WORLDS TALLEST STATUE - STATUE OF UNITY
We were attending a marriage in ahemdabad, so the thought of clubbing a vacation to the statue of unity and places to see near statue of unity. The Worlds Tallest Statue is the - STATUE OF UNITY.
We took the shatabdi express from ahemdabad to bharuch. At bharuch we sat in a shared van and went to valia chokdi. We hired a cab going to netrang to take us to club mahindra, netrang.
First about the club mahindra resort near statue of unity, it is spacious. We enjoyed playing a game of chess the day we arrived after dinner.
Room was spacious with a garden.
Wifi is strong and accessible.
The next day we went to statue of unity.
We had made online bookings for a few attractions. I'll take you through them as we enjoyed each one that day.
First we were dropped off at the parking (we hired the same cabbie who dropped us to netrang to pick us and drop us at statue of unity). From the parking, merawaki forest is across the road, so we started with that. It's a small well maintained garden with information on how you can build your own small forest in the smallest of places & least time. We had it mostly to ourselves and it was fun strolling around and taking pictures.
Then we walked to arogyavan. They have a golf cart in case you don't want to walk. But we decided to walk around the garden. It is a informative garden about ancient ayurveda the plants used to cure ailments. There is a small greenhouse for displaying exotic garden plants you can place around the house, & the effects of these. Then there is a aroma garden with aromatic flowering shrubs and plants.
A small pond as a tribute to the workers who made this as they would bathe in this pond every day before leaving.
Lastly there is a human shaped walkway constructed with plants grown in parts of that body with its respective medicinal value for that part. A selfie point from where you can see the entire arogyavan.
We took an auto to ekta nursery where we had booked a tribal thali. We were greeted with hibiscus tea and buttermilk. The thali had 2 vegetables (cauliflower and cabbage) & 1 kathod, kadi and dal (lentils), farsan (methi gota and corn muthiya), barjri bhakri (millet), corn bhakri and thepla, rice and traditional ladvo for dessert.
Oh the heat by then ....."unbearable" would be a hugely understated word. So we took a sightseeing ac bus to take us to the statue of unity viewing gallery. On reaching there, you see how towering the statue actually is. We did not even reach the toe.
There is a museum on the ground floor. It is airconditined and felt heavenly. It has educational information all over.
You have to que up for the lift to go to sardar Patel heart, which is where the viewing gallery is.
It is located between the second and third button on his chest.
Sardar vallabhbhai patel was a barrister and a freedom fighter. As the guide put it "we are in the heart of sardar, viewing his dream which has now come true". He dreamed of the sardar sarovar dam being built someday . Today it is has actualized & has benefited many Gujarati villages and as said you can see this dam from the viewing gallery.
The Maharashtra & Gujarat borders are nearby.
The river on which this statue is located is narmada or also known as rewa.
This river is worshipped & there is a narmada aarti also done everyday.
Brought me the memory of the movie based on this river which is one of my favorite gujarati movies- Rewa.
Also there is a outside viewing gallery at the feet of sardar.
As the evening twilight brings in the beautiful colors of the sunset, we settle in for the laser show which happens at night.
The laser show is a marvel by itself. With the laser lights placed well on the statue precisely to create special effects. It also along with the play of lights tells us about his life, his contribution to the nation and his vision for India. It ends with the national anthem.
The patriotism & pride you feel for India is incomparable.
The day doesn't end here.
We had booked a river cruise. Dining with music as the cruise floated around the river.
Its very similar to the cruises offered in goa. With dance, music and food.
Went for a walk on a lake near club mahindra. It was a peak into the village life with its raw beauty. Farm animals tottering outside houses, beautiful lake with the sun setting on it.
The day after that we took the club mahindra nature walk. It was a walk on an agricultural farm maintained by club mahindra behind its resort property. The guide pointed out teak wood ( sag), lemon trees, mango trees, kesudo, Chikoo trees, green chickpea(chana), wheat, sugarcane, green and yellow bamboo. Lastly we saw a banyan tree with plenty of bats. We walked on the other side of the lake. Saw flying fishes. We learnt the difference between shyam tulsi (more fragrant & reddish), ram tulsi & radha tulsi. We saw peacocks drinking water from the lake.
PLACES TO SEE NEAR STATUE OF UNITY: POICHA SWAINARAYAN TEMPLE
Our last day was at Nilkanthdham, Poicha. It was a 1.5 hour drive from Netrang.
It is a grand swaminarayan temple, on the banks of river narmada. As we enter we saw a rath yatra (a procession with elephants and carriages carrying the lord). The temple is very clean with water used in genuis ways.
There is also a gaumukh snan walk around the parikrama with water pouring out for a Purification. It feels heavenly to enter the shaded temple in the afternoon heat & the water of the gaumukh purification feels further so.
There is a small paid entertainment section there too which starts with sculptures depicting the famous mythology of mahabharata. We finished this in time for the evening aarti.
The aarti is a must do if you are there. There was a dance performance after the aarti by 2 teen boys. Lastly & interestingly I saw all the ladies after the aarti scramblingly search for something on the floor. On asking I am told there are miniscule colored beads on the floor which you collect & take home as many as you can find ( for blessings? Luck? Not sure).
So ends our short trip to Statue of Unity and Poicha.
No comments:
Post a Comment