Nasik and Shirdi December 11-13

My overnight flight from Riyadh arrived in Mumbai early in the morning of Saturday December 11 and I headed on to Nasik, a major Hindu pilgrimage city s few hours north of the city. I had not gone there during my years in India, but chose to go there on this trip, because Jodi Magness, an archaeological colleague of mine, her husband Jim happened to be touring India with another couple and were scheduled to be in Nasik now. Jodi had sent me their itinerary some months ago, and so when the pieces fell into place for my trip to Saudi Arabia and India, I realized that we could meet up, at least for a day or two in Nasik.

Rather than undergo the hassle of trying to get to Nasik by bus or train, I hired a private car that took about three hours. I had booked a room over the internet at the Emerald Park Hotel, but it took a very long time to find the hotel. It turns out that the hotel is located a couple of kilometers away from where the map on Expedia.com shows it. Even worse, there is a second Emerald Park hotel in the same general area, where my driver dropped me off. But I eventually got to the hotel.

I then walked around for a while, before taking an autoricksaw to the Gateway Hotel where Jodi’s group was staying. Unfortunately, that also took a very long time to find, because the Gateway Hotel had only recently adopted that name, and auto drivers only knew of it by its former Taj Residency name. Also it turns out that the hotel is located several kilometers away from where the Expedia.com map shows it.

I had chosen my Emerald Park Hotel because it was ostensibly located a short walking distance from the more expensive Gateway Hotel, but my best intentions failed miserably when both hotels proved to be located kilometers away from where they were supposed to be.

Anyway, I met Jodi and made arrangements for the next day. As I had walked around earlier that day, I had seen a Big Bazaar shopping center not so far from my hotel, so I asked my auto driver to take me there, but instead he took me to a different Big Bazaar farther away. I eventually got back to my hotel.

The next morning of Sunday December 12, Jodi and her group picked me up at my hotel and we went to the Pandavleni early Buddhist caves south of the city. It turns out that Jodi’s travel companions were Karen Britt and her husband Daniel. Karen is a professor of Byzantine Art at the University of Louisville, whom I knew of but had not met before.

Karen Britt and me at the Pandavleni caves

The group at the Pandavleni caves: from right: Jodi, Karen, me, Jim, and Dan

We then went to the historic Sundarnarayan Temple in the city center and then to the colorful Rakmund tank and market area, the center of attraction for Hindu pilgrims.

The Rakmund tank and market area

A misshapen carrot offered at a shrine at the Rakmund tank

We then went to a nearby restaurant for lunch, before they dropped me off back at my hotel. Later that evening I went to the Big Bazaar – City Mall near my hotel and inquired at a travel agent about how to get to Hyderabad the next day, but it was too late on a Sunday to get a ticket.

The next morning Monday December 13 I went back to the travel agent and made arrangements to get to Hyderabad. The best option was to take a bus to Shirdi and then an overnight bus from Shirdi to Hyderabad. So I went to the bus station, where I took a local bus for the two and a half hour trip to Shirdi, arriving at 2:15 pm. I then hung out in Shirdi, before my overnight bus to Hyderabad left at 7:30.

I had been to Shirdi before on one of my annual trips with my students. Shirdi is a small village that has turned into a major pilgrimage center because of Sai Baba, a saint who lived there until he died in 1918. Sai Baba of Shirdi is a very interesting figure. He was an identifiably Muslim sufi mystic who espoused a form of non-denominational piety, but after his death, he has been turned into a leading Hindu saint, who attracts hoards of Hindu pilgrims from far and wide.