Korigad

Monday, April 14, 2014

After having breakfast at Ram Ashraya we walked for around 15 minutes to reach Manohar’s car. It was parked a couple of blocks away as the restaurant doesn’t have valet parking.

As it was Saturday there was less traffic on the road and in a matter of 30 minutes we were off Mumbai premises. 

Mumbai Pune Expressway

I had planned to do GPS tracking of my trip. I had downloaded offline Google maps for the same.  But somehow they didn’t get saved on my phone :(

But that didn’t dampen my spirits and we continued on our journey.

Soon we were out of Mumbai, out of Navi Mumbai and on the Mumbai Pune Expressway. 

Curvy roads on the way to Peth Shahapur

It was a bright sunny day outside. Mercury was rising by the minute. Good cars come with Air Conditioners. It helped us keep cool. I can recollect when I was in the 10^th grade, by best friend Pranav, had a Premier Padmini and it had a fan on the dashboard for cooling.

As the glasses were rolled up most of the photos will have the windshield or the glass reflection in the photos.  There were hills all around, and there have to be after all the Expressway was made by demolishing some hills. The view around was scenic, it consisted of hills and valleys. As we were in the summers the hay had turned golden was it was glittering in a distance.

Trees along the way

At around 11 AM again we were greeted with traffic near Market Chowk in Lonavla. Why traffic. Because a political party was preparing for election canvasing. It took around 30 minutes of our time. A traffic cop informed us that we need to take a right here to go to Amby Valley.

The road had turned narrow now but was covered with trees all around. We located a mall in Lonavala too. The mall had McDonald’s and KFC in its food court. I guess it had just been constructed as shops were just filling in.

Don't miss this signboard, the Korigad Fort int he background

The narrow roads passed through local houses, tree farms, farms, hills and valleys and soon we were at the divide. One road goes to Amby Valley and the other goes to Peth Shahapur.

The road to Peth Shahapur was curvy. Curvy roads leading to the top. Some of the curves were sharp. It is advisable to drive slowly and to honk at the sharp curves. There was not much crowd though. But the roads had thick forestation all around.  Soon the thick forestation was replaced with hills and valleys and farms.

Manohar and Me :)

At around 12 noon we reached the base village being Peth Shahapur. Vehicles can’t go till the top of the fort. We had to park the car in an open space near the village. Manohar had got the steering wheel lock for extra protection. It is necessary to keep  these small pointers in mind, after all we were to leave the car here for like 2 to 3 hours time.

As we had just carried water with us, we shopped for biscuits and cold drinks at a local store there. We also inquired for directions; they told us that the way up is very easy. The shop and the kitchen were located next door. Lunch was being prepared, I just loved the smell of it. I didn’t; mind staying back for lunch, had they asked me.  A pai wat behind the wall leads to the top.  I saw the pai wat. Easy? I laughed in my mind.

Stairs all the way up

We started our journey. In a matter of 10 minutes we noticed sign boards on the side of the pai wat which had now turned into a muddy road. The sign boards were giving directions to the fort.

The fort is a.k.a Koraigad, Koarigad or Kumwarigad. It is located 20 Km away from Lonavla. Shivaji Maharaj reigned over this fort. But it was taken over by the British. 

Ganesh Darwaza

Soon we reached the stairs. These were not the ones built then, but were built later so that people could climb up the fort with ease.

There are tall flood light poles around. I guess they provide light in the night.

As there was a staircase the journey up was easy.  In a matter of 30 minutes we were halfway up. A Ganesh Temple and a cave are located here. . There is nothing much to see in the cave. But it offers a good view of the hills around. You will be greeted by Monkeys here.

View from the top, Amby Valley

In 30 minutes time we were near the Ganesh Darwaza. The main entrance to the fort. The journey put had trees around, which offered good shade for resting.

Beware, if you going in the summers, there is no shade atop the fort. It is barren.  The fortification is intact. We decided to walk on it to view the fort in entirety.

Barren soil with ruins

There are a few cut outs in the rock, which I guess used to be caves in those times.

The fort has a few cannons scattered all over the place and a few temples too, one of them being the Korlaidevi Temple. The temples are newly constructed. There  are temples dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva too.

Korlaidevi Temple

The walls offered a wonderful view of Amby Valley and the surrounding hills and valleys.

This is one of the few forts remaining in Maharashtra that has a 360 degree fortification all around.

Most of the land is barren; it has a few ruins on the fort. There is another entrance to the fort too, but the way up is very steep and is made of loose rocks.

The Second Entrance to the fort along with the fortification

We saw two ponds, even at this time there is water in them, note there are no trees around and they are exposed to sun.  But still it had water, a bit difficult to digest.

