Hedvi 15/12/2010 to 18/12/2010

Places visited: Hedvi, Budhal, Palshet, Guhagar, Satara.
Date: 15/12/2010 to 18/12/2010
Purpose: Picnic.
Persons: Harshal, Juilee, Aai, Baba.

It was as usual a long awaited event. I wanted to visit my native home place - Hedvi - The native of most of the Joglekars. Now I do not have any relative over there, but it gives a different feeling, when you go to the place of your origin - your forefathers. Its also a little bit sad feeling when you go to your native place and have to stay in a lodge, because you do not have any land or home over there.

Anyway, finally I took 5 days leave 13th to 17th December, to go to Hedvi. But as Girija's marriage was on 14th Dec, we decided to start on 15th Dec.

15/12/2010:

Yesterday night, till late 11:00 O'Clock we were packing the bags. Finally we managed to have 1 bag per person. ( Actually I was hoping it should be 1 bag per 2 persons, to avoid car-full scenario ). In the morning, we started from home at 8:00 AM. We had breakfast at Kamat. Kamat is near Kikwi fata, near a petrol pump at the right hand side of the road, so at Kikwi fata, you have to take the U-turn if you are going from Pune to Satara. It was good idli-wada - very typical southindia food.

Then we reached to satara and After Satara, Before Umbraj there are villages like Atit, Kashil.....After Kashil, there is a river bridge, After river bridge, you should go to the left lane of the highway and should not take the bridge..... After Kashil, there comes "Shubham Petrol Pump", Umbraj bus depot. After Umbraj bus depot, takt the 4th tunnel and turn at the right side in the 4th tunnel -> This is Patan fata.

We followed the way: Pune-Satar Highway -> Satara -> Valse -> Nagthane -> Majgav -> Atit -> Kashil -> River bridge at Kashil -> Shubham Petrol pump -> Umbraj Bus Depot -> tunnesl under highway bridge - 1, 2, 3, 4 -> Turn right -> Patan -> Koynanagar -> Kumbharli ghat -> Chiplun -> Guhagar road -> Hedvi fata -> Hedvi.

We were haulting after every 2 hours, pay mokle karnya sathi. At one place we also found some people were playing with a Nag found on the road. To Nag faar sustavla hota tyamule fana kadhat navhta.

At Chiplun in the Chiplun bajarpeth, we haluted at Kane Upahargruha for lunch. It was good lunch with kala vatana usal, aamti, kobi chi bhaji. In kokan, usually the food is very cheap. This riceplate was only for Rs. 50 each.

We followed the sign boards for Guhagar. The road was with good greenary. At a point, we came across Hedvi fata, we took that left turn and followed the semi-built road. The road had lot of khadi and tar on it, which made the speed slow and ride bumpy. The villegers were very helpful to tell the directions. At one more spot, the directions on the milestone were fade-up, so we ask one bike-swar. He and his wife were very kind and they said that they know Parsuram (Rajabhau) Joglekar from Hedvi. We followed their bike and then we reached the Hedvi temple. The Devrai is just beside the temple at 1 minute walk. There are big signboards, too. The temple is little bit on out-skirts of main Hedvi village. When we reached there, Mr. P. S. Joglekar i.e. Rajabhau yanni aamche swagat kele. He also informed us that we should not have took that Hedvi fata. We should have headed straight towards guhagar till "Modki-Naka" or "Modka-Aagar" and then should have took the left turn there - for good conditioned road. Kup chan vatla mazya gavachya rastyavar gadi chalavtana.

The tyres of my snatro were red - aamchya koknachi laal mati.

We took the tea. Tukaram - Rajabhau's Ujva haat :-) - showed us the rooms. I took one room without TV ( Rs. 600 per day ) for us and one room with TV ( Rs. 700 per day ) for Aai Baba. Aai Baba's room was a little bigger. After tea, we relaxed in the room till 7:30 PM. Then we came out and wandered in the bunglow. Devrai bunglow is big and has lot of trees. Rajabhau lives in another bunglow, which is at the other side of the road. At night we had dinner at 8:30 PM and we also fixed the pandit for Abhishek of Ganpati. The dinner was tasty with Vatana usal, flower-batata bhaji, aamti, bhat, papad and aamrus. Aai as usual enjoyed "Pavitra Rishta" on TV.

We also booked a riksha to roam around Hedvi, asked him to come at 10:00 AM on the next day.

16/12/2010:

We all woke up early and reached to Hedvi Mandir at 8:30 AM. There are some 20 - 30 stairs on the hill and the temple is at the hiltop. The stairs are clean and the mandir surroundings are also very clean. The mandir is painted with very refreshing colors. There is also a deepmal.

We performed the Abhishek and it went till 10:00 AM. Then we came down to Devrai and had Thalpeeth. It was awsome. Koknat Thalpeeth mast milta nehemi.

