We left early morning at 6 am from Balewadi, Pune for Pombhurle. There were 5 of us in the hired Tavera vehicle. Me, wife Vaishnavi, daughter Ketaki, my sister Deeptee & nephew Aditya. We took Mumbai-Bangalore highway (NH4). Before Kolhapur took exit from Shiye Phata. This road goes & connects with NH204, then goes towards Malkapur. After that we climbed down to Konkan from Amba Ghat & connected with Mumbai Goa Highway (NH17) at Pachal. We went towards Rajapur, after Arjuna River Bridge took exit towards Dongar village. Going straight took left from Katradevichi wadi & crossed Amberi Bridge on Waghotan River before reaching Padel Canteen. From there we drived on State Highway No. 115 which goes towards Talere and took a left at Jambhekar Smarak Road to reach
Jambhai Devi Mandir in
Pombhurle. It took around 4.30 pm to reach there & travelled 435 Km. Jambhai Devi is our Kuldaivat (family goddess). Then we went to
Bagwadi Ganesh Mandir which is also our Kuldaivat (family god). Returned back on the same road to Padel Canteen. From there take left & climb down further 2 Km to go towards
Pural, our native place. We have ancestral house there. Stayed overnight at Pural. Pombhurle to Pural distance is 26 Km. Pune to Pural distance is 411 km.
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| Pombhurle: Jambhai Devi Mandir |
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| Jambhai Devi |
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| Bagwadi Ganpati |
Day 2
(28MAY15, Thursday): Pural to Malvan. Places visited: Mandirs in Pural, Tondivali
Beach and Bharadi Devi in Anganewadi.
In the morning we visited Datta
Mandir which is owned by our family. My great grandfather built it 107
years ago. Till today Datta Utsav is celebrated on Full moon day in the month
of Magh (January End or early February) without break. Then we went to pray at
Gram daivats (village gods) of Pural. First Vir Bhadreshwar Mandir (Shiv Mandir) & Ravalnath - Pawnai Devi
Mandir.
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| Pural: Datta Mandir (Godse Family) |
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| Datta Murti |
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Pural:
Virbhadreshwar Mandir
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Virbhadreshwar
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Pural:
Pawnai - Ravalnath Mandir
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After
taking lunch we left for further journey to Malvan in the evening at 4 pm. First
Halt was at Tondavali beach. We went along Padel Canteen road which further
goes towards Wada. After crossing Wada tar (Marathi for creek, this is a very
scenic place) we reached Jamsande. From Jamsande right turn goes to Devgad
(Taluka place). But we turned left & went on the Devgad Nipani Highway.
From Khakshi Titha we turned right on the Achara Devgad road to reach Tondavali beach. (In Konkan, the portion of the village on the
top of the mountain side is known as Titha. Normally houses are at sea level
after you climb down the mountain or hill). Pural to Tondavali distance is 48 Km &
took an hour to reach. It is a very long beach with clean sand. Sand is very
loose although. So the feet goes deep in the sand. We enjoyed the cool breeze
& water. Then left for Bharadi Devi Mandir
in Angane Wadi which is at a distance of 24 Km from Tandivali & took
half an hour. After coming out from Tandivali on the road to Malvan we
continued till Ozar Titha. From there we took left for going to Bharadi Devi
via Kandalgaon. This is a beautiful private temple owned by Angane Family. It
is famous for Jatra (Fair) when
lot of devotees come. We enjoyed eating Vada Pav & having tea at a vendor
outside the temple.
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| Tondavali Beach |
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| Anganewadi: Bharadi Devi Mandir |
Lastly we left for Tarkarli which is at 18 Km from Angane Wadi &
just 4 Km away from Malvan. We stayed at Shree
Ganesha Home Stay which comes on the left side at Wayari Band village near Tarkarli beach. The Homestay is a
privately owned place & have around 6 rooms with double occupancy &
rest 2 much bigger rooms. White Sand is laid on the ground thus giving a very
different feeling. They charged us Rs.2000/- per night for double occupancy
with AC. The rooms are fairly big & clean. Food is also good. Contact Nos.
are 02365-251114, 9423292493 and 7798670663.
