Roadtrip Day 5: Junnar to Shirdi [March 13, 2021]
I will remember this day for the Shivneri fort, the birthplace of Shivaji Maharaj
Saurabh & I were up by 7 & after having the ‘Gokarn tea’, quickly decided to head towards Shivneri fort. I guess Saurabh really wanted some ‘landmark’ activity on this outing of his while I was completely ok with just ‘lazing around’. Anyway, taking the cue, I decided to play along.
The fort was around 4 kms from our place. We took Saurabh’s bike. We were at the entrance by 8 & looks like we were among the early visitors.
I wanted to have morning tea & there was only one shop open. I suggested to Saurabh if we can have tea before entering. Saurabh, after giving me a disdain look (as if I am drug addict), okayed my request. Eventually, he decided to have one himself.
Prior to this visit, Saurabh had portrayed to me that most forts in Maharashtra are kind of debilitated as Marathas had long history of fighting with .. well .. pretty much everyone. Unlike Rajputs, who got into social engagements with Mughals & hence must better ‘preserved’ forts. Our belief soon changed when we saw reasonably nicely maintained forts. But a closer look revealed that it might just be ASI might have rehabilitated them. Anyway, as per Saurabh, the fort is much ‘nicer’ compared to the ones he has visited close to Pune.
We gained altitude pretty quickly as we climbed stairs (guess most forts are like that) & had some nice view of the surrounding areas. The landscape at this place was different from the ones I have seen around Bangalore. The Bangalore hills had large rocks/boulders as you can see at Nandi hills or Savandurga. The hills around Pune was not exactly green but a mixture of vegetation & earth.
The walk turned out to be much longer than we thought. We reached highest point of the hill & then descended down to a corner where there was Shivaji Maharaj’s birth place. There is a view point which had a sudden descent to give a great view for a selfie/picture.
There was a small temple/structure having idol of Shivaji with Jijabai too. It was 9:30 AM & we are now getting a bit delayed for our respective onward journeys. So we headed back to the main gate. We again had tea at the same place. When we reached the point where we parked the bike, we had ‘matrix had a glitch’ moment with exact replica of Saurabh’s bike parked next to his. Looks like folks in Pune have a special liking for this particular model of Royal Enfield.
We headed back to Tour De Agri, had our breakfast, packed bags & left the place by 11:30.
Saurabh headed back to Pune while I headed towards Sangamner & then Shirdi. While I was offered Rs 500 deal for my first day at TDA, for the subsequent day, we decided to pay a little more generously considering we had placed some special food requests as well. Apparently the TDA folks have the standard package of Rs 1.5k per person which include visit to nearby historical places etc & they decided to charge that amount. Guess I should have been more proactive in this discussion but we anyway had decided to pay Rs 4k which was 500 more than what they were expecting.
P.S. Thanks to Saurabh who sponsored this entire stay including my part & refused to take any money I offered him. Not that I offered much.
Road to Sangamner was a proper highway with restaurants offering misals (as usual). At around 1, I could see a valley view very similar to Lonavala (I have only seen it from train while on the way from Pune to Bombay).
The road after it was also pretty good & scenic & I stopped at multiple places to take pics.
It was impressive to see how nets have been placed at strategic places to prevent any kind of landslide or stone falling on the road. Outside Maharashtra, I have not seen this kind of provision being done beside the roads.
It was around 2:30 PM & I have crossed Sangamner & now headed towards Shirdi. I noticed that my left side fog lamp clamp has become lose again (it happened earlier on Day 3) . This time, I decided to get the clamp replaced. I saw a 2 wheeler repair shop next to the road. Last time, the 2 wheeler shop advised to buy nuts & bolts from a retail shop nearby. So this time, I went to the retail shop next to it & asked for the clamp. They directed me to another shop. I got the clamp. I thought how hard it would be to open the old clamp & put the new one. I requested the guy at 2 wheeler repair shop for a screwdriver & he asked me to pick one lying on the repair bench, which I gladly did. He did not pay much attention to me & my bike, which was good for me & I was not really in a mood for attention & then answering curious questions.
