Tourist Places in and Around Vidisha

During our recent trip to Madhya Pradesh we visited a number of places. Vidisha was one of them. It has a number of places of tourist interest in the city and nearby. We went to vidisha from Sagar which is famous for its Sir Hari Singh Gaur University, a central university situated on a hill top with a beautiful surroundings and a view of the lake known as Talab in the center of the city. It also has the famous fort of Gharpahar and the Hanuman temple nearby and he Mahar Regimental Center. 

On the Road from Sagar to Vidisha after travelling a distance of 37 Km you come to a bifurcation where the left road takes you to Raisen and then Bhopal and the straight road takes you to Vidisha and then to Bhopal via Sanchi. At the bifurcation take the left road and travel approximately 10 Km and immediately after the toll barrier take a right turn and travel 2 Km on the forest road to reach to the beautiful falls of Rahatgarh. It is in the jungle and the water in the falls, if there, makes it a very nice picnic spot. Even if there is no fall then still the gorge filled with the water and the boulder in the river bed with birds and may be deer make your stay worthwhile. Return to the bifurcation and turn left for Vidisha.  After travelling another 40 Km you reach a place called Gyraspur. Here right on the road are the famous ruins called Athakhambe ( Eight pillars) and Chaukhambe (Four Pillars ) of what is left over of two temples belonging to 9^th and 10^th century AD. The carvings on the pillars testify the high degree of craftsmanship. You can also see the Mala Devi Temple in the city and Bajra Math some distance away. These will not take more than an hour in total unless you wish to spend more time.

From Gyraspur, it is another 37 Km to Vidisha. It is situated on the fork of Betwa and Bes River. In Vidisha one can see the Heliodorous Pillar also known as Khamba baba. The inscription on this monolithic, free standing column states that it was a Garuda Pillar raised in the honor of Vasudev by Heliodorous a resident of Taxila. This pillar is dated to have been made in 140 BC. Vidisha also has a museum with good collection of antiquities and terracotta. The Lohangi rock, Gumbaz ka Makabara and Bijamandal Mosque standing on the foundation of a temple as well as the ruins of the Brahamancial shrine dedicated to Vishnu are other tourist spots in Vidisha.

50 Km from Vidisha is the famous colossal Neelkanteshwara temple in Udaypur and was built in 11^th century AD. It is built with the help of fine red stone and is an outstanding example of Parmara art and architecture and stands on a lofty platform. On the way there are various temples and masjids to be seen.

From Vidisha on the road to Chanderi after travelling a few km and after crossing Betwa River, you turn left on a forest cum village road to go the famous Udaigiri Caves. These are rock cut cave sanctuaries carved into a sandstone hill. These were produced during the reign of Chandragupta II (382-402 AD). There are nine caves in all and in one of them stands the very tall figure of Vishnu inn Varaha form. Probably, it is the only place in India, where Vishnu is displayed in Varaha form. Another stupendous sculpture is of the reclining Vishnu. In all the caves are worth seeing even though one has to walk and even climb to see all of them. So wear good walking shoes.

From Udaigiri caves there is route which will take you to Sanchi straight but the road is not good. Hence it is advisable to come back to Vidisha and then proceed to Sanchi a short distance away. It has temples and pillars which date back from 3rd century BC to 12th century AD. Places to visit in Sanchi are the Great Stupa, the four Gateways, stupa 2 and 3, the Ashoka Pillar, the Buddhists Vihara, Great Bowl, Gupta temple and the museum. It might take you at least half a day to a full day depending upon how much time one wishes to spend. From Sanchi the capital Bhopal is about 50 Km away on a direct route. This route is good but high density of traffic and at places some small potholes and places where road plaster has come out make it necessary to drive carefully. The other route is via Raisen but this road has toll and after Raisen the traffic density is rather high with trucks.

Road Trip NOIDA to Bilaspur in Chattisgarh

In Jun 2014 we took a road trip from NOIDA to Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh via Allahabad, Bandhavgarh, Amarkantak and then finally to Bilaspur.

NOIDA to Allahabad.

