Visit to the Ancient Temple of Surpaneshwar Mahadev at the Bank of River Narmada

There are many beautiful sites all along the coast of the River Narmada in the South of Gujarat State in India. Some of these places are located in the most remote and deep corners of the thick forests. It is also slightly difficult to reach such places, as there may not be many public transport facilities around such places. However, the real beauty can be experienced only at such places as it may be more or less virgin and may not be visited by many people. One such place is the temple of Surpaneshwar Mahadev, which is situated on the bank of River Narmada and is only around 5 miles away from the city of Bharuch. One can travel to this ancient historical temple by a boat in the River Narmada from the city of Bharuch or Chandod located in Vadodara district.

The best option to reach this ancient Lord Shiva temple is to travel by a boat from the Mokhdi ghat of River Narmada, which is situated at Bharuch. It takes around two hours by boat to reach to this temple. There are no public transport facilities to reach directly to this temple as this temple of Surpaneshwar Mahadev is inside the thick and dense forest. There is no public population within around ten miles of this famous temple. This is the place where the River Dev meets the River Narmada. This meeting point presents the lovely and picture perfect view to all the tourists visiting this remote place. The temple of Surpaneshwar is located in the North of the River Narmada. There is a small mountain opposite to this temple, on which there is a temple of Lord Ranchodrai. There is a Laxman Shila and the Devshila here at this temple. It is said that Lord Ram's brother Laxman was sitting here on this shila during their stay in the forest. There is a large population of Bhils all around this temple. And hence, is not very safe to travel alone during the night hours. It is also believed that Aswathama, son of Guru Dron in Mahabharata is frequently seen here moving in the near by forests. As per Veda, Aswathama is immortal person due to the curse of Sati Draupadi, the wife of Pandava brothers. Many persons, who have gone in to the thick forests here, claim to have seen him.

The large fair is held here at this temple during the last five days of the Gujarati month Chaitra. Thousands of local Bhil Adivasis come to attend this fair. The traditional dances of Bhils in this fair are really worth seeing. All the people, who travel all around the River Narmada on feet, have to pass through this temple of Surpaneshwar. There are couples of most unique and beautiful outings available within around 5 miles of Surpaneshwar. The Sitawadi and Bhnumati Kund are such places to be visited. These places present the rare beauty within the thick forests. The lovers of virgin beauty would certainly find the beauty of this wild spot highly exhilarating. The stay of around 2/3 days here would recharge the energy level in the body of every individual.

There is no facility of food and dining here. However, the visitors can bring the cooking materials with them and cook the food here using the utensils available here at the temple. There is one dharmashala here that provides the basic staying facilities at nominal rates like Rs.10 (25 cents) per day. However, if you are used to stay luxuriously, this is not the place for you. However, if you are adventure lover and would like to try the rough forest life by staying very close to the nature amongst the thick and dense forests, this is the ideal place for you. It may not be advisable to take the younger children with you to this place. The parrots of this region are extremely famous. They can exactly speak like human beings and even can copy the voice of some known individual. Such Surkhabi parrots can be purchased from here at around Rs.100 ($2.50), and you can keep them as a pet bird with you.

I have visited this unique site seeing place, only once in my life and that too before around 30 years. In spite of it, the sweet memories of this place are very fresh in my mind and I still wish that I should visit Surpaneshwar once again in my lifetime. Can I request all my AC readers to visit this rare place to experience the wild and rough jungle life with only basic facilities to see the nature in its row form?