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.
After crossing the pedestrian bridge over Daman Ganga, I landed up in Moti Daman. Again the entrance is via a small cutout in the walls. Mind it. This is not an entrance to the Fort, but was made recently by some people who cut into the walls of the fort.
As I was entering, school children were exiting the fort via this entrance cum exit. I guess these children were staying at Nani Daman, as the bridge connects the two with each other.
Fortification of Moti Daman from the bridge over River Damanganga
The fort of Moti Daman is bigger than the one at Nani Daman as it is home to various government offices, homes and schools. The walls of both forts appeared to be constructed in a similar manner. I guess both were built around 400 years ago.
Again this is a huge fort and it is best to climb up the walls of the fort to get a good view of the sea, Nani Daman and the structure inside the Fort.
Hole in the wall, used by school children as entry to the Fort
Some parts of the fort have been spoilt by graffiti. Even so, it is good to see that most of the walls are as good as new even though they are 400 years old.
There is a lot of greenery inside this fort. Steps have been taken by the government of Daman to beautify the fort premises.
There are a number of cannons on this fort. The mouth of each of these cannons has an engraving of a crest and a year. I have been too many forts and seen a number of cannons, but never have I seen a cannon with the crest and year of manufacture inscribed on it.
Fortification with huge trees on it
A few ruins of broken down houses still exist on the fort walls. I wondered what they must have been like in their heydays.
There are two lighthouses on the Fort. The old and the new. Civilians are not granted entry to the New Lighthouse, but the Old Lighthouse can be easily viewed. No one is allowed to walk on the walls near the lighthouse for security reasons. A locked gate stops us from entering its premises.
Cannon with royal emblem and year of manufacture, i guess
The Old Lighthouse was, I guess, built during the Portuguese reign. Painted white, it has a spiral staircase in it. The lighthouse is around one storey tall. The lighthouse has an inscription on it stating when and by whom it was built. But the information is rather unclear. The lighthouse offers a very good view of the sea. Of course, the New Lighthouse would have afforded a better view, but we civilians are not allowed there. L
Around the fort premises are many roofless structures standing with wild grass growing around. Due to forest fires this grass has been burned down but the ruins of these walls still stand. How I wish I had a time machine to go back in history to view the splendor of this fort back then!
Light House, New and Old
The house of Portuguese Poet Bocage is very close to the Main Entrance of the Fort via the sea. A marble tombstone has been erected above the door of the small structure denoting that Bocage used to reside here. His house is very small. The government should have worked on renovating his house so that people could see it from the inside. But instead it lies there locked. The window panes of his house are broken. Neglected.
The wall next to the main entrance to the fort has “Rua Martin Afonso” inscribed on it. And on the wooden door, painted beige with rusted metal on it, I saw “ESTA PORTAF OIFEITA AOS 8 DE AGO TODI.” It was Portuguese, but it seemed like Greek and Latin to me. Totally incomprehensible.
House of Bocage
Fortunately, there is some boasting I can do. Rua is Portuguese for road. No doubt the road was named after some important Portuguese official.
The Fort of Moti Daman houses the Court of Civil Registrar, The Secretariat, GHSS Moti Daman, Excise Forest, Collectorate, Government House, the local hospital, the houses of the locals, schools and other ruins. It also houses the Cathedral of Bom Jesus, the Chapel of Our Lady of Rosary and the Dominican Monastary in the Fort premises and the Church of Our Lady of Remedies and the Church of Our Lady of Agustias on the outskirts of the fort.
Underground tunnel near the entrance of the fort
Some parts of the fort are under renovation. Looks like the Daman Municipal Council has taken the initiative to take care of its rich heritage. I noticed that there are two underground tunnels on the fort. As I had no torch with me, I thought that it would be more sensible not to visit them. Someday I will be back to view the tunnels. It would be interesting to see where they lead. A hidden cave with a treasure trove lying undisturbed for centuries or a hidden entrance to some place. Or maybe a dead-end.
The other entrance to the fort near the Post Office leads to Moti Daman outside the fort. There is an inscription in Portuguese placed on the Entrance. Above it is a statue with an emblem alongside. Higher above this is a Cross, indicating that this is a Portuguese Fort.
It took me around 5 hours to see the Moti Daman Fort in its entirety. The place is certainly worth a visit and is worth exploring, particularly if you like walking.
A visit to the forts at Alibag had been on my agenda for a long time. But somehow, something or the other kept coming in the way, and my visit to this sleepy beach town kept getting put off.
So then I finally sat down to do some research on the Internet and, armed with whatever information I could gather, made plans to go to Alibag. Nimish and Darshan, who had accompanied me on my visit to Lohagad Fort and BhajeCaves earlier, and Niket and Piyush, both first-time trekkers, agreed to accompany me on my visit to these forts.
