Visiting Raver Khedi

A Visit To RaverKhedi

I was a part of a group of family and friends who had planned to visit Raver Khedi, the resting place or Samadhi of Bajirao1 Peshwa.
The distance from Indore to Raver is approximately 143kms.

We left Indore at noon and it took us almost 4 hours to reach Raver. Of course we stopped on the way at this quaint dhaba, simply named Gopal Midway at a village. called Badaweh, for a delicious lunch of Makki di roti, Sarson da saag, chaas and fresh warm jalebi. Badewah lies on the banks of the Narmada.

Moving on from there we reached "Sonavat", another town. A right turn sign brought us to the turning for the Baji Rao1 Samadhi.

                                            

The turn off form the highway we travel across a muddy road. It had rained the previous night and the road had turned to a long stretch of sludge and in places water was merrily flowing over the road. Lush fields greeted us on either side. There were places where the road was completely washed out. We had to get down from our vehicle and walk. 

Eventually though, we reached the village of Raver. walking through slippery pathways was difficult as we had elderly people with us. What kept everyone going ahead was the moment when we would pay our tribute to the samadhi sthan or eternal resting place of Bajirao1.

Finally we reached the gate of the Samadhi.

The feeling that I am to actually glimpse, the final resting place of Bajirao the 1st. made me stand still. A complete sense of satisfaction flooded my being. At last I would be able to pay homage to my Hero and Idol.

The Wada and his Samadhi, although neglected, were clean. I felt that even thru his Samadhi, Bajirao seemed to call out to us in his commanding way.

The Narmada flowed below silently. The cremation sight, which was built, the night Bajirao gave up this world still stands, with the Narmada flowing around it. 

The date was 28th April 1740. On the shores of the Narmada were tents and sarai's. Bajirao's army was preparing for another battle. 

I stood gazing out towards the shore and a clear picture formed in front of me. A hot sultry day in April. Hot winds blowing.fine sand across the area. Warriors preparing for battle in the heat. Bajirao holding the army together, encouraging them, till he falls ill. The fever consuming him and eventually he losing his only battle in life.

The tremendous loss to his Generals and warriors must have been immense. Within that horrible night a stone pyre is built in the Narmada and by the first rays of sunlight, the sun of the Maratha Empire is not with his army.

This then was the sight, I stood on, as though in a trance. The whole scene flashing before my eyes as though it happened just yesterday.

Journey at Sea

Tryst With The Sea

The call came at 10 am. on the 13th of June 2014. I was to fly to Bhuj and then onwards by car to Kandla, to join my husband on the ship.

So began my journey.

It was flawless reaching Kandla Port. Memories of an early time came flooding back. Nothing much seemed to have changed and the Port looked the same as it did, those many years ago. Try as I might, I could not take any pictures of the port as it was not allowed. Although once I reached inside the port there were no such restrictions.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

A few Officers were joining with me so we all got into this Tug, where we were told that it would take us at least five to six hours to reach the ship.

The tug seemed as old as a Dhow. The cabin where we were asked to sit had places to sit but with ten of us and our luggage got extremely cramped. Within ten minutes I asked the captain of the tug if I could sit out on deck. Fortunately he gave me a stool to sit out on deck behind the steering house and finally we set of.

As we boarded in the evening it became quite dark. The sea, given the time of the year, was not calm at all.

As soon as we reached the open waters, the tug bobbed away at every wave that hit it. Managing to sit and hold on to the railing for support was quite a humorous sight.

There were two first time cadets with us, and I could see there discomfort, even though they tried their best to hide it.

As there were a few hours to kill, I looked around the tug. The state from inside was truly appalling, to say the least.The living conditions were terrible. I was later explained that as no one actually lives on the tug, it is not usually cleaned.The journey took  five hours, where I got to know the officers and we could keep a steady conversation going. 

My first sighting of the ship, took my breath away. There it stood with a warm glow around it, as though beckoning us to be there. As it was dark she was lit up and the ships reflection into the water created quite a beautiful picture.

As we drew nearer, we all started wondering, how we were going to get on the ship. The swell of the sea made our little boat bob up and down so much that it was impossible to get on to the ship's gangway. After a lot of tries, it was decided that we would be picked up by the crane that was being used to discharge coal on the ship. It was only once we reached the barge which was being used to store the coal that we were or rather I was in for another surprise. I think it is best explained by the picture I took.

On the far right was our boat. We were to jump from the boat to the first barge then the second and then on to the crane platform. This picture was taken in daylight. It was 8 pm. when we were boarding the ship. Even though the barges were tied up alongside each other, there was a gap of about 2 feet between them. This was the first time that I had to face anything like this. I have climbed up pilot ladders which are basically rope ladder lying vertical from the ship side but never anything like this. With my heart in my mouth leaping from one barge to the next, I was finally onto the crane platform. The crane then was fitted with an iron basket, enough to carry three people. This took me up and onto the ship. It was quite an exhilarating experience.

