High on devotion

In this land, some seek god and others seek wine, but every soul finds salvation

Once upon a time, Nashikthrived as an encyclopediaof the exotic and the religious.Travellers throngedthis holy city, on the banks of theriver Godavari, for a holy dip, andwherever you walked, you encounteredeither intricate temples orcolourful bathing ghats. You bumpedinto white travellers who murmured,"Finally, true India" in raptureat the temples soaked inincense, the flower-laden land andthe colourful fruit market justbeyond the ghat.

Finding faith
Perhaps you didn't agree with thissentiment, but you'd have to admitthat exotic or not, there was somethingcompelling about the intensityof life here.

At first glance, Ramkund, thebathing tank where pilgrims gatheredfor a holy dip or an eveningarati, appears to be a place for aseries of rituals on the path to liberation.But the closer you look, themore you admire the sheer faiththat brings an assortment of pilgrimshere.

Shankar, a tourist I meet, tells mehe visits the Kala Ram Temple, eastof Ramkund, every year not justbecause it contains unusual blackstone representations of Rama andSita, but because he believes thathis troubles will be allayed at thetown's holiest shrine. His faithmoves me more than all the signs ofreligion I see all around.

Next up are the rock carved, twothousand-year-old Pandav Lenicaves dating to 1st Century BC,excavated at the peak of Buddhistachievement. Critics frequentlywrite home about Cave 19 and 23,and it's these caves that make the20-minute hike up the mountainworthwhile.

Tours of the vineyard
But to come here only for the religiousand the ancient is like exploringonly the torso of the town andneglecting the face. Now more thanever, Nashik is morphing into a townwhere tradition meets a pulsing newmodernity.

The fertile soil, cool climate andlongstanding abundance of grapesmake it a natural candidate for thewine country it's become. You'll findthe devout sipping a glass of wine ortasting it in a stylish wine bar. You'llfind droves of young people motoringto Nashik to experience the vineyardsand following it up with a visitto the Trimbakeshwar temple. Someare as eager to learn about thisshrine as they are to do a wine-makingtour at the Sula Vineyards.

As you swirl the wine around inyour glass, you overhear snatches ofconversations between ladies discussingthe Italian restaurants thathave sprung up in wake of the flourishingvineyards. After this, theydeclare they are off to check out thewine bar at Château Indage's TigerHill Vineyard Resort and Spa. Theydebate whether they have enoughtime to take in a grape seed massagein a rustic bamboo hut at the spa.

Yet another pilgrimage
Meanwhile, at the bathing ghat,Shankar is wondering weather heshould return to Nashik for theKumbh Mela the largest religiousgathering on earth. Should he gotomorrow to Shirdi, the birthplaceof Sai Baba, or instead visit theGumpha Panchavati where Sitasupposedly hid from Ravana?Debates about which activity topursue whether sacred or profaneor both have for long beenraging on the same side of thebathing ghat.

What started out as a weekendgetaway from Mumbai has became apilgrimage, where different peopleseek different kinds of salvation.

Some come to Nashik to allaytheir troubles in wine, others cometo allay their troubles in prayer asthey light diyas and send them floatingdown the waters of the sacredriver. But both these groups appearto leave singing a happy song.

Sonia is travelling around the worldbrandishing pen and paper when she'snot lecturing at the St Xavier's College

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