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. 

Powai Lake

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Powai Lake is located in Powai, (where else?) and rests between the Renaissance Hotel on one side and the Hiranandani Gardens on the other. The closest railways station is Andheri on the Western line and Kanjurmarg on the Central line.

I had been planning to check out this lake for a long time. Finally I had made it here. Powai Lake is within Mumbai city limits and can be easily accessed by road.

The lake is so beautiful that when you see it in front of you, you will feel that you are out of the city, never mind the traffic jammed road behind you, with the vehicle horns blaring in your ears.

View of Powai Lake

I started to walk along the footpath cum garden which has been created around the lake so that people can enjoy the view of the lake. Most of the work is complete except for a few places along the way, but it is open to the public.

As I started my walking journey along the banks of the lake, I soon came across a machine showing the water level below and a sign warning people not to venture into the waters. I saw 13 of these installed all over the place so that people don’t venture into the lake.

There is another board there stating “Crocodiles inside the lake, do not enter the lake area.”

Another View of Powai Lake

In conversing with a frequent visitor to this place, I learned that a crocodile had been sighted here just a few days ago with its mouth wide open. He added that the crocodiles camouflage themselves well in the surroundings, so it is advisable to always watch out for them and not take any chances whatsoever.

But as the saying goes “Curiosity killed the Cat.” Some ignorant people still venture into the lake in order to catch fish. Apparently, Guppy fish are easily available there.

Is the love to catch fish so strong that people refuse to bother about the water level and the crocodiles inside? A point to ponder upon. I would definitely not do something like this when I know the danger involved in it. But people love to take risks, as the saying goes “Not taking a Risk is the biggest Risk ever.”

Yet Another View of Powai Lake

As I walked on the footpath I saw that the path was made of neatly cut rock stones like the ones they have on the streets of France. The feeling of walking over these stones is amazing.

I saw a few children playing on the mini merry-go-round, swings, and slides. A look of pure, unmitigated joy was evident on their faces. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves. When I was a kid, I don’t recollect going to some garden to play but I used to play in my building compound with my friends and the same joy, I remember, used to be visible on my face.

There are wooden benches put up near the lake so that people can enjoy the view of the lake. I saw this place infested with couples getting cozy by the lake, followed by oldies-goldies and the health conscious who come there for their evening jog.

Crocs in the Water

As I sat on the bench, I could see an amazing view in the water. There were a few bare and a few fully laden coconut trees standing in the water with their roots clearly visible as the water level was low and their reflection in the water made my photos even more realistic. The waves created on the waters lashing on the thick flora growing close to the lake and the flora swaying with the impact made an amazing view.

The reflection of the Renaissance Hotel painted white in the water and the tall skyscrapers in Hiranandani also presented a great sight. The view of the lake at dusk was amazing, followed by the street lights and the building lit up and the reflection of the same in the dark water was quite a sight to see.

Again I am bad at the names of flowers but saw some amazing flowers grown and pruned in the garden next to the lake.

Freestyle Dancers

Next come the birds. I am bad at their names too; the only birds I know are crows, sparrows, pigeons and eagles. To the others I give a pass.

I saw three different kinds of birds here, I have photographed the same so if you know their names, you are welcome to enlighten me.

 Visitors to the lake can usually enjoy a boating service. For a fee, you can drive a boat in the crocodile infested waters. But didn’t see many takers for the same. I saw just 2 boats in the water.

Me

The lake is huge. There are gardens created on the side of the road near Hiranandani Gardens. The side of the lake visible from Renaissance Hotel is closed to non-hotel guests.

It was getting darker, and I saw a flock of birds flying in synchronization, forming a V shape and flying away. Maybe they were heading home as it was going to be dark soon. They were followed by another flock of birds, much smaller than the first. I guess they missed the first flight so the group was smaller.

I later entered the Powai Nisarga Udyan, which is a garden near the lake. It is enclosed but still open to the public. I caught hold of some new flowers there. There was a small hall, where some boys would regularly show up to show each other their dance moves, practice and then have a face off. As I saw them dancing “Step Up” is the movie which came to mind, it is all about dancing, face offs etc. I took their leave as I was not done with the lake.

Reflection Hiranandani in the waters of Powai

There is a musical fountain there open to the public. There are four shows of thirty minutes each. To my bad luck, there was no show that day.

