Beautiful ride from Panjim to Shri Mangeshi Temple in Goa, India

While in Goa, we planned to drive to Mageshi Temple. More than the final destination, we were more interested in driving about hilly terrains of Goa. So after visiting Se Cathedral, we drove towards Mageshi Temple. This post shares about the drive, road condition, terrain, temple, shopping options and other things to explore on the way or ahead of Mageshi Temple. 

The road which connect Panjim with Se Cathedral goes further towards Mageshi Temple. Temple is 21 kilometers from Panjim.  

This temple is situated in Mangeshi village, Priol where Lata Mageshkar's father was born. This temple is one of the largest and most frequently visited temples in Goa. 

The roads are very well maintained and the terrains are beautiful. This road has some of the beautiful views around it.  

There is a parking area on road side and one needs to walk till temple. It's 400 meters walk from road till temple. Above photograph shows school of Mangesh Village in Goa. In 2011, the temple along with others in the area instituted a dress code on visitors of the temple.

While walking towards the temple, you see these ladies selling freshly plucked flowers from water streams around Mangesh Temple. And they sell them super cheap. We were expecting exorbitant rates but small baskets of flowers were available for 10 rs each. If you want to spend little more, you can get the bigger one at 25 Rs. (This is what we paid in 2013)

As you reach near temple, there is a beautiful water pond in front of the temple compound. When we were there, this water pond was completely enclosed with walls and a locked gate. Not sure, if it's kept like that or opens on some occasions.  

At Mangeshi Temple, rooms are also available although I didn't inquire much if these rooms are also available for tourists. Mostly temples provide rooms for religious ceremonies. 

After entering into the temple, we got to know that temple has some restrictions in terms of what you are wearing. I was in shorts and my wife was wearing a knee length dress. She was told not to go beyond a certain point, whereas I was allowed though her dress was longer than my shorts. After a quick chat, both of us thought of coming back and pay our respect to God from the temple boundary. 

It seems that one can drive further and experience spice plantations and enjoy more serene views, but we didn't have time that day so we headed back to North Goa.