Kille Pardi in Pardi near Valsad in Gujarat (India)

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

After exploring the Parnera Fort in Atul, we headed down the stairs to reach the base. From there we boarded a shared rickshaw to the Mumbai Ahmedabad Highway. The rickshaw driver agreed to take us to Kille Pardi in Pardi a couple of KM's away at a cost of Rs.80 for two. 

Fortification at Kille Pardi in Pardi

The moment we exited the highway, we entered the small and crowded town of Pardi. Looks like everyone from this town had taken the road, which made travelling on the road a difficult task. The rickshaw driver managed to dodge the traffic on the narrow and winding roads and finally alighted us at the entrance of Kille Pardi. 

Kille Pardi in Pardi

Outside the fort premises is a small bust of Shivaji Maharaj, with a write up in Gujarati. There is also a Post Office outside the fort premises. Another landmark to reach the fort. 

Post Office outside Kille Pardi in Pardi

Statue of Shivaji at Kille Pardi in Pardi

The fort is in ruins and is not occupied at all. Most of the structures on the fort premises are in ruins. 

A couple of houses had the no. 1745 and 1910 atop them, so not sure if the structures were built in that year or if it is just a number given to the structure. Dogs have made themselves a home in a couple of structures. So the moment we walked in they started barking at us. Oops, looks like we trespassed in their homes without their permission. 

Fortification at Kille Pardi in Pardi

Structures at Kille Pardi in Pardi

There is a lot of wild vegetation growing in the fort premises. There is also a bastion with a cylindrical pillar made of stone in its premises. Not sure about the significance of the stone pillar. Have been to forts in plenty, but haven't seen anything like this one.
There are a couple of house like structures in the fort premises. Again they are like ghost houses.

Ruins at Kille Pardi in Pardi

There is also a Dargah here.It is in use and prayers are offered. I am not sure of its name, but if you can read Gujarati then do post it in the comments. 

Structure at Kille Pardi in Pardi

The couple of walls are still standing in the fort premises. Some of them are still standing thanks to the support of the Banyan Tree.
We also saw a snake roaming freely in the fort premises. Fathima was stunned when she saw the snake. We didn't harm the snake nor did it harm us in any way.

Fathima and Me, at one of the bastions at Kille Pardi in Pardi

There is another way to enter the fort premises from the other side. There are a couple of bastions too, again due to thick vegetation we couldn't visit certain parts of the fort. The ASI should take this fort under its belt and work towards the renovation of the fort to be accessible to the public. 

Structures at Kille Pardi in Pardi

I was happy to see that there was no graffiti on the fort walls. Thank God, idiotic people have no visited this fort premises. 

Structures at Kille Pardi in Pardi

No food or water is available in the fort premises, the fort can be explored in 30 minutes. As the Pardi town is close by we can easily get refreshments there. 

Structures at Kille Pardi in Pardi

Pardi Rail station is close by, again only passenger trains stop at this station. One can reach the Rail Station and then board a rickshaw or walk it out to the fort premises. 

Structures at Kille Pardi in Pardi

Dargah at Kille Pardi in Pardi

We then had refreshments and headed over to the last fort on our itinerary. The Bagwada fort aka Arjungad located in Bagwada.

Durgadi Fort in Kalyan

Monday, January 26, 2015

Just a day in advance, we decided to visit the Durgadi Fort in Kalyan.

Medu Vada at a local eatery

Masala Dosa at a local eatery

 Shilpa who had accompanied me to Ankai and Tankai forts   joined me in exploring Durgadi Fort.   

We decided on Thane station on the Central Line as our meeting point. Reason being, I stay on the Western Line and she stays on the Harbour Line. 

Statue of Shivaji

We met at 10:45 AM at Thane station and then boarded a Badlapur bound train at 10:48 AM to alight at Kalyan station at 11:07 AM.  

Now Kalyan is a busy station like Dadar because of two reasons.  All the outstation trains stop here and secondly it connects the Karjat and Kasara line on Central Railway. 

Entrance to Durgadi Fort

We had breakfast in the form of Medu Wada and Masala Dosa at one of the eateries outside the station and then asked for instructions to visit the Durgadi Fort. The hotel owner gave detailed instructions. He informed us to board a rickshaw or State Transport bus to take us to Lal Chowki. The fort is located at a walkable distance from here. Alternatively one can also walk to this fort, it is hardly 30 minutes away. Check google maps for more 

information.

Bastion and Temple on fort premises

 The roads were packed with people and vehicles. Share rickshaw are also available. Not sure about the cost per head. We inquired with a rickshaw driver and he took us to Lal Chowki at a cost of Rs.50. Alternatively the bus fare is Rs.12 for two. But the bus seats are usually dirty. Now the question you have in your head is, How do we know? because on our way back we were travelled by bus as we couldn't get a rickshaw.

