Maharashtra pilgrimage tour 1: Onboard Siddheshwar express.

Onboard Siddheshwar express, The Journey from Dadar to Solapur.

श्री स्वामी समर्थ
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Solapur is a city and district in the Maharashtra state of India and it is located on the south-east part of the state. It is well connected to other neighbouring cities with various means of transportation like via road and rail transport.

How to reach Solapur by train and road:

By Train: The city is served by Solapur railway station hence you can reach Solapur from anywhere in the country by traveling on a train. It is a major railway station on the Mumbai-Pune-Wadi route of Indian Railways and along with shuttle and Passenger services, many long-distance mail/express trains halt here. These include Duronto, shuttle, passenger, express, mail and AC trains. The total journey between Mumbai and Solapur takes around 8 hours by train.

By Road: Reaching Solapur by road is also a good option due to a well-maintained network of roads. The distance from Mumbai to Solapur is approximately 400 kms. Travelling in a bus is one of the best ways to reach Solapur as MSRTC and other road transports provide direct connectivity to several towns across Maharashtra and important cities in the neighbouring state.

Note- To get more details regarding traveling to Solapur, you can take the help of internet (official website of railways and other transport) or travel guide.

Be it a day or overnight journey, I always prefer traveling by trains. In this trip, I travelled on The Siddeshwar Superfast Express from Mumbai to Solapur. I have been a frequent traveller on this train from Dadar to Solapur. It is an overnight daily running train (belonging to Indian Railways) which connects Solapur to Mumbai via Pune in Maharashtra and it takes around 8 hours approximately to reach Solapur. There is an auto-rickshaw stand right in front of the Railway station where visitors can hire an auto to get to the venue. 

Places to visit in Solapur and around: 

• Solapur - Siddheshwar temple and lake. It is one of the most popular tourist places in Solapur, and this location is very scenic as there is a lake around the temple.
• Akkalkot - Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj Temple. The distance from Solapur to Akkalkot is approximately 38 km.
• Tuljapur - Shree Tuljabhavani Temple. Distance between Solapur and Tuljapur is approximate 47 kms.
• Shri Kshetra Gangapur (Dattatreya Temple) - It is situated on the bank of the river Bhima in Afzalpur taluka in kalburgi district of Karnataka at south india. Ganagapura is a place of pilgrimage associated with Sri Narasimha Saraswati Swami Maharaj, the second incarnation of Dattatreya.
• Pandharpur, Lord Vithoba Temple (Shri Vitthal-Rukmini temple).- Pilgrimage town situated on the banks of Bhima river in Solapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Approximate driving distance between Solapur and Pandharpur is about 75 km.

Onboard Siddheshwar Express

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2YMdWNcrdY

About my weekend tour from Mumbai to Solapur, Akkalkot, Ganagapur and Tuljapur.

Day 1: That day on Friday, I came home early from the office to get ready for the trip. As this was our planned trip, we had already done some shopping for the trip just a few days before the journey. After having dinner, we got ready with our luggage and hired a taxi to reach the station a few minutes before the train's departure. We arrived at Dadar railway station about 30 minutes before our train was due to leave and waited for our train. Whenever I go to Dadar station, I enjoy the view of trains negotiating the curve while entering the Dadar station after leaving Parel. Coming to my trip, I had booked a ticket on the Siddheshwar Express in advance from Dadar to Solapur and seats were allotted to us in coach A3 ac 2 tier. The Siddheshwar Express has always been one of my favourite trains from my childhood, and I frequently travel by this train to reach Solapur for pilgrimage tour. As soon as we reached the station, I noticed that the coach positions of our train were being displayed on indicators. Our train arrived on time at Dadar. We boarded the train at 11 pm and started our rail-journey towards Solapur. After leaving Dadar, train accelerated rapidly and maintained good speed to reach the destination. We arranged our luggage on the upper berth and settled down comfortably. As this was an overnight journey, we were given a bed sheet, pillow, and blanket on the train. The train was running at its extreme speed, and it was shaking a lot. Between Karjat and Lonavala, the train passed through many tunnels and ascended the Bhor Ghat. The loco pilot did a continuous honking while entering and exiting the tunnel in the ghat section. Even at night time, I fully enjoyed the train journey through Bhor Ghat; while onboard Siddheshwar express. The view of mountains and valleys at night was breathtaking. We left Lonavala at around 01:15 and picked up a good speed immediately to reach the next station, Pune. It was around 2 am, and sleep overtook me until we reach Pune. Our train was running on time. 

After around 8 hours' long journey, we reached the Solapur Railway Station next day morning around 06.50.

Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj temple, Akkalkot

Day 2: We got off at Solapur Railway Station in the morning and made our way straight out of the station to take an auto; to reach Solapur bus depot. There is a bus stop (for Akkalkot and Ganagapur bound buses) outside the railway station, hence you can take the bus from there to Akkalkot & Ganagapur, but the chances of getting confirmed seats are less as sometimes the bus gets full at Main Bus stand. Hence we decided to go to the Central bus stand by taking an auto. Within 10 minutes, we reached Solapur Central Bus Stand and boarded the bus for Akkalkot. The approximate distance between Solapur station and Akkalkot Bus Stand is 40 km, and it is almost 45-50 minutes journey. To reach Akkalkot, Usually, I prefer to travel from Solapur rather than getting down at Akkalkot Road Railway Station. The frequency and connectivity of buses plying between Solapur and Akkalkot are quite good. Around 9 am, we reached Akkalkot bus stand, and from there we took an auto to reach the main temple. It is hardly 20 minutes walking from bus stand. After reaching Akkalkot, first, we booked the room in Yatri Niwas which is at 2-3 minutes walking distance from the Main temple and Annachhatra Mahaprasad hall. The rooms in the Yatri niwas were quite big and clean, and you can have a good view of the whole campus from the balcony. Quickly we freshened up and visited Shri Swami Samarth Maharaj temple, Ganpati temple and had a peaceful Darshan. After that, we went to the Annachatra for Pooja-Aarti and Mahaprasad. After having lunch, as we planned, we hired a cab from local transport providers to travel from Akkalkot to Ganagapura. The distance of Ganagapur from Akkalkot is around 80 Km and it is well connected by rail (Ganagapur Road railway station) and road. At 2 pm, we started our journey towards Ganagapura by road and we reached there at around 5 pm. After reaching there, first, we went to Sangam (confluence of Bhima & Amrja Rivers) for holy bath and then we went to the Main temple (Sri Dattatreya Temple) and had a peaceful darshan. That day, It was not crowded and I was able to finish darshan within half an hour. After taking a darshan and visiting beautiful places in Ganagapur, we started our return journey towards Akkalkot, and by 9 pm, we reached the Yatri Niwas (Akkalkot) safely. There, after having darshan, we went to the Annachatra for Mahaprasad. We did not need to worry about accommodation as we had already booked a room in the Yatri Niwas for a stay in Akkalkot.

Shree Swami Samarth Vatika Garden, Akkalkot

Day 3: On the third day of a trip to Solapur, According to my tour plan; All of us got ready to proceed towards the next destination of our trip; Tuljapur. After having a peaceful darshan in the morning, we had our breakfast in the Annachatra canteen and walked to board the ST bus for Tuljapur from Annachatra bus stand. You can get the direct bus from Akkalkot (Annachatra bus stand) to Tuljapur in the morning around 7-8 am. Otherwise you will have to go via Akkalkot-Solapur-Tuljapur route. In that case, you will have to change the bus at Solapur (Note: You can get details about timing and availability of direct buses from Akkalkot to Tuljapur on the official site or MSRTC bus enquiry system). At around 11 am, we reached the Tuljapur bus stand and proceeded to visit the main temple. It takes about 5 minutes to reach the temple by walk. There is a pass counter near the entrance. On reaching the temple, we collected our passes from the counter and joined the regular queue. Luckily there was no rush when I visited; but still, It took almost one and half hour to complete Darshan. We had great darshan of goddess (Devi Maa) Tuljabhavani.

Annachatra campus, Akkalkot

There are plenty of small hotels and restaurants near the bus stand. After having lunch at a good restaurant, we boarded the bus for Solapur from Tuljapur bus station. The distance between Tuljapur and Solapur is approx 48 km. In Solapur, we visited The Siddheshwar Temple which is situated in the middle of a lake. After having darshan and Mahaprasad, we did some shopping, and by taking an auto, we proceeded towards Solapur railway station to board the train (Siddheshwar Express) for Mumbai. The rake of our train was waiting for departure from pf 1. We boarded the train and occupied our berths in A-3 coach. At 10:40 pm, we departed from Solapur, and our return journey toward Mumbai started. 
Day 4: I had a comfortable sleep and woke up early morning to enjoy the journey through Ghats. It was around 4.15 am when we left from Lonavala and, our train started descending the Bhor Ghat. Silent beauty of mountains and valleys in the darkness as viewed from the train in the Bhor Ghats during night time was really breathtaking which I experienced. Around 6:30 am, we reached Dadar railway station. A good experience overall. Hope you would like this blog post, which will surely help Mumbaikars in planning a religious trip to Solapur.

Onboard Siddheshwar exp, Journey up the Bhor Ghat during night time, Twinkling lights from surrounding villages of Khopoli presented magnificent views, photoclick... as viewed from the train.

Details of expenses during the journey:
1.Train Reservation ticket from Dadar to Solapur (Siddheshwar Express): 1,065Rs pp (A.C. two Tier 2A).
2.Train Reservation ticket from Solapur to Mumbai CSMT (Siddheshwar Express): 1,080Rs pp (A.C. 2 Tier 2A).
3.Solapur railway station to Solapur Bus stand-depot by SMT city bus: 5Rs pp
4.Solapur Bus station to Tuljapur bus stand by bus (MSRTC): 60Rs pp
5.Tuljapur bus stand to Akkalkot by bus (MSRTC): 115Rs pp
6.Akkalkot bus station to Temple & Annachhatra, Yatri niwas by Auto: 10Rs pp
7.Akkalkot to Ganagapur (including return journey) by Cab/taxi: 1400Rs
8.Akkalkot to Solapur Siddheshwar Temple by Auto: 250Rs
9.Siddheshwar Temple (Solapur) to Solapur railway station by auto-rickshaw: 40Rs
10.Food during the journey: 500Rs pp
11.Yatri Niwas / Yatri Bhuvan accommodation room charges: Go to swamiannacchatra.org website
12.Shopping etc:
(Note: Please check the official site of Indian Railways and MSRTC to get details about ticket fare, Seat Availability and schedule etc.)

Ganagapur temple

Tuljapur temple

Fountain and garden - Annachatra campus

Akkalkot new annachatra

Akkalkot Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj annachatra

Shivcharitra pradarshan hall, Akkalkot

Shree Swami Samarth Vatika Garden, Akkalkot

Shree Swami Samarth Vatika Garden

Children play area, Vatika garden, Akkalkot

Akkalkot Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj Yatri Nivas

Old annachhatra, Akkalkot

This was the 1st time I alighted on the Jeur pf.

Time of Arrival at Solapur is 6.50am, Time of Arrival at Mumbai is 6.50-7am

Maharashtra pilgrimage tour 2:

http://jagrutrailtravelworld.blogspot.in/2017/12/darshan-yatra-by-shree-sai-mauli-group.html

Hopefully, my blog is helping the traveller to plan their tours; Happy Journey.