Phenomenal Palasdev & Spectacular Supa

Tripoto
3rd Jun 2016
Photo of Phenomenal Palasdev & Spectacular Supa by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Day 1

I have been following many travelers on Instagram and then one day, I saw an amazing post by Nequesta aka Nikita Vhora. The post was about an ancient temple that was burried all this time under water and due to serious drought in Maharashtra, the temple has come out and started to attract people from around the region. I will talk more about the temple later. But Drought is what we need to focus right now, since it has become a sensation in Maharashtra and causing lives of many in remote villages.

As usual, we(Prasad, Hemant and I) finished our night's watch(struggle of a night shift employee) and started towards Lonavla, Maharashtra. After Panvel, we did take a break somewhere near Bringhanwadi Toll Naka. That was our first stop and then we continued riding towards Lonavla. During this time, my focus was all on the new set of tyres that I fixed in the CBR250R. Friends wanted to hear how it did during the ride... Consider this as my review of the tyres as well... The new Michelin Pilot Street Radials are grippy/sticky and way better than the Michelin Pilot Sporty(This was $#!+) that I used before.

Note: Naresh Shetty, if you are reading this, please change your Michelin Pilot Sporty to save yourself from slippery roads. #MonsoonTimes

Alright, I guess I kinda drifted there... So we did the second stop at Lonavla for tea and then continued towards Pune. The motive is to get into the Planet DSG shop and buy a jacket for Prasad. It took around an hour roaming around the streets, since the shop was closed.

After we finished buying the Heaviest Jacket we ever felt, we had our breakfast at Marzorin.

Then we continued our journey towards Hadapsar and to the Green City, where we had to halt for the night. I had to admit that the weather in Pune is so goooood... Atleast the night weather, which is cold and pleasant.

Day 2

Next day was a new day and we had planned to get up at 5.30 AM in the morning but then you know what happens when a cold breeze blows through the door and you are covered with blankets. Yes... We over slept and we started at around 10.15 AM(woke up at 8.30AM).

We took the Pune Solapur Highway, which was nice and smooth that lead us to reach our first stop in under an hour, where we had our breakfast(Panchratna Restaurant). Then we headed towards Palasdev village. While we were riding on the highway, we spotted the temple, but we weren't sure which way to reach the temple. Along came a fellow villager, who guided us in the right path.

About the path: There is no path... You have to ride through the Ujani Reservoir's river bed. The journey through dry/green grass and mud was so much fun. The ride was bumpy but exciting. Then we reached the temple after some serious scouting in the river bed. Although we were excited and happy to see an age old structure, we were disappointed by the acts of people who climbed up the temple and posing for the camera and also the people who tried to take down the dead trees around the temple. But again, we were not there to see these guys but to relax ourselves from the boredom and escape city life. We enjoyed our time there clicking as many photos as we can without people in the frame. Then on our way we did get stuck in the river bed due to loose ground and we throttled our way up to the highways, where we kind of cleaned the mud that was present all over the motorcycles.

Then Shreevallabh took us to his wife's place... I would say it is not a place but a mini palace. It was an addon surprise for us. I dont want to speak about this place, the photographs that we clicked does.

Once we were done with the photo sessions, we headed towards Green City and halted for the night.

Day 3

The next day(Monday) we started early in the morning and headed towards Mumbai.

As we approached Mumbai, we started to face the reality. It was so hot here that we regretted leaving Pune's weather. One more journey ends and many more to come...

I almost forgot to mention about the temple's history. The temple belongs to lord Palasnath, the temple is about one thousand years old.. The temple was submerged under the backwaters of Ujani dam. The locals informed that the temple has become accessible after eleven years due to no rains. It falls under Hemadpanthi Architecture.

Finally a big thanks to Kamalesh for lending the 35mm. All those amazing photos that you see in this album were from the Nikon's 35mm prime lens.

Day 1

This is all we have - our rides

Photo of Khopoli, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

First Great photo of the trip

Photo of Khopoli, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

First break near Bringanwadi Toll Naka

Photo of Khopoli, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Break at Khandala Exit

Photo of Khandala Exit, Khandala, Kune N.m., Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Day 2

Starting from Green City Hadapsar

Photo of Green City, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

At Panchratna Restaurant

Photo of HOTEL PANCHRATNA PURE VEG, Chincholi, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

We just cannot keep the bike anywhere - we had to use JUGAAD! - Flat Stones for the stand..

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

I hate the people who try to ruin this ancient beauty

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Probably a horse stable

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Almost destroyed Brick structures

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Remnants + Litter

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Remnants

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Old but not given up yet - I am talking about the Tree :P

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Some people reached here using boats

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Hanuman Statue

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Tower(Gopuram) of Palasdev Temple

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Remnants of the Palasdev Temple

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Ujjani waters in the background

Photo of Ujjani Dam, Ujani Tembhurni, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Lined up

Photo of Ujjani Dam, Ujani Tembhurni, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Moto Portfolio 1

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Moto Portfolio 2

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Riders!

Photo of Palasdev Temple, Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

GPS doesn't show a road - No worries... We ride!

Photo of Ujjani Dam, Ujani Tembhurni, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Where we ride, there are no roads

Photo of Ujjani Dam, Ujani Tembhurni, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Hemant and Shreevallabh lending their hands to clean up my ride

Photo of Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

How much mud/muck the tyres can carry?

Photo of Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Muck'ed!

Photo of Palasdev, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Enter the palace

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Hemant turned poser

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Durga Temple

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Just the photographer in me - doing things

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Co-riders

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Aligning the machines in place

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Checking the light(exposure) in the photos captured

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Photoshoot Sample 1

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Photoshoot Sample 2

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Photoshoot Sample 3

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Photoshoot Sample 4

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Photoshoot Sample 5

Photo of Supa, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

Diveghat

Photo of Dive Ghat Road, Jadhavwadi, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)
Day 3

We met another rider at Lonavla on our way back, he was going back to Kerala

Photo of Lonavla, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)

The ride of the stranger who has become a rider friend

Photo of Lonavla, Maharashtra, India by Jegan Somu (motowanderer)