Monday, 24 February 2020

Panchmari...


'Muskuraiye aap panchmari me hai' reads the board as you reach panchmari .
Indeed Panchmari the queen of mountains will rob your heart and soul at once.
A beautiful small town between the hills wrapped in the green arms of mother nature. Where air feels like a dessert to your soul and whose beauty norishes you inside out.

Travel tips:

2 days are just enough. 3 days for a full heart 😋
List of advised places :
Pandav gufa
Bison meusem
Bee fall
Panchmari lake
Jata shankar
Handi khoh
Priyadarshani
Green valley
Mahadev and gupt mahadev
Dutchess fall
Richgarh
Bhavya drashya and dhopgarh.
Parasailing (If you are into adventure sports )
Chaura garh.

The jeep takes you to pandav gufa, bison museum, beefall,  richgarh, bhavya drashya para sailing dhoop garh on day 1
And jatashankar, handi khoh, priyadarshani, green valley, mahadev, gupt mahadev on day 2
They usually scare you about the height of chaurahgarh and most people end up not visiting the place. But do visit if you can!

From my experience on day 1 you should go for chaura garh, pandav gufa, panchmari lake
Day 2 you should cover jatashankar handi khoh, Priyadarshani, green valley, mahadev and gupt mahadev, dhopgarh and bhavya drashaya. And parasailing if interested
Day 3 you should cover Beefall, rich garh and dutchess fall (optional)
You can go for madhai jungle safar from panchmari.

You may start your travel day at 10 a.m each day and finish it by 5.30


Major occupation of the town revolves around tourism. People are friendly and helping.
There are direction boards all round. So you never feel lost and if at all people are very helping.

And if you are one of those tribe that say Temples are soo boring! You ought to visit panchmari.
Beautiful temples in the lap of nature where you find peace and bliss both.
The best part about panchmari is that its pristine beauty is still untouched. Temples too are not commercialized.
          One fascinating thing about Gupt mahadev was that to me it was the best example of human understandig
Narrow cave where in lies a shiv linga. There is no one to manage the crowd there simply a board which say that only 8 ppl should enter at a time and the people with all patience would go one by one waiting their chance.



Crowded times : after diwali , dec and january and summer vacations.

Best time: after monsoon when the weather is cool.
We went in november. It was the best because the crowd was decent not too much not too less and the weather was pleasent not too cold not too hot. October November are the least crowded times of year.

Things to buy: if you are visiting in summers charoli. And round the year ayurvedic products and honey. Most travel guides will tell you to buy products from Jain Ayurveda. You can buy from other places too. We bought from shop near jata shankar temple.

Hotels if you are going during rush season pre book online. Otherwise you can easily book onspot.
Most resorts here are old bunglows modified into restaurants and resorts. We stayed in Karnikar bunglows of MP tourism. It was okay. Breakfast was decent!


About ride: Most of the points can be covered by your own vehicle if your driver is an expert. Else there are jeeps which take you to the spots. The experience of travel in open jeep is worthwhile espcially when you travel to dhoop garh so I would recommend to travel in the jeep for atleast one day. The charge of jeep is 1750per day but rates vary as per rush. In low rush season you can get jipsy from street corner near bus stand at 1000 rs . In peak rush seasons charges may double or triple. You also need to pay 900 rs as forest permit. Which is the only time you will have to pay money rest all spots have no entry fee.
Before you book the jipsy ask your hotel manager about the jipsy rates as well as go near the bus stand of panchmari where you entered panchmari to know the rates especially if you are going off season because hotel rates are constant but outside rates may increase and decrease as per rush!

Food: You can find great food at decent prices everywhere in panchmari.
Many hotels are there near bus stand and in main market of panchmari. I would highly recommend Thakurji restaurant near bus stand. Taste was great and service was awesome.
Street food of panchmari includes kachori samosa poha jalebi. You may also find maggie and chana masala stalls at many of the places but if you are visiting panchmari never miss Bhaji vada which is a delicious  mongdaal and palak vada. Steaming hot bhaji vada with imli chatni in pink cold evenings of panchmari is pure bliss.

Religious importance: the Nageshwar temple is a place of faith for believers. During the nag panchmai there is a temple that opens its gates for 20 days. Thousands of people come for darshan especially from maharastra.
There is a sawan mela at mahadev temple every year.


Add ons

If you are travelling to panchmari via bhopal never miss three things on the way:
1. Bhojpur shiv temple...
The tallest shiv linga in India built in 1000s by raja Bhoj. The picturesque landscape and marvellous structre is a must see. The temple parisar is full of calmth and its beauty leaves you awestruck.
2. Bhimbetka. Beautiful caves with cave paintings from the early man of stone age. The landscape is really beautiful. If you are into photography your camera would refuse to stop rolling and if you are into painting, you can take your drawing sheet and colors to print the view on the paper. While we visited, many arts students were there painting the scenery on their sheets.
3. Saklanpur temple
4. If you have a little more time you may want to go to Jabalpur and see Dhuadhar falls and bhedaghat; and purchase some marble merchandise.