Bankot Fort aka Himmatgad aka Victoria Fort in Ratnagiri district in Masharashtra

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Bankot Fort is located at the mouth of Bankot Creek, where River Savitri (which originated from Mahableshwar) meets the Arabian Sea. Bankot Fort is located in  Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra.  

Chicken Thali at Mandangad

 After having a spicy chicken thali at a local restaurant at Mandangad (market place near the ST bus stand) we decided to go visit the Bankot Fort. Here is a photo of the Chicken Thali. The Veg Thali photo is not available, as it is bad manners looking into other's food plate. LOL. 

The time was now 2:30 PM on my watch. We didn't want to waste any time travelling on the wrong roads so we decided to ask the locals for direction to reach the fort as fast as we can, as we had to board a ferry to cross over to visit Shrivardhan Beach. 

Entrance to Bankot Fort

Again the roads are not in the best condition, so one needs to drive slowly on the narrow roads. The roads offer a wonderful view of the hill ranges around. It took us around an hour's time to reach the Bankot Fort. One can reach by car to the entrance of the fort. So no climbing or trekking is needed here. 

Manohar, Neha and Me near Bankot Fort

The time was around 3:35 PM on my watch now. We decided to explore the fort. The fortification of the fort was intact. This is a very small fort in comparison to the many forts that I have seen. The Main Entrance or Maha Darwaza has two bastions surrounding it apart from other bastions. It also has a chor darwaza. We climbed over the walls of the fort to explore the fort from within and outside. 

Inside Bankot Fort

History doesn't mention as to who built Bankot Fort. But the fort has conquered by many. The latest rulers were the British who had named it Fort Victoria. They had conquered it from The Marathas, who had conquered it from the Portuguese and named it Himmatgad. The Portuguese had conquered it from Adil Shah.  

Fortification of Bankot Fort

Nothing much to see in the inside of the fort. There is a temple and water body. The entire fort can be surveyed in 20 minutes time. This fort might have been built as a watchtower offering a good defensive view of the creek, land and sea around.  

Shinning waters at Bankot

The fort offers a wonderful view of the Bankot Creek. As the sun was shinning, it appeared like the land was covered in a sheet of gold. Good I was wearing googles, else I would have been blinded with the glitter. 

Fortification at Bankot Fort

We then hurried away to the Bankot Jetty to board a ferry to cross the creek, to reach Shrivardhan Beach.  

Directions to Bankot Fort from Mandangad

Mandangad Fort aka Chitradurga Fort in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

I had explored Alibag, Murud Janjira and Malvan on the coast of Maharashtra. But this time I wanted to explore the remaining beaches. We decided to explore Harnai Beach and its surroundings. 

View from atop Mandangad Fort

 After our successful Wai trip, I decided to do a overnight trip at Harnai too. BTW it is around 230 KM away from Mumbai so it is best to stay overnight here. 

I had planned the Light House at Kanak Durga, Fattegad, Goa Fort and Suvarnadurg at Harnai on Day 1 of our trip and Panhalekaji Caves and Unavare hot water springs on Day 2 of our trip on my itinerary. I shared the same with Manohar and Neha, who had accompanied me to Jawahar and Zenith Waterfalls and they agreed to accompany me. Three's Co. it was. 

Ganesh Temple atop Mandangad Fort

How do we travel was the question, Public transport i.e ST bus and Tum Tum or take the car. I was not in favor of taking the car along as Manohar would have to drive all the way, and the journey, was for sure tiresome for him. End of Day I had to give in and we decided to travel by car, when Neha told me that there is not proper transportation to take us to our destination in two days time. 

400 year old cannon atop Mandangad Fort

As decided we meet up at Ghatkopar Railway station on the Eastern Side and boarded the Swift to go to Harnai Beach. Now Harnai Beach is located around 230 KM away from Mumbai. So it would take us around 5 to 6 hours to reach there (taking into consideration breakfast and pullover breaks). 

Like always we switched on the GPS and followed instructions on Google Maps. We usually take the most trodden path not realizing that it can sometimes be the longest one. We exited out of Panvel, moved to Khopoli and then to Mangaon. 

View from atop Mandangad Fort

It is at Mangaon, that the itinerary changed after we was a signboard with distances to Mandangad, Harihareshwar and Shrivardhan. 

Neha told us that there are forts at Mandangad and Bankot, which are nearby. We immediately decided to visit them. As we love visiting forts. 

Artifacts atop Mandangad Fort

Switched of the unreliable GPS and started asking locals for directions to reach Mandangad in Ratnagiri district. ST depot in Mandangad is located in the market area from where buses and tum tum are available to travel around Mandangad.  Irrespective of the signboards we still decided to ask the locals to visit the Mandangad Fort as we didn't want to waste time nor waste fuel driving on wrong roads. 

