Author: Priyanka Dalal
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I Cycled After a Year!
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Seeing my cycling gear for long distance riding people naturally assume that I am a pro cyclist. Great health and fast riding. It leaves me somewhat embarrassed too often. Because they naturally assume I ride really quick and am really fit. Only to realise that, well, slow and steady wins the race too. :D
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My Tryst With Kartigai Deepam: The Story So Far…..
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In 2016, I went on a crazy solo cycle ride from Chennai to Kanchipuram and the next day to Tiruvannamalai. When I reached Tiruvannamalai, my adventure with Ramana Ashram and Arunachalam began – at least in this physical life. This place resonated deeply within me, so maybe I had past life connections, dunno. Anyway, it…
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Isha Mahashivratri Accommodations: Can I stay in the Coimbatore Isha ashram?
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This blog post has been updated in October 2022 to help people planning early for the 2023 Mahashivratri event. For ticket prices and other such details you can refer to this blog: https://maproute.in/isha-mahashivratri-2023-what-we-know-so-far/ COVID seems to be gone and dusted as of now. Assuming that won’t change. We have a burst of accommodation options near…
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A Truly Scenic Flag Hoisting | Adiyogi, Coimbatore
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This blog post is part of my Republic Day 2020 series where I list down different flag hoisting experiences. Independence day, 2019, I found myself at Isha Yoga Center. I was keen to participate in the flag hoisting ceremony at the Malai Vasaal (Hill Gate). This was the outside gate to the Adiyogi. About 2…
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Harsiddhi Mata, Krishna’s kuldevi temple in Gujarat
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On our way to Dwarka, we were told by our driver about Krishna’s kuldevi mandir of Harsiddhi Mata. (see map location) Not sure what a kuldevi is? Here’s a video from Sadhguru on kula deities This temple is at Gandhvi, a small seaside town on the route between Porbandar and Dwarka. The main shrine is…
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7 Temples of Somnath To Experience on your Saurashtra Visit
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Somnath is famous for its Jyotirlinga temple. Experiencing this Shiva temple is important for all pilgrims. But there are also many other lesser known temples to visit like the old Somnath mandir, Bhalka Teerth, Chandrabhaga Maata shaktipeeth and ancient Jain temples of Prabhas Patan.
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![Surat Ponk Vadas [Video] | Garvi Gujarat](https://maproute.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/045b0-img_20191215_194701-01.webp?w=800)
Surat Ponk Vadas [Video] | Garvi Gujarat
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Spending a few days at grandmother’s place in Surat. Mom took me to a ponk shop she had bought from earlier. It was at ghod dod road (map location). And we enjoyed a plate of Jain Ponk vadas.
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Kala Bhairava Ashtami, Isha Crematorium, Coimbatore
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I visited Kashi way back in 2010. That visit was inspired because I had been listening to this Kala Bhairava Ashtakam bhajan on loop. And slowly I wanted to see this Kashi Kala Bhairava whom the bhajan praises deeply. One of the major festivals associated with this Kala Bhairava is the Ashtami that comes once…
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Mahalaya Amavasya @ Devi Temple | Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore
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One Amavasya night, at the Isha Yoga Center, I found out there was a special event taking place. This was the “Mahalaya” Amavasya of which I had never heard before. In general, on all full moon and new moon nights, they have some lovely celebrations. But this one was something different and interesting.
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Coimbatore Diaries: where “culture” still seeps through the city life
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Rangolis are put outside apartment buildings, bungalows and even individual house doors. Daily, after bath by the woman of the house. Or sometimes delegated to the house help, who is also South Indian, and sees value in it. Many will sprinkle the cow-dung mixed yellow (turmeric?) water on the Earth before doing the rangoli.
