3959 Kms Temple Run Across 7 States Covering 7 Temples / Jyotirlingas / Shakti Peeth in 8 Days

[A.G.]

Preface:
Every journey starts with a single step – what sparked this one was a casual conversation resulting in a ‘short drive’ across 7 states covered in 8 days with family. Thanks to the almighty for all the help. Gratitude to my friends who helped with planning and to my family for their support who endured this marathon run, especially the last leg which became longest due to elections in Rajasthan. Last but not the least – our Silver Surfer (Mahindra XUV7OO) for performing flawlessly and providing a cocoon of comfort.

Complete Trip Map

The Trip summary of 8 days of driving across 7 states

The Planning:
A casual invitation by a friend to visit Ujjain to pay homage to Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple got me searching the route. Google search results showed the entire Jyotirlinga map and opening it transformed the journey to twice the distance since it showed that 4 other temples were nearby – it was a no brainer to go till Ujjain and not pay homage to the other nearby Jyotirlingas and temples along the route.

After a couple of iterations around routes & kids holidays, it was couple of days prior to Diwali that the plan was finalized with details mapped out in spreadsheet and after the final discussion with the family & friends started with the process of booking the stays for each night of travel. The discussions with family were most important as the marathon run should not be taxing on health – taking into consideration how much we can push ourselves (02 Adults, 02 Senior citizens and 03 kids including a toddler) and balancing the travel time with walking, especially for the day when we had to go down and climb back almost 300 stairs. To stay fresh, it was ideal to start by 9am and after completing the planned activities and travel reach the stay for the night by 9pm to ensure a good rest – this formed the most important guideline while planning the trip.

The Preparations:
On any trip, you wish to carry the world with you but we had to pack light considering the available space. Space management was the biggest issue and one night we tried some combinations of luggage (suitcase, bags and a combination of both) to see what we could fit with one of the 3rd row seats open.

Iteration 1

Iteration 2

Once the luggage was finalized, we packed in a manner that we had to take out maximum of 2 bags per night. The smart packing became a boon on the trip as neither time was lost in shuttling the luggage nor the question of what-to-wear ever arose. Then came the checklist for essentials which included almost 30L water, juices & soft drinks, variety of dry snacks for all age groups, First aid kit with general medicines and finally it was time to get the Silver Surfer inspected where the rear brake pads were found to be requiring replacement. They were promptly replaced and after a through inspection, it was all good to go (read in detail here).


Summary of travelogue:
Day 1: Drive from Home to Datia to visit Shri Peetambra Peeth and then to Orchha.
Day 2: Drive to Nagpur
Day 3: Visiting Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga Temple, Shani Shignapur and drive to Ahmednagar
Day 4: Visiting Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga Temple and drive to Trimbak near Nashik
Day 5: Visiting Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Temple and drive to Indore
Day 6: Visiting Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga Temple and drive to Ujjain with visit to Mahakal Corridor
Day 7: Visiting Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple and drive to Delhi via Kota
Day 8: Return to home

 

[A.G.]

Day 1:

Synopsis

Started at 10am for Datia to visit Shri Peetambra Peeth.

And the trip begins

Reached the Haldiram at Namaste Midway around 11am and had a brunch.

From here, we took the EPE from Dasna on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway to bypass the NCR traffic and reached Pari Chowk from where we took the Yamuna Expressway. After reaching Agra and taking the partly constructed bypass, Google Maps took us through village with roads disappearing, then getting narrower and then through farm roads – what kept us going was spotting on-coming vehicles after regular intervals. After navigating through this patch finally reached NH44 and followed it all the way till Datia.

View of the road Google Maps took us through

At a fuel station for bio-break

Reached Shri Peetambra Peeth in Datia around 7:45pm and after spending an hour, we were on our way to Orchha for the night halt at the riverside campsite resort ARC Advenport run passionately by a rallyist and dear friend.

Shri Peetambra Peeth in Datia

At the ARC Advenport Resort

The private balcony and sit-out area

View from the sit-out area

 

[A.G.]

Day 2:

Synopsis

We planned to reach Nagpur by dinner time so there was no hurry in the morning. After exploring the campsite and having a delicious brunch, we started around 10am and followed Google Maps. It took us around Shri Ram Raja Temple in Orchha but upon reaching the temple, there was heavy security & checking with road closures due to some VIP movement and Chhath pooja on that day. After the documents were checked by MP police, they advised to take the road back via the highway through Jhansi. Backtracked almost 10 Kms back to the highway and took the route via Jhansi. Filled-up fuel and we were on our way to Nagpur via the NH44.

Waking-up to a view

The rally Gypsy

There were a lot of speedcams near Jhansi, had descent truck traffic and the overall condition of the highway was average with random large potholed patches appearing every 60-70 Kms.

Stopover at fuel station for bio-break

Tea-break on the highway

Finally, there was heavy rush as we reached Nagpur around sunset with most of it being local traffic returning from Kanhan river and then instead of the ring road, Google Maps took us directly through the city. Despite all this, we reached comfortably around 7pm and checked-in to the hotel after a fuel fill-up.