From Noida to Greater Noida it was the expressway till we reached the turning point for Yamuna expressway. This is a six lane expressway till short of Pari Chowk in Greater Noida. The speed limit is 90 km per hour but watch out for the dumpers, trucks and cars exceeding the speed limit and cutting suddenly in your lane and also for the traffic coming from service lane. Avoid office going and coming back time as it crowded and movement slow. Also keep a sharp look out for the dumpers and vehicles which have stalled in your or other lane with no indication or lights. A number of accidents have taken place due to these stalled vehicles. The traffic police are now installing intelligent traffic management system it is expected that traffic management may improve. Fill up fuel before you leave as it has no fuel pumps for 30 Km till Yamuna expressway and then 168 Km to Agra. Yamuna expressway has very good concrete surface and the speed limit is 100 Km/hr but watch out for the stalled vehicles and vehicles over speeding and overtaking from left and right both sides. It has three toll booths and a rather high price tag of Rs.320/= till Agra which you can buy in one go also. Bath rooms and restaurants are only after each toll booths. Bath rooms are good but the restaurants a little bit expensive. The whole expressway has no fuel pump except one which is 2 Km off the expressway somewhere in the middle. Do not stop in between toll booth as there have been quite a few armed robberies. There are no trees or shades on the central divider so you get glare in the night. Avoid night driving if possible. You come out on NH 2 about 11 Km after Agra. Turn left on the NH2 to proceed to Kanpur. For Agra you will have to take a U turn at about 1 Km after entering the NH2. You take this road till Firozabad where you will have to slow down as the highway passes through city with rumble strips at each crossing and an over bridge. But the problem starts as soon you come out of over bridge and come across the crossing at which the trucks take a right turn to avoid going into the city. This is a bottle neck area. After this you will be passing through Shikohabad and then bypass Etawah. At present the highway from Etawah to Kanpur is being made six lanes with a number of over bridges under construction. Hence you take the side road which has speed breakers and it brings your speed down.  Therefore this 170 Km stretch from Etawah to Kanpur will take approximately double time as compared to what it used to take earlier. After the Kanpur –Jhansi highway joins the NH2 then keep a good watch oh traffic especially, tempos, taxis and maxis till you reach the over bridge. The only good eating place on this stretch is at Skindara, approximately 70 km before Kanpur, where there is BP petrol pump and a dhaba next to it with a good parking behind the dhaba and reasonably good bathrooms and a place for family to sit and eat. The food is reasonable priced and is worth a break. By this time you will have covered approximately 380 Km from NOIDA, slightly more than half way through. At Kanpur you take the over bridge for another 25 Km of elevated road which effectively bypasses the whole Kanpur and come out to surface level after Chakeri near the Industrial area. The road from here is four lane with good surface but watch out for traffic coming from opposite direction of cars, trucks, tractors and motorcycles .The tractors and motorcycles keep popping up from various cut which locals have created.. This will continue till you reach Allahabad. At over bridges you will find buses, taxies, tempos parked on it thus reducing the width to effectively one lane. After Fathehpur you will find the road narrowing and suddenly your way blocked by a Mazar. The road takes a sharp right and back again to avoid it. Please keep your speed under control here.  $0 km short of Allahabad you come across an over bridge where the straight road will take you to the bridge on Ganga and then to Varanasi and a right turn after reaching the top will take you to the approach road to Allahabad. This 40 km road is two lanes with traffic of cycles, motorcycles, tempos and buses. Passing though habitation will bring the speed to almost crawling and the road is not very good either with speed breakers and potholes, some big enough to swallow your car. It is 40 Km till High Court and then this road, known as Kanpur Road, will also take you out of Allahabad to another bridge on Ganga at Daragaj and then to Varanasi after meeting the NH 2 about 35 Km from Allahabad. You can also take the road straight rather than turning right at 40 Km marking and go straight, cross Ganga and then take a loop to join the Lucknow- Allahabad road and come back to Allahabad after crossing Ganga again at Phaphamau. It is approximately a 680 Km trip from Noida to Allahabad which can be done in about 10 hours but with highway widening it now takes about 12 hours to reach Allahabad. So start early to avoid traffic near Allahabad and in the city. There are no public conveniences after you leave Yamuna expressway. The only reasonably good bathrooms are in the dhaba at Sikandara after Etawah and about 70 km short of Kanpur. There may some bathroom facilities in some big petrol pumps but that you will have to ask and check.

