Ganpatipule- Maharashtra

anpatipule is a small town situated in the state of Maharashtra. It lies in Ratnagiri District to the south of Chiplun town. The origin of the name of the town lies in mythology. According to legend, God Ganpati took offence to a lady’s remark and moved a few km away from Gule, which was His original abode. The movement of a few km is called ‘pule’ in Marathi and thus came the name Ganpatipule. 

The town has a 400 year old statue of Ganpati. This is said to have originated from the ground by itself. This statue of Ganpati, unlike statues in other temples, faces West to guard the town against the evil western forces. 

Although pilgrimage forms the major tourist attraction of Ganpatipule, of late, a number of resorts have also come up here which has led to a major boost in the region’s tourism. The town’s location on the Konkan Coast makes it an ideal place for beach lovers. 

The beaches of Ganpatipule are clean and lined with mangroves and coconut palms. The climate of Ganpatipule, like most of Maharashtra, is moderate. The temperature stays the same through the year, hovering at about 30-35° Celsius. However, the months of November to February experience the most pleasant weather which is also the peak season to visit Ganpatipule. 

Apart from being a pilgrimage centre and a beach place, Ganpatipule is also the gateway to a number of tourist spots around the region. The town lies close to Velneshwar, Ratnagiri, Pawas and Jaigad Fort, all of which are important tourist destinations. 

The small town of Ganpatipule is well connected to the city of Ratnagiri by road. Ratnagiri has an airport and a railway station which connects it to major Indian cities. It lies approximately 30 km from Ratnagiri and the journey by road takes about an hour. 

Tourist places in Ganapatipule

There are several sightseeing options in the region of Ganapatipule, most of which are shrines and temples. Jaigad lighthouse was built in the year 1832 and is located in the western edge of Jaigad Fort. The lighthouse is around 180 years old and is open to the public six days a week, excepting Sundays.

The Swayambhu Ganpati Temple is also one of the popular places of religious importance, which houses an idol made of pure white sand. There is another idol of Lord Ganesha, made of copper that depicts the god on a lion. The temple is about 20 km from the Ratnagiri region.

The Ganapatipule Temple is known for its unique interior design compared to other temples as the deity of the temple faces west unlike other Indian temples wherein the deity faces the east direction. Because of the numerous temples and shrines located here, there has been a constant rise in the number of visitors in Ganapatipule.  

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Kalo Dungar - The Black Hills

The Black Hills (Kalo Dungar)

25 kms north of Khavda, the top of the Black Hills is the highest point in Kutch, at 462 m. From here, the entire northern horizon vanishes into the Great Rann, the desert and sky often becoming indistinguishable. It is one of the few non-coastal locations where you feel like you are at the edge of the earth, on the brink of incomprehensible vastness that fades off towards infinity. Looking out from the Black Hills, you can understand the tremendous effort that those who undertake the crossing of the Great Rann have to make. Since this is one of the places where a civilian can get closest to the Pakistan border, there is an Army post at the top; beyond here, only military personnel are allowed. The hill is also the site of a 400-year-old temple to Dattatreya, the three-headed incarnation of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva in the same body. Legend says that when Dattatreya walked on the earth, he stopped at the Black Hills and found a band of starving jackals. Being a god, he offered them his body to eat and as they ate, his body continually regenerated itself. Because of this, for the last four centuries, the priest at the temple has prepared a batch of prasad that is fed to the jackals after the evening aarti. 

Reaching the hilltop by public transport is difficult; the only bus travels there from Khavda on weekend evenings and returns in the early morning. Hiring a jeep from Khavda is your other option. Visiting in the early morning or late afternoon is recommended, though with a few more hours there are nice hikes to do around the hill. Be sure to take your own food and water and if you want to stay the night, there is a dharamshala next to the temple.

This is near/around Bhuj   By road: For those traveling from Ahmedabad, the bus may be more convenient than the train, though slightly more expensive. Several private companies run sleeper buses (with a full horizontal bunk), leaving the city for Bhuj between 8pm and 11pm, arriving in Bhuj between 6am and 8am the next morning. These bus companies all have their offices around Paldi in Ahmedabad; Sahjanand Travels and Patel Travels are two recommended ones. There are also private sitting (non-sleeper) buses, and ST (State Transport) buses that make the trip for less money but considerably less comfortable seats. By rail: Two daily express trains, the Bhuj Express and the Kutch Express, go from Bhuj to Ahmedabad (8hrs) and on to Mumbai (16hrs.) However, both trains pass through Ahmedabad in the middle of the night, as the schedules are designed to depart and arrive and reasonable hours from Bhuj and Mumbai, not Ahmedabad. By air: One or more flights daily connect Bhuj to Mumbai. Once in Bhuj, ST buses go to larger destinations around the district, private jeeps can also be rented (a good option for larger parties), and some smaller places can only be reached by chhakdas.

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Satyamev Jayate effect Maharashtra flags off Generic medicine stores

So Finally the ‘Satyamev Jayate’ phenomenon has made headlines again. And this time, despite fighting their way through a barrage of criticisms and allegations, the ‘Satyamev Jayate’ team can now consider themselves as instrumental in brightening up more lives with their hearty smiles. 
A few episodes back, the iconic TV show had exposed the discrepancies and corruption involved in the selling of medicines. The episode further went ahead and exposed several flaws in the medical systems of the country, and as is well-known by now, Aamir Khan and his team have had to receive the criticism of many doctors.

