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Girnar Hill, the semi-final peak, , India
Girnar Hill, the semi-final peak

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machadinha



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Registered: January 2005
Location: yörp
Posts: 10,558
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A view of the final stop on Girnar Hill, taken from the semi-final stop hehe! The mountain is intensely holy to both Hindus and Jains. Studded with temples and priests and saddhus and pilgrims, a 10,000 rock-hewn steps will lead you up to its 1118-meters high summit, giving you plenty of good credit with the gods while you're at it or so it is believed. The rich have themselves carried up by porters in silly-looking baskets (after being unceremoniously weighed in a giant set of scales to determine the price!) but where's the fun in that? Us walkers should leave at the crack of dawn to avoid the blazing heat. The two of us being who we are though we slept in a little late and got the full blast of it There are refreshment stalls along the way but not much more than pepsi and peanuts which get more expensive with every ascent, hey it's all gotta be carried up there right.

When you finally and proudly make it to the summit (with a little temple with very welcoming saddhus), it turns out there's one more vale to take to the very final temple and the real summit, quite a deep plunge and a correspondingly steep climb again as you can see. We decided to forsake Nirvana I'm not ashamed to admit and gave it a miss, heading back on our bone-breaking way what with the steep descent on not that steady feet after all that climbing and sweating. Heck, we survived and I'm sure we've deserved a day or so less in purgatory at least.
· Date: Sun February 6, 2005 · Views: 3747 · Filesize: 160.2kb · Dimensions: 779 x 608 ·
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Keywords: girnar hill junagadh gujarat
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crvlvr

Guru

Registered: September 2004
Location: Hollywood
Posts: 4,474
Thu February 17, 2005 8:30pm Rating: 7 

How the heck did they build a temple on top of that peak?
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machadinha

Not Your Guru Member

Registered: January 2005
Location: yörp
Posts: 10,558
Sun February 20, 2005 2:56pm

Lots of patience, several centuries and cheap labor I guess.

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Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links
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bijapuri

laid traps for troubadours

Registered: August 2003
Location: Priustan
Posts: 2,598
Sun February 20, 2005 6:11pm Rating: 10 



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bijapuri

laid traps for troubadours

Registered: August 2003
Location: Priustan
Posts: 2,598
Sun February 20, 2005 6:13pm

wonderful place, tho it nearly killed me, and I was not yet 40!!! I got up and down it by chanting a name of god for each step. Some of the names weren't very flattering, I fear At the top was a wonderful li'l sadhu looking type old man, with a look of divine peace on his face- right outa central casting. We shared my binocs, and I have to admit, it was a wonderful moment up there. Best of all, it made Palitana seem like a cakewalk a few days later, hahaha!!!!

As I sit here, with my knees aching like they're scraping tarmac, I look at that JPEG and know that it was all worth it. I might be in arthritic hell now, but enjoyed getting there!

------------------------------
Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.
Barack Obama

lookit me!!!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bijapuri/

Utube fuzzy logic:
http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=bijapuri&p =r
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machadinha

Not Your Guru Member

Registered: January 2005
Location: yörp
Posts: 10,558
Mon February 21, 2005 7:55pm

nb To give you an idea of the buidling process, the steps alone are said to have been built between 1889 and 1901 (!) from the proceeds of a lottery.

I have no real data on the temples themselves regretfully; some of the Jain temples on the way up are 12th-century.

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Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links
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biotep

Member

Registered: July 2002
Location: Hungary
Posts: 2
Fri January 19, 2007 7:56pm Rating: 10 

nice shot, considering your effort going up it's worth the 10 points!
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InjaMaven

Member

Registered: May 2007
Location: Lincoln, USA
Posts: 3
Wed May 16, 2007 12:01pm Rating: 10 

Do you happen to know its name ? after which Tirthankara ?
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machadinha

Not Your Guru Member

Registered: January 2005
Location: yörp
Posts: 10,558
Wed May 16, 2007 1:02pm

Nope, sorry. I'm not even sure if this particular temple is Jain.

Haha, according to Wikipedia btw

Quote:
Every year, a race is held, running from the base of the mountain to the peak and back. The locals in nearby Junagadh insist that the fastest-ever time was 42.36 minutes, which strikes those who have taken 5-8 hours to climb the mountain as distinctly improbable.
Ah look: http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.ne...t/Junagadh.htm

Quote:
Mount Girnar

Girnar Mountain is about 1100m (3630 ft) high and is an extinct volcano. It is said that Mount Girnar was once a flying mountain. It is 4km east of Junagadh and is the main tourist attraction in the area.

On the plateau about 180m (600 ft) from the top of the hill, is a group of beautifully carved Jain temples built between 1128 and 1500. Neminath, the 22nd tirthankara, is said to have died on Mount Girnar after living here for 700 years. There is a special marble temple dedicated to him here, and a black marble statue of him. The Mallinath Temple (1177) is impressive.

On top of the hill is a small Vishnu temple dedicated to Dattatreya. There is also a temple dedicated to the goddess Amba Mata dating back to the 12th century. It is said that a visit to this temple guarantees a happy marriage. There are good views from the top of the mountain.

The steps go down and up again to Gorakhnath Peak at 1100m (3666 ft), where there are footprints of the rishi Gorakhnath. There is another peak where there are footprints of Neminath. Further on is a goddess Kalika shrine.
So these would be the Vishnu & Amba Mata temples if this is correct,* I seem to remember something about marriage auspiciousness.

* Err correction, that's where the pic would have been taken. The view should then be of said Gorakhnath peak, perhaps with that Kali shrine. Had I known I might have pressed on

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Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links
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vir

Indori

Registered: April 2005
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 239
Mon April 28, 2008 10:40pm Rating: 10 

Its the place from where Neminath Tirthankar attained Nirvana. Neminath was Krisna's cousin.
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snonymous

Maha Guru Member

Registered: February 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 765
Sun June 15, 2008 11:29am Rating: 10 

Nice photo.

Ive never been there or even heard of it, but the mountains look a lot like some of the craggy peaks visible from atop Matheran near Mumbai.

Incidentally, almost every Indian peak, mountain or hill top has some kind of temple on top, be it ornate or just in the form of a flag, or in some cases, just a smear of vermilion & turmeric on a suitably placed rock or stone on or near the summit.
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