Today morning’s little bicycle trip with G and R to Shiva Temple in Ambernath (approx 20 km away) started a little late, but was enjoyable!
The road leading to Barvi dam, flanked on two sides by water pipelines, is full of ups and downs. Tiny hamlets dot the region.
Aum Suryaya namah
Aum Namah Shivay
We reached the Shiva Temple in about eighty minutes. As seen in the picture, at the moment the temple is being renovated. I hope they don’t paint it in gaudy oil based colors.
The temple is pretty old. Here is some information:
This exquisite temple was got built by Chittaraja—a king of the Silhara dynasty—in the late 11th century. An inscription above the north-facing door of the temple states Saka 982 (1060 AD) as the date of construction.
and we couldn’t help pity the sorry state of maintenance…
An Archaeological Survey of India board at the site states that the Ambarnath temple is “perhaps the oldest shrine dedicated to Shiva in the coastal parts of Maharashtra.” However, continued worship at the temple is affecting its beauty. Devotees still burn incense in the alcoves and pour milk over the Nandi idol. Some restraint on their part might allow their great grandchildren also to see the temple in its full glory.
- Read further (Sunday Tribune - Spectrum - Travel)
After some tea and vada-pav, we headed back thru a rustic path.
(This photo reminds me of high school mathematics - “Parallel lines meet at infinity”)
Three machines.
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¶ Tags: Bike, Photo
Update (03-Jul-06):
Santosh Iyer from Dallas TX writes:
I happened to bump into Avijit today morning. He was asking me directions. At that point i was perplexed as to who would be asking directions in US riding a bicycle. But having a conversation with him, it dawned on me who i was standing with and talking to.He is no less than a celebrity. That day i spent two more hrs with him talking about his experiences while riding throughout the world.He is an immense source of inspiration to anyone and everyone. The odds of meeting such a person in your entire life is amlost nill
Update (12-Apr-06):
Ram from OR writes:
He just gave a talk at HP Corvallis,OR. He is really amazing. He is very pleasant and modest. May God be with him!
Update (11-Apr-06):
Craig from Salem writes:
He’s in Salem Oregon tonight, planning to be in Corvallis before noon tomorrow. My friend is trying to organize a lunch for him tomorrow.
Update (28-Mar-06):
Alfonso from Kent writes:
I just had dinner with him in the city of Kent, Wa. A little before midnight we celebrated his 1st anniversary on the road (March, 28th)… Really nice person, inspiring and calmed, very focused. He leaves Seattle tomorrow morning (the 29th) on his way to Portland after cheking in at the Seattle Police Station at 8:00am as requirement by Record Guinness to keep track of his journey.
Swati Sircar adds:
FYI - He just left Seattle on his way to Portland.
Original story:
This guy takes it to the most extreme level. Avijit Chakraborty, 35 year old cyclist from Kolkata has so far traveled 38 countries covering 36,000 km in last 10 months. His target is to travel through 62 countries and cover over 64,000 km in a span of two years and enter the Guinness Book of Records.
He travels approximately 150 km each day and mostly sleeps at police stations, places of worship or his own tent.
Chakraborty had earlier completed a world tour covering 54 countries and 65,000 km on bicycle and later entered the Guinness World Record for crossing the Arctic Circle twice on bicycle in the year 1998.
He is carrying the message of pollution free environment and delivers lectures in schools and gatherings on the way. He meets students, government representatives and common members of the public.
All the best to Avijit.
“Every night when I am thinking I cannot do this, then I meet people and I get inspiration to go farther,”
References: Hindustan Times, Mumbai, Feb 10 | Routard.com (French) | The Rapid city journal | Sify | London Free Press | Biddenham (image)
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¶ Tags: Bike, People
Woke up today at 5 AM and geared up by 7 AM for another ordeal – commuting from home to office – Dombivli to Kurla by suburban local train. I had to go to the railway station early, since my quarterly ticket expired yesterday and I had to renew it. The ticket window for First class travelers does not have a queue, but the second class queues stretch until eternity. Today however that queue was very short. At the same time, the platform was less crowded and when the 7:48 Titwala train arrived, everyone boarded it effortlessly!
It was only when I got inside the local train that I realized something was wrong. It just couldn’t be so comfortable on a weekday. Ah! righto! Today is optional holiday for the occasion of Muharram.
I was amused by the way all this happened. The whole system in Mumbai works with clock like precision and the sequence is so seamlessly integrated, that you reach destination wholly by reflex action. So Mumbai’ites, being in a state of perpetual race against time, are more-or-less oblivious to things happening around them.
Kurla, a suburb dominated by Muslim population wore a different look. I’m not aware if the population there comprises of Shia Muslims or Sunni Muslims. I’m not aware if Sunnis follow Muharram at all (I know Shia’s do). Hell, I’m so ill informed about this religious day, that until last year I believed that one wishes ‘Happy Muharram’ or ‘Muharram mubarak’ or something like that. No dear Priyank, it’s a day of mourning for the Muslims.
Return journey in the evening from my office at Kalina to Kurla railway station took forty-five minutes against the usual twenty minutes. On the way was a procession of mourners – who I believe were Shia’ites mourning the death of Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, commemorating the Battle of Karbala. It is interesting to note that I have seen on the same street a procession of Hindus on Ganeshotsav, Jains on Mahavir Jayanti, Neo Buddhists on Buddha Pournima and Sikhs on the Guru Nanak Jayanti. (And every time, I reached the railway station late!).
There are many more “odd” things visible in Kurla. The holy cross church and missionary school running in an area barely populated Christians. A saffron flag or banner suspended from the window of an Islamic madarssa run on first floor of a crooked building with a Shankar Vilas Hindu Hotel – which is no more than a tiny tea stall – on the ground floor. A number of tiny little ‘durga cosmetics’ or ‘pragati stores’ managed by a bearded man with a white cap. There is even a पुणेरी पाटी (placards with slogans written in a style particular to Pune) saying ‘काम नसल्यास दुकानासमोर उभे राहू नये..’ (Don’t stand in front of our shop if you not dealing with us).
I don’t know how all this works in our country. But it does make me feel proud of our social system.
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¶ Tags: Mumbai, Religion
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