Boat to Undheri and Khanderi fort from Thal
We boarded the first ferry of the day, the ferry from The Gateway of India to Mandwa. These ferries ply at regular intervals during the day.
Alibag can be reached both by road and water. Travelling by sea is faster and cheaper. The price of a one-way ticket is Rs 65 (inclusive of the ferry service from Gateway to Mandwa and the bus service from Mandwa to Alibag). By road Alibag is 35 km away from Mumbai and with the rising price of fuel, it’s an expensive way to travel.
It took us around 1½ hrs to reach Mandwa jetty. From there we boarded a bus to Alibag. After around 30 minutes, we reached Alibag where we had a few refreshments. Our plan was to visit Khanderi and Undheri forts which are located in Thal, 7 km away from Alibag.
Khanderi Fort
Alibag is home to many beautiful beaches and forts; the town was developed by Kanhoji Angre, a Maratha warrior, in the 17th century.
We boarded a tum tum. The best part about the tum tum is that you need to pay Rs 10 per seat regardless of the distance. Readers, please do not go for a private tum tum because they are very expensive. When we approached a private tum tum, he quoted a fare of Rs 500. Instead of going for a private tum tum, it is better to share a tum tum.
We decided to carry with us beer bottles from a local wine shop. Surely it would be a good idea to have chilled beer at one of the sea forts.
Fortification of Khanderi Fort
We got in touch with a person named Ashwin who had made arrangements for a boat to take us around as Khanderi and Undheri are sea forts. Ashwin's contact details are easily available online on a few sites providing information on Alibag. Please make sure that you negotiate the rates well in advance with him because the rates rise as the day of the trek nears. We had negotiated for Rs 1100 to take us to Khanderi and Undheri Forts.
It is also advisable to go as a group to see these forts as the cost of the boat trip is more than Rs 1000 plus. The more is indeed the merrier in this case as you can divide the cost of the trip.
Cannons on the fort
By the time we reached the boat, our beer bottles had grown warm. We should have known chilled beer wouldn’t stay chilled. But there was nothing to do but have warm beer.
We didn’t come across any hotels here. So do carry food and water. We carried ours.
We boarded the boat at Thal. This is a quiet fishing village with a very silent life.
Thal does not look like a fort today. Maybe at some point in the past it must have looked like one. The fishing village is based here and the fisherfolk lay out their fish to dry on the small walls of the fort. No boundaries can be located on this fort as it is inhabited by the local people. There is not much to see here.
Light House on the Fort
At Thal, we could see Undheri Fort and Khanderi Fort in the distance. So we set out to see these forts in the motor boat provided by Ashwin.
It took us around 30 minutes to reach Khanderi fort. On the way we passed Undheri Fort but we could not land there as there was no jetty on the fort. It was literally a sea view of a different kind for us. Undheri Fort is small as compared to Khanderi Fort. Though in ruins, the walls of the fort are in very good condition.
Khanderi Fort has a jetty where we landed. The walls of this fort have been defaced by the kind of losers who should be locked up and never allowed within 100 metres of any heritage site. Some people don’t have sense. They just know how to dirty nature around them.
Helipad on the fort
There are a lot of interesting things to see on this fort. For instance, there is a temple with a huge white heart shaped stone; this temple was built sometime in the 17th century. Till date prayers are offered at this temple. We saw a lamp burning inside its premises.
The best way to see the fort is by walking along the walls. There are two water tanks on this fort and a lighthouse. One of the water tanks is very close to the sea at a distance of hardly 20 feet, and yet it supplies fresh drinking water to the caretakers of the lighthouse. I pondered over how the water could be so sweet despite being surrounded by salt water.
The cannons on this fort had my attention. This was the first time in my trekking history that I had seen a complete cannon mounted on wheels.
Stone which makes a bell sound
What a sight it presented! Even though it was quite rusted, it still commanded awe. I shot a few pictures there.
We then decided to go see the lighthouse situated on the topmost part of the island.
Although this fort was built by Shivaji in the 17th century, the lighthouse was built by the British in 1852 after they conquered the fort. It was thrown open to the sea in 1853. I had a small chat with the caretaker of the lighthouse. His name was Nitin Pawar and he gave me a lot of valuable information.
Undheri Fort
The lighthouse, he said, stands 48 feet tall and provides signals to the distant ships in the sea. The entire mechanism of the lighthouse was imported from Germany. The old mechanism was later replaced by the modern mechanism around two years ago.
The lighthouse functions at a speed of 3 RPM (revolutions per minute) and the light is thrown all around at a radius of 40 km. If you are on a ship 40 km away, you will see the light blinking.
We began a slow tour of the lighthouse. The caretaker told us that if we were to walk down a little, we would find a huge stone with metallic properties. We decided to go and see this amazing stone.