 

[A.G.]

Day 3:

Synopsis

From here-on, the plan was to leave hotel by 9am, visit the temple(s) and then head to the next destination by max 9pm. We departed from the hotel around 8:40am and it took us no time to reach the entrance of Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg. After a couple of pics, headed out towards Aurangabad which was a drive of around 450 Kms on this expressway. The view is quite scenic and the traffic was quite sparse. It was quite surprising to find trucks & buses sticking to their lanes and most of the vehicles following the speed limit judiciously unlike Yamuna Expressway which despite being heavily monitored does not get any lane driving and most of the traffic is over the limit by a good margin.

Hotel in Nagpur near the Metro station

Before entering the expressway

Some amazing landscapes

Tunnel on the route

Different places had different artwork on the bridges on the expressway

Pillars

Birds

Chakra

Wind Turbine blade being transported

With a bio break and tea break at the fuel stations, we reached Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga Temple around 2:15pm. Of all the temples visited, parking here is the closest to the temple with hardly 150m walk to the main compound.

Stopped at fuel station for tea and bio-break

Parking outside the temple

Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga Temple

Inside the compound, the que was organized and fast moving and there was clothing restrictions only for adult male devotees who need to remove all their upper clothing. Inside the temple, the que for ladies is separate which is mismanaged. Being at the end of our family que, it was my job to stop any push from behind but once the ques separated, the security was brainlessly allowing more and more women inside causing chaos and a women pushed my mother inside the temple making her fall. I was helpless and a mere spectator to see this unfold from the opposite end and had to raise my voice at the temple priest and security to stop further nuisance. With the assistance of security, we performed our pooja and came outside the main temple where the security staff was clueless about the location of first-aid box. Moving on from the bruises but more importantly the shock, my mother vetoed to continue the plan.

Left for Shani Shignapur temple around 3:45pm and reached the temple in around 2 hours. We were lucky that the timing coincided with the evening aarti and after darshan and evening snacks, we reached the hotel in Ahmednagar in an hour around 8pm. Barring the passage through the cities, the road between Auragabad and Ahmednagar were good. There was a Jio-BP fuel station across the street and after dinner filled-up the tank to prepare for the next day.

At Shani Shignapur temple

Parked at the hotel

 

[A.G.]

Day 4:

Synopsis

This was supposed to be toughest day of the trip as it involved ghat drive on the way to Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga Temple and there were around 300 steps to be traversed on foot. Google Maps took us off the highway through a village instead of staying on NH61 and taking a left on NH60 – while this route was shorter, the road was under construction. A truck ahead of us cleared the way and we were back on NH60 in no time. After leaving NH60 on Manchar Bypass, it took almost 1.5 hours to cover the ghat section to the temple and we reached around noon at the nearby bus stand.

Parked near the bus stand

From here it took us around 3.5 hours to go down the stairs, perform pooja inside the temple with the priest, climb back the stairs and catch our breath before starting to move. The shopkeepers around the temple were helpful and for a very reasonable amount, they dropped my parents on a Scooter one at a time all the way up near the bus station.

Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga Temple

The next stop was hotel in Trimbak city near Nashik and after descending the ghats right before entering the highway, we stopped for a snack break – freshly cooked local delicacies with pakoras and tea, all of which tasted very good, after the ghat drive uplifted our spirits. Started from here around 5pm and while crossing Nashik in the evening took time, we reach the hotel in Trimbak around 8:15pm.

Tea break at the entry of Manchar Bypass

At the hotel in Trimbak

 

[A.G.]

Day 5:

Synopsis

Visited the Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Temple in the morning and reached back at hotel in 2 hours around 10am. After a brunch, left for Indore around 11:30am. The experience at this hotel was turned out to be the sourest one as they had weird policies where you could order only tea/coffee via room service, take pakoras and sandwich to your rooms from restaurant while other eatables from their restaurant (like paratha) were neither served in the room nor allowed to be taken to the room. The food itself was off taste and served cold and the preparation itself didn’t feel right the entire day.

Outside the Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Temple

Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Temple

On the way to Indore, we stopped for a late lunch around 3:30pm at a roadside restaurant on NH52 near Natwade which had fast service and delicious food. After spending 45 mins here, we were back on the road. NH60 / NH52 is the only road I have experienced which has rumble strips on the highway at each opening in the divider and the number of crossings are too many (almost every 2 kms around towns & villages) which hamper progress despite the road being in good condition.

Lunch break

Panoramic view

There was traffic before entering Indore and finally we reached hotel around 7:30pm. Met friends who sparked the idea of Ujjain visit in the first place – who knew that the promise I made of visiting them with-in an year would be fulfilled in a month.

Parked in the friend’s society parking near the hotel

 

[A.G.]

Day 6:

Synopsis

Although Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga Temple is not far away from Indore distance wise, the road construction and narrow ghat roads meant the journey was a quite a bit time consuming. Started around 8:45am from Indore and reached the temple parking around 11:15am. Where the ghat road starts while coming from Indore, for the first time saw traffic lanes being swapped just for those 2 series of bends – there was an official board which pointed out to this change and felt pretty weird.