The rikshawala came two times to see us, but for the forst time we were in mandir and for the second time we were enjoying Thalpeeths. Finally at 11:00 AM, the rikshawala again came and then we went with him. Tyani adhi ch katkat karayla suru keli... ki tyacha dhanda budala mhanun.... tyamule maza pan mood thoda gela.

We first went to Uma-Maheshwar Mandir that is on the Hedvi Beach. From the mandir we went to Bamanghal. Tenvha ohoti hoti, tymule tevdhi maja nahi ali. Then we wandered at Hedvi beach, pan maza mood ch jamat navhta. Then he took us to Navlai devi mandir which is the "Gavdevi". There is also a dhabdhaba behind the temple, but it was not having enough water this time. Navalai Mandirasamor ek Bagad cha khamb pan ahe (Agabai Areccha picture sarkha).

He was actually refusing to go to Velneshwar as the RTO was there. But later, he heard from a road traveller that the RTO went ahead, so we went to Velneshwar. Tithe darshan gheun mag samudravar pan gelo. Velneshwar beach is very clean and not that much crowded.

Then we reaturned back to Devrai at around 2:30 PM and had lunch. It was the "Solkadhi", that was the main attraction. I drank 3 full glasses of it. It was an excellent. Naralachya dudhachi banavli hoti.

We then for sometime took photos in front garden of the Devrai. In the afternoon, we took full rest. And then just the dinner. Dinner la Mulyachi koshimbir keli hoti... pan tila mulyacha vaas aajibat yet navhta... mala aavadli. Ani "solkadhi" - my favorite - hotich.

17/12/2010:

We woke up at 7:00 AM and went to the bunglow of Mr. Joglekar, which is in front of the Devrai. It was a nice home surrounded by green trees of various types and a huge field of rice etc. There were trees like Fanas, Papai, Kela, Papanas, Lavanga, Mira, Dalchini, Naral, Magahi Paan, ...etc...

We picked up some plants to plant in our home back. Then we went inside the bunglow, which was filled with naral, supari, aamras, etc. We bought some aamras and naral. There is also a gobargas plant. I was un-clear since my school-days, how it works... but now, as he showed us it actucally working... gas vapar suru zala ki taki khali jate ani vaparla gelela shen baher yeta.... ata mala neat kalala.

Then we returned and ate pohe. As we could not go to Budhal yesterday, we decided to first go to the Budhal and then goto Velneshvar. So we checked out at around 10 AM and then went on the way to Budhal. There were some boards on the way as well as some kind people who helped us to reach Budhal. The road was good for first few kilometers from Hedvi but then as we came nearer to Budhal the road went very bad. And suddenly a hill started where the road was just a paaywaat... not good for cars... but my automatic santro supported me very well... A spot came on the road ( as told by Mr. Joglekar ) where the road seems to be going straight inside the sea... its a beautiful spot. We went till ent of the road where there is a small vally and sea. All the way on both sides of the road there is Koli vasti.

At the end of the road, there is a small mountain and then a valley of stones which lands in the sea. We parked the car at the edge of the valley and Mi and Juilee and Baba went down the valley. Baba stooped in between, but Me and Juilee went till the sea. (Ani mazya camera ni daga dila nehemipramane... itka mast view hota pan neat photo nahi kadhta ala, cell samplyamule... ani extra cells var hote car madhye.) The sea water was of deep blue color and very clean. The sea waves were coming with force upto the stones and formaing a beauityful froth. We spent 10 minutes there (These were the best moments of Hedvi trip). Then we returned up, where Aai was seating in th car, took her out and took some photos of Aai and Baba over that nice background of seashore.

Then we started to return to Guhagar, we took the same way, but it was closer to noon and getting hot and humid. On the way we first visited the Datta Mandir in the village Palshet. It was good. We also enjoyed bhovra with local boys. We distributed some chocolates to them. Then we came to Modki Naka (tithe junya hedvi trip chya aathvani jagya zalya... amhi ST ni tithe utarlo hoto ani barach vel hedvi chya st chi vaat pahili hoti.) This Modki naka fata for Hedvi is better than the previous hedvi phata. I suggest, if you are going to Hedvi from chiplun, do not take the first hedvi phata; come to Modki naka and then take left turn for Hedvi.

From Modki Naka we took left turn for Guhagar and reached Guhagar at 1:00 PM. The road lands you straight at Vyadeshvar Mandir, where we took a right turn and there is "Sagar Lodge" immediately next to the Mandir. It was all changed. We stayed here last time, and it was very small.... now its big like a lodge in the city.

They were having trouble with manpower and the malak himself was doing the cleaning of the room. After an hour or so, he gave us 2 rooms. The rooms were good and tidy. We ate chivda and ladu and took rest.