View of Ulhas River from Durgadi Fort bastion

A statue of Shivaji is located very near to the fort. 

The fort is located near Ulhas River. But by the looks of it, it appeared more like a creek to me than a river.

The fort is extremely small in size. The fort takes a minute or two to see. Some portions of the fort are still old while others are renovated.

Dargah and Durgadi Temple on Durgadi Fort

The fort houses a Temple (Durgadi Temple) and a Dargah. Though by the looks of the it, the Dargah appears to be very old. Maybe the Temple was renovated.  

Outside the fort premises there was a Police Bus and the policemen were posted over there. I was curious to know, why?

Dargah

I spoke to one of the policeman on duty there, he advised me not to take photos of the Dargah. I asked him why so much police protection, to which he pointed out to the Temple and the Dargah. Sometimes signs speak louder than words. I didn't click too many photos here, but we did sit in the shade of the ashoka trees, as confirmed to me by Shilpa, I was under the impression it was a mango tree. It offered handsome shade from the sun and also the cool breeze. 

Durgadi Fort

Felt at peace here, though we were very near to the busy roads, the sound of the honking of the motor vehicles was replaced by the chirping sounds of the birds. It was soothing to our ears.

Directions

History states that Shivaji had built this fort near the Ulhas river,which looks more like a creek to dock ships. We did see a couple of ships docked here. Wealth was found during the excavation of the fort, the fort was named Durgadi after Goddess Durga. The fort has changed hands many a times after it was built Shivaji.   

We then decided to head back to Kalyan station to head back home as I had to visit Kohoj fort the next day.  

Jaora, Sujapur

Thursday, July 24, 2014

The first place we went to this village called Sujapur.

Mohsin had made arrangements for us to travel by a Rickshaw to Sujapur. It is a few km away from Hussein Tekri. Why Sujapur, there is a small Dargah atop a hill. The Dulha Dawal Shah Dargah.

We exited the highway on the small village road leading to Sujapur. We were greeted with lush green fields, mango trees, windmills and to top it cool winds in the afternoon. Windmills, not one, not two but beyond count. A small road leads to the base village of the Dargah in Sujapur. Though the road is made of tar it is still uneven.

The village is very scenic. A cluster of houses make up the village. Farming is the main profession here. The village has both Muslim and Hindu communities staying together. National Integration, I am loving it. You will be eager t know, how I know this, there is a temple and Dargah in its premises.

A series of steps leads to the hilltop which offers mind blowing view of the place. Climbing the steps will test your knees to the core. But if you have knee issues, you need not worry as uneven tar road will take you to the top.

The hilltop offers a beautiful 360 degree view of the place. The cluster of houses in the villages, the windmills and the lake make a beautiful scene. This bought a smile across my face. This is one of the reasons why I came on this trip.

Mohsin and his family offered prayers in the Dargah, while my friend accompanied me on my photo session. My friend the Panasonic TZ11.

I walked to one of the windmills and got amazing photos of the sun light breaking through the clouds. Not sure what the energy is used for.

I sat under the shade of the tree, thinking how people lead a life here. I don’t mind staying in a village. It will for sure heal me from the mobile phone illness cut me off social media sites.  Though the life they lead is difficult as compared to us urbanites. But that doesn’t stop them. They have been living it and will continue to live it.  

There is a school in the village, so the children are going to school to study which is a good sign. Literacy rate is going up; again that brings a smile across my face.

Sometimes we should keep mother earth the way it is. It serves a refreshing break to us urbanites.  Even in the city of Mumbai we have hillocks which are either demolished or soon to be demolished to make way for skyscrapers.  But most of them go unoccupied as the people have no buying capacity. Then what’s the use of erasing the hillock. Man’s Greed knows no boundaries.

Soon Mohsin’s prayer meeting was over and we then decided to head back. Again Mohsin’s brothers and I came down the stairs while the others came down the road.

On the way we did a detour to refresh ourselves in the waters. We shared the waters with a herd of buffaloes and also bikers who were washing their bikes here.

In a distance on the hill where the windmills are located I could see something in white, when I zoomed in with my camera, I saw that it was a herd of cattle grazing on the green pastures there.

Wasim, Satish and Nadeem, had a good time in the water, by the time they were out they were totally wet. So we made them sit together isolating them from us, else we would all be wet.

Soon we were on the Highway again. 

Jaora, Bhora Mangra

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Next stop was a farming village i.e Bhora Mangra. To reach it we had to move off the state highway. The tar road was replaced by a muddy patch. It took us to the Dargah. The dargah is located near the farms and the small hills near it. 

The time was 5 PM on my watch and I was hoping to get a good view of the sunset from here.

This place is again beautiful like Sujapur. Greenery as far as my eye could see.  Again a few windmills up on the hills.