Crossing the Narmada river

From the parking area, walked towards the suspension bridge and crossed it to continue towards the temple, did out pooja and we were back to the parking in around 2 hours after which we started back for Indore around 1:15pm.

The suspension bridge over the river

Dam

On the way, we had lunch at restaurant on the banks of the river and due to very slow service, it took us more than an hour here.

Finally we reached Chappan in Indore by 5pm. Enjoyed some local delicacies and headed for Ujjain around 6:30pm – the traffic in the evening was very chaotic heightened by the fact that it was first day of the start of marriage season.

Somewhere in Indore

Getting friend along to visit Chappan

Yet another ‘random’ police check

After crossing Indore, it was a short drive on the highway reaching the homestay around 8pm. Took the e-rickshaw and visited the amazingly lit-up Mahakal corridor before reaching back and retiring for the day.

Ujjain entry gate

A few glimpses of Mahakal Corridor

 

[A.G.]

Day 7:

Synopsis

Actually the night of Day 6 since me & my wife had to reach the entry gate for morning aarti at Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple – reached the entry gate at 2:30am where we were directed to go to a large holding area with seats. From this hall, we were taken to the final holding area around 4am where it was sheer chaos with gates to the main hall being closed and there being constant push from behind while standing on a downward ramp. Once the gate opened around 4:15am, there was a mad rush, almost like a stampede, where those who had been here before wanted to select the seats infront of the temple door on the stairway despite the fact that no matter where you sit, the best view of the aarti is on the LED wall right above the temple gate.

The aarti started around 4:30am and we had a surreal divine experience in the temple till 5:45am. After spending some time in the temple corridor, we headed back to the homestay for some rest reaching back around 6:45am after having poha & tea on the way back. Started again at 9am for darshan with family and we were back at the homestay by 11am.

The plan was to start the return journey and head-out till Jaipur and if fatigue sets in, the alternate was a layover in Kota – so we started the journey after packing our stuff and were on the road by 11:30am.

A wind farm on the route

After an hour, we had a leisurely early lunch at MPTDC Midway near Agar and the kids enjoyed the various outdoor games they had. Started again around 1:30pm and the road out of Ujjain were mostly undivided till we reached NH52 near Jhalrapatan.

The Midway treat

Kids loved the various games

Almost looked real

Resting

Stopping for a tea break

Out of all the meticulous planning, I didn’t factor-in the elections in Rajasthan due to which there were excessive check points on the highway by traffic police for ‘random’ paperwork check and by police with election commission for specific cash related checking. So much random that after the 3rd stop in 20 Kms (once in MP and twice in RJ), we decided against staying in Rajasthan and planned to push all the way till Delhi via the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. The thought was reaffirmed when we discussed the same over a snack break after Kota around 5pm and picked-up some fruits from roadside. This change added almost 3 hours to the drive time via the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and there was supposed to be a stop-over for dinner as well adding another 30 minutes. Somewhere around Tonk, my stomach was not feeling happy probably due to the unwashed fruits I had after the tea break – this coupled with fatigue of being awake and the last leg seemed like a challenge.

Single pillar type suspension bridge on Kota Bypass

At the snack break point

Tunnel on the route around Tonk

We took the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway connecting road NH23 from Kothun right after Niwai. After almost 30Kms of undivided highway having good roads (probably fresh road), we finally reached the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and the stretch till Dausa (almost 50Kms) was being repaired at multiple places with lane closures without any reflective tape or proper markings.

Lane closure without proper reflective markings

Booster lamps in action – lighting up the signage a km away

Most of the rest areas were not open and we finally found one another 50Kms from Dausa exit reaching around 9:15pm. Starting back after dinner around 10pm, the road till Faridabad was all good. Then the late night truck traffic leading to snarls in Delhi after crossing the Faridabad Toll coupled with fatigue setting in almost made me grumpy for the first time in the entire trip. We reached East Delhi just as the date changed in calendar taking us a total of 12.5 Hrs from Ujjain with total break of close to 2 Hrs – all this should change once the Rajasthan section of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway opens up completely.

AdrenoX trip stats for the day

 

[A.G.]

Day 8:

Synopsis

After a good rest, it was the home stretch which we covered after lunch in the usual time of a shade under 3 hours.

Resting back at home

Some other observations:

1. Just a shade under 300L of Diesel was used for the trip yielding an impressive FE of 13.22 Kmpl.

Fuel summary

Trip FE as per MID

2. Tolls amounted for Rs. 5635/-

3. Mobile is not allowed in nearly all the temples and network itself is an issue around the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga Temple.

4. Private fuel stations (Jio-BP & Nyraa) have much cleaner bio-break facilities.

5. The Silver Surfer performed flawlessly and the comfort with which we completed the trip has left a lasting impression. The reduced body roll compared to the Ladder-frame SUV’s we have had in the past made much of a difference.

 

[350Z]

Note: Thread now live from T.I.P Zone. Truly mesmerizing travelogue. Thank you so much for sharing, @A.G.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[GrandRk]

Amazing trip with some amazing clicks and details.