[Majic]

Mmm, nice sighting of the corcs in its natural habitat, i belive one good thing always leads to another in the coming.

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Hi Chevy_lover, you are a great writer of travelogues. I enjoyed reading travelogue of your Velankanni, Kodai and Ooty trip. And now this one. Great going.

Thank you Ramesh, for your comments. I am happy to know that you are following my logs.

Did you read my Bhutan and Darjeeling travelogue? That was one of our best trips so far!! You can see some amazing pics there!

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Thank you Ramesh, for your comments. I am happy to know that you are following my logs.

Did you read my Bhutan and Darjeeling travelogue? That was one of our best trips so far!! You can see some amazing pics there!

Thanks for the information. I will read it.

[Chevy_lover]

Our next point was the Guru Shikhar, which is Mount Abu’s highest mountain peak, and is located at an altitude of about 1,722 meters above sea level. This peak is the home to the temple of Dattatreya, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the peak is called Guru Shikhar after him as Guru Dattatreya had dignified this place and his footprints are sanctified here in a rock in a cave. The peak is about 15 kilometres away from the city.

We started or journey by 2.45 pm from Trevor’s Tank. The road to Guru Shikhar was fantastic, though narrow. We paid a toll of Rs. 6 shortly and entered the village. There was Brahma Kumari’s Peace park en-route and we decided to stop there. We parked our Chevy near the park and was about to go inside. Two small boys came to us and offered to clean our car. We fixed a rate of Rs. 30 and went inside the park.












There were lots of greenery in the park and we enjoyed it. There was no entrance fee too! We were about to go inside when we were stopped by a man and he ordered us to go for a lecture by a hermit. We got really angry hearing the tone of his voice and refused. He told us that we HAD to attend the sermon or else we wouldn’t be allowed inside. We were disgusted by this behaviour and left after giving the supervisor of the park, a piece of our minds. I don’t know what their intention is in forcing everyone to attend a religious sermon. Shouldn’t it be done with a free will???

We left the park in a huff and returned back to our Chevy, who was gleaming by then, after the wash. I paid the boys and decided to head to the hills. It was then we noticed that time was running out. We shelved our plan to visit the Guru Shikhar and decided to head back to Dilwara.

We were about to start our journey back to the city when we saw this amazing sight. A huge airliner was zooming past, about 15 -25 kilometres above us, at approximately 850 kilometres per hour! The scene was awesome!





We started our drive back to Dilwara by 3.30 and reached the temple by 3.50 pm.





The temple was still closed and there was huge line of devotees waiting to get inside. We spent some time loitering around the shops there and bought two paintings from a shop there.




We also saw the ‘OM Bell’. This bell produces a sound akin to ‘OOOOOM’ when a wooden rod is rubbed on the outside of the bell in a continuous circular motion. The price was Rs. 750 for Indians and Rs. 13,000 for foreigners! I got this figure out of his mouth after pestering him for some time!





We gingerly joined the queue and inched our way forward, when the gates finally opened after the eclipse at 4 pm.





The queue was fast moving and soon we would reach the security check point! But one problem loomed above us! What should we do with our costly camera???? Photography was strictly prohibited inside!!!

[KRRaj]

First an Helicopter, then a Plane. What next a UFO?

The guy who denied you entry in the park should be beaten up properly. . That OM sound bell I saw here at the Tibetan Settlement near Coorg, Karnataka also. Everyone was looking at it in wonder as if they had never seen it. The different prices are not a surprise as that is prevalent everywhere in India.

[sriswe]

CL,

The airliner pics were well captured ... really nice...

What should we do with our costly camera???? Photography was strictly prohibited inside!!!

Hmm...Eagerly waiting for what you did for the cam ...Didn't you follow the standard procedure of submitting the cam the security and collect it back later ?

Thanks,
Srini...

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by KRRaj

First an Helicopter, then a Plane. What next a UFO?

The guy who denied you entry in the park should be beaten up properly. . That OM sound bell I saw here at the Tibetan Settlement near Coorg, Karnataka also. Everyone was looking at it in wonder as if they had never seen it. The different prices are not a surprise as that is prevalent everywhere in India.

We hoped against hope to see a UFO. That would have been the icing on the cake!! But alas, we did not have much luck!

The usual price difference is not a suprise for us. But the percentage of hike in price for foreigners, for a simple bell, was surely shocking!

We were shocked to see that we were denied entry, because we did not want to attend a sermon of another religion.

[Majic]

Nicely shaped travelogue, good photos of the plane. The price difference of the indians and foreginers. I think its Indians taking revenge on Foreigners for pre independence troubles!

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by sriswe

CL,

The airliner pics were well captured ... really nice...

Hmm...Eagerly waiting for what you did for the cam ...Didn't you follow the standard procedure of submitting the cam the security and collect it back later ?

Thanks,
Srini...

Thanks Srini. The airliner was a very difficult catch, because of its sheer speed. I guess it is more than 850 kmph at its cruising altitude.

We were really upset to learn that no photography is allowed inside. Worst of all, we had to give up our camera.

But there is a saying, where there is a will, there is a way!

Coming up, for the VERY FIRST TIME, PHOTOS OF THE DILWARA TEMPLE!!!

