Of all the reviews until now 8000 word limit is going to be VERY difficult for this one. This is about MY city: NASIK. You can’t imagine how much passion I have for this City & its RICH history! Lets start with the name: The name NASIK was given to this City due to Lakshmana’s act of punishing Shurpanakha. He cut her nose in this city & hence the name. (Naasikaa is Sanskrit word for nose)
Nasik is a northern city of Maharashtra located 185 Kms from Mumbai & 200 Kms from Pune. Its location makes it a perfect place for land-investment for Mumbai folks. They like the peaceful/fresh/pure air of Nasik! (Which is hard to come by in Mumbai):-)
Nasik is rated Semi-Hill-station due to its weather (among the colder places in India) & the several mountains it is surrounded with. The nearby places to visit are: Trambakeshwar(details below), Someshwar(Falls, Shivmandir, Good surroundings), Gangapur Dam, Shirdi, Saptashrungi (Marvelous collection of 7 mountains), Saaputara (Gujrat) -- Famous tourist place, Ramkund, Seetagunfa, Gora Ram Mandir, Dadasaheb Phalke memorial, Water Park, Pandavlene, Amrutdham.
Nasik could also be seen as Mini-India (like Mumbai but on lower scales). You can find hard-working people from every state in Nasik living peacefully & participating is social event together. All religions, all the castes & all sorts of people (also quite a few with Nepali decent) can be found in Nasik.
The moment Shivsena won the corporation in Nasik, a LOT of good things have happened in the City. The streets have become wider with a proper side-walk. The infrastructure has improved leaps & bounds after 1998. (It is amazing how the Party which spends so much of money in the Urban area & is the only party that makes justice to Urban areas is so miss-represented by the media in these areas!)
A special mention is deserved by four things in Nasik
-Kondaaji Chiwda: A special, different taste you won’t find anywhere.
-A rich history of MISAL-Restaurants. There are hundreds of restaurants that sell only misal in the morning. The total turnover for Misal in Nasik every morning could be 5-7 Lac!!
-Tiwanda Chowk: Hosts the best Jalebi/Shrikhand/Jamun selling store: Budha-Halwai and nearby you will find
-’Sayantara Sabudana Thalipith’. Every one in Nasik knows about these 2 places. Any Rikshwalah will drop you at these places!! (Sayantara recently had federal income tax visitors on a Tuesday, they checked how many Sabudana-Wadas he sold in a single day & gave him an estimate of his yearly Income-Tax!!) :) GREAT stuff isn’t it!? You have to try food at these places that go back years back & are now part of the Nasik-Culture!
Here are a few VERY Informative things about Nasik
(1) Well, Prabhu Ramchandra stayed for considerable time here in their 14 year Wanwas. Panchawati, Shri Ram Mandir (Raamkund) are the holy place where tourist visit & considered as the holy place.
Additions: The GREAT freedom fighter Veer Savarkar was born is Nasik (Bhagoor) & also the Bharat-Ratna Dadasaheb Phalake (the producer of first Indian movie) also hails from Nasik!
(2) One of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India is 25 Km away from Nasik: Trambakeshwar. ’Bramhagiri parvat’ the place where Lord Shiva stayed. The Bramhagiri parvat is also the Ugam-sthan of the Godawari river! It is a tradition that in the Hindu month of Shrawan (Sawan), on every Monday thousands of people go to Trambakeshwar & choose either a 30 Km or 60 Km ’pradakshina’ to Bramhagiri. You have to go bear-feet & cross 5 Kms of streets followed by 10 Kms of Hilly area & then 10 Kms of Mud-filled area, slippery terrain etc followed by 5 Kms of streets. It is a highly festive atmosphere out there & the 3rd Monday is specially crowded with at lest 1.5 lac people with age range of 10 to 80!! The rain makes it all the more interesting.
(3) Nasik (Pimpalgaon) is the home of the largest producer of the Grapes in the country. These grapes are exported to Europe & brings lot of foreign exchange to India.
(4) The Gujarat border (Saaputara a tourist place) is 80Kms from Nasik. On the way about 40 Kms away from Nasik you will visit ’Sapta-Shrungi’ (collection of 7 mountains at one place) & the Devi’s Mandir (Jai Mata di!) Again, this one is also a very busy temple with a rich heritage.
(5) Nasik also hosts ’Pandavlene caves’ that are 2000 yr old creations situated on a hill. It has around 24 caves that also contain imaginative water storage. It is fun to climb on this hill but be careful & disciplined.
(6) Nasik has the national currency printing press (all sorts of the wrong publicity due to Mr Abdul Kareem Telgi now a days). & also Ozar has national Mig-21 assembly plant.
(7) Shirdi Is 90 Kms from Nasik & is a dedicated place for Shri Sai-Baba. Millions of Indians from all over the country visit this place. This place has a magical touch as per the experience of the millions of bhavic that have Darshan here. Our family has a special bondage to Shri Sai Baba as my Great Grandmother used to leave (for work) her kids with Shri Sai Baba to look after.
(8) Nasik is also the place for the Kumbh-Mela that is hosted every 13 years (every time Jupiter enters Leo Sign). At least 2.5 million people, all the Sadhus from all over India visit Nasik at this time. It is amazing the way administration handles the situation for so many guests!
(9) Gokhale Education Society is a well known institute & has several quality colleges with a very good respect. Nasik also hosts Yashwantrao Chavhan Mukta Vidyapeeth where anyone can take education.
(10) Nasik also has the biggest Onion market/store in Maharashtra. (Nafed)
(11) Tapovanis also a well known place. Also Baba Amate’s Kushthadham (ashram for people affected by lepracy) is also located in Nasik.
Apart from this hotels is Nasik have developed dramatically in since 1999. You will find almost all the Big-daddies here! :) The rates of the food & lodging are though reasonable compared to that in Mumbai or other tourist places like Mahabaleshwar.
The local newspapers like Gaonkari, Deshdoot do enjoy big subscriptions with Sakal, Lokmat trying to invade their market. Maharashtratimes is teh darling of the middle-class & has special following in Nasik. Loksatta is not comparatively less popular though.