The trip to Madhya Pradesh by road

The trip to Madhya Pradesh by road

This particular trip has been very very memorable for a number of reasons ... starting from the fact that I came back home the night before 12:30 from Bangalore (same day actually!) and was ready to hit the road on our Vento with assuring hubby dear on its wheels along with ma and bapi ,the next day morning 7:30 am ... Little did I know what a rich variety of experiences will befall me the next 8/9 days ! We had to reach Bandhavgarh tiger reserve as our first destination which was a 2 days journey by road with an intermediate night stop at the divine city of Varanasi. We reached around 9 PM to Varanasi after a very nice drive of around 600 kms with acceptable road conditions at most places and some nice scenery near the Hazaribagh and Dehri-on-Sone region. Through out the trip, Ma & Bapi kind of competed with each other in clicking photographs on their cameras and cell phones! It was amusing to watch them fidget with the devices and observe their satisfaction when they could capture the scenery that they wanted to. Next day I had a bit of a hiccup in terms of stomach upset (result of some very spicy food which I had at Bangalore) but it was not very serious after medicines and we were ready to leave by 8:45am. As soon as crossed UP and entered MP, absolutely delightful roads greeted us. The roads were simply like butter, we could not even sense we were traveling by car. I could sense my husband's delight as he is an absolute car freak. After such a memorable drive on road, we reached our destination by 6. The resort at Bandhavgrah was beautiful and stretched over open spaces. Since we reached late evening, it was dotted with lights and looked very beautiful. Seeing vast open spaces always delights me and all the tiredness of the full day and a little failing health disappeared within moments!  After checking in I was waiting anxiously for the next day's early morning safari.

Forests have this typical quality of attracting me; I get drawn to them like magnet to iron! At 6 o clock next morning, I along with Sammu and Bapi boarded the open jeep that was supposed to take us to the forest through Tala gate. Ma opted out because she was too tired travelling the earlier day and could not sleep properly at night. Lo and Behold! As soon as we entered the jungle, there were loud whispers from all the jeep drivers and the forest guides (who have to mandatorily accompany every jeep) that a kill has been dragged by a tiger and it should be somewhere nearby. The driver and guide stationed our jeep at a particular place, and instructed us to look at a particular direction and angle (!) to see 3 lovely tiger cubs playing with each other and with water! There was a small rivulet and some bushes and other tourists, guides, drivers which obstructed our view, but I could manage to get the first glimpses of the cubs and my joy knew no bounds! It is one thing to see tigers on TV or read about them in books and it is another thing to see them LIVE in front of you even if they are babies... The 3 cubs were having a blast really. Having eaten the food that their mommy had brought and content with a full belly they were making merry, running helter-skelter, splashing into water, jumping over each other and biting each other... It was simply heavenly to see their playful actions! Very soon someone spotted parts of the mommy tigress  and everyone was trying to get a "dekho" at her , sometimes tourists of one jeep were traveling over jeeps (getting down on ground is a strict no no) to other jeeps to get a closer shot through camera and through eyes. And the cameras! My gawd, there were some cameras; they looked more like guns with barrels rather than cameras with lenses. I left all caution to wind and stood up on the highest point on the jeep (basically on a horizontal road connecting the 2 ends of the jeep) taking the support of our guide. From that high point, I could get to see the mommy tigress in bits and pieces through the bushes. Soon the tigress bored with the cacophony of human jokers around her decided to get up lazily and with some majestic style walked down to the rivulet to drink water. Of course she did not quite trust the jokers, so while she drank she kept her eyes on the humans. Her babies , buoyed by their childlike energy, however, could not care more ! After her stipulated drinking was over, she decided to go with her babies to a nicer place of relaxation where she could rest in peace.

