Pandharpur Kolhapur Yatra - Part 3

On the way back from Vishnu Paad, Bhagvat took the boat along the river bank. Here we could see different varieties of birds nesting & hunting for their first meal of the day. There being no humans nearby, the birds continued their business undisturbed..

Before we finally came ashore, Bhagvat gave the oars to a couple of us Yatris to try our hand at rowing. And we discovered how unprepared we were to even handle one oar each! We soon gave up and handed the oars back to him to take us back. 

After this, a few of us did some small shopping for momentos before we boarded the TT and went to a nearby restaurant called Vittal which was on the way to our hotel. The team decided to have a heavy breakfast and skip lunch. The restaurant food was not great but for us it was the first meal five hours after waking up. Hence, we gorged on our Poha, Puri Bhaji, Dosa etc. followed by tea / coffee.

It was nearly noon when we reached our hotel and checked out. The GPS said that it is a 4 hour drive to Kolhapur. With a short break in between, we will reach by 4.30 p.m. we thought. That may give us some time for local shopping thought the ladies. The online booking for darshan was scheduled between 7 & 8 p.m. 

The drive to Kolhapur was generally good with a few short patches of poor roads. Many of the Yatris were exhausted and snoozed for an hour or so. After a couple of hours, some snacks were taken out from the bags and shared amongst everyone. Chikkis, Chaklis and home made Mysorepak were finished with relish. We had sufficient bottled water provided by the TT operator.

As we reached the outskirts of Sangli by 4 p.m., we estimated that we would reach Kolhapur by 5 p.m. latest. It was then that a passing motorist pointed out that one of our rear tires was punctured. The vehicle was taken to the side of the road and we discovered that the tire & tube had shredded beyond repair due to being driven in that condition.

It took about an hour to replace the tire with a stepney. In the meantime, we went to a small tea shop and had tea. There was also a petrol pump close by where people could use the washroom facility.

The rest of the journey to our Hotel at Kolhapur was uneventful. We reached Hotel Ramee Panchsheel at 6.15 p.m. This is a very decent hotel and was a welcome upgrade compared to the hotel at Pandharpur. We agreed to meet at the lobby by 7 p.m. after getting freshened up and changing from travel attire to darshan attire. The Mahalakshmi temple was a short drive from the hotel. Thankfully, traffic was light and there was no major rush at the temple.

We got into the queue and moved into the temple by 7.45 p.m. Although the crowd was not heavy, the crowd management was not great. There was a fair amount of jostling in front of the be deity. Also, there were a couple of very tall officials standing inside the temple who were blocking the view. They didn't seem to realise that they were standing on the wrong side, unlike Pandharpur where we devotees had an unrestricted clear view of Lord Vittal. I also noticed that a number of influential people were allowed entry into the sanctum while the rest of the devotees were not allowed. Also, there was too much sound of police whistles and screams of the crowd managers that were distracting and irritating. 

We came out after a brief darshan and later went back during Aarti for a second darshan. This was slightly better and we could see Mahalakshmi Devi to our hearts content.

After coming out, we visited the Dattaguru temple within the premises as well as other small shrines in the complex. We also did the customary photo sessions for the temple. The external lighting was very beautiful and worth capturing.

When we came out of the temple, it was nearly 8.30 p.m. Based on Google help we identified a restaurant close by called Hotel Murali. This was within a short 5 minutes walk. We had a 15 minute wait before we got our tables. The yatris split into groups of 4 for convenience. Each table of 4 ordered for themselves. This made it easier and manageable. The food was decent but nothing extraordinary to write about. The service was fast and we left by 9.45 p.m. 

Our hotel was a short ride away and we were glad to be back in the confines of a very comfortable hotel. The rooms are spacious and well furnished. The AC was working fine as were the other facilities. Everything was fine after another hectic and tiring day. After reaching our respective rooms, we sunk into the comfort of our bed to rest our tired bodies. We had agreed to meet early for breakfast the next day so that we could checkout by 9 a.m. 

Thus ended Day 2 of our yatra.