After a late night wrap up at the Sarafa Night Market yesterday, I thought that the Jr. Cutlet will be less interested in waking up early and getting ready quickly for a full day trip to the Omkareshwar and Maheshwar. However she proved me completely wrong. She woke up without any snoozing and there we were all ready in an hour’s time.
Omkareshwar is about 70 kms from Indore with poor quality of roads , Maheshwar is about 65 kms from Onkareshwar and finally Indore is about 90 kms from Maheshwar on the way back. I had done this research prior , hence was aware that we needed to have an early start in the morning. I had promised the Jr. Cutlet a late sleepy morning the next day, but looks like she wasn’t complaining at all.
After quite a bumpy ride , we reached Omkareshwar in one piece. Omkareshwar was on my bucket list for a long time and I’m glad that I could tick that off . Its one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of the Lord Shiva built in 1820. It is surrounded by hills and adorned by river Narmada. The island is in the shape of Om. On completion of the most sacred pilgrimage Narmada Parikrama that consists of covering about 4000 kms on foot , the pilgrims have to come to Onkareshwar to offer the holy water to the Jyotirlinga. Inexperienced to the typical crowded and noisy environment of popular temples , the Jr. Cutlet looked a little flustered and uncomfortable. Finally once we finished our darshan to my heart’s content , we headed for Maheshwar.
Maheshwar is a beautiful small place situated on the banks of river Narmada. It has special mentions in the epics Ramayan and Mahabharat. However , I was more interested in visiting the rich culture and history that was created by Devi Ahilyabai Holkar in the 18th century. She was indeed a noble queen of the Holkar dynasty. After the death of her husband in a battle, when she was ready to go Sati, her father in law Malhar Rao Holkar forbade her from doing it and instead encouraged her to take hold the reigns of the empire and the rest is history. She rebuilt and resurrected some of very significant Hindu pilgrimages across India that had been demolished by Aurangzeb. She was considered to one of the most just rulers of her time . I spoke to some of the locals in Maheshwar and they worship her in these times too.
The fort and her residence is full of interesting stories, however what we loved the most was those few moments we spent in solitude on banks of river Narmada. Its magnitude and solace is something that I cannot express and couldn’t capture it in the photos. After a quick meal , we visited the handlooms of Maheshwari sarees. Kudos to the skilled workers for their talent and patience. One saree takes about 2-3 days to be made. We shopped for few sarees and headed back to Indore.
While I narrate this experience to you today, I am reminded of my conversations with the skilled workers . They get paid peanuts for doing such a skilled job and some of them have been doing for almost 35 years. Yet they mentioned that they were content and counted their blessings to be living next to Narmada. That leaves me with the thought that “ True contentment is not having everything, but in being satisfied with everything you have .” Time for yet another day of travel and fun.
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