Windmills at Devgad

Saturday, March 8, 2014

From Devgad Beach there is a staircase that leads to the Windmills.

The staircase is a bit tiring but the view from up here, is worth the climb. 

Windmills at Devgad

 This place offers a beautiful view of the sea, the beach, the cliff on the other end of the beach and Devgad Fort and the Lighthouse in its premises.

We could see the light from the lighthouse clearly from here though it was far away in a distance.

The windmills here are not functioning. Many are broken down with blades and motor scattered all over the place.

As the sun was setting we located a few fishing boats in a distance, maybe there were heading back ashore after a hard days catch.

Fishing boats in the Sea

We had bhel while watching the sun go down in the water. The bhel was amazing. 

It was nice to see the sun go down from the cliff and to see the effect of the rays of the sun on the land we then headed off to our hotel calling it a day. 

Devgad Beach

Thursday, March 6, 2014

After exploring a part of Devgad Port we headed off to see the beach. We reached the point from where three roads meet, one heading to Devgad Fort and port, other to the ST bus stand and the third to Devgad Beach.

From this junction it takes 10 minutes to walk to the beach.

In no time we were on the beach. The stretch of the beach is not to long but it was beautiful.

Devgad Beach sandwitched between the windmills located on a cliff on one end and another cliff on the other.

Clean white sands with grey waters lashing against them made it an amazing view. But this view short lived due to the short stretch of the sea.

The beach is sandwiched between the windmills located on a cliff on one end and another cliff on the other.

Now it was 1700 hours in the evening and there was no crowd on this beautiful beach. A few people, wait let me count them, 20 people were on the beach out of which 10 were in the water.

We headed off to see the Windmills located on the cliff.

Devgad Port

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

We headed out of Devgad Fort on the staircase that led us to the Customs House. From here the road goes straight to Devgad Port. 

Fortification around the Devgad Port

 The Devgad Fort was erected by Kanoji Angre in the year 1705. The Fort was built at the confluence of the Devgad creek and the Arabian Sea. The fort is accompanied by a Harbor at the base where once a upon a time big ships used to dock.

Even near the Port the fortification still exists. I guess the Port and the Fort were constructed around the same time. My assumption is based on the stone walls. Thought the port is no longer in existence.

We met an elderly fisherman Chinappa, who has made the jetty his home for a few months. He told us that he has come here from Karnataka to catch fish and to make a living as he has a family of five at home out of which he needs to get two of his daughters married off. I was touched when I heard his story. He offered us coconut to eat. After having the coconut we told him that we plan to explore the port.

Chinappa, who has made the Devgad Port his home

We saw a few cannons here. As it was a port I guess trading was in full swing and so for security reasons the cannons were placed here.

As per the inscriptions on the walls the port was built somewhere in the 17^th century.

Fishing boat in the waters which are made by the confluence of Devgad Creek and Arabian Sea.

He told us that it is not safe for the two of us to hang around alone in the portside. There were many houses here and they looked as if they have been vacated for quite some time now, making them appear like haunted houses. We took his advice and headed off to Devgad Beach.

Devgad Fort

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Hithakshi inquired at the ST bus stand regarding the whereabouts of the Devgad Fort.

At the inquiry counter we were advised that the Fort is at an hour’s distance from here. There are no buses plying there. But rickshaws would land us there in no time, but we would miss out on the beauty around us. We then decided to walk it out to the beach hoping to get some wonderful shots.

The road was narrow with houses located near it. These houses were quite old, I guess around 100 years and above. There was a masala making factory near the road so we decided to check it out. As we were tourists here, everyone around looked at us with a suspicious eye though they were very helpful in guiding us to the Fort. 

Entrance to Devgad Fort.Staircase is from Customs House  in near Devgad Port

It was around 1500 hours and there was not a soul on the road. Guess too many people don’t visit this place or maybe it’s the heat that’s keeping the people away.

This is a fishing village with fishing boats all over the place. Some were on their way back collecting the day’s catch of fish. The view of the boats in the water against the green hills was simply amazing.

The Devgad Fort was erected by Kanoji Angre in the year 1705. The Fort was built at the confluence of the Devgad creek and the Arabian Sea. The fort is accompanied by a Harbor at the base where once a upon a time big ships used to dock.

A staircase near the Customs House Devgad leads us to the entrance of the Fort. Drinking water is available from a tap near the Customs House. 

