Nasik

STD code: 0253

HISTORY

This interesting little town with its picturesque bathing ghats makes a good stopover on the way from Mumbai to Aurangabad. The town is about eight km north-west of the station. Nasik stands on the Godavari River, one of the holiest rivers of the Deccan. Like Ujjain this is the site for the triennial Kumbh Mela which comes here every 12 years.

The riverbanks are lined with steps above which stand temples and shrines. Although there are no particularly notable temples in Nasik the Sundar Narayan Temple, to the west of the city, is worth seeing.

Other points of interest in Nasik include the Sita Gupha cave from which Sita was supposed to have been carried off to the island of Lanka by the evil king Ravan, according to the Ramayana.

Godawari Ramghat

Ramachandra

Kumbh Mela: Aeons ago the gods and demons, who were constantly at odds, fought a great battle for a kumbh or pitcher, drinking the contents of which would ensure immortality. They had combined forces to raise the pitcher from the bottom of the ocean but once safely in their hands Vishnu grabbed it and ran. After a struggle lasting 12 days the gods eventually defeated the demons and drank the nectar — it's a favourite scene in illustrations of Hindu mythology. During the fight for the pitcher's possession four drops of nectar spilt on the earth — at Allahabad, Hardwar, Nasik and Ujjain. Thus each holds its own Kumbh Mela over a 12 year (for a god's day is a human's year) span — the mela span — the mela is held each three years, rotating between the four cities.

HOW TO GET THERE

■ By road: Take the NH-3 via Thane-Kasari to reach Mumbai (145 km). Pune is about 220 km away

WHERE TO STAY

■ Taj Residency: Set amid acres of lush landscaped gardens, the hotel is reminiscent of a royal Maharashtrian residence, tel: 5604499.
■ Regency, tel: 562442.

WHERE TO EAT

■ Panchavati (MG Road): For its wide variety of vegetarian cuisine
■ Woodlands (Nashik-Pune road, Opp. Siddhartha): Serves excellent South Indian food

WHAT TO SEE

■ Pandavleni Caves: Located on a tableland on Trivashmi Hill, these 2,000-year-old caves were built by Jain kings. Also worth visiting for the dramatic sculptures of Buddha and the bodhisattvas.
■ Sita Gupha: The cave where Sita hid from Rama. There is a grove of large Banyan trees near the cave.
■ Shirdi: 120 km from Nashik, there is a vast temple complex dedicated to Sai Baba, and thousands of devotees queue up here everyday to catch a glimpse and seek the blessings of his life-size statue. Thursday is marked by special pujas and darshan of the Sai Baba statue.
■ Dwarkamani Mosque: Close to Shirdi, this is where the Baba meditated and slept on alternate nights. Near the mosque, in a corridor, is the dhani (eternal flame) that burns day and night.
■ Trimbakeshwar Temple: 38 km from Nashik, it has one of the 12 jyotirlingas dedicated to Shiva. This one is considered the main jyotirlinga.

MUSEUMS

■ Coin Museum: Established by the Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies atAnjneri Hill, this museum is the only one-of-its-kind in Asia. It displays an excellent history of Indian numismatics through photographs, articles, line drawings, replicas and real coins.

NEAR NASIK

■ Pandu Lena: About eight km south-west of Nasik, close to the Mumbai road, are these 21 Hinayana Buddhist caves. They date from around the 1st century BC to the 2nd AD. The most interesting caves are 3, 10 and 18. Cave 20 is another large vihara but the other caves are not of great interest.