The ‘Sea’rene Wonders

Everyone will agree with me on this. The routine, humdrum jobs for working professionals and for students, the ever-increasing-eleventh-hour heap of projects and assignments, coupled with the old monster friend called ‘Exams’, reach the saturation point and the Production concept of ‘Law of Diminishing Returns’ clearly applies to our performance in exams and at work. Hence when the stress levels reach the pinnacle of our tolerance, we take a break in the form of vacations. During the last 2-3 months, I was also a sufferer of the burgeoning stress. I was in a dire need of a holiday. As this was going to be my last official vacation before the busier 2015 began, my family and I decided to go somewhere close to the nature. And where can one experience peace of mind better than at the sea? So we went on an exploratory trip to Ganpatipule with an urge to explore the wonders of nature and to find sangfroid from all the urban ennui, in the embracing arms of nature….

Our journey began in the wee hours of cold Christmas morning. We boarded Janshatabdi Express which would take us to Ratnagiri in five hours. After getting down at Ratnagiri and after a lot of haggling with the rickshaw drivers, we reached Ganpatipule: our destined accommodation for the next four days. My joy knew no bounds when I got the panoramic view of the Arabian Sea from our room. 

The sight of the sea is always a treat for my eyes. In the evening, we headed out on the beach for a long walk to enjoy the sunset amidst the cool sea breeze. The calm moon had already started shining, as if it was ready to take charge of the sky, after the sun had set. Standing in the sea and experiencing the cold waves dashing against my feet, was a pleasant feeling. Looking at the far stretched sea, I wondered how many lives does this nature’s wonder support… Be it the marine life residing in it or the fishermen who sold the gifts of nature to earn a livelihood. We, human beings, too can learn so many things from the sea. If only we all could be forgiving, benevolent, merciful and generous like the sea! My evening turned merrier by playing carom with my family, loaded with lots of laughter. It was delighting to play carom after so many long years. 

From next day onwards, we started with our expedition. Our first stop was Jaigad Fort. Although the fort is in ruins, the outer walls still stand strong. The Bijapur-Sultanate-developed fort overlooks the bay where the Shastri River meets the Arabian Sea. This 500 year old fort had many controllers from Bijapur Sultanate, the Portuguese, Shivaji Maharaj, the Peshavas to the British. Near the Jaigad Fort is the Jaigad Lighthouse. It was used for port security and navigation in the old times. The Jaigad lighthouse is nowadays used in the night for the local people and is still functional. 

As Konkan is known for its magnificent temples, we visited temples of various deities. The first temple which we visited was Karhateshwar temple. A small stream originating from the hillside nearby is an interesting feature of this temple. The next two temples viz. Laxmi Keshav temple of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Laxmi and Jai Vinayak Mandir by JSW are beautifully built, nestled in complete solitude, devotion and oneness with God. Karneshwar Temple, built by the Pandavas in memory of their eldest brother Karna, was not only beautiful, but it also depicted interesting stories about the Pandavas and the Indian mythology from its stone carvings. This temple was located in Kasaba, the same place where Sambhaji was imprisoned, following the perfidy by his brother-in-law. Our next destination was Keshavasuta Smarak at Malgund. Krishnaji Keshav Damle was a great Marathi poet who wrote poems under the pen name ‘Keshavasuta’. He died at the young age of 39 after succumbing to plague. I had never read his poems earlier, but my parents were familiar with some of his poems, which they learnt in their school days. Some of his poems were displayed outside the library. We visited his house where he was born. It was a typical cozy Konkan house with cow-dung plastered floor and walls. We then visited the room in which this great poet was born. My admiration for Keshavasuta grew when I learnt more about his life and his contribution to the Marathi literature in his short span of life of mere 39 years. We left that place with lot of inspiration and awe for this great personality born in the rich Konkan. Later that evening we visited the Swayambhu Ganesh temple of Ganpatipule on foot, by walking along the sandy Aare Waare beach.

