Through my lenses: Harihareshwar

Harihareshwar is a very holy town for Hindus. It is also referred to as Dakshin Kashi (Southern Kashi - Kashi it should be noted is the holiest city for Hindus). It is situated a few hundred kms south of Mumbai and about 20kms from Srivardhan, its sister city. From my perspective more important than the religious significance of this place is the natural beauty that is on display enroute the 'pradakshina' round the temple - which unlike most temples runs round a mountain rather than around the temple itself.

A view of the Harihareshwar beach from the temple

The pradakshina route. The first part is a climb of the mountain, the second part climb down and the third and final part is the walk alongside the sea - this third part is the most dangerous as it is completely submerged during high tide.

Two different views of the coast from top of the pradakshina mountain. The real beauty starts from here

The journey downhill from the top of the hill and the first glimpse of what awaits us down there

Looking back up, we are now back at sea level

Look at what the sea has done to the rocks - its all porus

Closer look at the rock formations - the phots do not do justice to what one sees through the naked eye. The sight is simply overwhelming.

A small cave type formation in the rocks. Water constantly seeps here

This rock structure loosely resembles a camel. My cousin who comes here often tells me that this camel was atleast a couple of feet taller than this a few years back, poor creature it is equiped to deal with lack of water - but not plenty of water here!