Travel With Tanvi: A Walk To A Sacred Forest....Ajivali Devrai

In today's world we are surrounded with so much technology and advancements that we often forget where we come from and what are we made of. Even though I am absolutely addicted to my phone I can totally ditch it when it comes to nature. When in the lap of nature I often forget that I have a phone or that in the normal world we are surrounded with so much of advance technology. I feel like stone age when in nature and I absolutely love that feeling. I got to live this feeling yesterday, when I took a walk to a sacred forest.

Now actually I should thank technology, because if it wasn't for facebook, I would never know about this sacred patch of forest, Ajivali Devrai which is just 50-55kms from Pune. One day while browsing my facebook feed I got to know about this place and I decided that I am going to visit this soon.

So yesterday I woke up early and left my house at 8:30AM. My sundays often begin at 9 or 9:30AM, but yesterday was different. I was pumped and energized. I turned on the GPS on my phone plugged in my earphones and started my ride to Ajivali Devrai. I took the highway till Chandni Chowk. The road till Paud was normal, but as I crossed Paud my eyes were in for a treat. Lush green mountains, fields, big trees, colourful flowers, the nature was literally sparkling in front of me. Now this was all a village area and thanks to the rains the road wasn't at all in a good condition. This made my ride bumpy yet fun.

When I crossed Javan there was a small ghat which gave a lovely view of the Pawana Lake on one side and beautiful green mountains on the other side. I felt so relaxed and stress free. I so wished I had magical powers, I would build a house for myself there and would stay there happily ever after. As I crossed almost half of the ghat I read a small board on my left that read welcome to Ajivali. I reconfirmed on my GPS whether this is where I need to make a turn and then took the left turn. Just after taking the turn and riding for about half a minute I was in Ajivali village. I asked a little boy standing there were the temple was. He showed me the path. Then I asked him can I take my vehicle up to the temple? He said the road is very bad. If you are a skilled driver you can take it up. Now I am not a very skilled driver. Also if I keep on concentrating on the bad roads and how to ride here I won't be able to enjoy the natural beauty and moreover I will be polluting the pure air with my vehicle. So I decided to take a walk uphill to the temple.

the path that takes you up to the temple

I parked my vehicle, took out my scarf and jacket and got ready for the walk to a sacred forest. I saw two paths so I asked an elderly person standing there which path goes up to the temple. He told me both the paths go to the temple and asked me to choose the one which was less risky. He said the road on the other path has become mushy due to the rains. I thanked him and started walking. I hadn't even walked two steps and I heard a voice from behind asking me whether I was going to the temple. I turned behind and saw an elderly lady. I said 'yes, are you going there too'?. She said she was going up to pick some flowers and will accompany me till she finds some flowers. I thought that this was a good idea and agreed to it. She then started to tell me about her family, her fields and all the normal village talks. After about 10 minutes of walking she found some flowers. She said now 'I'll go back from here you go straight. Its just a single path and will take you straight to the temple'. I thanked her for accompanying me and said good bye. I don't know what she thought, she said ,wait I'll show you our fields. Its up on the hills, I'll accompany you till there'. I said OK and we started walking. She was really sweet and kept talking all the way. If you are alone or not sure about the path just ask the villagers for help and they will be more than happy to help you. As we were walking she was telling me tales about the temple and the village. It was refreshing to here all those things.

walking this muddy road can also turn out to be fun when you've got a great company like grandma

While walking I was also spotting places that were beautiful so that I could take pictures while coming down. Grandma was so busy talking that I didn't feel like stopping her for the sake of clicking pictures. After showing me both her fields she said that now she will go back to the village as she has preparations to do for Navratri. She then showed me a big stone which was stuck midway on the mountain and said that the stone has been stuck there with the grace of God. If it rolls down it will fall directly on the temple. But God doesn't let it roll down. We then bid adieu to each other, I thanked her, she smiled at me and asked me to come for lunch when I came back down. I agreed and we started walking on our respective paths.

now I had to go alone up to the temple

So basically the people of the village believe that Goddess Waghjai blesses the village and therefore they have a temple dedicated to her on the hill at the base of which the village lies. The villagers have cultivated crops on the hills, mostly rice. Almost quarter of the hill is filled with fields. Remaining of the hill is filled with wild plants. There are also waterfalls and streams that can be spotted all over the hill. The water is fresh and pure and the villagers use this water for drinking and farming.

waterfalls and streams can be spotted all along the path

I was walking towards the temple alone. I took a few breaks, sometimes to admire the nature and sometimes because I was tired. I was walking for almost an hour now. I'm not used to so much of walking, I was so exhausted and wanted to give up. But just then I saw huge trees a few steps away. I had finally reached the sacred forest. Huge trees through which the sunlight peeked slowly. I felt like a dwarf standing in the forest. All my tiredness had disappeared and I had a new found energy in me. This patch of forest is believed to be sacred and is called 'devrai'.

the sacred patch of forest or the 'devrai'

Now this was an absolutely a treat to my eyes and a blessing for my soul. I could see the temple which was now just a few steps away from me. But to be honest, the man-made temple looked really ordinary in front of the beautiful forest. I went up to the temple and offered my prayers to Goddess Waghjai.

Waghjai Temple on the hill

I came out from the temple and went to the forest. I felt as if I was a part of a fairyland. Since childhood I would always dream of staying in a fairyland and this seemed like a dream come true. I just didn't want to go down. I wish I could stay there all my life, bit sadly that wasn't possible. But that didn't mean I couldn't spend quality time there. So I did just that. It was just me and nature and the feeling of bliss. After I was satisfied I started my walk back down.

the huge trees making me look like a dwarf

Coming down was much easier than going up. I took stops at all the beautiful places that I had spotted while going up. I sat near a waterfall for a brief amount of time. The sound of water was so magical. It was loud, yet felt like soothing music.

sitting by a waterfall and enjoying myself had been a dream for so long

After a brief stop at the waterfall I started walking down again. I took longer to come down than going up because I took many halts to admire the beauty of nature. I didn't want the road to end, it was heavenly. But sadly, I had now reached at the base of the village. My walk to and fro the sacred forest was done. I looked for grandma's house who had accompanied me up hill, but I forgot her name and couldn't find her house. I then left the village and started my journey back home. The ride till Paud was lovely, but after than I entered the concrete jungle. The world filled with dust and dirt. We are absolutely insane for destroying the nature in the name of infrastructure. I would rather live in a small hut in the pure and non-polluted forest away from technology, than living in a luxurious house filled with all amenities.