Dindi

 Andhra Pradesh Backwater- Dindi

Everyone heard about the beautiful picturesque of ‘God’s own country’ Kerala. But hardly any tourist has heard about another picturesque location tucked away among the swaying coconut groves on the banks of the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, which should also get similar title like Kerala.

On the banks of mighty river Godavari, the second largest in the country after Ganges, lies this small village called Dindi, in Malkipuram Mandal of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. 

This pristine land of beauty with swaying coconut groves on a vast piece of land with water all around with waves lashing the shore, welcomes the tourists with lovely earthy fragrance. Thanks to computer technology, that the people are slowly coming to know about this place and visiting this place. No doubt this place is gaining popularity day by day amongst the tourists.

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation is introducing many facilities for the tourists, to promote this place as a prominent tourist attraction.

For the comfortable stay, good food and for recreation, APTDC has started with Haritha Coconut Resort, which caters with all the needs and wants of the tourists. It has introduced Houseboat Cruises, which is becoming the main point of attraction for the tourists to visit this place along with the scenic beauty all around. 

This place is perfect for a relaxing weekend, away from the hustle-bustle of the city. Sailing down the stream and absorbing the beauty around makes you forget your tensions to a certain extent. This cruise will certainly give you the feeling of Kerala Backwaters.

There are Houseboats with fully air-conditioned 2 and 3 double bedrooms, which have attached bath and a sit out along with dining space on the deck. These boats can house a maximum of 12 people, where each bedroom accommodates 4 adults, if the number of members in the group is more than 4 then some surcharge amount will be charged. APTDC is very nicely taking care of these houseboats and the surroundings. The hospitality in the houseboats by the well trained attendants is given prime importance.

The cruise usually starts at 10 am, and sails along the winding tributaries of Godavari-Vynateyam and Vasista. It sails upstream to Rajolu and downstream to Narsapur town. The vegetarian breakfast and lunch are served on the boat, whereas dinner (veg or Non veg) is served on the island in a very ethnic style having a lingering taste of Andhra.

The tourists can stay in the boats anchored near the resort. After a daylong cruise on the boat, a pleasant scene of sun setting down over the western horizon and later gazing the stars coming out relaxes you completely.

So now pack your baggage and head for your destination Dindi in Andhra Pradesh for a relaxing weekend.

Accommodation:

For booking your stay in Dindi contact APTDC offices in your city. You can even book your stay in the private resorts, which are located close by to Haritha resort.

For further Information:

Telephone Numbers:

APTDC:  040-66746370

                  040-66745986

                  09848540371

Konaseema Tourism:  91-40-69998111, 91- 8008727111, 91-8008727222

Dindi Resorts:  08862-226662, 91- 9951355005

Getting There:

Dindi by train:

There are daily trains from Hyderabad, Chennai, Bhimavaram and Visakhapatnam to the nearest station to Dindi--Palakollu. From Palakollu you can go to Dindi by road.

Nearest stations are Palakollu and Narsapur.There are daily trains even for Narsapur from Hyderabad, Bhimavaram and Visakhapatnam.

Hyderabad to Dindi by road:

Hyderabad - Suryapet - Khammam - Ashwarapet - Kovvur - Rajahmundry - Amalapuram - Razole - Dindi.

This place is 30 to 35 Km from Bhimavaram, travelling from Bhimavaram to Dindi by private vehicle is preferable.

The Distance from
Hyderabad to Dindi:    373 Km
Rajahmundary to Dindi: 80 Km

Kakinada to Dindi: 74 Km

Dindi by air:

The nearest airport to Dindi is Rajahmundry airport.

Tshangu Lake

Tshangu Lake

I had visited Gangtok the capital city of Sikkim, in the year 1998. This city is situated at an height of 4,700 feet and the memories of the place which is still fresh in my mind is the Tshangu Lake, which is located at the Indo-China border at an height of 12,400 feet.  

On the day of our visit to Tshangu Lake, we all got up early and got ready by 8’ o’ clock. After having breakfast we all boarded the taxi, which was waiting patiently for us outside the hotel. The driver started immediately, and the taxi zoomed towards Tamand Gompa Road, crossing the busy streets of Gangtok.

