My last day in Nasik

My train was at 11am that morning, which gave me a few hours before to get to the Hanuman Mandir, located just in front of Anjanaya Hill, named after Hanuman’s mother.

Mangesh picked me up and took me on a beautiful drive to the temple, where I again found myself surrounded by the mountains, the sun and blue skies.

We arrived in the quiet. It was away from the built up areas of Nasik, and climbing up the stairs I could already tell I was going to enjoy the space inside.

I walked in, rang the bell above my head, and looked ahead to see an enourmous statue of Hanuman, which was at least four or five metres tall. Hanuman was painted in an orange so vibrant it seemed to fill the whole room with colour. It was still early in the morning so the sun shone on Hanuman through the gateway to the temple and brought even more life to the space. All of this and the Hanuman Chalisa that was playing in the background created an environment that only places dedicated to Hanuman can.

I descended the stairs, glad I had been brought to such a place.

The next stop was meant to be the station, but checking the train timing on my phone, I realised it was going to be late. I am still blown away that via my phone, I can check the location of any train at any time of the day throughout India and find its location with an impressive level of accuracy.

Mangesh laughed and told me that sometimes train delays can be a blessing in disguise, and with the extra time on our hands, he took me to eat. It was a large outdoor restaurant that served only one dish and one dessert. Misal Pav, local to Maharashtra, and Jalebi, fried in gur. As you can probably imagine for a place that seems to thrive serving only a few dishes, the meal was excellent, and if you have been reading my blogs or if you know me, you will by now know that if I have good food I am happy.

In this frame of mind, I was taken to the station by Mangesh and I thanked him for looking after me as he had. It was wonderful meeting him.

That feeling that my visit to Nasik was missing something, disappeared, and feeling fulfilled, I boarded my train to Mumbai.