are blessed when they serve unknown people.

Free food served in the Temple premises

After Hithakshi got her blessings and our stomachs full to the core we decided to head back to Malvan.

Though the journey from Malvan to Devgad consumed just 3 hours of our time this return journey consumed around 8 hours of our time.

As we sat in a bus that took us on a darshan to the interiors of Achara and Devgad. Never the less travelling around in rustic Maharashtra was fun, the rollercoaster ride in the jungle the small and squeaky houses around both on low lying and high lying  areas was amazing.

I was imagining what a difficult life it is for these people to commute as they stay so deep in the heart of nature.

Finally at 1630 hours we reached Malvan ST Bus depot. We were on a mission now as we had to lookout for a place to stay for the night, that too a budgeted one.

Rameshwar Temple interiors

We finally got ourselves a room on rent at Rs. 700 per night at Hotel Sahil Palace. Thanks to the chemist we inquired at. The owner of the chemist turned out to be the brother of the local MLA who owned the Hotel. 

He gave us at a discounted rate but a spacious room for the two of us. 

Had thali dinner in a local restaurant and called it a night as we had to do Devbag beach, Tarkarli beach the next day.