Allahabad to Bandhavgarh

Allahabad to Bandhavgarh is about 280 km via partly NH 7 and state roads. You can take NH 7 till Rewa and then turn left to take the road to Govindgarh and then the state highway to Shahdol. About 60 Km from Rewa you take a right turn and this road will take you to Bandhavgarh. The other road is to take NH 7 up to Amarpatan and then turn left to take the road to Badhavgarh. The third route is via Katni and is longer. We took the road via Govindgarh.  You come out of Allahabad towards the newly constructed Yamuna Bridge and take the straight road on the crossing after the bridge to go to Rewa. The road till the border of UP and MP, that is Chak Ghat, was a typical UP road passable but with potholes and in between good road. Avoid this stretch in the late evening and night as it is a nightmare to do this in the late evening and early night. The road from Chak Ghat to Rewa is being made six lanes and hence was reasonable only in parts with a lot of diversions and with little indication as to which direction for you to follow. So please use the vehicle ahead as a guide whether to divert left or right. At places the road was good. Hopefully in another year the road will be ready. Before entering Rewa leave the HN7 and turn left to go to the city and this road will take you as a bypass for the city to meet the road going to Govindgarh.  At Govindgarh turn right to take the state highway towards Shahdol.  About 60 Km and crossing the ghat section you approach a dam on river Son, you can take a slight diversion to go to the reservoir and enjoy the beauty. A few kilometers ahead, right next to the dam on the right hand side, there is a restaurant where you can get snacks (Poha, Dosa, Idli, stuffed paronthas, etc.), lunch and enjoys the beauty of dam and the river. The restaurant has its own garden for vegetables and fruits and the location is good with clean bathrooms and if you wish to stay then they have a few rooms also. Take a break and some rest here and enjoy the garden and the gardener gives lot of free advices on how to maintain your vegetable and fruit garden. Bandhavgarh is a small but good national forest where the chances of spotting a tiger are good. The reservation to safari is right next to the forest rest house.

Bandhavgarh to Amarkantak.

From Bandhavgarh there is a short route via Umaria to Shahdol but the road is not good till Umaria so we decided to come back the 40 Km to the state highway and turned right for Shahdol. The road a state highway was two lanes but with good surface and with little traffic it was a pleasure to drive through the forest. Before entering Shahdol take the bypass to go to NH 78 towards Budhar. After Shahdol, please be extra careful as the road passes through deep pits of open coal mines. Not only the road is bad for about 3 Km but at places it disappears in black soot completely. At Budhar you leave the highway and turn right to go to Amarkantak . It is a 76 km drive to Amarkantak with ghat section and beautiful forest and scenery. It is two lane road but good surface and little traffic hence you can enjoy the scenery. Amarkantak is famous and a religious place as it is the origin of two rivers, where Son River flows eastward and the other Narmada flows westward. It is place full of temples with beautiful scenery.

Amarkantak to Bilaspur

From Amarkantak there are two routes for Bilaspur. The state highway via Pendra, Kathgora and the other one the shorter one is via Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary. The road from Amarkantak via Achanakmar is two lanes but less in width and is a jungle road but reasonably good. At places some plaster has come out but motorable. It passes through the wildlife sanctuary hence you have to enter the details while entering and also on leaving. Most of this road is either ghat section or forest road and hence the forest and scenery is worth enjoying. Near the exit gate they have a booking center where you can take a guide from forest department and visit the scanctuary in your own car or take a gypsy on hire. It is called Achanakmar because earlier it was a dense forest and was full of leopards and they used to jump from trees to catch their prey. The drive through the forest is enjoyable and you might see bison, deers and maybe a Cheetah. This road will join the state highway coming from Mungeli a few kilometers before Bilaspur. This road will take you to Bilaspur city. In case you wish to go Raipur or by pass the city then before entering the city take a right turn on the bypass to go to Raipur.

