Ep 9 Dindi to Antervedi to Vijayawada, Godavari drains into Bay of Bengal, Andhra Pradesh Tourism
At this moment, We're in Andhra Pradesh at Dindi Village ..situated on banks of river Godavari We're here Hello friends ! Welcome to Visa2Explore I'm your host Harish Bali At this moment, You're seeing river Godavari in front of me When we're coming here I was very excited Because many people have told me When you go to Dindi You'll get to see coconut trees in abundance You must haven't seen in 7-8 days travelling across Andhra Pradesh at one place And, that's the reality Which we're finding after coming here You come in that direction I tell one interesting thing to you During yesterday's evening, We indulged in boat riding As we turned round.. ...behind that bridge over there That experience of 15-20 minutes was wonderful All the tourists who come here, They surely enjoy the experience of boat riding There're so many resorts here to reside Houseboat is anchored in front of us Two kind of Tariffs here: Rs 12000 & Rs. 15000/- Rs. 12000/- for 12 hours Rs 15000/- for 24 hours Andhra Pradesh Tourism Property is in front of us Next to it lies Sarovar Portico It is actually "Brackish Water" It is mixture of ... Sea water and Godavari water Normally salt level we get in sea water Here, that level is relatively lesser As we set out further into sea, Salt level will keep on increasing Such water is called "Brackish Water" For relaxation point of view, I do feel Dindi is actually a two night destination Well, one night is also fine But two nights are better Now, we're heading to Antervedi from here To reach Antervedi, it'll take us around 1 hour It is a journey of 23 KMs In old times, Gadavari's way wasn't from here It is said, Sage Vashishtha had his ashram here He used to live and meditate here River when channeled its course from here Thereon, it was called as Vashishtha Godavari This is what somebody told me Let's come We'll see Vashishtha Godavari in close proximity And, after reaching over there, We'll see that exact point The meeting junction of river and sea These are such points Where standing at the seashore, gives you best experience. One shouldn't try to get into deep sea waters Not even try to get 2 meters inside Do photography by standing safe outside Indulge in beauty of nature I enjoyed it Let's walk down to our car parked in front Look straight Color of Godavari water And Color of sea water Clearly Difference is visible This is what I'm figuring out If I see by standing here Then..
One straight line is being formed Means, line isn't being formed among waves But, I'm getting the impression as if From this side, River water is.. putting pressure on sea water To meet it at that point And waves are erupting from sea They're putting opposite pressure on river water If you want to see difference in color, you do see it from this side See How is the color of sea water? It is of brown color It is meeting in the sand That's why it seems to be of brown color And over there is green colored water These are very rare scenes Where, with your naked eyes, you can so clearly discern two different colors My heart got pleased Take a look, Somebody tried to get his car so close To see the confluence sitting in car And they got stuck in sand Tire won't come out so easily Over there lies a lighthouse Let me show to you that as well Lighthouse is over there Standing here, I'm feeling great I can't express it more in words What I've already expressed But, what I've seen half hour before I felt really bad seeing that I didn't feel like making a video What should I show in the video? So much litter is all around So much plastic strewn all over I'm not talking of this place See that place Hardly that is 100 meter far from here Around 200 mtr further An entire area over there spread over 1.5 to 2 KMs Whatever sand area is there That is full of litter It's height Means, plastic bottles Liquor bottles And Litter scattered all around It seemed nobody tried to clean up that area In the last 3-4 months I do feel Where there're so many tourism points With an entry fee of Rs.20 or Rs.30/- Such set-up should be put over here as well Whoever collects the fee, it's their responsibility to maintain cleanliness And, counsel the tourists They're seeing rarest of the rare scenes ..that is in our country They won't get to see same scene elsewhere Cars & motorbikes shouldn't be allowed inside Just imagine, what a huge tourism opportunity lies here That has absolutely been neglected Install 6-7 towers here After every 100 mtr distance People walk up to 3rd floor And, from the top, See the draining of Godavari river...
..into Bay of Bengal in front of their eyes How much fun they'd have then Means, here, you can get such experience that it's hard to enjoy elsewhere in India Especially, I'm highlighting this point 3rd to 4th time When two waters of different colors are merging This scene is worth beholding Place is very beautiful There's no doubt in it We can't visit lighthouse as of now Because it's closed due to festival time Though, we can see it from outside After going up, I'm feeling, sea will be visible As we're not that far from sea Hardly, 200 meter is the distance Around 200-250 meter From lighthouse, after travelling for around 1 km We've reached at Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple You're seeing the Gopuram in front Well, there's an entry gate But it's closed as of now We'll go from that way As we're going inside the temple, So, we met ma'am by chance on the way She's the resident of Vishakhapatnam So, you're on a holiday Yes The way you're talking to him That person wasn't able to tell you He's telling in Telugu And you're not able to understand So, when I know that.. Even, I do have a language problem Because my husband is into merchant navy We'll be travelling all over the world We'll have a language problem I thought when I know something Let me explain to you Thank you so much for that So, if you can help us understand What's written here? Actually, here, it's mentioned.. all the four Yugas In Krutayuga, Vasishtha Maharishi came here And you know, he.. It's known as Rajahmundry Here, Godavari merges into Bay of Bengal Godavari is known as Gowthami River also It merges into the sea actually So, he prayed to the God He killed one demon His name was Raktha Vilochana Raktha means 'blood' Raktha Vilochana He killed that person and...
