Travel. Capture. Write.

The abode of Devi Ahilya, the Queen of the Holkar Dynasty, Maheshwar, is a town located on the Banks of River Narmada close to Khargone in Madhya Pradesh. I enjoyed wandering through the narrow streets and alleyways during my recent visit to Maheshwar. The town's rich history and vibrant culture left a lasting impression on me. The town deeply connects to Lord Shiva, also known as Maheshwar. It is often called "mini Varanasi" and is an excellent destination for those interested in ancient folklore. Luckily, Maheshwar is a peaceful and serene town, unlike the bustling city of Varanasi. Maheshwar is renowned not only for its ghats, temples, and rich history but also for its exquisite sarees.  Women across India have always been enchanted by the famous Maheshwar Sarees, which are on par with other popular sarees like Benarasi Silk, Mysore Silk, and Kota Sari.  These sarees result from the creative genius of Ahilyabai Holkar, who brought weavers and artists from Surat in Guja

  Elated by the response I received on my previous blog, I'm back with yet another exciting and short travel story of  Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh. Sanchi is famous for the world heritage site, The Sanchi Stupa, 40 kms from Bhopal.  So, Sanchi is just an hour's drive from Bhopal and is among my go-to places on weekends. You can visit there with your friends and family for a peaceful time as the surrounding is serene. Moreover, it's an excellent place for planning a picnic as there is ample garden space to sit and have your favourite meal. Sanchi can also be reached by train as it has its own railway station and excellent connectivity with primary locations in the country. We left for Sanchi around 2:00 PM and reached there by 3:30 PM. We visited the whole premises and sat there to witness the sunset. The Stupas are situated on a hill, so you can see the entire city while you're there, and the city looks beautiful at dusk.  Interestingly, the Rs. 200 note of Indian Currency h

  After a break of 5 years, I'm back with a beautiful and reminiscing trip to Shri Mata Vaishnodevi, Katra. It was a long, throned wish to visit the temple, which finally got fulfilled after a wait of 17 years. As the name suggests, Vaishnodevi is a pilgrimage spot in the Trikuta Mountains of Jammu and Kashmir, which is amongst the toughest trek pilgrims undertake at 5,200 feet after an arduous journey of 14 kms. Vaishnodevi is one of the incarnations of Goddess Lakshmi. It is one of the most visited pilgrimage spots in India. So this was a family trip starting  from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, through Malwa Express, a direct train departing at 12:15 PM to Katra, taking approximately 30 hours to reach the destination. We saw scenic landscapes throughout the journey as we crossed 5 states, MP, UP, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, to finally arrive in Jammu and Kashmir. We arrived at Katra the next day's evening and headed to our hotel (The Vaishvik), close to the hike's starting point

After a year-long break from travelling, I’m back with an adventurous yet beautiful trip to The Parvati Valley, precisely Kasol, Manikaran and Tosh. It was a long throned wish to visit a hill station, after a lot of planning stuff I decided to explore The Valley! So I took a train from Bhopal to reach Delhi from where I had to change a train for Phagwara. You might be thinking, why Phagwara? It was the place where I was supposed to meet my friends and lead to a beautiful excursion to Parvati Valley. You can take a direct bus from Delhi to Manikaran at a very affordable price without getting into hassles. I then took a bus from Phagwara leading to Manikaran, it was a whole night journey so after finalising everything I slept. When I woke up I was already in the Parvati Valley and my reaction was Wowwwww!!!  ©Monish Shrivastava It was around 5:30 AM and I could see a beautiful sunrise set up for me somewhere near Bhuntar(a town located around