Hey folks..
Hope life is treating you guys wonderfully.
A few days back I went on another of those long rides I absolutely love going on. This time it was to a place situated 350 metres high in the southern part of Goa.
I am a mountain person. Mountains have always been special to me. That inviting mightyness, that dire feeling of climbing one and the peace that I feel there, have always pulled me towards going up on one and I jump up straight at any opportunity, even be it for a small hill. So this time it was up on a highly significant mountain in Goa- in the village of Paroda in the Salcette taluka of Goa.
The mountain I am talking about is situated approx. 18 Kms from the city of Margao. Now the speciality of this mountain lies in what lies on top. And this time it’s not just the gorgeous bird-eye view (well that’s there too), but there’s much more to it. This blog post is about the Chandreshwar Parvat. So read on if you are planning of visiting this one soon.
It’s no big deal to get to Chandreshwar Parvat, provided you have your own means of transport. I had mine! Riding on the Quepem-Margao road, we entered a road inside at the sight of a giant archway. There is something about these giant mystifying gateways I absolutely love. The road took us through a village and soon up the hill story started.
This mountain has a height of 350 metres. The ride up to those 350 metres was extremely pleasant with trees covering up every nook and corner.. The smell of the Cashews, Kokums and the sights of other wild fruits as well.. Occasionally I could see a few local village grandma’s plucking out Cashews with their grandchildren, some collecting firewood. The locals treat this mountain with great love and respect and it has a special significance to them.
A well made road takes you up right to the top, being in an excellent condition it makes for an amazing ride with the twists and turns adding in to the thrill. I definitely enjoyed my ride up here.Riding up the mountain we could see the nearby village and a green carpet of fields which looked lovelier from up here.
We rode for around 20 minutes and reached a point where our vehicles could take us no further. From here on we had to go on foot over a series of steps(300+) which actually lead to the top but starts way down. The roads get you way close to the top and you only have to climb around 50-60 steps from here.
Once we reached up we got a view of what crowns this mountains. The speciality of this mountain is that it houses the famous Chandreshwar Bhoonath temple of Goa. Just the idea of a structure being constructed this high when technology nor roads wasn’t that good, leaves me awestruck!
The temple of Chandreshwar Bhoonath which is dedicated to lord Shiva is built at an altitude of 350 m. The entrance of the temple is marked with another small archway. A area is marked with a huge temple and two enclosed structures which has the rath’s which is a vehicle used to pull the diety during festivities. You can also see alot of boulders strewn around the temple.Thought having a modern structure outside, the interior of the temple projects a different aura. The main shrine where the dieties are kept is built on a rock boulder which is still visible protruding out.
The temple is constructed in such a way that on a full moon day the rays of the moon falls on the Shiva kings of the temple which is made of rocks ,which then transpires water. Amazing isn’t it?After going around inside the temple and admiring the architecture especially the rock inside, we went ahead to watch a mystifying sun set over a far off village.
From this mountain you get a good view of all the neighbouring villages and it looks splendid in every way. With that lovely view in mind we came down once again to experience the gorgeous slope.
Seeing this temple on top of a mountain did add charm to my long ride down South and made it a fulfilling one. If something like this interest you, you should definitely mark this one on your next trip to Goa.
Lots of love.
Joyla Fernandes
Igniting horizons
Igniting Horizons 