All things Bharat

  Ganpati is here and you will probably be hearing the infamous aarti Sukakarta Dukhaharta... echoing all around you. Did you know the story behind this aarti? Reproducing a Twitter thread on this. Even many Marathi ppl did not know that this ārati is composed by Samarth Rāmadāsa svāmī Interesting thing is to know when & why he invoked gaNapati in this ārati This was composed by svāmī when Afzal Khan invaded Hindavi swarājya. Fate of Hindus was at stake in that meeting  Sukhkarta Dukhharta Varta Vighnachi || Nurvi Purvi Prem Krupa Jayachi || Sarvangi Sundar Uti Shendurachi || Kanti Jhalke Mal Mukataphalaanchi..|| Jaidev Jaidev Jai Mangal Murti || Darshan Maatre Man: Kaamna Phurti || Ratnakhachit Phara Tujh Gaurikumra || Chandanaachi Uti Kumkumkeshara || Hirejadit Mukut Shobhato Bara || Runjhunati Nupure(2) Charani Ghagriya || Jaidev Jaidev Jai Mangal Murti || Lambodar Pitaambar Phanivarvandana || Saral Sond Vakratunda Trinayana || Das Ramacha Vat Pahe Sadana || Sankati Pav...

Following the Solapur trip, we took the Hutatma Express in the morning from Solapur station to head to Pune. On the way, (on the train that is), we had breakfast of idli, vada with chutney - a plate of 4 idlis and 1 vada cost INR 50.  Day 1 By about 11AM we had reached Pune and the hotel I had booked a room in was just a walking distance from the station (Hotel Shivam). We reached the hotel, freshened up and by about 1PM had our lunch at an Udipi restaurant - I think it was called Shree Krishna Palace.  South Indian Thali cost about 110 per person. Pretty cheap! The thali had rice, dal, matki, sambar, baingan sabji, 3 puris, dahi, pickle as you can see below. The only thing that irritated us was the weather - it is super duper hot plus the fact that most offices/tourist spots are closed from 1PM to 3/4PM every day! So we had to kill time from about 1.30PM till about 4, hence we decided to do some shopping at Hong Kong Lane near Deccan Gymkhana.  We took the bus (try askin...