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09/05/08

MP Diaries : The Rock Paintings (Blast from the Past)

The story so far:

Delhi - Kanha
Kanha and around
Kanha to Bhopal
Bhopal to Bhojpur and Ujjain

The next morning we did wake up as required... as early as 0400 hrs and were out of the hotel and in the temple on time... We had a small argument with the police there over the temple opening early and no cloakroom available to keep our stuff there...

We entered the temple... waited in a not that small queue, and finally got a seat near the Shivling... The Arti was already on and we watched the entire proceedings on the TVs fitted outside the Garbhagreh... The most typical of the morning arti at Mahakaal Temple is the BhasmArti where ashes from a still burning pyre are brought to be used in the arti...

What caught my attention was a Naga Baba who was standing still throughout the Aarti but suddenly he started moving as if he has the most energy in this world... For the next 20 odd minutes throughout the time when Bhasm Arti was going on, he was the person to look at... AWESOME it was....

We rushed back, picked our bags and rushed to the Railway Station to catch the 0715 Intercity Express back to Bhopal... We were just in time to take the tickets and this time we took the reserved compartment, to see if we could make up for the lack of sleep and manage some during out 4 hour journey back to Bhopal...

The Ganeshji :)

The next 4 hours did not see a lot of activity except me not letting Aro sleep when I did not get to sleep well...

The train reached Bhopal on time and we quickly found a hotel near the station only and planned for the rest of the day... We wanted to go to BhimBethka ( to see the rock paintings) and then again to Bhojpur ( We could not get enough of the place the last afternoon)...
A Bison attacking men...

So we changed, hired a cab and set off to Bhimbethka... The place was without a doubt magical with all those colorful paintings all around... You can read more about the paintings here. and the pictures you can check out below...

The Flying Man...


Ready to go hunting...

Community Dancing and Festivity...

Hunting in Progress...

Mammoths...

The Rock Shelter popularly known as the Zoo Rock...

Community on Rocks... There is a King as well whose horse has flowers all around...

Another one of the paintings...

After a while we moved towards Bhojpur again and spent the rest of the day there...
The Gold that INDIA produces... Wheat...

Harvesting Wheat...

The Shivling at Bhojpur...

Sunset from Bhojpur...

The place is in our hearts... Visible in the shades right now...


The platform at the Bhojpur Temple...

By evening we were back in Bhopal and in the new market area... Did some shopping in Mrignayani and had the best pan in the world at Banarasi Pan Bhandar... I was happy to see that the taste had not changed much in the last few years...

The day that started a li'il too early finally came to an end around 2200 hrs with no plans for our final day in MP... there was a certain amount of satisfaction though in whatever we had in the last 5 days !!! had lived INDIA the way we liked...

and tomorrow was yet another day :)

18 comments:

  1. inghwow!!
    i never knew such rock paintings existed right in the centre of our country :)

    really liked the zoo-rock and the community-on-rock paintings, also the sunset at bhojpur temple... its so calm out there...

    and that ws thrilling to read about the bhasm-arti ritual, the naga baba.. the whole atmosphere must given to a terrific sight...

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  2. :-D never knew such beautiful places existed.. the rock paintings.. totally new to me.. and teh photo of wheat.. awsome shot... :)

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  3. so finally hindustan ka dil dekh hi liya.......next time mandu should be on the list..........

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  4. # Mayuri...
    they date from 12000 years old to as new as a 1000 years... amazing site to visit...

    The sunset was awesome... loved it...

    Bhasm Arti and that Baba... wish I could radiate the amount of energy he was doing when he was blowing the Shankh that morning !!!

    Wish..

    # Anoop...
    I did not know either... hidden treasures of our country and that make it unique...

    I have a better shot of Wheat to be posted to the foto studio sometime later :)

    # Deepak...

    Ek aur post baaki hai mere bhai :)

    par haan.. bahut kuch dekha.. dil khush ho gaya dil dekh kar...

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  5. itzz beautifull.. the paintings r wonderful... i love the pic in which the glares have reflections :))

    beautiful indeed!

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  6. Awesome!

    Ask Aro how many Hughes - Flextronics (Byford) t-shirts did he actually flick?

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  7. wow
    lucky bum
    my mum blasted all my plans of goin to mcleodgunj n dharamsala :( i was gonna go wit sum group unknown maybe shes right. but none believe me NONE of my frds have the time all they believe in is working 9-9 and minting money.BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

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  8. # veens...
    very beautiful...

    thanks..

    # Subbu...
    thanks bro..

    hehee...

    # Elusive...
    thanks :)

    I never associate my travel with Luck... I have to work very very hard for it... would appreciate if you don't use that term either please...

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  9. Woweeeee
    Am so glad I read this post...have been meaning to read it since long...
    Nice insight to bhimbhetka (the link i mean)... and nice pics to go with...
    :)

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  10. Thanks Reeta....Glad you liked it...

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  11. seeing the rock paintings...feel like going there.
    and that picture of gogles on the chest reflecting the image of a monument is clasic.

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  12. # Elusive...
    :)

    #Fighter Jet...
    its a place worth going to...

    thanks...

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  13. wow, this is so exciting.. i had no idea that we had some thing like this in India..Rx to the rock shelters of bhimbhetka...and the link :)-thanx for educating

    *goes on my to do this life time list :)

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  14. This is an absolute mast !!!!

    India has more than we know, more than we will ever know... all we can do is make an effort to find out whatever we can in one life time...

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  15. Are we allowed inside the temple during Bhasmarti? I am going there next weekend. Want to attend bhasarti. By the way, any dress code to be followed? Are there any hotels / lodges nearby temple?

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  16. Yes everyone is allowed !

    Reach about an hour before the aarti starts, so that you get a decent place to sit !

    Also wear anything that you feel is decent for the occasion and place...

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  17. Oh and there are many hotels around that place... no issues on staying there

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