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| Shree Ganesha Home Stay |
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| Shree Ganesha Home Stay |
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| Shree Ganesha Home Stay |
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| Shree Ganesha Home Stay |
Day 3 (29MAY15, Friday): Places
visited: Tarkarli Beach, Tsunami Island, Ozar Cave, Rock Garden & Beach -
Malvan, Chiwala Beach – Malvan, Devbag Vitthal Mandir.
We
went to Tarkarli beach in the morning around 7 am for watching Rapan. Beach is just 2 minutes’ walk
from the Home Stay. Rapan is a traditional way of catching the fishes. Several
fishermen lay the net in the sea earlier day. Early morning they pull the net
out with the catch. I
t is a true team work & skill to pull the heavy net
out of sea. The catch included several edible fishes such as Promfrets,
Mackerels (Bangada in Marathi)
along with non-edible sting
rays, molluscs, star fishes,
octopuses, squids, sea snakes. Auction
is done there itself & the fishes are sorted out in baskets for sale in the
local fish
market. Afterwards
we enjoyed playing in the water.
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| Tarkarli Beach |
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| Rapan |
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| Rapan |
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| Rapan |
Around
10 am we left for Tsunami Island for
water sports & Parasailing. We drived to Karli River jetty which is on the
left side of road towards Devbag. You normally get a private motor boat for Rs.
1000/-. The boat was big enough to accommodate around 8~10 persons. It dropped
us on the Tsunami Island & back to jetty. The area around the river is
scenic with lot of small islands crowded with trees. The boat goes along the
creek cost of Devbag peninsula. One can watch Vitthal Mandir on the right side from
the boat. There are few house boats from Maharashtra Tourism Development
Corporation (MTDC) & a private named as Moon star. The boatman showed us
the Sangam. Sangam is the extreme end of Devbag peninsula where the Karli River
meets Arabian Sea. This area is beautiful. Boat takes a U turn & goes
back again to reach Tsunami Island. The story behind its name is interesting (although not true). After
the disastrous Tsunami in 2004, the extreme end of Devbag Peninsula dislodged
& moved back in the creek, settled there to become Tsunami Island. It is a
small island of area & areas in our opinion is not more than 1 Sq. Km.
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| An Island in Karli River |
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| MTDC House Boats |
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| Devbag Sangam |
When we reached the high tide was getting over, so only small portion
of land was visible. In high tide the island is normally covered with water
around a feet high. By the time we left it was low tide & we could see
large portion of Island above water. The island is covered with sand. There are
around 10 to 15 snacks centres & a water sports centre. It was full of
tourists enjoying water sports. The Sports manager asked us to pay Rs.800/- per
head but we settled for Rs.700/-.
Water
sports include 5 rides, viz. Small Scooter, Big Scooter, Banana Ride, Bumper
ride & Speed Boat. After enjoying water sports, we went on for
Parasailing. A small boat first drops
you on the bigger speed boat. This boat took us to the deep see which
immediately begins after Sangam at Devbag. The sea was very rough as monsoon
was fast approaching. This is the first time we enjoyed deep see parasailing
which is an amazing experience. One could see the Devbag beach & on the
other side Bhogwe beach in Vengurla Taluka. There is a helipad kind of platform
from which take-off and landing happens. One can ask for dip also, which means
before landing you are dipped inside the sea water & then land on the boat.
It was risky with rough see, so none of us opted. They charge Rs.1200/- per
pair. Negotiations were rejected. They claim that at the end of season, this
price is already discounted by Rs.200/-.
After the activity the speed boat dropped us back on the Tsunami Island.
Then we again caught the motor boat to reach the river jetty & back to Home
Stay.
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| Tsunami Island |
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| Water Sports |
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| Parasailing |
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| Parasailing |
We had
lunch at Home Stay. The Shree Ganesh Home Stay serves both vegetarian & non
vegetarian food. Non vegetarian food is any way famous in Malvan. But we
enjoyed vegetarian food only. The food was spicy but tasty. Breakfast normally
included Ghavans (Rice pan cakes) with coconut chutney. Lunch & Dinner
included Chapati / Bhaji & Rice / Dal. Bhaji was made in famous Malvani
Masala. They also served sol curry (local appetizer made from Kokam fruit).