Bilaspur to Allahabad

On the return trip we took a different route from Bilaspur to Amarkantak via Pendra. The road was good except the last 40 Km where the road was bad and we took hour and half more time than the route through Achanakmar. It is advisable to take to road through the Achanakmar wildlife sanctuary. This road comes out slightly ahead of Amarkantak and bypasses it. The route till Rewa was the same as we had taken earlier. At Rewa we decided to take the old road to Allahabad via sirmaur. T had less traffic even though it was two lanes but with good surface. If you take this road then make it a point to ask for directions to go to Chak ghat. The most surprising point was that the road took us to Chachai falls and we had to cross the river barely 100 meters from the 200 meter fall. It had rained so the river was full and it took quite an effort and skill to negotiate the 20 meters of the river. It was only after crossing the river that we realized how close to the falls we were. The fall is beautiful with a small hotel on the hill from where you can enjoy the falls and river. This stop revived my old memories of 1963 when we had visited Chachai and Kyoti falls as a kid. The road was almost a single lane but with good surface and we came out near Chak Ghat to take a left turn on NH 7 for Allahabad.

Allahabad to NOIDA

You take the Kanpur Road or the GT road to come out of Allahabad. But it is better to take Kanpur Road as it is less crowded and the GT road passes through the city with high density of traffic. The road will take you past Sulem Sarai, Bamrauli air force station and the Manauri air force station and finally will meet the NH 2 after traveling a distance of 40 km after Allahabad. Then the road is the same as was described earlier.

Car Tyre limitations

We pay quite a lot of attention attention to the maintenance of our car, like washing, servicing, repair and daily check and cleaning .But we pay very little attention to our tyres fitted on the car. Very few of us know that each tyre comes with a load as well as speed limitation. Fully loaded car being driven at higher speed than recommended may lead to tyre burst and serious injuries to occupants and damage to the car. It is quite possible that you may not be able to drive the car in future.

If you look at the side wall of the tyre you will find makings like10/55 R 16 87 M besides the manufacturers name,  other details and also the week and year of manufacture. These markings describe the tyres capability fully. These alphabets and number represent different things.

170- This refers to the section width of the tyre or the cross section of the tyre in mm. The bigger this figure the more wider will be your tyre.

55- This refers to the aspect ratio of the tyre and refers to the height of the side wall of tyre as a percentage of the nominal section width. Here it means that the height of the side wall is 55% of the width of the tyre or slightly more than half.

R - This refers to the radial construction of the tyre. Radial construction means that the tyre’s body piles out from the imaginary center of the wheel.  

16- This refers to the diameter of the tyre from the center to the inner rim in inches. Why it is still in inches and not in metric system still eludes me.

87- This is the load index and refers to the load capacity of the tyre and is an important factor to be taken into account while loading the car. This indicates the maximum load that can be carried by the tyre .Please pay attention to it. Here in this example it means that the maximum load carrying capacity is 355 kg. This number starts with 60 which means 250 kg and goes beyond hundred for transport vehicles. The details of the load index to the total load carrying capacity (TLCC) of the tyre can be found out from the manufacturer’s manual.  As a rough guide load index 60 means that the TLCC is 250 Kg, for 70 it is 355 Kg, for 90 it is 600 Kg. Approximate values can be interpolated by taking these figures as a guide. Besides these the tyre of transport carriers or high performance cars may also carry markings like RF which means reinforced and XL which means extra load.

M- The last alphabet is equally important as it refers to the speed limitation of the tyre. Please pay attention to it while driving on the highway. This letter refers to the maximum speed at which tyre can be driven. Please remember that this speed limit has to do with a reasonably new tyre in good condition with respect to the threads and the sidewall. For older tyres or worn out tyres, please keep a lower limit. Here in this example M refers to the maximum speed the tyre can sustain and here in this example it means that the maximum safe limit is 130 km/hr.  E refers to a speed limit of 60 Km/hr and with increasing alphabet the speed limit rises by 10 Km/hr, except for H where it means 210 Km/hr. Q refers to 160 and V to 240 and Y the maximum to 300 Km/hr.

Please read these markings on your car carefully and for old tyres please reduce both these factors considerably in order to avoid serious damage to the car and self. A large number of accidents due to tyre blow out or puncture or loss of control can be easily attributed to non- adherence or not paying attention to these limitations. In my experience I have found that a vast majority of persons using car are not even aware of these limitations and take the maximum speed as mentioned on the speedometer as a guide and feel that the car can be pushed up to that maximum speed. But the speedometer refers to the performance of the engine and has no relation to the limitations of the tyres.