After the star performers departed, the audience too thinned and we continued with our safari in the hope of spotting another performer. The forest itself was very pleasing, with trees and bushes juxtaposed with wide open spaces which were frequented by spotted dears, samba, wild boars, wild buffaloes, peacocks and peahens and not to mention the black faced monkeys (hanuman). We spent another 2 hours inside the jungle but with out any luck on more tiger spottings. The guide did show us however tiger paw impressions on the loose ground as well the markings made by the tigers' claws on the trees to announce their supremacy in a zone. The guide told us every male tiger keeps an area of 8-10 kms for himself where as every tigress keeps an area of 3-5 kms. We heard the story of B2 (who was found dead under mysterious circumstances), a very large dominant tiger in the Tala zone who used to walk fearlessly on the jungle roads even with the safaris traveling. He obviously enjoyed every bit of human attention and adulation. We also heard the story of 2 tigresses named langdi and kan kati (the tigress that we saw earlier was kan kati). Langdi was a dominant female in the Tala zone and Kan kati was an upcoming heroine in the region :) They had a fierce battle in which Kan kati was heavily injured by Langdi . Her one eye was gone and so was one ear (thus the name Kan kati which means torn ear). Kan kati had to retreat but  could not digest this defeat. She waited for an opportune moment to charge Langdi and she did that. In the pursuing fierce battle between the 2 leading ladies, Langdi died. She was the mother of 2 cubs who were spared by Kan kati. They came out of the forest and took refuge in a sprawling 80 acre property of Taj (called Mohua Kothi). The story goes that Kan Kati ate off the dead body of Langdi ! (Such incidents in the animal kingdom are really very rare) This happened around a year back when the cubs were 2 years, now 1 year later they are nearly full grown 3 year old adults still living in the Taj resort property. They have learned hunting and now live on the wild buffaloes, wild boars , deers etc that keep straying in the region. Probably the forest department would do something about rehabilitating them in the core forest area soon. After the trip of the first morning, we made 3 more safaris (1 more at the Tala gate and 2 more at Magdhi gate). We enjoyed the forest ambience and saw other animals , but our tiger-luck did not shine. Ma and Bapi also accompanied us. Ma was especially disappointed as she lost the opportunity of the tiger sighting of first day and subsequently luck did not turn in our favor. From the forest, one can see the hill on which the remains of Bandhavgarh fort are present. We did not have this as part of our itinerary. The guide told there is still a living temple inside the fort. The specialty of the temple was that it contained the rare Vishnu statue on a horizontal posture on the bed of shesh nag.

The next stop in our tour was Bedaghat, a ghat on the river Narmada close to the city of Jabalpur. This was around 200 kms from Bandhavgarh and a neat 4 hours drive. A BIG surprise was waiting for us here though! As we hit the road stretch which goes through the middle of the Bandhavgarh forest we saw a group of excited tourists and guides on a jeep. They had spotted a tiger! Sammu stopped the car and we all got down, armed with cameras, video camera, and cell phone cameras et all... And we saw 2 tigers! The guide told us these were the kids of erstwhile Langdi - one male and one female. In the mad scramble to take photographs I squeezed under the arms of a foreigner who was standing in front of me from where I could see the one of the tigers properly. It was probably the male one because it had a very large face which it was lazily turning around. We stood there for a good 30 mins and watched every maneouvre made by the tigers and I could click some good close ups. Finally, albeit a bit reluctantly we resumed our journey towards Bedaghat. Ma confessed that she had been praying to God to send some tiger on our way before we left Bandhavgar and we had a good laugh saying how God fulfilled her wish. :-) On the way we met  the same kinds of butter smooth roads. We also got some lovely ghat roads with some pretty sharp turns and I guess Sammu had the joy of his lifetime driving through such roads. He kept saying now he has got the  experience of driving through treacherous mountains (a little far fetched ;-)). Obviously he felt very satisfied and happy on having achieved the feat of driving through ghat like roads. The scenery around, needless to say was amazingly beautiful !

