Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A coastal romance....


Post-monsoon and winter days, folks like to drive down the sylvan Kokan coast, to the ancient Ganpati temple at Ganpatipule, on the west coast of India.

 A beach temple,  the 400 years old Ganpati image at Ganpatipule is said to have sprung up from the soil. This deity faces the West, so as to guard the western gates, unlike deities in other Indian temples who face the east. The temple is at the base of a hill, and pilgrims walk around (pradakshina) the hill as a mark of respect.

My friend Harish Krishnan,  a social media evangelist from Mumbai,  did a quick trip to Ganpatipule recently and posted some wonderful photos here.  Below is one such.  

According to a local folklore, the Hindu god, Ganapati, taking umbrage by a remark made by a native lady, moved to Pulé  (a few km ahead of the town) from his original abode of Gulé. Thus the region was named Ganpati-pulé. 

Dont know if Harish Krishnan noticed, but there seemed to be another native lady at Ganpatipule.....

(photo by Harish Krishnan)
Ruthless driving
on NH 17,
and then a quiet descent
to a brick red
worship
amidst
a crescendo of waves
rushing in full tide
for
the Ganpati Aarti.

A
liitle distance away,
amidst
a few raised rocks
she sits,
her jet black
washed
and
coconut-adorned hair
falling languidly
over her eyes,
looking up slowly
through her green eyelashes,
at the waves,
foaming in fun,
trying again and again
to reach her feet...

She hears him say
he must return,
soon
in response to Niravian calls....

She blinks
her salty tears
through her green eye lashes
as the ocean waves
recede quietly,
not wanting to interfere...

She
has never understood
why anyone
would want
to go back
from Ganpatipule.......

5 comments:

  1. She blinks
    her salty tears
    through her green eye lashes
    as the ocean waves
    recede quietly,
    not wanting to interfere...

    Loved these lines the most. You are brilliant as ever :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sangeeta, Thank you ! But the place is really really wonderful. And it is the place to eat homemade "modaks" made in the traditional Kokan way, in local houses. :-))

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  2. Lovely pic and beautiful lines that capture the mood.....brilliant!

    Incidentally, There is a village called Aagar-Gule near Ganapati-Pule. My ancestors came from that village.

    Vivek

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you ! My husband's ancestors hailed from Nevre, also near GanpatiPule, and we visited that on our Kokan trip in 2010. About Gule and Pule, I was wondering if it is a true story, but your comment confirms the existence of Gule. Great !

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  3. We have a travel website which is a Maharashtra travel Guide in which we have a page for Ganpatipule with lot of information regarding the place. We also have information regarding Ganpatipule Hotels for which we have provided direct link to the hotel websites. In addition to that we have a portal with information exclusively about Ganapatipule which is www.ganapatipule.in


    We also have a page for blogs on Ganpatipule. Do let us know if you would like to feature your blog in the Ganpatipule Blogs page in puneritraveller.com.

    Please write to puneritraveller at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete