Journeys and Jottings
Issue 46. Madhya Pradesh in three days, upcoming trip to Jajpur Odisha, Baleshwar Temple Champavat in Uttarakhand , Simple Tips to support responsible travel, a petition to save trees and more
“Don’t be a puppet to your own mind.” I happen to stumble upon this line today on social media and while I normally don’t pay heed to the constant bombardment of self-help messages, this one really hit home. And on that note, welcome to Journeys and Jottings. In this issue, I talk about my travels to Madhya Pradesh, and my upcoming travel to Odisha while we visit Champavat and Baleshwar Temple in Uttarakhand in 100 Stories of India among others.
January just strode past me and while the month was packed, I realized that I was pulled in different directions. While travelling and writing took the bulk of my time, I was also dealing with health issues, pets, and their peeves. I also got back to focussing on my music and I wish I had more time to practise. Just recovering from a bad bout of viral ( not COVID). But the downtime made me also rethink my priorities, especially when everything is equally important. As a traveller and content creator, we are literally everywhere and sometimes nowhere and I am putting the adage, Less is More into use. So you will see me focussing a lot more on the blog and newsletter going forward.
Travel Update - Three days in and around Indore
In January I made two short trips - one to Madhya Pradesh and the other home to Madras. Madhya Pradesh was a very short trip - a whirlwind of a trip in fact and in that short span, I visited Indore, Mandu, and Maheshwar. The focus was on the rural and responsible tourism initiatives by the Madhya Pradesh tourism board as they developed villages around the tourist destinations and promoted homestays, farm stays rural experiences, women empowerment projects, and more sustainable projects. Some of these projects are still in progress but what is really heartening is that the focus has veered from just promoting destinations to sustainable tourism initiatives. I will be blogging about it soon but here is a quick sneak preview.
During another trip to Madhya Pradesh, I was listening to a presentation made by Dr Harold Goodwin, Founder, and Director of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism where he said that ” Tourism is a polluting industry.” And that made me realize that from chip packets to carbon footprints, we leave behind unwanted souvenirs of our visit at every destination. In the quest to explore different places, we forget to be responsible traveller. Dr. Goodwin asked us a pertinent question, ” Is tourism going to use you, or are you going to use tourism? ” It is the onus of every stakeholder to therefore take responsibility to achieve sustainable development through tourism. He added that the responsibility for doing so cannot be outsourced. He summed up that “Responsibility drives Sustainability.”
In case you have missed this post, here is one that I wrote about how we as travellers can support the Responsible Tourism Initiatives of Madhya Pradesh Tourism
Stay in a homestay in Rustic Madhya Pradesh
Support local communities and social enterprises
Buy responsible souvenirs and local arts and crafts
Carry your litter-destinations are not a dumping ground
Respect local cultures and traditions
100 Stories from India
The blinding winter sun adds a touch of warmth to the cold morning. Towering pines whiz past us as we drive uphill from Tanakpur to Champawat in Uttarakhand, a distance of about 73 km As we swerve along the winding roads, the journey feels longer than just a couple of hours. The dense forest cover morph into valleys as the cloudless skies fan out, creating a deep blue parasol above our heads.
It reminds me of the stories around the infamous Champawat tigress who had claimed 438 people. She was eventually put down by the legendary Jim Corbett who had penned his misadventures in his Maneaters of Kumaon. Champawat is a district in Uttarakhand and it comprises towns like Tanakpur, Lohaghat, Purnagiri, and Barakhot among others with Champawat, the town as its headquarters. There are many more tourist places in Champawat than in Tanakpur and although we had just a day here, we explored some of the places to visit in Champawat.
Legends of Champawat
Located in the lower Himalayas in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, Champawat has its own mystical and divine legends. It is believed that Lord Vishnu appeared here in the avtaar or the form of the tortoise or “Kurma Avtaar.” There is also a temple dedicated to Ghatotkacha, the demon son of Bhima of the Pandavas. The Gahtku temple is where Ghatotkacha fell when he was killed in the war between the cousins, Pandavas, and Kauravas in the Mahabharata. Another temple is dedicated to a local deity called Golu or Gwal Devta who the Kumaonis worship as the Lord of Justice. The temples are some of the main tourist places in Champawat as Uttarakhand is often referred to as the Dev Bhoomi.
Another legend however refers to it as being the capital of the Nagas and there is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva called Nagnath temple. However the city seemed to have been named after their sister, Champawati who meditated in the Baleshwar temple dedicated to Shiva, Even today, the Goddess here is referred to as Champawati, and a shrine stands here in the ancient temple complex.
It is probably why the Chand dynasty who built the Baleshwar temple complex named the region after the deity and made it their capital between the 10th-12th century. The Goddess also became their patron and guardian deity as well.
Ancient Baleshwar Temple Complex
The Baleshwar temple complex located in the heart of the town is ironically tucked away in a little lane. An ancient naula or spring stands right at the entrance as we make our way toward the revered shrines. There are three shrines inside, the largest dedicated to Bhagwan Shiva, while the other two are dedicated to Kala Bhairavar and Champawati Devi.
While these temples are sheer poetry in stone, with exquisite carvings, I can also see some erotic art on the walls of the shrines. There are also several carvings and sculptures stacked away along the walls, probably reclaimed from shrines.
There are also several Shiva Lingas some unusually carved along with sculptures of Nandi in the temple complex. One of the priests told us that a very darshan of the Bhagwan Shiva here is like having got a darshan with the Lord himself in Varanasi.
Next Travel Update
In all probability, February will see me back in Odisha after almost five years as we are exploring the Jajpur district for their heritage and cultural festival - Jajpur Mahotsav. This is not my first time here but I have been there over a decade ago, when I visited the Diamond Triangle of Buddhist Sites - Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri. I had written about it on my blog but I look forward to more experiences.
Join us to ask #flyoveryaake (Why Flyover)
The one thing that has got us all into a bit of a bind is the sudden unplanned announcement by the local government bodies to build a flyover on our road ( Sankey Road, Sadashivnagar, Bangalore ) which is entirely futile and will destroy the natural habitat by cutting over 60 heritage trees. Pavements will give away to service lanes, which will only increase the traffic rather than reduce it and our road barely has any at this point in time. It is as usual an ad-hoc project and sadly many are just blindly accepting it or indifferent to it.
We have created a small group - Citizens for Sankey with the hashtag #flyoveryaake and we have been organizing small events and activities to show our dissent towards this project. I know, this may seem like a local issue, but this is what is happening to most areas in most cities. Instead of focussing on sustainable solutions we are just randomly destroying natural habitats to build infrastructure which is not helpful in the long run. If this resonates with you, then request you to sign this petition.
Caption this
A quirky and charming moment in Maheshwar - what should the caption say?
Feedback Please
I do hope that you enjoyed reading this issue. Looking forward to your feedback as always. I would particularly like to know if you have any other suggestions regarding the travel content.
We are going to keep the flow of conversations going and I would really appreciate it if you will share my newsletter with your friends and family.
See you soon! You can also read my travel stories on my blog and follow me on my social media.
Blog - www.lakshmisharath.com
Twitter - www.twitter.com/lakshmisharath
Facebook - www.facebook.com/travelwithlakshmi
Instagram - www.instagram.com/lakshmisharath
love the goat photo! :) and truly, the temple gate photo. Would be so interesting to visit Gahtku temple! Places such as this bring the stories to life. Safe and blessed travels!