We reached Beraghat around 1:30 pm. After completing the check in formalities, when I reached the "tent with all modern amenities like a/c" a breathtaking view was awaiting me. From our "tent" we could get a very clear view of the Narmada river winding its way through the rocky banks. It was simply breathtaking ! Blue black water meandering it's way through rocky mountains ! I guess I kept looking at it and forgot my coordinates of time & space. After lunch and some rest it was time to go to the Bedaghat and take the boat ride. The ghat was thronged by tourists of all shapes and sizes , many of them being foreigners. As the boat took us inwards, it was an unforgettable experience ! The Narmada was winding its way through collossal marble rock formations on both sides. There were some portions where the marble was very white ... As the boat sailed along the curves, each curve revealed a new vista , a new landscape. It was beautiful, it was charming and it was a world in itself, cutoff totally from the life on the lands. The rocks and the water seemed to be in perfect harmony as if complementing each other and intertwined with each other with eternal love ! It was so so peaceful down there that I wanted the boat ride to last for eternity. For a few minutes I was so overwhelmed by the beauty that I forgot to click my camera even ! I was imagining what would it be like if there was total silence down here, if the tourists and the boat guide just kept their mouths shut and we could live that silence for sometime in the lap of nature. Each turn in the river had a story to tell, some had some peculiar rock structure like an overturned maruti 800 car or 3 faces stuck to each other or the face of an elephant ! You could just unleash your imagination and each spectacle of view came to life with its own saga! The boat wala cum guide told us that the river here at places was 600 feet deep. 600 ft ! my mind struggled to imagine how much deep that is and my imagination took the shape of the underwater view as the marble rocks would be present downwards too ! So just imagine, 600ft high marble rocks and water surrounding it ! The boat went as far as it could because at the end there was a waterfall. Seeing the waterfall,that too from inside the boat on a river was a lovely experience. We came back to the land , though I, with all my heart just wanted to linger on in that ambience, just could not have enough of it. But when you come for a tourism trip, you want to "see more" , so quite grudgingly I joined my family for a view of the dhuandar falls which was a couple of kms from the Beraghat. We took the ropeway ride over the dhuandar falls in the failing evening light. True to its name, the falls was so powerful that it emitted very fine water particles and looked like dhua or gas from a distance. The water after falling was milky white !!! We came near the falls as well, and it was another lovely sight ! I felt it was the day of surprises for me, nature kind of decided to awestruck me with all her beauty one after another !

It was time to continue on to the last leg of our trip , the morning after. From Bedaghat to Khajurao ... From nature's lap to man's architectural supremacy !

We reached Khajurao the next day evening (6th day of our trip) just in time to watch the evening Light and Sound show. At the roundabout leading to the MP Govt Hotel we stayed, I saw the statue of a sculptor totally devoted to his work of sculpting - which set the tone and ambience of the place called Khajurao. For the knowledge of those reading this post, Khajurao was the ancient religious and cultural capital of the Chandela dynasty, who ruled in this region from around 800 AD to approx 1200 AD . The peak of the dynasty was between 900 to 1100 AD. They were famous for their valour. There are 2 groups of temples in Khajurao - one group is towards the western side called Western group of temples and the other called Eastern group of temples. Both of these are national heritage and maintained by Archeological Survey of India (ASI) The light and sound show was conducted by ASI in the premises of the western group of temples. As we entered the venue, in the dark I could not see much but could sense there was vast expanse of open spaces. After walking some distance on the pathway we could see the group of tourists sitting on chairs and waiting for the show to begin. As expected, there were a lot of foreign tourists. The show was extremely well presented and it kind of set the tone and the context for our visit the next day. Anchored by the baritone voice of Amitabh Bachhan the show took us on a journey in time starting off with a particular legend of Hemvati whose beauty captured the imagination of Chandrama or the Moon God. Their union gave birth to Chandravarma who it is said started the Chandela dynasty which means moon born. History however says the Chandela kings rose to power when King Yashovarman attacked the fabled Kalinjar Fort and established his supremacy over the Prtaihara warlords. Till this time, it is said, the Chandelas were the vassals of Pratihara warlords. King Yashovarman constructed the first magnificent temple of the Khajurao called the Laxmana temple. What was particularly magnificent about the commentary was it was interlaced with very detailed explanations on how the temples were built. When king Yashovarman decided to build the temple, he asked his ministers to look at the length and breadth of India to get the "best" architect. The architect apart from mastery over his subject should also be a brilliant mathematician and a compassionate human being. Indeed he got a such an architect who designed the Laxmana temple working closely with the master sculptor and the head priest. It was not the job of 1 or 2 persons to build such a huge temple. Hundreds of sculptors worked together in unison to create each of the temple present. Having listened to the commentary carefully I was now armed with all the knowledge that would be required to make a visit of the temples next day morning.