View of the green waters of the Arabian Sea from walls of Devgad Fort

In no time we were at the entrance of the fort. The walls of the fort were not very high. As the fort was on a cliff they didn’t require high walls I guess. The walls were made of black stone with bordering of white.  The stones were huge and were placed one above the other with no adhesive to lock them.

The fort offered a good view of the sea, that’s the reason a light house has been built here. It offers a good view of Devgad Beach and the Windmills in a distance.

Three bastions that are accessible to public offer a good view of the sea and the area around us.

I noticed that there is no thrash or graffiti on the walls of this fort. This is good. I guess too many people haven’t heard of this place.

In the premises of the fort are temples dedicated to Ganesh and Hanuman. 

View of the Fort from the inside, the light house in the corner and the remains of the houses with stone boundares and dried water cistern

There are stones which I guess were a part of the walls of the houses here which no longer exist.

There is also a well up here which is around 5 to 6 stories deep. And bathing ground which was dried up.

The entire fort can be done by walking on the walls of the fort.

I could not locate single cannon on the fort. Now this is strange as this is a sea fort and the danger of being attacked from the sea is always there and there are no cannons for security. What happened to the cannons, where did they go, where they stolen or did they never exist here were some of the questions running in my head.

One can view the lighthouse, daily between 1600 to 1750 hours. The entry fees are mentioned on a signboard and they are very economical. We were unlucky that day, as the person in charge had not reported and so we couldn’t see the light house.

The part of the fort in the premises of the lighthouse is in accessible to public for security reasons.

After enjoying the beautiful view around and the strong breeze on a sunny afternoon we headed off to see the Devgad Port.

Journey Malvan to Devgad

Friday, February 28, 2014

Devgad was on our list when we set off from Mumbai. So we had made inquiries at the Malvan ST Depot regarding a bus to Devgad.

We were informed by one of the staff, a day before our journey that there is direct bus at 730 hours to Devgad and that it would take around 3 hours for us to reach there.

We then planned to board the bus at 730 hours to take us to Devgad.

The next day we were up at 600 hours. We headed to the beach for a morning walk and then packed our stuff to go to the ST bus stand.

We reached the bus stand at 7:15 hours. Without wasting anytime we decided to ask the Inquiry counter the pickup point of the bus, to which the person at the counter replied “Bus gele, ata dusri bus sade nau la ahai” meaning the 730 hours bus departed and the next bus is at 930 hours.

We checked up on one of the boards with bus timings and it stated a bus at 830 hours. We told the Inquiry desk about the same, to which he replied, “Toh zuna timing ahai” meaning it is the old timing.

Two hours of waiting time just to board a bus to Devgad.

What is more annoying is that the boards had the wrong timing and no one paid any heed to get the timing rectified.  And the next bus was in two hours time. I guess the bus at 730 hours would have been full so they let if off even before we arrived :(

Rickshaws are a very expensive affair here as they don’t charge via the meter and it would cost us more cash and time so we decided to wait for the 930 hours bus. Just hoped that the bus is on time.

Finally at 925 hours the bus arrived at the stop, we immediately boarded the bus and got a place to sit in it. Luckily the bus was less crowded.

We got ourselves a ticket at a cost of Rs. 91 each. For a three hour journey.

The view from the bus was simply amazing.

Plenty of jackfruit and mango farms on the way. Hithakshi wanted to reach out her hand and pluck mangoes and jackfruits. They were that close to us.

This year I guess the harvest is going to be real good.

The roads were very narrow and used to go up and down the terrain in the jungle, giving us different views of the land. Shades of green all around us. The tree sporting different shades of green leaves and the green waters of the lake nearby was amazing. The color green was so soothing to our eyes.

Suddenly the view changed to barren lands as far as my eye could see. In a distance I could see houses made of mud with tiled roofs which were around 100 years old but they looked beautiful in a distance.

The view from the bus, on our way to Devgad was beautiful. As the bus was racing at high speed, I was having a tough time taking photos.

After 3 ½ hours we reached Devgad ST Bus Depot. This was a fun filled rollercoaster ride for us and now we had to find ourselves a place for the night.

There are not many stay options in Devgad. It is not as well developed as Malvan in regards to tourism. But we managed to get a place to rest for the night behind the bus stand.

Pacific Safari charged us Rs. 500 as rent for a twin sharing room (Non AC) and Rs.1000 for a twin sharing room (AC). The rooms weren’t that great, but for travelers who are out exploring the entire day it isn’t going to be much of an issue.

We then set off the explore Devgad Fort in the afternoon.