After seeing this lake from the Hiranandani Gardens end, I decided to head back home, I had missed seeing the crocodiles and the musical water show, but nevertheless the journey was fun, as I had had the chance to converse with loads of new people and learned many new things about the place.

But what impressed me the most was that one look at the lake, and you could forget about the busy road right outside, It is truly a beautiful place in which to unwind after a hard day.

Ulsoor Lake

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

This is the one of the biggest lakes in Bangalore and is located very close to MG Road. Built by Kempe Gowda II, it is spread over 50 acres and has 7 islands in it.

An island in Ulsoor Lake

The lake is currently under the control of the Indian Army. It is ideal for boating and is visited by people very frequently.

View of Ulsoor Lake

I visited this Lake in the afternoon, so didn't find anyone boating at that time.

Murud Roadtrip (includes Korlai Fort, Padmadurg Fort, Palace, Murud Janjira Fort and Bhalegaon Caves)

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Work, work and more work, I was stressed out big time. I need a break said my body. So I decided to go on a road trip. Where to go was the question I had to ask myself. Beach or hill station? It was tough to decide because of the soaring temperatures. Finally I made up my mind and decided to go to Murud, a lonely fishing village situated 170 km from Mumbai in Raigad district, Maharashtra, India.

So I packed my bags and decided to go on my road trip. I booked a Chevy Tavera to take me to Murud. Heavy city traffic made it difficult for us to make good progress but, once we were out of Mumbai the journey was smooth.

On the way to Murud, I saw the broken ruins of Korlai fort in the distance. Forts always excite me so I decided to visit this one. The road to Korlai fort was so narrow that only a single vehicle could pass at a time. Somehow we managed to get to Korlai fort. We had to first pass over a narrow tar road with fisher folk houses on either side of the road. As we progressed on, we came across fewer and fewer houses until we saw the sea on the left and the walls of Korlai fort on the right.

In a few minutes we reached Korlai fort. At the entrance of the fort there is a lighthouse which is still working. The guard related to us the history of the lighthouse. The lighthouse at Korlai has a16-m (52 ft) square cylindrical masonry tower with a lantern and gallery attached to the front of a two-story masonry keeper's house. The tower has been painted with black and white horizontal bands while the dome of the lantern has been painted red.

Light House

Light House from Korlai Fort

Korlai Fort is also called El Morro or Castle Curfew. A steep staircase takes you to the entrance of the fort. With temperatures soaring, the climb tests both your physical and mental balance. But my love for exploration and my physical fitness helped me get up in a few minutes.

The view from the top was just amazing. I cannot describe it in words but I will try to do so for the benefit of those who haven’t got the chance to visit this fort. The sunlight had turned the seawater into liquid gold. It took me around an hour to visit the entire fort. Although the fort is in ruins its beauty is still visible. I spoke to a few locals who were doing some renovation work on one of the churches in the fort and they told me that the fort was built by the Portuguese in 1521, and was later conquered by the Marathas in the 17th century. There were plenty of cannons on the fort.

Korlai Fort from Light House

Boats in a distance from Korlai Fort

A few cannons up the fort

Ruins in the Fort

At this point I had to make a return to my beach house at Murud as it was already 3 in the afternoon and hunger had taken its toll on me. So I took a few pictures. They reminded me of the ones which I have on my computer desktop. Now I know such places really exist.

We left the fort for Murud. I reached my beach house at 4 in the evening. I was exhausted but I was also keen to see as much as I could of the place. A quick snack later, I was ready to explore the area around the cottage. Golden Swans Resort where I was staying had beautiful cottages. The lovely sea shore stretched on right in front of our cottage.

Another interesting thing about the resort was that they had six swans all around the place.

Visiting some locals, we learnt that there are two forts and a cave and a palace in Murud . Forts Jangira and Padma durg (Kasa Fort) are both sea forts but the latter is closed to the tourists as it was broken down by a cannon situated at Jangira and is currently under the Customs’ supervision. Padma durg was built by Sambhaji, the son of Shivaji, to enable him to conquer Jangira Fort. It is a small fort in comparison with Jangira Fort.

Padmadurg Fort from Golden Swans Resort

Padmadurg Fort from Murud Janjira Fort

The palace looks quite pretty from the outside. Much as I longed to, I could not explore it as it is privately owned by the Nawab who currently resides in Mumbai. The palace was built in 1885 for administrative purposes.