Aamir, however, has a reason – and a huge one – to smile about now. His show has played an important role in the Maharashtra Government giving the green signal to a lot more generic medicine stores than the state now has. The Government announced that Generic medicines would be made available across all Government hospitals. In addition, the State Government has also planned to open medical stores across the state where generic medicines will be stocked in adequate amounts, and will be readily available for people.

Aamir Khan and the ‘Satyamev Jayate’ team are on seventh heaven after receiving the news, and they have profusely thanked Chief Minister of the State, Prithviraj Chauhan and Health Minister, Suresh Shetty.

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Indian Weddings dowry system - Satyamev Jay

This was the third installment of the new trending TV Show, Aamir Khan Productions Satyamev Jayate, which is entitled as 'Big Fat Indian Weddings'.Watch it from below, if you haven't did it till now:

Summary

This Episode discusses the current view of Indian Parents and Teenagers about marriages.

Marriage, in my opinion, is an extreme divine function in which two heart becomes one, without respect to Religion, Caste, or Race! But, now-a-days, it is becoming like a business transaction. Aamir Khan gets our mind go through some real life shocking incidents that is happening in present day India. He says that in current India, wives are becoming servants instead of being life partner.

The guy who swore before fire, that he would give her a shoulder to lean on, when she is sad, that he would, share happiness with her, himself is being the traitor!

Today, even though the dowry system has come to an end by the Government of India, its still happening illegally. According to the Groom's Parents, the marriage is just a business transaction, where they are considering the Bride as a Product. Some in-laws would say that they dont need any cash or any other medium of dowry, but in such homes, Bride will have to suffer a highly humiliating life. Aamir advises the parents of Bride, not to accept the marriage, even if they demand a small thing, because after marriage, demands will gradually rise. He advises them not to put their heads on the rail, knowing the train is coming. He says that actions can easily be taken by the Brides/Parents of brides, if any kind of demands (considering it as a kind of dowry) or humiliation towards wives through police.

And he redirects our consciousness towards Santhosh, a happily married man without any kind of dowries. Through this we can understand that there are still few good people. Then he shows us how can dowries be avoided by taking actions through a community, with an example of Biwandi region, where there is law that there should be no Band, Baaja, or Baraat (Any kind of show offs), on marriages. If this is violated, some communal actions will be taken against the Parents of Groom.

And he also says that we should always prefer an ordinary marriage, without any show offs, as in Biwandi, and we should take North-East states as models for such things, where Groom's side have to take all money for marriage.

And at last he says that, marriage should not be an atom bomb, where the life will be blown up, but an agarbathi, where the life is filled with fragrance of happiness!

The show Satyamev Jayate is an awesome programme which shows some true, but

should-be-abolished faces of India! Hats off to Aamir Khan, who gave us a surprise by hoisting such a program!

If you haven't watched the theme song of Satyamev Jayate yet, hear it too! Its a must watch, if you ask me!!!

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Child abuse in india -Satyamev Jayate

Every child in this world is a gift, but hardly are they given the respect that they deserve. Child abuse is a very serious issue going around the world at present time. And the worst part is most of the cases are not reported. Running away is not the only choice we are left with when disasters happen in our life. I can’t deny the fact that most of the child abusers are the part of family or the person who is close to that child, on whom we can trust. How anyone can be so brutal? Abusing a child, what worse could anyone think of?
According to UNICEF, violence against children can be "physical and mental abuse and injury, neglect or negligent treatment, exploitation and sexual abuse. Violence may take place in homes, schools, orphanages, residential care facilities, on the streets, in the workplace, in prisons and in places of detention." Such violence can affect the normal development of a child impairing their mental, physical and social being. In extreme cases abuse of a child can result in death.

The report also says that the government is planning several things to help the child to get out of this issue. But this is just for the sake of satisfaction of people. There are lots of amendments made, several plans proposed but hardly any one of them has worked in respect with this issue. The reason behind this is simple. It’s not the government whom we have to blame. Anything bad goes in the country all we do is sit and blame the government for it. We don’t try to do anything against it. It’s we, who are the creator of all such issues. Instead of blaming the government for each and everything if we look inside ourselves then we may come to know how corrupted are we people. Government is a system of which we are the major part. Every people can contribute to make our country free from all such issues only if we try to correct ourselves. 

And I feel ashamed when I reveal this report which says that in a government commissioned survey it has been found that more than 53% of children in India are subjected to sexual abuse, but most don't report the assaults to anyone. The survey covered different forms of child abuse — “physical, sexual and emotional” — as well as female child neglect, found that two out of every three children have been physically abused. The survey was carried out across 13 states over the country and with a sample size of 12,447, revealed that 53.22% of children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse, with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Delhi reporting the highest percentage of such incidents. In 50% of child abuse cases, the abusers were known to the child or were in a position of trust and responsibility and most children did not report the matter to anyone. Of all the children physically abused in families, in 88.6% of the cases, it was the parents who were the perpetrators. More than 50% had been sexually abused in ways that ranged from severe — “such as rape or fondling” — to milder forms of molestation that included forcible kissing. The study examined two forms of emotional abuse: humiliation and comparison. Half the children reported facing emotional abuse with 83% of that abuse begin conducted by parents. Girl child neglect was assessed girls comparing themselves to their brothers on factors like attention, food, recreation time, household work, taking care of siblings, etc. 70.57% of girls reported having been neglected by family members. 48.4% of girls wished they were boys. 27.33% of girls reported getting less food then their brothers.


Wake up from the deepest of your slumbers. Think before you act. Your every act may affect several other lives. Every child is special; make them feel how special they are. A little amount of care, a little amount of love may change several lives.

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