While putting the new clamp, I realized the diameter is not sufficient & I need a bigger one. So I went back to the retail shop & he gave me one which I figured is lot bigger than what I need. After spending like half an hour of my time screwing & removing the clamp, I had a desperate look towards the repair shop guy, beside whom I was tirelessly working so far. He asked me to get ‘bumper clamp’ (or something similar which I dont remember now) from a differnet shop. I obliged & got one. Apparently it needed some adjustment & I requested him to do it, which he did fairly effortlessly. Then came the effort to screwing which he asked me to & I manage to do it in like 5 min. For the last part, I again asked for his help & he did it again this time.
The surprise came when I tried offering him money & he plainly refused. I asked him again & he dint budge. Although this time, he had a smile on his face. This is very different from what I faced at Hiriyur (Karnataka) where the repair folks jacked up the price for even very small work. Maharashtra: 1, Karnataka: 0 :-).
I felt a little ashamed asking him to take his pic but I do want to thank him for his generous effort. I could have put a google review for his place but by the time, it occured to me, it was late & I was far from the location. Also, I am not sure if his shop would show up on google. Anyway, hope this mention suffice as a payback for his good karma.
I was in Shirdi by 4 PM. I tried using the same trick of parking my vehicle outside the Sai baba temple but once I reached one of the gates, I realized the magnanimity of the Sai baba setup & how grossly I had under-estimated it. I then steered towards a smaller road & stopped by at a lassi shop. I figured, its best that I checkin to a hotel & leave my luggae there & go ‘empty handed’ to visit Sai baba temple. The lassi shop guy told about ashram & locally known as ‘hazar room’ & ‘panch sau room’ where there are trust sponsored rooms available. I went to hazar room but was told at the gate that rooms are not offered to single person. I also went inside to inquire & was told the same fairly squarely. I must say though that the provision the trust had taken in terms of covid screen etc at this place was commendable.
I opened google maps & started looking for lodges in vicinity which had decent rating. I called up a lodge which said similar thing to me once they heard I am a single traveler. Than I called Sai Balaji Residency (google map link) next to Indian oil petrol pump. The hotel review looked pretty good & people have mentioned that hotel owner is a helpful person. The hotel owner Vashu picked up & quoted Rs 500 as tarrif but soon agreed to Rs 400 when I insisted. I went to the hotel which is a small but clean building. The room was also pretty good, although I was offered the room on ground floor. But guess, that is what you get for negotiating for extra Rs 100 :).
Post checking in & taking bath, I asked Mr Vashu about darshan process. Apparently the trust has a complete online process to book darshan at online.sai.org.in . I registered & checked for availability dates. It was only available for day after tomorrow. Mr Vashu suggested to go the bus stand & there is a booking counter there. I went there to figure out the paid darshan counter was empty & the free darshan counter person said that the counter will open at 7.
I got to know that there is a paid darshan booking counter at Gate 1. Finding a free/empty parking close to sai baba temple was a pretty daunting task. So I parked my bike outside the hospital around 500m away & then walked to gate 1, which I could not locate on google map but had to ask locals about it. Walking to the location also had an advantage that the numerous hotel agents dont bother you. When I was riding on my bike, multiple folks would ask me about room, while I am stationary on my bike & busy fiddling with google map. Even while I will be riding, there will be someone who will come next to me on his bike & ask me relentlessly.
I was able to successfully book paid darshan for Rs 200. I was hungry & tried to find a good restaurant (there are so many fancy restaurants out there which confused me as to which one to go to) but then I was told that there is free food offered by the trust, which I decided to have post darshan. For darshan, I had to deposit my phone at the entrance. Darshan happened smoothly. There was not much crowd.
I then walked to the place where food is served. It was around 650m walk from Gate 1. I was really famished by this time. Soon I reached the place.
The arrangement inside was really nice. Social distancing was enforced & people are made to sit at reasonable distance.
The food served was nice & delicious. I was so hungry that I decided not to click a picture of it.
While on my way back, I saw this nice hotel called Hotel Swaraj. The location seemed nice & they very transparently had put board of their tarrif on the road. I would have definitely checked this hotel if it had reviews on google (it only had one when I googled for it).
I came back to the hotel after having dinner. Shirdi feels like a big city in night with fancy hotel signboards & bright lights.
Once back to room, I tried composing blog post but Jio network in the room was bad & hence could not upload pics. So I just decided to sleep off.
I always like to see forts! Day is really remember for Shivneri fort.