We soon started climbing over the narrow and curvy roads surrounded with thick vegetation on either side. To reach the top. There is a white gate under lock and key. Car can't go inside but humans can.  

Road leading to Mandangad Fort

History states that Mandangad Fort aka Chitradurga Fort was captured by Shivaji from Adil Shah. 

The hill offers a wonderful view of the other hill ranges around us. The weather was just right, not sunny but breezy so it felt really good standing atop the hillock and seeing the narrow roads leading. to the top of the fort. 

Directions to Mandangad Fort from ST Bus Stand at Mandangad

Greenery was soothing to my eyes. Thanks to the rains that it is green all over. But it hasn't rained here in the last couple of days time. We were hoping rains on this trip :(

There is no fortification remaining on the fort. There is a Ganesh temple, a orange colored cannon which is said to be around 400 years old, two water tanks or ponds, a dilapidated house and a podium atop the fort. It took us around 30 minutes to explore the fort, we then headed off to have some lunch post that we were to explore Bankot Fort.  

Directions from Ghatkopar East to Mandangad ST Bus Stand

Goa - Train to Goa

Thursday, August 21, 2014

I decided just a week in advance that I wanted to visit Goa in the rains.

Now as you all know that I don't travel alone, so I decided to ask my friends as to who can join me on such a short notice.

Finally Namrata who had accompanied me to Aurangabad, managed to get herself leaves to join me.

We booked the tickets six days in advance, though we were confident that we won't get tickets. 

We had two budget travel options, Konkan Railway and Bus.

Our first choice was the Mumbai CST Mangalore Junction Super Fast Express (12133) which departs from CST at 22:10 PM to arrive at Madgaon at 7:10 AM the next morning. We got Wait List tickets 67 and 68. We were confident that these tickets wouldn't get confirmed so we had to look for options. 

Our next choice was Dadar Madgaon Jan Shatabdi (12051). To our surprise tickets were available for this train. We wasted no time in booking the tickets. We booked the tickets on the IRCTC website. We booked a window and a middle seat at the train had chair car seats. The train departs at 5:25 AM from Dadar on the Central Line to reach Madgaon at 14:10 PM.

I boarded the train at Dadar. We had confirmed tickets in coach D7 seats 48 and 49. We didn't get the window seat but we got middle and aisle seats. First thoughts on this coach is, that the seats don't move backwards like in the buses going to Goa, and to top it the seats are very uncomfortable. I couldn't sit on them for for then 2 hours at a stretch. But this train reaches Goa in the shortest possible time. Namrata was to board the train at Thane. 

Kuch pane ke liye kuch khona padta hai. :( 

As it as the peak season the train was packed with passengers who had Wait List tickets too. These people accommodated themselves near the Entry points of the train and outside the Loos. Making life difficult for the commuters to commute between the compartments.   

The view around was truly awesome. Sadly we couldn't click any photos due to our seats. 

But we still managed to get beautiful glimpses all around. The Konkan Railway passes through the Konkan belt of Maharashtra, which is truly beautiful. It had rained here so it was green all around. 

The skies were blue, the rivers green, the hills a combo of green and brown. coconut and mango trees all around and tiny houses among st them. I don't mind living here. Totally disconnected from the city life.

Not sure if the train has a good pantry. But they serve cold drinks and eatables. Cost being above MRP. But hurry, as stocks don't last long. But good quality vada pav is served at Chiplun and Ratnagiri at Rs. 10 each. Do pack food articles to eat on the way along with water supplies.

I like the life in the village, a hard life though, which I find difficult to live. Get up early in the morning around 5 AM which the rooster as the alarm, to do homely chores and then go to the farm. Eat simple but nutritious products of their farm, then come home in the evening. But 8 PM call it a day and head to bed.  

I don't mind having a house near the riverbed. Fishing for food daily, nice na. Hope to do something like it when I retire from work.

This train journey has loads of bridges and tunnels on the way. One of the tunnel took us around 25 minutes to cross. Not sure as to what speed the train was running on. 

The train was delayed b 20 minutes and at 2:30 PM we were at Madgaon station.

The journey was tiring but as I said above Kuch pane ke liye kuch khona padta hai.

Next, we had to look out for a accommodation near Madgaon and I know of a place here, as I had stayed there when I had come for the Carnival in 2012 which happens somewhere in the months of February and March. 

Ganpatipule Roadtrip (Jaigad and Ratnadurg Fort trek)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

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 Sangameshwar River 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 Thebaw Palace 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