Palace

My cottage gave me a very good view of Padmadurg fort and the Palace. There is no night life here as it is a fishing village and after 7 in the evening all roads are deserted here. So I stayed inside the resort, had beer and resort food and stared at the star studded sky and forgot all about my stressful life in Mumbai.

DAY 2: Tuesday. I decided to visit the Jangira fort. I trekked off to Murud village. I had to board a ferry in order to visit the fort. I bought the tickets and set off. It turned out to be a sailboat. This was the first time in my life that I had sat in a sailboat. It took us around an hour to reach the fort. The good thing was that it was windy so we got there faster.

Murud Janjira fort from Murud village

The fort is truly amazing, You have to see it to believe it. The sailboat took us to the entrance of the fort. The local boat riders who also gear up as guides showed us around the fort for a small fee.

According to our guide, the fort was built by a Siddhi who came from Ethopia. It was  designed by an Afzal Khan (not the one who had his hand cut off by Shivaji) from Iran. It took the Siddhi 22 years to build this 22-acre fort which has 22 bastions around it. The walls of the fort are still intact. Although the fort is in total ruins on the inside, it still looks amazing. The fort was built using the materials available on the island itself. Nothing was bought in from elsewhere. The fort consists of a three-storey building which is now in ruins, a mosque, the Sheesh Mahal for the use and convenience of the queen, shops, houses and the graves of some of the inhabitants of the fort. It even has a hidden underground route which takes one to the village. The route is now closed by the government.

A strucutre on the fort

A lake on the fort

Bastions

There are two lakes within the fort. In bygone days they used to cater to the drinking needs of the people who used to stay there. Today they are filled with dirt. There is also a school which was closed back in 1971. The fort has three huge cannons on it. Out of these, supposedly the second largest cannon in the world, was used to break the Padma durg fort into three pieces.

The guide told us that the cannons were made of a combination of five metals. The temperature was 45 degrees celcius and we were all perspiring heavily but the cannons felt cool to the touch. We also saw the hidden entrances to the fort called chor darwaza and the soldiers resting rooms. 

One of the three big cannons on the fort

The entrance of the fort was marked with carvings of an elephant face. The same markings were also imprinted on some coins which were used as a kind of countersign for identifying inmates who sought entry into the fort

Carving of Elephant face at the entrance of the fort

Fort from a distance

By this time it was afternoon, and I was hungry. On the way back, I stopped at a place called Patil Khanvils as it boasts of good food (thalis). The food was tasteful and simple. They have fish, vegetable and chicken thalis. The thali which I ate consisted of rice, fried fish, fish curry, chappaties and solkadi. I ate lunch and headed back to the cottage. I spent the rest of the day in the cottage and in the evening had a bath in the sea.

DAY 3: On Wednesday morning I decided to visit the Bhalegaon caves. These Buddhist caves are supposed to be around 2000 years old. I was told that these caves were around 25 km from the cottage. Later I found out that the caves were not in Bhalegaon but were around 10 km away from Bhalegaon in a place called Kodi.

With the help of some locals, I set off to see the caves. They were perched on a hill and the view from there was truly beautiful. I was lucky that the Tavera took us right up to the caves. There was one stupa there and a number of carvings in the caves. But what I liked the most was the head of an elephant which was carved on the entrance of one of the caves. It was beautiful.

Bhalegaon Caves

Sculpture of an Elephant

Sculptures in the Caves

I returned to the cottage late in the afternoon and repeated my previous day’s schedule. Lunch at  Patil Khanvils and the evening at the beach.

In the evening I learned about a bull race on the seashore. I was very keen to watch it. These races are held once a fortnight in order to encourage local sports. But there were more motorbikes on the field then there were bulls. Most of the bulls were white and very well built. I got the impression that they were bred only for the races.

The bull race was truly an unforgettable experience as was all of Murud. I was very sorry to have to leave it and return to Mumbai. I enjoyed this visit to one of Maharashtra’s most beautiful forts. I look forward to coming here again and to making many such trips in the future. 

Ways to Reach: As Murud is 170 km from Mumbai, travel by road is the only way in which one can reach Murud ie via Alibaug or Roha. One can also take a ferry from the Gateway of India to Mandwa, near Alibaug, and then travel about 50 kms by road.

Visit: This fort can be visited throughout the year.