The days on the ship flew past and soon I was to be leaving the ship. 

Weather conditions, in the mean time had gone from bad to worse. The day I was to leave the winds were blowing at 40 knots and the swell of the sea was between 6 to 7 mtrs. I was dreading venturing out from the comfortable confines of the accommodation. Unfortunately as the ship was going to sail the next day, I had to leave her from the anchorage itself. There I was donning a life jacket and out on the main deck.

The scenario was not a pleasant one at all. Due to rough conditions the platform with the crane had developed a hole on its side and had to be taken to shore. The only way for me to go ashore was on this platform.

Once again the crane was fitted with the basket, with me in it. Only this time there was no exhilaration. 

As the basket rose high, the wind thought of giving us a joy ride. It made it swing from side to side and turn round and round.

I have never been fond of roller coasters or the spinning wheels in parks, but there I was, eyes tightly shut, heart thudding loudly, holding on to the metal rail of the basket for dear life. After a lot of maneuvering, we finally reached the platform. I would like to add that from the ship to the platform it was a drop of about 20 mtrs. There was another officer with me while going back and we were immediately asked to get into the accommodation for safety.

Watching from the outside of the accommodation which was at a height from the platform, I could see that two tugs had been tied to one another and then to the platform. 

Moving the platform away from the ship was quite smooth. The platform was listed at one end due to the hole in its side, but the Captain assured me that it would not be a problem. The waves kept coming on to the platform but otherwise it was quite steady and I could busily take pictures.

Suddenly there was a jolt and a huge wave came crashing on to the platform. It was so big that it sprayed onto the accommodation too. I could see a lot of commotion and the crew running hither, thither. The rope tied to the tug which was pulling us had broken. The crew was trying to tie the platform to the other tug but unfortunately it got stuck in its propeller and had to be cut.

Here we were in the middle of the sea, 20 miles from shore, at 730 in the evening, completely adrift, with no help in sight and darkness falling.

Being adrift also meant that we were at the mercy of the wind and the waves. The waves were coming on now with gusto, huge waves which hit the platform taking away anything that was loose on it. Barrels of Diesel, ropes and such loose items just got washed out to sea. The crew was desperately trying to secure things but the force of the waves was such that two of the crew got thrown from one end of the platform to another. Luckily they could hold on to an immovable structure on the platform and were saved. Of course they were badly bruised and the next day had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.

I overheard the Captain speaking in a hushed voice about how anxious he was because I was on board. He was frantically calling other tugs in the vicinity.

The situation was getting out of control. The platform which held the crane was already listed to the left. The huge mammoth crane was also on the left side. Due to the continuous pounding of the waves and water entering through the hole in its side, there was every chance of the platform capsizing.

It was a dark an eerie night. Dark clouds in the sky, obliterating the moon and stars. Stormy winds,waves so huge as if they would and did swallow anything and everything that came into their way.

After about two hours of being thoroughly beaten by the angry forces of nature, a tug did come to our rescue and slowly we made progress towards the shore.

The journey which was supposed to take us three hours, took almost seven hours.

I must say the captain, never lost his cool even once. I remember his remark " It is the first time that I have faced such a huge problem, there have been problems before but nothing like this on." The way he guided his crew was exemplary. What was even more amazing was that, through all the chaos, there was a hot meal ready for everyone. It was such a relief to actually sit down steady in one place without being thrown round. 

Reaching shore and standing on my feet on land was an emotion I cannot really put, in a word or sentence.

Till today however, I cannot understand the feeling that had come over me that night. Was it acceptance? Was it a realisation that panic would get me nowhere? Or was it just a belief that we would make it safely to shore. Strangely enough, as I sat there observing the mayhem, a deathly calm had befallen over me. I who is so scared of the deep waters, was sitting perfectly still, with thoughts of family and friends flashing through my mind.

I remembered reading a poem and how perfectly it fitted in, with the situation.

Wild Stormy Sea
by Elpis

Billowing winds, skimming the surface of the dark gray sea.

Churning the water, forceful and wild.

A distant howling, the promise of an untethered force.

Swirling mute skies, the storm approaches.

Gathering pace, gathering noise.

Waves rising higher, crashing from their peak,

to the foamy wash below.

She will take no prisoner's, have no mercy.

Arc's of silver flash in the distance,

into the depth's of the angry sea.

A building crescendo of deep, growling,

closer, closer.

Mother nature, she reigns supreme,

ethereal, powerful, a universal queen.

                 

When Stones Speak

Pataleshwar Caves...Pune

I remember visiting the Pataleshwar Caves as a child. I don't think the Archaeological Society of India had taken it under its roof at that time. It was a dark place always with water on its floors, with snakes and bats as its residents. I had vowed to myself never to go there again, but so many years later I found myself there once again. What I saw pleasantly surprised me. The whole premise was clean and very well preserved. There was no sign of water and the claustrophobia that I had felt as a child, just vanished.

Living in the city of Pune, it has become something bordering on an obsession to know more about her numerous heritage sites, structures, buildings, and Vadas. Secrets to be unearthed, tales to be told, sculptures to be studied. A picture then unfolds taking us to the long lost, but rich Era.

Dr. Indurkar an Indologist, was with us one Sunday morning, sharing his in depth knowledge of the Pataleshwar Caves.

Before he took us around the caves, he explained why it was important to find answers to Four questions:

1) Where ( The location of the structure )

2) What ( The kind of structure it is )

3) How ( The material that was used to build it )

4) Period (Approximate Era that it was built in. Most Archaeologists use Relative Dating ) 

So we moved on from the open space into the mandap with Dr. Indurkar.

As he explained, I could picturise this huge rock of Basalt and the artisans chipping away, to its present condition.A perfect circular base and roof with pillars for support.

A huge Nandi, (also carved out of a single stone) faced Lord Shiva. 

The only tools used by the workmen was a pickaxe and a chisel. The Architects gave the orders and the workmen chipped away. One cannot begin to comprehend the precision in which the work needed to be carried out. Less force and there would not even be a dent in the stone, a little more force and the stone would have been cracked, to be abandoned. The intense care in which the work force carried out this piece of Architecture, today, stands tall at Pataleshwar.

This structure is known as the Nandi Mandap. Behind Nandi is a flat area, in which musicians played and sang in honour of Lord Shiva.

As we move ahead, on the left side of the main entrance are three tiny enclosures, (also dug out from the main cave) which housed Lord Ganesh and Parvati, but today lie empty of the idols.

The main cave is the temple of Lord Shiva.

As we enter the cave, it is divided into the Mukha, or the entrance, the Mala, the Antaral, and the Garbha Gruha. The Mala is where a smaller Nandi resides. The Antaral is the space between the Mala and the Garbha Gruha or the sanctum of Lord Shiva.

A beautifully carved door or the Dwar Shakha, opens into the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord. This is decorated with the flora and fauna of the earth.

On both sides of the temple in the cave are long passages, supported by pillars in stone.

On the left one finds a sculpture carved into the wall of the cave, depicting the story of Gajasurvadha, on the right is another sculpture either incomplete or broken due to the ravages of time.

Behind the temple, but also a part of the cave, another passage way has been dug out. This is for the devotees to do their Parikrama or circumambulation around the lord.

The cave temple was built around the 8th Century, and was an experiment before the temple at Verul , or Ellora, as it is known today. Unlike most temples, this one was originally a Hindu temple. Most of the cave temples in Maharashtra however were Buddhist in origin. Only after the wave of Buddhism receded did they become Hindu temples.

The question of why such structures were carved out of caves, needs an explanation. The answer could not have been more simple. Structures carved out of caves need almost no maintenance and can withstand the uncertainties of the weather for long periods of time. This is evident even today as we saw, in just one such structure at Pataleshwar.

Taking Pataleshwar as an example, it is seen that once ASI, took it under its wing, certain parts which had not stood the passage of time,were repaired in a most ingenious way.Looking up at the ceiling of the Mandap he pointed out the restoration work that was carried out. Glass was placed in the cracks, filling them with cement blocks. If the glass cracked, it meant that the cracks in the ceiling had widened.

While taking us around Pataleshwar, Dr. Indurkar, also gave us an insight of other rock temples in Maharashtra.

Verul being the largest one, cut out from an entire rock. There are 1200 such Leni's or caves in Maharashtra alone. Also Maharashtra has the distinction of being on the top of Rock cut literature.

Unfortunately none of the caves bear any inscription, depicting the names of the artists and architects who designed these caves.

Places like Ambe Jogai have 6 massive elephants,carved  from stone.

Another interesting anecdote was of Inmagaon a village. The huts in the village had these concentric holes dug into the ground. The villagers explained that these holes were filled with Acacia  (Babhli) thorns. grain storing Urns were then placed on these holes. This was a way to keep out the rodents and insects from getting into the grains and destroying the yearly stock. This centuries old method is still being followed even today. Nothing written but stories and anecdotes repeated generation to generation and still followed.

A tour which began and ended at Pataleshwar, actually took us all around Maharashtra, giving us a glimpse of the life and times in, as far back as the 8th Century.