Please read part one of the Shivpuri blog post here.

It must be evident from the first blog post that I was glad to have added Shivpuri to my ‘To Be Visited’ list. In this post, I continue from where I left off & also tell you about a lovely, pet – friendly accommodation – Tranquility Farm Stay.

Day 3 – Survaya ki Garhi, Shivpuri District Museum & Sankhya Sagar

& chilling at Tranquility Stay should be the complete heading but we’ll save the story for a little later!

We began our day with Idli Sambar at Tranquility & then headed out for some sightseeing.

Survaya ki Garhi

Located about eight kilometres from our Stay, and off the Shivpuri – Jhansi Road, was the Survaya ki Garhi. It is an ancient fortress which housed a Hindu monastery in the olden days.

We visited on a Monday morning; the ruins were empty of crowds then. After parking our car, we entered via a circuitous route through stone walls. This was followed by a path in between two gardens and having a board that talked about the Garhi.

From what I understood, the monastery & the temples were built first. The monastery also had an ‘overall auspiciousness’ temple on its roof. The fortress was built later, in the 11^th-12^th century, presumably to protect the monastery & the temples.

As per the inscriptions, the monastery was linked to the Shaiva sect. it was originally a two – storeyed building though the upper storey now survives only partially. The Scindias renovated it when they ruled over these parts.

The whole premises are built out of stone.

We moved forward after reading the signboard and came across, what could be called, the monastery entrance. While there was no ticket, we did have to make entries into a register.

From the vantage point of the entrance, we surveyed the ruins before us. In the foreground, gardens; in the background, temples on the left & (what looked like) living quarters on the right.

We made our way to the temples which were three in number. Though all of them have lost their ‘shikhar’ now, they are still sights to behold. The most prominent one was the Shiva Temple.

This ancient Shiva Temple is lovely with its carvings worth seeing. In front of it, broken pieces that were excavated, but which could not be put together, are displayed on the ground, giving the viewer a sense of what architecture existed then.

To the right of the Shiva Temple were a stepwell & an elevated platform, the purpose of which was lost on us. Bougainvillea plants, with their gay flowers, completed the picture perfectness of the Garhi.

We then explored the monastery, climbing also onto its first floor. The stairs are narrow & steep; so caution has to be exercised. The first floor gave a stupefying view of the premises.

The ground floor of the monastery had small, dark rooms around a sunlit courtyard. In my mind, I could visualise monks in the olden days buzzing around, chanting mantras and honing their religious studies.

To be honest, the Survaya ki Garhi needs proper roads leading up to it. A cleanliness drive is required too as the penultimate areas are splashed with cow dung. Even though it’s maintained by the ASI, it can be really puckered up to attract more sightseers, like having guides or more inscriptions.

Shivpuri District Museum

The Shivpuri Museum is THE place to go to if you want to understand the historical significance of Shivpuri. An abundance of exhibits (coins, paintings, sculptures etc.) & a wealth of information on monuments, ruins & temples from centuries made me appreciate how ancient the Shivpuri area actually is! Think Neolithic!!

Yes, so from Neolithic to sixth century temples to Rajput & Maratha eras to as late as the Indian freedom struggle (Tantya Tope’s Memorial is in Shivpuri), I was stunned at the significance of Shivpuri on India’s cultural fabric.

This Museum can give a run to any of the museums in India; that’s the kind of potential it has!

With the humidity making us sweat buckets by now, we decided to head back to our accommodation where lunch awaited us. We couldn’t make the same mistake as the day before!

But on our way back, we took a short photo stop at the Sankhya Sagar.

Sankhya Sagar

Sankhya Sagar, also written as Sakhya Sagar, is a lake in Shivpuri & also a Ramsar site. The Ramsar convention is an intergovernmental treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

The Sagar is an artificial lake as it was created on River Manier in 1918. It is spread across a huge area & maintains the ecological balance of the Madhav National Park. It has a mix of marsh & riverine fishes as well as marsh crocodiles.

One side of the lake is a hill. It looks lovely specially when it reflects the changing sky colors. Though, I must say, its few parts were layered with the invasive water hyacinth. Given how critical it is to the overall biodiversity of the area, I hope the authorities are looking into this.

This ended our Shivpuri sightseeing but not before we had a great time at Tranquillity Farm Stay dipping in the plunge pool and driving a tractor.

Accommodation

Finding an accommodation in Shivpuri proved to be a challenge. The hotels there did not seem up to the mark. Thus, we were extremely glad to have come across Tranquillity Farm Stay.

Tranquillity Farm Stay

A vacation with a dog can be quite challenging in India, still not a pet-friendly country. But at Tranquillity Stay, Fluffy was welcomed even more than us. This turned the vacation into a dream one!

It was quite easy to interact with Colonel Gill who asked us all our requirements to ensure they were well – prepared to host us. Driving down from NCR left us tired but Colonel Gill & Major Gill’s hospitality refreshed us.

We got the two – bedroom unit. It is a cottage wherein, when you enter, you have a small foyer kind of area with bedrooms on either side. The entire cottage was furnished and upholstered in a lovely manner. Our rooms and bathrooms were well – equipped.

In front of the cottage was a big ground which we utilised for our morning teas and to enjoy the weather.

Beyond the ground was a trough which Colonel Gill had converted into a plunge pool. On our last afternoon at the Stay, we dipped our feet in the plunge pool. A couple of us immersed fully! The slightly warm day was made better with the cool water and cold beers.

The cottage (& the hosts’ home) was surrounded by acres of farms. Tranquillity Farm Stay is quite self-sufficient when it comes to food. The taste of everything really shines through. Over our three days there, we scarfed down ambrosial food.

Tranquillity Stay also had a cowshed and tractors. Colonel Gill was kind enough to let us try our hand at driving the tractors. This large farm and its greenery was home to many, many birds; one of which stood out was the Green Pigeon.

There were four dogs at the Stay too – two Bull Mastiffs and two Rampur Hounds. Our dog made friends with the Bull Mastiffs and played extensively with them. The poor Rampur Hounds only got to be chased by Fluffy who didn’t get intimidated by their looks!

But the cherry has to be the warmth of the hosts. While we did not get to interact with Major Gill too much, Colonel Gill gave us great company & regaled us with stories from his service days.

At the time of our departure, Colonel Gill gifted us chickpeas & lemons from his farm. This homestay felt so much like home that we would love to go back and be amidst greenery once again!

Though I would like to rate it 10/ 5, I’ll have to contend with 5/ 5.