Today, I simply couldn’t help visiting my
blog that’s been neglected for quite some time now. I felt guilty of not
writing and thought I wasn’t being fair to myself! And of course during the
last 12 months, I haven’t made many memories either, if I had, it would have
definitely been up on my blog! Though the year seems to have been impoverished
in terms of filling my repository with precious memories, I didn’t want to miss
this opportunity to key-in few words, as my stay comes to an end at the guesthouse
of the beautiful EDI campus, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
I was lucky that this work related visit gave me few hours to rewind and renew my
energies with a short-long drive to the nearby historical Sun Temple at
Modhera. I missed visiting this precious monument during my last visit to Gujarat and this time I managed to sneak a few hours.
Well, the most interesting story he told me
was about how he dealt with a passenger, a chain smoker who was willing to give
away any number of old notes to get packs of cigarettes and the funny incidents
that followed...the drive was quite entertaining with a chatty companion. After we crossed Mehasana, the road was a bit patchy and uneven
but this didn’t bother us much as we saw the many golden mustard fields on both
sides of the road. It seemed like a scene straight out of the Kajol
and SRK’s song in DDLJ J
The Sun temple was built in 1027AD by the Solanki kings and suffered a lot of damage during the rule of Mohamad Ghazni. No deity is worshipped in the temple and it is maintained by the Archeological Survey of India. Being Sunday, the temple was filled with
foreign tourists and local visitors and it presented a beautiful sight bustling
with selfie-lovers, architecture and history lovers and heritage enthusiasts.
The fun part of my visit was to see Joshibhai clicking many selfies and videos
as this was his first visit to the place. For a moment I wanted to forget about
my selfie-shyness but that didn’t work; and Joshibhai was quite expert at
taking pictures.
Another memory I carry from this visit are those little school
kids from a primary school who were accompanied by their teacher. Two of the
came to me and asked shyly “what your name? and others joined them and wanted
to talk in English. They told me they are from a Gujarati school and the
teacher was apparently unhappy with the kids breaking out of their group. I listened to
some very creative English from them and took a group picture.
We went around the temple and saw the
intricate carvings (though mostly damaged) and also spent some time inside,
admiring the exquisite pillars, the arches and the ceiling. The next point was
the adjoining ornated step well with interestingly beautiful geometrical
patterns when viewed from the top. As you get down the steps it’s a wonderful
feeling to real the water level and look up to get a magnificent view of the
temple (both the mandapas). The vast lawns around the temple complex make the
environs serene and peaceful.
This memorable short trip was refreshing and got me recharged to get back to my timelines and roadmaps, resuming from where I paused!