After that he prayed to Lord Vishnu To bless him So, Vishnu Ji is in the east side East-facing In the form of a shilla (rock) Lakshmi These temples were called Nava Narasimha temples This is one of such temples And, in Treta Yuga After killing of Ravana Lord Rama & Lakshmana also came here ..mentioned in the Brahma Purana Really? That means, it's a very ancient temple Yes, very ancient temple It is not a built temple It is self-manifested (Swayambhoo) temple We'll call it as "Swayambhoo" "Pratishthit" means.. You and I both can do Pratishthita. But, it's not the Pratishthit.
It is Swayambhoo temple In Dvapara Yuga Archer Arjuna was on a pilgrimage That time, he came here He prayed to the Lord here Same thing has been written here Even in Kalyuga, there's one story A cowherd boy had prayed here That thing has also been written So, it's a very old & ancient temple This place has very nice greenery When you're coming from Rajahmundry and all.. It's a fantastic place to see 'Poojas" & everything is done in a proper manner which is written as per the scriptures & everything Fantastic And, when you enter into the temple As soon as you put your leg into the temple You can palpably feel God's presence Divine presence You can feel the divine presence Fantastic Thank you so much for your time Not at all Inside the temple, we got divine glimpse of.. Lord Narasimha and Goddess Lakshmi Idol of Lord Narasimha inside ..is of approximately 1 feet in height Goddess Lakshmi's idol is relatively of smaller size After going inside, I literally felt like, We've come to a very ancient temple I wanted to stay inside for more time And behold Lord's idol in better way Since, there's a crowd inside So, you've to advance every 5 to 10 seconds You're seeing in front Yajna is being performed On daily basis, from 10 AM-11 AM, Yajna is performed here After visiting the temple, People circumambulate the temple from below Below means from outside the "Garbhgriha" After going to 1st floor also, Circumambulation is done ..by devotees visiting this temple In 1991, renovation has been done here Brown part of temple's garbhagriha ..
You're seeing in front This construction dates back to 1823 By watching these wide bricks, You can guess That these are ancient These all date back to 1823 And this renovation dates back to... ..the year 1991 So, in 1991, Pillars were made here Such type of galleries were made Too splendid One more thing, I tell you by coming little out Most temples made in South India They'd been made in Dravidian Style Architecture They've 4 Gopurams in them Means, 4 entry gates One gate each in all four directions And, the main entry gate ..is called as "Raj Gopuram" From where, we got inside the temple Nice As, I'm noticing In fact, I've been noticing since yesterday evening This area has greenery in abundance Even outside temple area, There're a lot of coconut trees A moment ago, somebody told me, Devotees who come here Meals are provided to them as well Temple Meal From 10:00 AM till 3:00 PM We've come here for lunch At the moment, you can see.. How lovingly meal is being served? With proper table and seats Let's do one thing, Let's sit here It'll be fine First of all, let's partake of Lord's offering Within temple premises, You sit and have your meals And taking first bite of Lord's offering What could be better than this? Both tamarind & lemon have been added in rice And, it is utterly delicious Here, lentil is cooked with pumpkin After having meals in the temple, I got reminded of Udupi Karnataka And When we'd gone to Puri There also, We partook of Lord Jagannath Prasaad Those two memories got refreshed here Two days ago, Three days ago I ate Boore at Subbayya Hotel in Kakinada Today, I'm having it second time It's utterly delicious It's a very unique taste Just imagine, "Urad Dal" outside "Channa Dal" inside Made by frying, it's sweet in taste Very very tasty After finishing the prasaad, I'll join you after sometime I've come outside the temple I'm checking in Google Maps The way from here to Machilipatnam ..goes along the coastal side Though we won't drive very close to sea But, in a way, along coastal side, we'll go to Machilipatnam It is showing 98 KMs distance from here It'll take 2 hours 35 minutes; non-stop What's the time now? It's 12:25 PM now Let's go We'll join you after reaching Machilipatnam If some scenic views comes on the way, We'll see ourselves and.. let you see the same too Here's our car Rest of our travel to Machilipatnam We're required to do by ferry Rs. 15 is ticket price for one person