In the
evening, we started at 4 pm & went to Ozar
Caves for visiting Brahmanand Swami Samadhi. Ozar Titha is located on the
road to Devgad. This is the same place from where we had taken turn to go to
Anganewadi earlier. First after the entrance we saw a large Banyan tree &
very big Mango trees. Then we entered the cave. The Samadhi is inside the Cave.
There is an opening of tunnel, which goes to Sindhudurg Fort. Now one can go
little inside the tunnel for some distance, but it is dangerous.
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| Ozar Cave |
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| Brahmanand Swami Samadhi |
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| Tunnel |
Latter we went to Rock Garden in
Malvan. It is so called because of its location adjacent to Rocky Beach. This
beach is very famous for watching sunset. We to enjoyed sunset here. Children
played in the garden. There are snack vendors located outside the garden, where
we enjoyed Tea & Vada Pav. Karvande (a local summer berry collected from
wild) were on sale.
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| Rock Garden, Malvan |
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| Rock Garden Beach, Malvan |
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| Rock Garden Beach, Malvan |
Just after
the Sunset we went to Chiwala Beach.
It is a semi-circular beach with beautiful sand. After Sunset we went on to
visit Vitthal Mandir in Devbag. The
location of the temple is so good that one can hear the sea waves on the right
side & feel calm creek water on the other side. We wanted to visit the Devbag
beach in the morning but we could not make it. Although we had seen it from
during parasailing.
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| Chiwala Beach |
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| Vitthal Mandir, Devbag |
One can do Scuba diving &
Snorkelling near Tarkarli & Sindhudurg Fort. Although one of the Scuba Centre
was open, we did not attempt because of poor water transparency due to onset of
monsoon. The best time for Scuba is November to December. One can even enjoy
watching Dolphins near the coast of
Devbag during that time.
Day 4 (30MAY15, Saturday): Places
visited: Sindhudurg Fort, Redi Ganpati Mandir, Vetoba & Devi Mandir at
Aaravli, Kalavi Beach, Dhamapur Bhagwati Devi Mandir.
Early in the morning went to Tarkarli beach. Children enjoyed building
sand castles & collecting shells. Around 10 am, after breakfast went to
Malvan jetty for catching a boat for Sindhudurg
Fort. They charge Rs.50/- per person including children for the boat. Also
took a deposit of Rs.100/- & gave a cloth bag. You have to give back the bag
to collect Rs.100/-. The bag is a part of green initiative taken to keep Fort free
of plastic. Although that is not the case. Sindhudurg Fort is 1.5 Km away from
jetty, located on an Island. It is built by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1667
as his naval base to protect from the Dutch in Vengurla, the Portugese in Goa,
the Siddhi’s in Janjira fort & the British in Mumbai. The fort is
spread across 48 acres of land which completely surrounds the island. We took a
guide for Rs.200/-. It was necessary to watch the fort in short span of time.
The boat normally leaves back to jetty within an hour. We reached at 11 am
& left at 12 pm. We first saw the fort’s main entrance which is concealed
in such a way that no one can find it from outside. We walked straight to reach
Shri Shivrajeshwar Mandir. This is
the only temple of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in India. The temple has
a metallic mould of Maharaj’s face. Afterwards we saw the 3 fresh water wells named as Dudh, Dahi & Sakhar (in Marathi)
meaning Milk, Curd & Sugar. The wales supplies water to the 16 families
living on the fort till today. We went on to see the secret tunnel which inside the Mahadev Mandir. This tunnel opens in
the cave at Shri Brahmanand Swami’s Samadhi in Ozar. The opening of tunnel was latter
closed by the British. The ruins
of Mahjaraj’s palace made me
emotional. The inside buildings & structures were destroyed by the British
after conquering the fort. The mines of rocks are visible inside the fort from
which it is build. The fort has a very big protecting wall. Then we visited Bhawani Temple & saw the Queen’s beach where Tara Rani (daughter
in law of Shivaji Maharaj) used to roam, so the name. There is a gate which
opens to the beach. It is amazing to see only a small patch of sand at this
location. Before leaving near the main entrance we climbed the stairs to go on
top & observed the hand & foot
impressions of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which are still preserved in
the enclosures. The small rocky islands surrounding the fort are kept as it is
so that the enemy ships could not come closer.