We decided to go early morning (6:30 am) next day to avoid the hot sun. The air was cool and refreshing and sun rays were just falling on the land. We made a very good decision of buying an audio guide (commentary on a mp3 player that you can carry with yourself). My journey from there onwards can be described in just one word BLISS! The commentary amplified the magic of the place ! The first stop was the Varaha temple and the Laxmana temple facing each other. The Laxmana temple was built by King Yoshovarman, I am not sure about the other one. As I walked on the steps, listening to the commentary, it was as if I was transported to another time and world, where excellence ruled, where the art and culture got absolute royal patronage to allow them to blossom to their full glory. Remember these structures were dated atleast a 1000 years back, yet their grandeur and beauty still keep the visitors totally awestruck. Be it the murals around the temple through which we circumnavigated or the geometry of the structures, the perfect vertical lines cross sectioned by the perfect horizontal lines, it was one word every where - excellence ! The temples were very picturesque to look at from a distance and they demanded great respect and adulation when looked at from close quarters. It was said in the audio guide as well as in the light and sound commentary that thousands of sculptors worked together and meditation was part of their daily regime ! Where else can such exquisite creativity come if not from the depths of one self ! One question that comes in probably every body's mind why there are sculptures of love-making in a place of worship ! Well our ancestors were no fools, in fact the architects of these great monuments were more intelligent and foresighted than we can ever fathom . The sculptures around the temple wall ,actually ,not just contained intimate love making postures (consisting of only about 10 to 15%), they contained scenes from everyday medieval life. Infact the audio guide mentioned there are 5 different categories of sculptures , which I have forgotten now. All these scenes were built around the temple so that when the devotees did the pradakshina around it , they could allow their minds to be consumed by all those that seemed attractive. By the time he came to the entrance of the temple, his mind was stable and he was ready to enter the garbha griha to take the darshan of the presiding deity.

The temples were built using sandstone. Remember that in those times there was no existence of mortar, hence the entire structure containing several hundred pieces stood largely together due to , believe it or not, gravity ! This design has altleast lasted for 1000 years. If you don't call this architectural supremacy, what else can come close ?

The most magnificent of the temples was Kandariya Mahadev temple which was built by the most famous Chandela King - King Vidyadhar , to celebrate his victory over the notorious Muslim invader - Mehmood of Ghazni. The temple has a tall spire or shikhara preceeded by 3 smaller spires and surrounded by 84 miniature spires. This is supposed to be indicative of Mount Kailash - the abode of Lord Shiva. Each square inch of the spire was decorated with ornate designs. Whether you look at Kandariya Mahadev from a distance or close quarters you can not escape its captivating charm ! I can write about it for hours I guess because I am so much bowled over by it! As I was taking my steps on the stairs or on the pradakshina passage, my fertile imagination took me 1000 years back and I could imagine the royal devotees of that time , after taking bath in the adjoining Sagar lake (this man made lake created by the Chandela kings exists till now), coming up the flight of stairs , making a pradakshina and then enter the garbha griha of the temple. The royal priest would be sitting high up at the altar  near the deity accepting the offerings from the devotees in between the chants. In the evenings it was a different atmosphere all together, it was lit through earthen lamps and smell of incense sticks of flowers filled your senses. It was the time of dance and songs in the praise of the divine ! Call me crazy if you will, but that is the extent of fertility of my imagination ! It was ofcourse fuelled by the lovely commentary on my audio guide mp3 player. From Kandariya Mahadev I moved on to Jagadambi temple, then to the Chaturbhuj temple (the only sun temple in that complex), then to Vishwanath temple and the final stop was at Nandi temple. The commentary covered all the important events as well as sculptures like the one in which a damsel is removing thorns from her feet or the sculpture of Sadashiva and his signifance, the "chausath yoginis" and their significance and so on and so forth. I also learnt that the great Chandela King Dhanga who constructed the Vishwanath temple turned highly spiritual towards the end of his life. He went to Prayag (Allahabad) where he meditated, went into a samadhi and left his material body. Interesting , so it is not un-common for Indian Kings to be spiritually bent after having attained peaks of political powers.
After a very very memorable trip to the western temples (though my appetite was not fulfilled!) we made a trip to the eastern group in the evening. The eastern groups are mostly Jain temples and much less grand than their counter-parts of western groups. 
The next morning ! It was time to depart to Varanasi and then to Kolkata. Thus ended our mind-blowing journey to the heart of Incredible India .

Note:- Our trip to MP was from 25th Feb to 4th Mar. The car was our Volkswagen Vento and was driven by my husband. We covered around 2800 kms by road.