And car's ticket cost is Rs. 200 So, our car has got reversed We'll leave within 2 to 4 minutes So, after reaching opposite shore, We'll sit in our car again I've got off onto the shore Ferry got docked in a wrong place They're re-positioning it When I was travelling through Konkan, Maharashtra That time, in many places there, we crossed over our ways by ferries At the least, in 5 to 6 places Because ways via road were long Travelling by ferries saved your time At 8:30 PM, We've reached Machilipatnam The area you're seeing in front Basically, circle and surrounding market It's called as "Koneru Center" I've come here to drink "Badam Milk" And To eat famous Laddu of this place There're 3 to 4 ............ where milk badam is made and sold Let's go randomly to the front shop ..and drink "Badam Milk" Prepare one glass of "Badam Milk" for us What was there at the bottom? At bottom, lies the Khoya Khoya Ok, khoya milk What are you topping it with? Ice-ceam? Really, interesting It tastes amazing It's taste froze the time Milk has its own taste I haven't tasted the ice-cream yet Let's check ice-cream's taste Ice-cream doesn't have any flavour Milk is condensed to be frozen later Supremely sublime Brother, what are your timings? From 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM Full day Yes, full day Ok Brother, you've to do one thing Stop using plastic glasses yes, we'll stop using it It's not good for nature You rather bring steel glasses Paper glasses? Yes, even paper glasses are fine Bring steel glasses, and wash them later It's not that difficult We can do, can't we? Do washing twice a day You can use them again It's important a little Taste you provide is very good But if you switch to steel from plastic It'll get better with regard to nature Very good As of now, I'm at Thatharao Sweets To eat Bandar Halwa Earlier, I was thinking, Why does this Halwa called as Bandar Halwa? Why does this Ladoo called as Bandar Ladoo? Basically, I've both Halwa & Ladoo with me So, they told me that, Machilipatnam's old name was Bandar Old name Since, this Ladoo was famous So, people would call "Bandar Ladoo" In same way, "Bandar Halwa" Now, we'll taste the both The moment I took Halwa in my hand My hand thoroughly soaked with ghee I've eaten "Halwas" of various kinds But, this "Halwa" is very different First and foremost thing is.. ..in it jaggery has been added This "Halwa" is made of wheat Wheat is soaked overnight and then.. ..next day, Pouring water, its juice is extracted Means, white wheat milk is extracted This Halwa is prepared from that milk Besides adding jaggery in it Inside it, cashews & peanuts are added Lovely Very tasty Along with that, Cashews are abundantly loaded inside Overall, it's very tasty I enjoyed it Now, let's taste "Bandar Ladoo" Awesome I'm fond of eating "Besan Ladoo" I don't eat them too much, but whenever I eat them, I eat with absolute delight Whatever Besan Ladoos, I've eaten till now They didn't have taste like this one They possess a different taste The game in it is.. To make Besan Ladoo, these people first, ..prepare Besan Ki Seviyan (vermicelli) Then, they ground them And then they add ghee to make ladoo This method is different And again, ghee is loaded in plenty It's giving sweet taste of cardamom Lovely ! Amazing ! This shop is famous Now see..
It's 8:45 o'clock and it's weekday Customers are continuously coming When I came inside the shop, then, I learnt, it's 70 years old shop Brother, what is its shelf life? up to 15 days And, "Halwa" shelf life? 2 months Ladoo's shelf life is 15 days Halwa's shelf life is 2 months My heart got pleased I've come to R.K. Mess for my dinner This is Banana Fry Ok Lentil We've remembered, Lentil is called pappu here Do you mix some vegetable in lentil? Vegetable isn't added Cauliflower Ok That's sufficient See, the lentils I've tasted so far ..in the last few days In some places, Tamarind is added in lentil Some people add more, some less Some people don't add tamarind at all Here, in this lentil, There's a lot of sourness of tamarind. And, taste is amazing Karam powder Rice and ghee Gun powder Rice, ghee And, third, curry leaves, rice & ghee Curry leaves mean curry leaves powder These three combinations, I've tasted through this tour place to place All three have brilliant taste Karam powder is fine In the last few days, I've enjoyed great tastes in succession From that angle, this is.. OK The dish I liked the most is..
I'm talking about this place That is lentil Which is called as Pappu here This is lauki ki sabji (bottle gourd) It's well past 10 o'clock Within 15-20 minutes, after finishing our meal, We'll depart from here It will take us around 1.5 hour ..to reach Vijayawada By that moment, time will be.. ..around 12:00 o'clock Our tomorrow's journey, You'll see in the next episode That will have local sightseeing of Vijayawada That will be last episode of our entire journey We're going back day after tomorrow Right I really wish I'd stayed in...
Machilipatnam at night And enjoy local sightseeing tomorrow because once upon time, Machilipatnam take it as Before popularity of Madras (Chennai) Machilipatnam was popular This is a very ancient city Around 17th century, first Dutch colonies, then Britishers came, It was the then a popular port, "Bandar" Moment ago, we've tasted "Bandar" sweets "Bandar Ladoo" So, it's very ancient sweet dish It is called by Bandar as prefix because port's name is Bandar But, in case, I'd stayed here I'd not have explored Vijayawada that well Then, I thought, it's better.. ..I leave for Vijayawada Right As of now, I bid bye-bye to all of you I'll see you again soon Till then, bye bye Thanks for your time
2023-05-01 12:47