I took us around 1 ½ hour to cover the entire fort. The time was now 2:30 PM on my watch. We rested for a few minutes at the Main Entrance and then we headed off to the base. In 30 minutes we were at the bottom of the hill. And in 10 minutes time at the base village.

One of the ponds on the fort

We headed off to the only hotel in the village for our lunch, Veg Thali for lunch. I always love to eat food prepared by the villagers.  Our thali consisted of peas vegetable, moong vegetable, dal and curd, for starters we had salad made of onions and tomatoes and miniature papad's. There was also this dry garlic chutney which was awesome. It cost us Rs.80 each. Which is expensive as per village standards. 

Veg Thali

We had our full and then headed off to Mumbai.

It is advisable to travel by personal mode of transport. Not many options are available to Peth Shahapur village from Lonavala.  ST buses ply just twice a day and then we have the rickshaws, who will charge a bomb.

Our expenses inclusive of morning breakfast, fuel charges, toll charges, lunch and other miscellaneous charges summed up to Rs.1160. So it is Rs.580 per head. This is good and economical.

We travelled the same way back, there was no traffic and at 6:10 PM I was back at Chembur.

Fortification

Learning. It is good to travel by a personal vehicle, because it saves on time and energy too. After a hard days trek we can sit in a car and be back home. Also if we have full occupancy in the car then the trip becomes economical. BTW the car was powered by Petrol and CNG. 

Vijaydurg

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Finally at 11 am we reached Devgad ST bus stand. The bus to Vijaydurg was at 1130 am. So we decided to refresh ourselves with some sugarcane juice at the sugarcane juice centre located at the entrance of the bus depot. 

Vijaydurg Fort from VIjaydurg Village

We then headed to the bus, only to find that the bus that had dropped us here from Kunkeshwar was going to take us to Vijaydurg.

Got ourselves a ticket at Rs. 58 for the 1 ½ hour journey only to be dropped off at the entrance of the fort. 

We were told by the bus conductor that the last bus is at 1630 hours to Devgad ST bus stand. 

Temple in fort premises

History states that this fort was constructed by Raja Bhoj of Shilahar Dynasty between 1193 AD to 1205 AD. Its original name was Gheria Fort. It was situated near village Girye.

Shivaji Maharaj won this fort from Adilshah of Bijapur in 1653 and renamed it Vijaydurg.

The massive walls of the fort were impressive. This 17 acre fort is 2/3 in the water and 1/3 on land access via land and has 17 bastions on it. Each of the bastions named after a particular person or God I guess. 

Cannons placed at the entrance of the fort

At the entrance of the fort is a house and a temple, the temple is painted orange in color. A few cannons were located there; they were mounted on the mud bricks.

At the main entrance of the fort are placed cannon balls on either side of the passage. There are many houses in its premises, though most of them are unoccupied but they are in good condition.

We decided to survey the entire fort by walking on the walls of the fort.  The walls give an amazing view of the sea and the village based near the fort.  It also offers a view of the fortification, similar to the one I saw in Lohgad. located near Visapur and Bhaje Caves.  

Fortification reminded me of Lohgad Fort

The walls were so broad that they could accommodate house like structures, a few of them have shapes in them like doors and windows and a few have tiled roofs. There are many with broken roofs too which have fallen within the structures.

Couldn’t stop myself from taking at photo at this place. Photo courtesy Hithakshi. 

That's Me

This fort had two walls for protection, one on the outside and the other on the inside, the outer one being small in height compared to the one inside.

Some parts of the fort are being redone, a big thanks to the guys who are trying to conserve our history.

We saw that one of the bastions was broken down; I guess this was done when a cannon ball was fired onto it from a sea vessel. I could see the damage it created. The impact bought down the entire bastion. 

View from the Fort Walls

I noticed that there are small openings in the wall for guns to shoot at the sea vessel, but what caught my eye is this mother opening that housed six small openings. I have been too many forts but something like this I noticed for the first time.

There were rooms for ammunition on the fort as well.

There are many huge structures placed all over the fort, they have windows in them but no roofs. No wonder what these were used for?

How I wish I had a time machine that could transport me in time.

One of the many structures built on the Fort

There are guides here who give information on the fort, but each guide interprets the fort differently. There is no uniformity in the information provided.

It takes around 4 hours to view the fort in entirety.

Again there were many idiots here who have ruined the walls by writing their names all over it.

Few visitors, maybe it was afternoon so it didn’t attract many. But to see this fort it takes around four hours so you will be baked in the sun. 