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Travel Year In Review: My Move To Coimbatore & 1000kms of Cycling Thailand
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It’s that time of the year when I write my year end reviews as per the Indian new year that will happen on 29th October this year. I love this activity as it lets me spend these Diwali holidays in a very reflective way where I look back and see how the year panned out.…
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Here’s Why I Have Been Keen To Move Out Of Mumbai (& Now I Have)
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I have been keen to setup a different home base from Mumbai for quite some time. There are actually a lot of reasons for this. But since people have been asking me, I would boil it down to 3 major points. If I got down to writing a full blown post I guess it would…
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A Beautiful Devi Shrine Amidst Chaos, Coimbatore
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As my friend and fellow travel blogger Shrinidhi Hande once said, not all blog posts need to be long. :D Taking this cue, here is a little piece on a beautiful Devi aka Amman shrine situated in the middle of a tri-junction of very chaotic roads near the Town Hall area of Coimbatore. By the…
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Attack of the Fruit Flies | Thailand Cycling
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It was about 4 pm, the day of riding was up, I would now look for a place to stay. That morning I had started out from a resort in the small town of Phan Thong, cycled about 80-100 kms and reached Lake Nong Kham a few kms from the fabled town of Si Racha…
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Where are you from? Me, Mumbaikar?
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“Where are you from?” Typically in any social interaction, there is a query about where I am from. The other person wants to build my story in their mind, they want to place me, better understand my cultural context and so on. Fair enough. Where am I from? For those of us who have travelled…
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Q: Stuff To Do Around Melbourne, Australia
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A friend asked me about places to visit around the Australian city of Melbourne. I spent a month and half cycling around Melbourne in Sept-Oct 2016. So, I jotted out a few suggestions of places I had visited and found interesting. Some of these are less known especially in Indian travel circuits. Here were my…
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Locho: Surat’s Famous Food Dish
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As the story goes (partly as I heard from Gujju relatives and partly made up by me), A shop sold really tasty dhoklas in Surat. One day the cook at this shop was making his fresh batch of dhoklas, but he was distracted. We could imagine that it was makar sankranti, and he was totally…
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8 Spiritual Getaways & Ashrams Near Bangalore
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When you are looking for a spiritual break from the mega city Bengaluru :)
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My 3 Favourite Temples of Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai has over 300 temples scattered around the city. A true temple town but economically doing much better than its Indian counterparts. The combination sent goosebumps tingling through me because this is where India can be, soon, maybe. Because when I look at the whole culturally rich chaos that is India, I wonder how…
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Border Crossing on Cycle: Trat, Thailand to Koh Kong, Cambodia
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One of the more exciting aspects about my 1000 km solo cycle tour in Thailand was cycling through a border crossing. It was my first actual border crossing by road. I have crossed through multiple schengen countries – Portugal to Spain, Germany to Denmark, Germany to Switzerland, Switz to France – but not a single…
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The GSB Kashi Math of Banganga, Mumbai
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The moon was in its 5th waxing phase, in the Indian month of Shravan. The date as per the gregorian calendar was 1st August, 1775. The 7th head of the Kashi Math of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin or GSB community – Shrimath Madhavendra Tirth- sat in meditation and asked his sangha to create a samadhi…
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Vegetarians and the Indian Vegetarian
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In Thailand, too often I found myself explaining to people that I was an Indian vegetarian, meaning that I was highly particular and strict about my food. People would nod their head and the Thai locals were quite possibly co-relating this with the Muslims who are strict about Halal. Though they also know that many…
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Long Term Travel in Thailand for Digital Nomads & Slow Travellers: The Pros & Cons
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In Feb-March 2019, I spent 2 months cycle touring in Thailand. This trip included 12 days of stay in Chiang Mai and 7 days in Bangkok. Apart from this I visited many small and obscure towns on my cycling trip. I gauged the towns for a long term stay (2-3 months) later on as a…
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![A Full Moon Night With the Adiyogi [& Pondering on Bharat’s Lunar Culture]](https://maproute.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/a9d86-img_20181024_052438-01-e1557465954858.webp?w=750)
A Full Moon Night With the Adiyogi [& Pondering on Bharat’s Lunar Culture]
contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience
I had earlier written a post about ways to make your Adiyogi visit really memorable. I love that place. So, you can imagine how excited I would be to spend the entire night out at the Adiyogi! Last year, I was staying at the adjoining Isha Yoga Center during a full moon night, the Sharad…
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A 1000 km Cycle Tour in Thailand: Chiang Mai – Bangkok – Trat – Phnom Penh
contact me at inspiritualityblog(@)gmail(.)com for personalized pilgrimage planning for a powerful spiritual experience
January of 2019, I went cycling in Thailand. It was my first time in this country and I was looking forward to see beyond its touristy visage. Cycle touring was sure to provide a deeper and more intimate view of the country. I was eager for long rides. And this was the first time that…