If you are driving on a concrete surface highway or expressway then please lower these limits as concrete surface generates more friction as well as more heat than tar surface.

Take care and safe driving.

Guardians of Religion

                                                            

It is pathetic to see people getting worked up and doing endless debates on TV newspapers, etc., on a simple issue of something having been said or not said in a film. Allegation and counter allegations and expositions abound these discussions. But do they at any time understand that the views expressed in the film are that of the writer and may be that of the director who allowed it to be picturised in a manner that he thought was the best. These dialogues do not belong to the actor who said them in the film even though he might have agreed with them in his personal capacity, so why give credit /discredit to the actor. He is just earning his money by acting in that film like any other artist or Indian.

Having said that let us return to the question of hurting the sentiments of a set of people following that religion. Is their faith so weak that some dialogues spoken in a film, which is meant only for entertainment and entertainment only, will shake their faith?  If their faith was so weak then it is not a faith but a belief which changes due to the changing circumstances and depending on what others say. Faith is much above that. It is a faith that can move mountains. It is this faith that their good karmas will lead them to enlightment and will guide them connects to their god.

Is the religion so weak that its foundation will be shaken and its existence will be in jeopardy by some comments made in the film? If it is so then it is not a religion but a belief only and calling it a religion is a slap on the face of religion. Our religion is our way of life and no amount of comments, arguments that too in a film or in an article, can force us to deviate from our way of life. This our way of life is so varied, so vast and so encompassing that it will absorb anything that is thrown at it and still retain its core values. It has proved itself over centuries and even absorbed the onslaught of Mughals and British but still retains its core value and is still surviving and kicking strong. I do not for a moment think that some comments made by an actor in a film are going to change my way of life but the only thing it will do is to absorb this comment without reacting to it as it is not fit for me to react and keep going my way of life as defined by my karmas.

A religion is not defined by its rituals but rather the religion allows its followers to perform rituals as it pleases them without interfering between different rituals. Our religion allows numerous rituals and people do perform them as they seem fit. Rituals are a way to concentrate so as to allow oneself to connect to his inner soul and hence to god. They bring in a sense of discipline, concentration and a way to reach the soul within you. It is more to do with personal satisfaction. These rituals had a meaning, a scientific reasoning as to why they were done in that particular manner and required certain amount of knowledge in ancient times. But gradually people have forgotten as to why they were done and are doing them by saying that it has been done like this for generations and our forefathers did it this way. Let us take the ritual of offering milk/water to the shivling or the constant dripping of the water on the shivling. The water /milk is thrown away or allowed to go out and is declared as unfit to be offered as prasad. Well this is the way it has been done in the past and all new temples are just following the practice. If people believe and have faith that it is to be done this way then it should be done that way. But have at any time our intellectuals, dharamgurus or religious/political leaders tried to explain to the general public as to why it was done this way and tried to explain it to the followers or non- followers as to why it required to be done that way only. Sadly, probably they do not know it themselves and try to hide it behind mythology or stories. Hinduism is not about mythology or stories but it was a very highly scientific way of life and every ritual had a very scientific logic behind it. These stories and rituals were made so that they can be passed even by word of mouth from generation to generation and there were intellectual in ancient times, who could interpret them and explain them properly to others as to why they had to be done this way only.  But sadly the Mughal and British invasion and their rule of India destroyed these intellectuals and the books of knowledge so that now we have very few written books but sadly nobody to interpret even them properly. So now we have rituals but hardly anyone to explain the real scientific reason behind them.

It is because of this mythological reasoning that it allows other people to question as to why they are being done and pass comments on then simply because they do not know as to why it is done this way neither their forefathers knew it and there is nobody to explain the real scientific reasons behind them, except for an absurd reasoning that it is always done this way. Now days the generation is very intelligent and has a right to question things and try to find the real reason behind them and it is the duty of elders, gurus and intellectuals to satisfy them by sound reasoning. Raising doubts or questioning it is not a crime but not answering or browbeating it or agitating against it or not giving the correct logical reason for as to why is to done this way is.

In the end the only thing I can say is that:

“Will the real Hindus stand up to enlighten the public about what Hinduism is all about and what is meant by being a Hindu.”