 It was the month of May and to my surprise the streets were busy with school going children with their heavy bags on their back and the school buses plying on the road, when most of the schools of India have Summer Vacation. To clarify my doubt, I asked the driver “how come these children are having school in the month of May”? Driver answered me that there the schools run in full swing in the summer months, as the weather is very pleasant in these months, but the schools have winter vacation in the peak winter months, which is unbearable there.

Coming out of the city, we headed for Tshangu Lake through the winding roads of Ghat. A journey through this road is really an unforgettable experience, with natural beauty all around. Initially everyone in the group were very energetic and happy, but slowly the energy level became feeble as we moved higher and higher as some of the members from our group started feeling sick, due to continuous twist and turns of the vehicle.  I carried some Domstal tablets with me to prevent vomiting, so the sick ones gulped the tablets to be alright at least when they reach Tshangu Lake. But by the grace of God, all throughout the journey, I was very energetic and enthusiastic, so I went on clicking photographs of the picturesque surroundings through the window pane or sometimes getting down at certain points. As we were ascending the heights, the clouds started ushering us with open arms. Opening the window panes we could even touch and feel the clouds. I would have certainly gone out and got wet by these clouds in any other place but the temperature being very low there, I could not dare to get wet by the clouds.

While getting up the Ghat Road we could only see some tourist cars and more of army Shaktiman trucks going up and down the hill road. The roads were bordered with many army camps with army jawans moving on the roads. Halfway to the lake, we came across Kyongnosla Waterfall, the view of which was so appealing that we told our driver to stop the vehicle there. We all got down to get closer view of the waterfall and my brother-in-law went towards the fall with two pet bottles to grab this clean and clear water in them, as it was told by our elders that water from waterfall coming through the rocks is very good for digestion and tasty. But this water was used less for drinking and more for washing as three members from our group started vomiting while going up. After moving up for some distance, our driver stopped the vehicle for the astonishing view of famous snow-clad mountains known as Kanchanjangha, seemed to be very close from there.

 Kyongnosla Waterfall

Kanchanjangha Mountain

 After short stops at different points the vehicle stopped at small shopping spot at a height of 10,400 feet, where most of the tourists were sipping hot cup of tea or coffee as the temperature fell down drastically, with two sweaters on, I was feeling very cold. There were some shops selling woolen garments and some traditional dresses of Sikkim with some handicrafts too. To keep the body warm there were some wine shops too.

After sipping a cup of coffee we all started for the final lap of the journey to Tshangu Lake, which was still 2000 feet above. Finally at around 12.30 pm we reached our destination the Tshangu Lake, after travelling for about 40 Km. We all hurriedly got down the taxi with lots of enthusiasm. We all were mesmerized by the view of the lake and the mountain covered with snow in some pockets standing just in front of us.

Tshangu Lake

Seeing us, the small boys from 2 to 3 shops came to us, for marketing their stuffs. With the help of one of these boys we all headed for the shop where they were hiring gum boots to climb the snow laden mountain easily. Putting on gum boots we all moved towards the mountain. After climbing few yards my husband and co-sister felt tired and were scared to move up more. I, my two year old daughter and brother-in-law continued moving up and we reached the peak where we played with ice lying beneath us, we threw ice balls on each other. Just beneath this mountain there is a lake named Tshangu lake, which is deep blue colored water body of nearly 1 Km long. It was so thrilling and exciting that we spent around an hour there. Here we took many photographs. We climbed down after being called down by my husband and co-sister who were waiting for us down there.

Getting down the hill my daughter took a ride on Yak. After this we headed for some snacks or food from the stalls put up there. We had some light snacks as we had to descend down by about 8000 feet through the same winding roads around the mountains. But then also some of our group members started vomiting on the way which was cleaned by Bisleri drinking water and waterfall water. 

Yak Ride

On the whole the trip was very exciting which can never be forgotten.

Guru Purnima.

Also known as ‘Vyasa Purnima’, the festival of Guru Purnima celebrates and commemorates Ved Vyas –

·         the Spiritual Guru, the author and the compiler of the great Hindu religious texts –     the ‘Puranas’.