A farmer was ploughing his fields with his HMT tractor. The tractor was made in 1985. I told Mohsin that he and the tractor are of the same age.

The best part is that though the tractor is 28 years old, it is still in working condition. The farmer told me that his father used to plough with it and now he does and soon will his son.

There is just one house located near the Dargah; it was the house of the farmer. There are two trees with twisted barks. Mohsin told me that when the Deity was angered he vented it out on the trees and they are twisted.

I don’t mind staying here and living a simple life. Change my profession to farming. Eat fresh produce from the farm, drink cow milk and live a healthy life. No wonder the villagers are much healthier than us, living in the cities.

As we were about to leave it was almost dusk and I managed to get some beautiful sunset photos. 

Jaora, Dargah in the City of Jaora

Thursday, July 10, 2014

We took the services of a Tum Tum driven by Shah Rukh to explore the city. We came across this structure made of red stone with fortification around it.

One look at the structure and it gives, a eerry feeling.

It was old and unmaintained and so had creepers growing all around it. It had a huge wooden door which was locked. A small chor darwaza lets one inside it. The windows of it were beautifully carved. The architecture reminded me of the forts in Rajasthan.

There is a dargah in its premises.

We sat in its premises for a couple of minutes. I felt nice sitting here. The sound of the birds chirping, the sound of the leaves swaying in the wind was music to my ears. A few squirrel in the premises kept moving freely though we humans were next to it. They had no fear at all.

Shahrukh didn’t let me go to the top storey stating that the Jinns exist there. So I stayed put.

To which Mohsin corrected him that there are no Jinns, but as there is a heavy growth of trees there are snakes. Now I don’t know which of them is true, but I still stayed put.

Panchakki in Aurangabad

Friday, May 2, 2014

Our auto rickshaw driver told us about this place named Panchakki. He told us that it is a water mill. The water which flows here comes from a hill that is located around 11 km away from here.

We were surprised to hear what he told us. He took us to Panchakki so that we believe what he said.

Description of Panchakki

Again our rickshaw passed through narrow lanes and suddenly it stopped. He pointed out to the left stating that the white structure is Panchakki. We need to take ourselves a ticket at a cost of Rs.5 to enter.

The premises are painted white in color. I guess most of the premises in Aurangabad are painted white in color.

Panchakki

Outside the structure there is a diagrammatic representation of how the Panchakki used to function.

Panchakki which is located in Aurangabad displays Medieval Indian Architecture. It used to get water from a place in the mountains.

I could spot a Dargah named Baba Shah Musafir, a garden, and a mosque in the premises of Panchakki.

Baba Shah Musafir Dargah 

I sate below a tree and viewed the marvel created centuries ago. Somehow I believe that our ancestors were far more superior to us in all fields. They managed with the little they had and made marvelous structures.

Hats off to this place.

Haji Ali Dargah

Friday, January 20, 2012

Haji Ali Dargah can be reached either on foot or by a vehicle as it is very close to Mahalaxmi Railway Station.

Boarding a BEST bus, I alighted at the Haji Ali junction. This place is always the site of a traffic jam. The landmark to look out for here is the Haji Ali juice centre. Next to this juice centre, there is a path which takes you to the dargah. For that matter, the dargah itself is a landmark.

Haji Ali Dargah from a Distance

 On the way to the dargah you will see a number of stalls selling offerings to be offered at the dargah. The stretch can be covered in 15 minutes.

Entrance to the Dargah

 The Haji Ali Dargah was constructed in 1431 in memory of Sayyed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, who gave up his possessions before going on a pilgramage to Mecca. He later settled in Mumbai. Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari had a recurring and disturbing dream that he had committed an offence against the earth. Disturbed by the dream, he fell ill and directed his followers to cast his coffin into the Arabian Sea, on his death. When his followers did as he directed, they noticed that tThe coffin carrying his body floated on the shores and got stuck on the rocks. It was at this place that the dargah was constructed.

Dargah

 The dargah features Islamic architecture. It occupies an area of 4,500 sq ft. The tomb in the mosque is covered by a red and green chaddar. There are separate praying rooms for gents and ladies here.

Beautifully Carved Minaret

 People of all faiths visit this shrine in large numbers. I found some musicians playing devotional songs in the dargah premises. The dargah is reconstructed part by part so that it does not hamper the people visiting the dargah.

Devotional Singers in the premises

 The reconstruction is being done in two phases. The first phase involves the reconstruction of the mosque and minarets; the second phase involves the sanitarium building.

Old and New Minaret

On a rainy day when there is a high tide, the entire stretch of land leading to the dargah is submerged under water, making it an island. People are restricted from entering the premises at such times.

As the dargah is located in the middle of the sea, it provides a panoramic view of the city.