Next day, we headed towards Marleshwar, which is a two-hour drive from Ganpatipule. Marleshwar temple is a cave temple of Lord Shiva. To reach this temple, one has to first climb the steps for 30 minutes. The temple is surrounded by tall mountains, appearing like formidable guards of Lord Shiva, and the snow white waterfall originates from these gargantuan mountains. The sight was so beautiful that I simply could not stop eulogizing the virgin natural beauty around me! After taking Lord Shiva’s blessings from Marleshwar, we drove to Dervan. Dervan is known for its ‘Shiv-Srushti’ or a memorial to honour the revered deity of Maharashtra, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. There we saw splendid sculptures of various significant episodes in Shivaji’s life. Each sculpture there looked life-like and grand. 

Then our journey took a surprising turn. With our day long drive, we reached close to my mother’s native place. Years had passed since my mother had seen her home in her native place, which was so close to her heart. I have always seen that glimmer in my mother’s eyes when she remembers her home in her native place. Call it her strong will power or God’s miracle, it suddenly struck us that we could actually pay a visit to my mother’s native place. Our amiable driver agreed with our plan to visit the village, and there we were, fulfilling my dear mother’s desire to see her village. When we reached the Kuldevi’s temple, I could see the immense happiness and never fading smile on my beautiful mother’s face! After seeking the Goddess’ blessings we visited my mother’s home. There was a childlike excitement and uncontrollable contentment on my mother’s face on seeing her home after 17 long years! That day I realized that the most beautiful part of our entire trip was my mother’s beautiful smile that evening. No other place that we would visit could match with that pleasant look on my mother’s face. 

Next morning I was quite morose as we were leaving for Mumbai on that day. That meant bidding goodbye to the rejuvenating view of the sea from our room. We drove to Ratnagiri city, where our first stop was Patit Pavan Mandir and the Veer Sawarkar Memorial which was next to it. This temple is the first temple in India, that offered an unrestricted right to any member of Hindu Community to enter the temple and to worship the idols of Laxmi Narayana. What I found amazing about this temple was Goddess Laxmi’s idol. She is portrayed as a simple married woman with no ornaments except her mangalsutra, and her husband, Lord Vishnu standing proudly next to her. These two divine powers captivated my mind. A question crossed my mind as I stared at Laxmi: If the Goddess of Wealth herself is dressed like the hoi polloi, then why do we strive so much to amass heaps of wealth? Can’t we all try to be content and ingenuous like the goddess? 

Later we explored the life of a godlike human being, the courageous Veer Savarkar. As I read more about Savarkar’s early life, his education, his struggle for freedom and the atrocities which were imposed on him by the British, tears dwelled in my eyes. We also read about the other bold freedom fighters who laid down their lives for our Motherland. We simply stood there, still and frozen, saluting and bowing to each of these epitomes of bravery. Next, we visited the home of another great personality, Lokmanya Tilak. Tilak’s home is also a simple, cow-dung plastered abode, similar to that of Keshavasuta. Today his home displays various important events in Lokmanya’s life and his valuable contribution to the freedom struggle. My respect for these two immortal freedom fighters, born in the soil of Maharashtra, grew by several times, after delving and getting to know better about the lives they lived. We later visited the Ratnadurga Fort and the temple of Bhagavati Devi. Ratnadurga Fort was under Daryasarang Kanhoji Angre’s control for 45 years. Ratnadurga Fort is a horse-shoe shaped Balekillla with strong fortifications from south east to west side. 

Finally the time came to say goodbye to Ratnagiri and thus marked the end of our wonderful trip of 4 days. As our train left Ratnagiri station, my heart became heavy, not wanting to part with the magical creations of Mother Nature. My mother, being the excellent motivator as always, cheered me up and made me understand that how good things, too have to come to an end. My trip to Ganpatipule was not only a much needed break from all monotony but also an opportunity of spiritual enrichment. I learnt many lessons in life from the sea, the forts, memorials and temples that I visited. The train journey to Mumbai was great; having completed reading Sudha Murty’s yet another wonderful work, ‘Something happened on the way to heaven’. This trip was like an ablution of all stress and tensions and a realization of optimistic outlook towards life. When I got down the train, I braced myself to face all the upcoming set of tasks with lots of enthusiasm and cheer, like the wide sea and the intrepid freedom fighters!