While returning back from the fort, we watched the ruins of Padma Gad which is located on the
Malvan Penisula. After reaching the jetty we did some shopping like the
ornaments & key chains made out of shells. Even the Shells were on the
sale. The largest being charged at Rs.12000/-.
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| Sindhudurg Fort, Malvan |
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| Sindhudurg Fort, Malvan |
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| Shri Shivrajeshwar Mandir, Sindhudurg Fort |
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| Mahadev Mandir, Sindhudurg Fort |
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| Tunnel in Mahadev Mandir, Sindhudurg Fort |
Then we decided to visit the famous temples from nearby
Vengurla Taluka. First we started for Redi
Ganpati Mandir. Malvan to Redi distance is 69 Km & takes around 2
hours. We went along Malvan Kasal Road & took right at Sagari Mahamarg
(Coastal road), crossed Chipi Bridge on Karli river. Then took diversion around
the proposed Chipi airport before reaching Parule. Then continued straight to
go through Vengurla City and Shiroda. After Shiroda cross a river bridge &
turn right to go to Redi. We had lunch at a Shiroda restaurant.
Going south along the Arabian Sea & one could see many
boards bearing names for the famous beaches which include Dhandeshwar
Shriramwadi beach, Khavne beach, Kalavi beach, Vayangani Dabholi beach,
Vengurla beach, Mochemad beach, Aaravali Sagarteerth beach, Velaghar Paradise
beach, Shiroda beach & finally Redi beach.
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| A beach in Vengurla Taluka |
We
worshiped at Ganpati Mandir, which is under renovation. It is surrounded by
mines & hence everywhere you can see red dust. Redi port & beach is on
the back side of Mandir.
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| Redi Ganpati Mandir |
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| Redi Ganpati |
While returning
back on the same road, we halted at Vetoba
Mandir & nearby Shree Devi Sateri Mandir in Aravali. Vetoba idol is in standing posture & very nicely
carved. Devotees propose navas here & at fulfilment give bananas & pair
of foot ware. The pairs are displayed in the temple.
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| Vetoba Mandir, Aravali |
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Vetoba's Footware
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| Devi Mandir, Aravali |
After
passing Vengurla we went to Kalavi beach.
This beach is very clean & have many ups & downs. It is famous for Olive Ridely turtles breeding. The
board is displayed there. The turtles even come on the Vengurla beach. One must
go during breeding season which starts from November & ends in February.
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| Kalavi Beach |
After Shriramwadi turn right from Pat village go towards Kudal. After
Raygaon take left at Y junction & connect at Kudal Malvan road. After Nerur
we crossed Karli River to reach Dhamapur to visit Dhamapur Bhagwati Devi Mandir. This place is amazing. One has to
climb few steps to enter the temple. Behind the temple is the fresh water lake
which is very big. The new temple is 500 years old. While the old is 800 years
old which is said to be located underwater. Redi to Dhamapur distance is 53 Km
& takes about an hours’ time.
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| Bhagwati Devi Mandir, Dhamapur |
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| Dhamapur Lake |
On the
return journey to Malvan we took the same Kudal Malvan road to join Malvan
Kasal road at Chouke. We reached Malavan around 7 pm. We went for shopping in
the local market. We purchased Malvani Masala, Shev Laddoos / Khaja sweet
(famous in Malvan), mangoes, cashews, etc and returned to homestay. Dhamapur to
Malvan distance is 19 Km & takes around half an hour.
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| Malvan Market |
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| Kokam Fruits |
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| Cashew Factory, Malvan |
Day 5 (31MAY15, Sunday): Malvan
to Pune.
We left at 8 am for journey back home. First we visited a Cashew
Factory nearby. Then we took Malvan Kasal road & passed through Chauke,
continued straight till we reached Kasal on Mumbai Goa Road (NH17). Malvan to Kasal distance is 31 Km. There after
we continued straight till we reached Talere Phata. From there we took right on
the road to Gaganbawada ghat before reaching Kolhapur. Talere to Kolhapur
distance is 90 Km & takes 2 hours. From Kolhapur we took NH4 & drived back
home in Pune at 6 pm. Total distance travelled from Malvan to Pune via
Gaganbawada is 392 Km & took 10 hours.
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| Travellers |
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| Travellers |
Happy Travelling!
Kedar Prakash Godse & Vaishnavi Kedar Godse, Mumbai