Mi and Juilee came out of the room at 4:30 PM and went to the seashore, the road to seashore starts in front of the Sagar Lodge and within 2 minutes you can reach the sea. We went there and it was a romantic evening. The sun was not sat then, but was very golden colored. We took a round of the shore by walk and enjoyed the sound of sea. Then Baba called us, that they were waiting for us in Damle Hotel (front of Sagar Lodge) for tea. We went there and had tea and then we 4 came back to sea to see the sunset. It was nice view and there were many people (but not too much crowded). After it was complete dark, we came out and did some shopping for some tyipical kokan food like nachni papad, amsul, etc.
Then we came out of that mall(Yes, that was a MALL, near to the Vyadeshvar mandir), and fixed a riksha to go the durgadevi mandir. The mandir is very inside the road and still the road has no electricity. We spent some 20 minutes there and returned to Damle Hotel, ate poli, usal and came back to rooms and had a sound sleep. In the afternoon itslef, Baba had fixed a pujari for Vyadeshvar Abhishek, so we setup wakeup alarm for 6:30 AM next day.

18/12/2010:

We woke up at 6:30 AM and got ready. We reached the mandir at 8:00 AM. Vyadeshwar mandir has a big premises and there are many temples inside it. I sat for abhishek and aai, baba and juilee sat ouside the main gabhara. The abhishek took 1 hour. At 9:00 AM, I came out and we all went again to Damle Hotel and enjoyed the Thalpeeth. Excellent Thalpeeth!!!!

We then packed our luggage and headed towards Parshuram ghat - via chiplun road. Just before Chiplun starts, there is a left turn, which guides you towards that Mumbai-Goa highway - i.e. the Parshuram ghat. The parshuram ghat is blessed with a scenic view of "Vasishthi" nadi... it has very beautiful curves and splendid greenery. Definitlt in the rainy season it will be more beautiful than this. We climbed up in 20 minutes by car and at the top of the ghat, took a right turn and passed through a very narrow road, which ends at the stairs. The stairs are 30 - 40 - going down - and then there is Parshuram Temple. It is said that Parshuram lived here once. The temple also provides prasad-bhojan from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. It was khihadi and shira - very tasty. Before starting from the temple, we called Mina and told her that we would be visiting her home in the evening.

At the exit of the temple, we mate a very kind man who informed us that there is no need to go all the way upstairs, because there is another way, which goes down and car can come over there. This was easy for my Aai and Baba as they need not had to climb all those 30-40 stairs. So I went above and took the car and came down the hill and picked up Aai, Baba and Juilee.

The journey from parshuram ghat back to chiplun was confusing. I climbed down the ghat and forgot where to go and went on some wrong road, which lead us to Chiplun bajarpeth, the people told us to go back and then go back to Bombay-Goa highway till "Bahadur Shekh" naka and then take left turn again to Chiplun-Umbraj road... we did the same... For those 5 minutes I had lost my confidence.

We took that highway back till patan, where in between we haluted for tea.

We reached Satara at 6:00 PM. It was dark and Avinash kaka gave us correct directions to his home. We enjoyed at Mina's home.... we took Kande-Pohe and Tea. We also gave her the prasad from Parshuram temple. We started from her home at 7:00 PM and came back to Pune at 9:00 PM. It was a hectic day for me... more than 200 KM of driving in a day. (But thanks to my automatic santro, to make my life easy)

KM readings:

KM - Time - Spot

0 - 8:00 AM - My home - Manikbag - Sinhagad Road

35 - 9:00 AM to 9:30 AM - Kamat - at Kikvi

135 - Patan Fata at Umbraj ( Patan is at distance 29 KM, Chiplun at 91 KM and Guhagar 131 KM )

189 - Kumbharli Ghat starts

199 - Kumbharli Ghat ends

222 - 1:30 PM - Kane Upahargruha at Chiplun bajarpeth

268 - 5:00 - PM Hedvi - Devrai bangla.

Contacts:

Hedvi - Devrai

P. S. Joglekar ( i.e. Parsuram i.e. Rajabhau Joglekar - son of Kakasaheb Joglekar )

786, Devrai bungla, near Ganapati Mandir,

(02359) 243720

(02359) 243225

Hedvi - Bhaktaniwas

(02359) 243205

Hedvi - Suruchi

at Hedvi Beach,

Mr. Abhay Bhatkar

(02359) 243208

(02359) 243209

(02359) 243616

Guhagar Beach Resort

Mr. Mahendra Arekar

near Sagar Lodge, Vyadeshwar Temple,

9421137107

9222476339

Expenses:

Khedshivapur Toll = Rs. 60

Patan Toll = Rs. 17

Patan Toll = Rs. 17

Anewadi Toll = Rs. 45

Khedshivapur Toll = Rs. 60

Kamat Breakfast = Rs. 160

Chiplun Lunch = Rs. 200

Devrai Stay = Rs. 2600 ( [Rs. 600 + Rs. 700] * 2 days )

Devrai Food = Rs. 1800

Hedvi Riksha = Rs. 400

Sagar Lodge = Rs. 600 X 2 = Rs. 1200 ( 2 rooms for 1 day )

Petrol = approx 45 litres ( for 575 KM ) = approx. Rs. 2600

Total - approximately Rs. 9000