I located many of these unique slots on the fort walls, Maybe they were used to shot at the enemy outside the fort

This journey of ours through this magnificent fort was truly amazing. But we had to leave at our bus was at 1630 hours and to top it, it was the last bus for the day.

This fort surely ranks in the class of Murud Janjira. A beautiful fort.

A must on your trip to Devgad. 

Sindhudurg Fort

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Sindhudurg Fort 

Standing nautical miles away from Malvan Jetty on the Malvan Beach, this fort looks so massive, Imagine if I was near it how massive it would be. The walls of this fort are made of stone.

A few coconut trees grew in its premises, it looked like hair on the face of the fort. Hehe.

A few rocky patches too were near the fort and a few sand patches which made my photos desktop material. 

Boat plying to Sindhudurg Fort from Malvan Jetty

We got ourselves a ticket to fort on the Malvan Jetty at a cost of Rs.37 each and the boat was our mode of transport to take us there.

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving sessions are also conducted here. The rates differ from season to season, so it’s better to check out the rates before venturing into it. Hithakshi wanted to try both of them but the cost worked out to Rs.1700 for just 30 minutes, which I guess is highly priced. The boat in which you travel doesn’t look appealing at all.

It takes around 20 minutes to reach to the fort. The boat is small but can accommodate 20 people along with two crew members. The boat has got a side car placed; it helps in turning the boat so that the boat does not capsize. 

HIthakshi and Me on the fort premises

For Example, when you learning to ride a cycle, you have two additional small wheels attached to the back wheel so that you don’t fall while trying to balance. Something similar.

Be prepared to get drenched in water when the waves are high at sea the way I did. There are no life jackets provided and I don’t know how to swim. There are many who don’t know how to swim. God alone knows how they will manage if the boat capsizes. Hope it doesn’t happen.

There is no jetty near the fort so have to alight on the rocky patches and from there we need to proceed to view the fort. The crew said “you have an hour’s time to view the fort. You should be back here at 1305 hours as the time now is 1205 hours.” The crew said the above in Marathi, I just translated in English.  And an hour is not enough to view this fort looking at the size of this fort. 

Fortification

We started off to see the fort to make the best use of it. As we had loads to explore and capture on camera and we were short on time.

Sindhudurg Fort is built on Kurte Island. In 1664 – 67 AD Shivaji Maharaj had constructed this fort on the 48 acre island. The fort has 42 bastions. 

Print of the Palm of Shivaji

The walls made of stone were cold in the hot weather. Like the heat has no effect on the stone. Felt cooler when we entered the fort premises. The stone used to build the walls were big and huge, wondering how they might have put them together as no adhesive is used to join them and the stones were places in such a peculiar way that they interlocked each other.

At the entrance of the fort there is a broken cannon placed. Near the door is placed the Hanuman Mandir painted bright orange. Which catches your eye?

There are many broken down structures in the fort premises. Imaging how bustling this place would be in its hay days. Now it lies in a state of despair. 

One of the many steep stairways 

There are many temples on this fort, what caught my eye is the temple dedicated to Shivaji Maharaj. Even at Panhala there is a temple dedicated to Shivaji Maharaj. The temples though old are still in use. 

There are a few water bodies here which supply fresh drinking water on the fort.

We decided to explore the fort by walking on the walls of the fort. As from the walls we can see both the inside and outside of the fort. The walls of the fort were very broad, six people could walk easily on it, side by side. 

View of the green waters of the sea from the walls of Sindhudurg

This fort has got the footprints and print of the palm of Shivaji, placed in a small temple like structure on the walls.

A team of individuals dressed in white shirts and blue pants look after the fort, as in the caretakers of the fort. It’s good to see that some parts of the fort are being restored. This bought a smile across my face.

The fort offers a beautiful view of the sea, green waters a few rocky patches and a breath taking view of the Malvan Beach. 

Shivaji's Temple

The water near the fort was so clear that from the walls I could see the small rocks placed at the bottom of it.

Another unusual thing I noticed is these multiple staircases that I noticed all over the inside of the fort.  These were narrow and huge steps and were extremely steep.

A few broken down walls made of stone with no roofs appearing like houses too were placed on the walls.

This fort has many bastions which offer a good view of the sea and the land around it. 

Ruins in the fort premises

A part of the wall was broken; I guess this was the impact of cannon being fired on the walls of the fort when it was attached was taken into custody.

There is a small rock patch in it which has got bullet marks on it. Maybe the soldiers used it for firing practice.

I enjoyed exploring this fort with Hithakshi. It bought back memories of my exploration of Murud Janjira.  

Please do visit this fort whenever you pay Malvan a visit. A must for all history lovers. 

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