Entrance to Undheri Fort
The caretaker also pointed out a small pad on one of the bastions of the fort. It was a landing point for helicopters, he said. The Navy, Army and Airforce personnel often paid them a visit and when they did, they parked their helicopters there.
We all took turns throwing small pebbles at the huge stone that the caretaker had told us about. It gave us a childish thrill to hear it ring out loud like a bell. What a great way to intimate the inmates of the fort about the approach of an enemy! Truly amazing.
After that, we decided to head back to Thal. This time we were able to see Undheri Fort a little closer.
Fortification of Undheri Fort
By the time we reached Thal, it was already 2.30 in the afternoon. We figured that it was better to head home. We boarded a ferry to Mumbai.
Khanderi and Undheri Fort in a distance from Thal
On the ferry Darshan, Nimish and Niket started feeding the seagulls that were following us. Believe me, these birds can do anything for food. After having their full, they stopped following us. I don’t know if that was because they had had their fill or if it was because they did not want to step into unknown territory.
Finally onshore at The Gateway of India, we clicked a few pictures and called it a day. Other sea forts I have visited are Murud Janjira, Arnala Fort and Sindhudurg in Malvan.
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 wasdesigned 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 atPatil 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.
Maharashtra is home to a number of beautiful places. One such place is Ganpatipule, located in Ratnagiri district.
My family reached Ganpatipule at 4 in the evening. We had snacks at MTDC Resorts - Narang Hotel and then decided to hit the beach. One good thing about MTDC Resorts is that all the cottages give you a great view of the sea. That evening we spent the day at the beach.
That night We enjoyed dinner at Abhishek Resort at Bhandarpule which is an upcoming place. The authorities are constructing a highway around here which will connect Ganpatipule to Ratnagiri city and save both time and gas.
The ambience at Abhishek Resort was quite nice but since it was far away from the main city of Ganpatipule, there was no one there to have dinner except for the people staying in the resort. We had dinner and headed back to our resort.
Beach at Ganpatipule
DAY 2: We decided to go and see Jaigad Fort. The fort was around 40 km from the MTDC Resort. It took us two hours to reach it. Although the entire fort is in ruins, the walls of the fort still stand strong. This 17th century fort, perched on a cliff overlooking the confluence of the SangameshwarRiver and the Arabian Sea, offers spectacular views of the village and the sea.
There is a moat which surrounds the fort from the land entrance. Inside the fort there is a temple, a few ruins of houses and a resting place for the soldiers. There were two square shaped wells, around five storeys deep, inside the fort. They had some water in them. I shudder to think of the fate of anyone who would happen to fall into the wells. It would not be easy to get out and help would be miles away.
Darwaja to Jaigad Fort
I was hungry again so we decided to head back to Ganpatipule. We had lunch at Krishnali Resort at Bhandarpule. This place was deserted as it is far from the city. Once again we ate alone.
Krishnali Resort serves the most wonderful fish thalis. The fish slices in my thali were gigantic. It was also served solkadi after lunch. After a heavy meal, We decided to head back to our resort where we rested for some time and then enjoyed the evening at the beach.
DAY 3: Ratnagiri city is around 45 km from Ganpatipule. Here we saw Ratnadurg fort which is around 10 km from the main city. This fort was built by the Bahamani rulers way back in 1350 AD. In 1670 Shivaji conquered the fort from Adilshah, the ruler of Bijapur. The fort traded hands a couple of times and at last landed in the hands of the British.
The fort is 1300 metres long and 100 metres wide. It has steep cliffs on all sides. The fort is rather well maintained. It consists of a temple, a few houses and away in a distance, there is a lighthouse.
Ratnadurg Fort
Another attraction there is the ThebawPalace which was built in 1910-11. The King and Queen of Burma stayed there during their exile. The British let King Thebow build the palace the way he wanted. The palace looked like an Old Portuguese bungalow. The King and the Queen spent a major part of their lives there. A part of the palace has been converted into a museum and old stone sculptures dating back to the 10th century have been kept. It also has the throne of the King and the Queen. The place also includes the tombs of the royal couple.
Thebaw Palace
All that exploration makes a man hungry. I took leave of the palace and went off in search of some place where I could eat. We had lunch at Hotel Vivek. Everything about this place was good. The ambience was soothing and the food was delicious. The place was crowded and there were still more people waiting outside for their turn. After a heavy meal consisting of fish and chicken, We decided to check out the local bazaar at Ratnagiri.
With any luck, I’d be able to lay my hands on the famous Alphonso mangoes, known locally as Hapus mangoes. But it seemed that lots of hard cash, not luck, was what was needed. The prices were exorbitant. We came away without buying any.
On the last day of our trip, I decided to try some of the water sports that the resort had on its own premises. I had great fun in the speed boat and on the motor scooter.
DAY 4: We left early on Sunday morning to come home. It had indeed been a most exciting and refreshing holiday