@Majic, the revenge angle never crossed my mind! Maybe its true, it IS REVENGE!!! How else can one justify Rs. 13K for a bell?!

[Chevy_lover]

We inched forward and soon underwent the security check. They strictly told us not to take any camera or mobile phones inside and we were instructed to leave it at the counter. We also had to remove our shoes, which was a big headache as we had to leave them unguarded, along with thousands of other footwear of other visitors. There was no token system in place! We were unhappy at the prospect of walking barefoot, but decided to carry on.

We then had to surrender our camera and mobile phones at the counter. They gave us a token, which was a number written on a cardboard chit. My heart was thumping like hell! Our valuables in our rucksack were worth a bomb and the last thing we wanted was something to get burgled. I told the clerk that we had a list of what all we had inside the rucksack and got his assurance that everything was safe. We finally entered the temple with a heavy heart. I made sure that the token was safely tucked away in my wallet. I have never been pick-pocketed all my life and I was pretty sure that the token would be safe there.

We started the tour of the temple soon. It was an architectural wonder. It was one of the finest temples we had ever seen! The marble stone carvings were wonderful and we thought that it was architecturally superior, even to the Taj Mahal. The minutely carved ceilings and the pillars were just amazing!!!

The Dilwara Temple complex consists of five major sections or temples devoted to five Jain Tirthankaras (saints):

1. Shri Mahaveer Swami Temple - This temple was constructed in 1582 and was devoted to Lord Mahaveer, the 24th Tirthankara of Jains. This temple was relatively small and the temple's upper walls had paintings done by the craftsmen of Sirohi in the year 1764.

2. Shri AdiNath Temple or Vimal Vasahi Temple - This temple was built by Vimal Shah, minister of Solanika, the ruler of Gujarat in 1031 A.D. This temple was the oldest of all and dedicated to Shri Adinath Ji - the first Jain Tirthankar. The temple had an open courtyard surrounded by corridors, all beautifully decorated with marble carved stones. The cells inside that temple had tiny images of Jain saints, artistically carved on marble stones. The internal dome was beautifully decorated with designs of flowers and petals. The temple pillars were decorated with carvings of female figures playing musical instruments. The temple also had the "Guda Mandapa" - a simple hall decorated with the images of Shri Adi Nath.

3. Shri ParshavNath Temple or Khartar Vasahi Temple - This temple was built by Mandika clan between 1458 - 59 A.D. This temple had the tallest shrine amongst all Dilwara temples, along with four big mandapas. The carvings on the pillars of this temple were yet another example of this Jain temple’s architectural superiority.

4. Shri Rishabdaoji Temple or Peethalhar Temple - This temple is known as the Pittalhari/ Peethalhar temple, because most of the statues in there were built using ‘Pittal’ (Brass Metal). This temple was built by Bhima Shah, a minister from Gujarat dynasty. Like other temples of Dilwara, this temple also had Gudu Mandapa and Navchowki.

5. Shri NemiNathJi Temple or Luna Vasahi Temple - This temple was built in 1230 A.D. by two brothers Tejpal and Vastupal. They dedicated this temple to the 22nd saint of Jainism - Shri Nemi Nathji. This temple had one hall named Rag Mandapa, which had 360 tiny idols of Jain Tirthankar, all minutely carved on marble. Amongst all those white marble idols, the idol of Shri Neminath Ji is carved in black marble. The pillars of this temple were built by Maharana Kumbha of Mewar.

We were truly mesmerized by the grandeur of the temple. The only problem was that photography was strictly prohibited . But since the hallmark of my travelogues is the innumerable photos, I managed to get some snaps of the Dilwara too! Here are some pics of that brilliant temple. These are NOT from the internet. Can anyone guess how I got these pics?

[SmartCat]

um.. You had a second camera, inside your secret pant pocket?

I hope you didn't make the Gods angry.

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by smartcat

um.. You had a second camera, inside your secret pant pocket?

I hope you didn't make the Gods angry.

Wrong answer, Smartcat! They have metal detectors everywhere, near the entrance. Even my car keys were taken out for scrutiny. Carrying a camera inside is out of the question!

I don't understand why they have prohibited photography inside the temple. The beauty of a place is to be shared and there is no better way to do it than through photos!

Any other guesses? I am waiting for the right answer!

[MX6]

Spycam on a pen. I keep seeing that on times of india. But the depth of view on some photos is too good for a spy cam.

[Chevy_lover]

We finally got out of the temple at 5.45 pm. The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds! We wanted to go to the sunset point to view Mount Abu’s famous sundown. But we were able to capture a terrific scene from the Dilwara itself. These are fine examples of Silhouette photography!





















I was so overwhelmed by emotions when I saw this scene. I had never seen such a beautiful spectacle in a long long time!!!

The Sky is God’s Canvas!!!

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by MX6

Spycam on a pen. I keep seeing that on times of india. But the depth of view on some photos is too good for a spy cam.

Still wrong, my friend. Remember, there are metal detectors at the entrance!

Let's see who can guess the secret behind these pics. I think these are the first and ONLY pics of Dilwara Temple in T-BHP.