      ·         the ancient Indian Sanskrit epic – the ‘Mahabharata’.

·         the 700-verse Hindu scripture – the ‘Bhagavad Gita.

Ved Vyas is central to Hindu religion and traditions because of his literary contribution to Hinduism which laid the foundation and defined the Hindu religion. Guru Purnima is dedicated to Ved Vyas as it celebrates his birthday.

Guru Purnima is celebrated on the ‘Purnima’ the full-moon day of the ‘Ashadh’ month of the Hindu Calendar’, which falls in the month of July.

Guru Purnima is celebrated by spiritual organizations all over India. The organization’s spiritual head’s teachings are preached and cultural programs are held along with ‘bhajan samarohs’ in the respective organizations. Disciples offer flowers and sweets to their ‘Gurus’ on this day in a ceremonious manner which in itself is an interesting event. The spiritually-inclined also begin their spiritual-lessons and ‘sadhana’ rather rigorously on this day.

The ideal places to visit on Guru Purnima which give you insights into this ancient tradition are:

·         The Ashrams of Rishikesh

·         The Ashrams of Haridwar

·         The Ashrams of Mathura

These three being the main places where Guru Purnima is celebrated elaborately and on a grand scale, other places to visit are:

• Prashanti Nilayam Ashram in Puttaparti, Andhra Pradesh. 
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• Belur Math - the worldwide headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission near Kolkata – capital of West Bengal State in India.
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Pix courtesy: wikipedia; antaryamin.wordpress.

Tree Musketeers !!

“The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The next best time is right now!”

~ Confucius (551-479 BC) – Chinese teacher, philosopher and politician.

Confucius uttered this saying more than 2000 years back when the world had better green-coverage than right now. I wonder what he would’ve said– seeing the tree-coverage of the current world!

Certainly, unless we pursue trees like we follow religion, we will not be successful at conserving them. ‘Van Mahotsav’ – celebrating trees in India was launched with the same fervor by Shri Kanhaiyalal M. Munshi, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Food in 1950.

Van Mahotsav is celebrated for a whole week each July during which time, the Forest Departments, among other environmental organizations, corporates and even individuals, plant lakhs of saplings of different plant-species all over the country. Organizations spread awareness through various media about the importance of trees on this planet. The first thing you can do to protect the trees and the environment is to stop using plastic in all forms. Then find a small spot around your home to plant a tree-sapling of your choice and water it daily. Then urge 5 of your friends to do the same. Imagine if all of us were to become ‘Tree Musketeers’ and protect and take ownership to grow more trees? We’d be doing ourselves a big favour.

Van Mahotsav is a quiet tree-revolution in progress. Either you participate directly by getting involved in tree-planting this July or you be right where you are and spread awareness via your computer. Blog about it or send tree E-cards to your friends and colleagues. All this commotion around trees is bound to have a positive impact on all sometime soon.

Another interesting thing that we could do is visit the lovely Forest Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks where there is abundance of trees. Obviously, the amount we pay towards the entry fee (though not much) to these places is used for their conservation. This way we also get to see the wildlife that lives hand-in-glove with the forests.

Among all the places that you would find trees in, the Central Government  ‘Protected Areas’ are by far the best places in India which are home to some of the common as well as rare plant species – all clustered together. Some of the popular Tree Haunts (Protected Areas) to visit in India for inspiration or for sheer joy are:

1.    Sundarban National Park – West Bengal.

2.    Kaziranga National Park – Assam.

3.    Jim Corbett National Park – Uttarakhand.

4.    Gangotri National Park – Uttarakhand

5.    Great Himalayan National Park – Himachal Pradesh

6.    Indravati National Park – Chhattisgarh

7.    Simlipal National Park – Orissa

8.    Nagarhole National Park – Karnataka

9.    Buxa National Park – West Bengal

10. Pench National Park - Maharashtra

Pix courtesy: Premabhakti.wordpress; sreyas-mg.blogspot; worldlandtrust; love-theearth.blogspot; twitsnaps.