Kolhapur Diary continued..

Day2:

We started early in the morning since it was going to be a long day ahead. We reached to have Breakfast to a small food joint on the Panhala Fort area itself; had Dosa and Misal-Pav and as we moved towards our bus, we took quick photos and went onboard the bus. From Panhala, we started to descend towards Kolhapur City to reach for the Mahalakshmi Temple. Decorated by White Temple tops, the Mahalaksmi Temple is a must visit for all those who visit Kolhapur for the first time. As we entered, we witnessed how the Mahalakshmi Temple was filled with Pilgrims and Tourists alike. What I observed immediately upon reaching there was that there were two separate lines, one was the normal one and the other was an "express one" for a faster redemption of their "Navas". Such a discrimination was so appalling that we decided to just take a look around the temple and not go for any of these lines of discrimination. Me and my Cousin Vasundhara took the elderlies for Mukhdarshan area which was less crowded than the other 2 lines. As we were inside the Temple, the remaining ladies went for saree- shopping while others stayed back for some sugarcane juice. When we came out of the temple premises, we were surrounded by beggars who kept on asking for money and that our offering would bless us with Devi's Blessings. We told them politely, "we have come here just to pay a visit to the temple. God resides everywhere". Indeed God's blessings or curses are nothing but the fruits of our own deeds. We bow in front of deities just to remind ourselves about being kind to others and respecting the God in every human. People at Pilgrim places become overtly emotional and give away money to whoever asks them to. This situation is more often than not taken advantage of by the local shopkeepers and vendors as well who sell their stuff at high-end prices than what actually are outside the temple. Anyway, our dispersed group gathered back together and we moved towards our bus. We started our journey towards the splendid and royal Shree Chhatrapati Shahu Palace. Shahu Palace is Partially a Museum, a Property of Maharashtra Tourism Department while the other part still belongs to and is the Mansion of the Royal Bhosale Family. Public entry is rightly banned in that area.The grandeur of this Palace is visible from a distance itself. It is surrounded by a bird and Animal Reserve. We quickly took pictures of the Deer, emus, kranes as well as a peacock and moved towards the Royal Shahu Palace. As we entered the gate, we found that the Palace is surrounded by a beautiful garden, a huge fountain and a wrestling ground as well. What stature! Awed by the massiveness of the monument, we were disappointed to know that Photography is strictly not allowed inside the Palace, hence I can only describe vaguely the vogue that has still been preserved in the Huge and Splendid Architecture. The Palace, as I mentioned earlier is Partially now a Museum including weaponry and armory as well as collection of clothes, furniture, and manuscripts separated categorically across the Palace. The Museum included paintings showing highlights of the Maratha Empire as well as the History of Bhosales. Also, at the end of the Palace was a collection of Skins of Animals as hunted back then by the Royal Family. Almost an hour in the Palace, we could feel every bit of Royalty that can only be imagined and not seen anywhere else but here! The Sabha Mandap with an elevated stage for his Highness was one of the most memorable places that I've ever visited. I could literally feel the Grand Sabha that might have been taking place back then. We ended our quick tour since It was past noon and we had started feeling hungry.. We had simple but tasty buffet vegetarian meal at the Cafe outside the Palace. We had to move quickly towards the engagement venue. Also, the Heat was killing hence, we took off and bid good bye to a great Memoir of History that is the Shahu Palace, also called New Palace, Kolhapur.

We all rushed to get ready as we were to welcome the bride to the hall before the functions began. The pre-engagement functions started off around 5 pm with JeevanVidya Mission's Upasana Yadnya and Sangeet Jeevanvidya conducted by Kolhapur Branch of Satguru Shri Wamanrao Pai's Jeevan Vidya Mission. The Chants of "Vithhal- Vithhal" created an appropriate divine atmosphere for the serene alliance that was going to occur just a few moments later. 

The moment for which both Devyani and Vishal had been waiting for like forever was approaching! Both of them were in complete dismal about the situation until the day before. Funny enough, they had just a few seconds before realised what was happening. They were going to get married in a few hours!

Devyani entered the hall, we welcomed her with happy tears. All eyes were on her as she went on to get ready for the ceremony. The Engagement Ceremony was about to begin. She was draped in a beautifull gold-sequined Purple Saree and looked just fabulous! "What a beautiful doll she's looking!" we said to each other as she was busy getting ready and posing for the cameras. Afterall, she was the centre of attraction and focus of all cameras this eve. But amidst all this happiness, Mami (Devyani's mom) was not feeling well due to fever. She was trying really hard to be a part of all that she could. But we insisted her to rest. Thankfully, her Sister-in- law was in-charge of the rituals that evening so she could rest aside and not be tensed about every little thing. Then came the time, when the groom and the bride both stepped on the stage to exchange their rings. The moment when they both vowed to marry each other the next day had arrived and they just couldn't keep calm. Vishal also looked handsome in his Traditional Kolhapuri Avatar. They were all smiles as they exchanged their rings. Later on they posed for the cameras and a huge photo-session followed. All kinds of poses including the Kneeling down and proposing, holding hands, showing rings were done. Everything was happening like their dream came true. How happy they both looked! 

As they were busy with the photo-shoot, our group decided to grab dinner as we had to start moving back to Our Hotel rooms back in Panhala which was quite far from the venue. The couple too had their dinners and went on to change their attires for the Haldi Ceremony. As Vishal's Sister Vrushali was also getting married the next day at the same venue, that couple too joined these love birds in the Haldi Ceremony. Since it was almost midnight, we had to stay quite all along and no music was played. Even Mami wasn't feeling well so Mama rushed her to the hospital for last minute medications to make her feel better. Hence, the Haldi Ceremony was a rather quite affair. We soon left after applying Haldi to Vishal and Devyani. Finally, the day Devyani had waited for the past couple of months eagerly had arrived. The next day was full of the Wedding Banter, Devyani needed to have a good night sleep for being all fresh and blooming for "her day". We too reached our hotel rooms and rushed to bed to stay all pumped up for literally "D"-Day...

To be continued..