Coorg and Chikmagalur - Coffee and Greenery at its best

We left Kolhapur in the morning and continued driving to Karnakaka. By 4.30 p.m we reached Bankapur and then took a right turn towards Shimoga leaving NH 4. The road conditions soon worsened. Still we enjoyed our ride thru Karnataka. It is surprisingly green, with really simple people and not so good economic condition.

As we started towards Shimoga, we moved through lush green fields, small villages with very different style of construction than what we had seen in Maharashtra. It was late in the night while we reached Chikmagalur via Shimoga, Bhadravati, Tarkere and Kemmangundi route. We checked in a budget hotel in the main market and slept.

on the way to Shimoga - Ultimate capacity utilization

Bright Colours on Auto rickshaw and homes

Style of Construction with flat stones and mud mortar - in villages

Time for Evening tea and snacks in the village

The next day morning we scanned entire area looking for homestays. Chikamagalur has some of the finest spots in the mountains as homestays and farm houses. Still they don’t get much business as this place is not really glamorized as Madikeri. If you really want to see nature at its best and wish to have peaceful holiday then Chikmagalur is the recommended place. It is also ideal place for writers, painters and honeny moon travelers.

There is a cave in the mountains near Chikmagalur where Baba Budan used to stay. He was a muslim saint who went to Mecca for pilgrimage. There he first tasted Coffee and he brought some seeds for his own consumption while coming back. He used to grow coffee beans near his cave. Later British found him and sensed business opportunity. Thus, began commercial production of Coffee in India. Chikmagalur is hence credited as the first area where coffee was grown. In the higher altitudes the coffee quality comes much better and it is called “high grown coffee”.

The mountain and where Baba Budan used to stay in the cave.

View of surrounding area from the highest point in Chikmagalur at Baba Budan cave

As coffee plans need shade for better growth, in all the coffee estates there are trees. This has made around Chikmagalur is lush green. Thus you can generally have a small can trek in the coffee estate and enjoy clean air.

Another interesting aspect of this coffee economy is that it is not treated as agriculture but as industry. Thus land ceiling act does not apply coffee farming. The land holdings are hence big, ensuring enough greenery around a homestay. The farmers are also pretty rich and their homes have all the modern facilities. Many of the homestay owners have started this business to kill enjoy company of guests more than to make money and thus their service standards are very high.

Kemmangudi hill station and water falls are close by and spending a day over there can be fun.

Flowers of Coffee which smell like Jasmine

After staying at Chikmagalur for 2 days we moved to Madikeri, capital town of Coorg District. Official name of the district is Kodagu but nobody used that name. Coorg, is a well known and highly glamorized place. It is also very commercial, at least Madikeri town is.

Madikeri, is named after Third king of Haleri dynasty; Mudduraja; who established this town. It then came to be known as Mudduraja Keri. Which over time was called as Madikeri, later British pronounced it as Mercara. It is situated at an altitude of 1525 mtrs in the mountains of western ghat, this town is surrounded by lush green hills and Coffee Plantations. With its pleasant winter makes, it is one of the most preferred hill stations of southern India. Besides it is closer to Bangalore and Mysore and as such there is a lot of business here.

Most interesting aspect of Coorg, is its different culture. Unlike other south Indian cultures; their way of draping Saree is different. They like to eat pork and their way of cooking is also spicy. On the other hand they are Hindus; who otherwise do not eat pork in other parts of the country. Coorgs are fighters, with military tradition. They helped British in establishing rule over Sourthern India and since then serving in army became a profession. Even now they serve Indian Army in large numbers. India’s some of the most noted Army Generals hail from this area, starting from Field Marshal Cariappa. Since days of British they have been granted special privilege to own gun. It is the only community to have right to own and carry gun anywhere in India, they get gun license by virtue of being coorgs and no other permit is required. Hence in most of the families you would find a gun in the house. It is also a tradition to fire rounds on important family celebrations.

So if you plan to stay at Coorg, homestay is a better option to understand their culture and experience their cuisine. Find them on www.mygreatstay.com Unfortunately, no restaurants serve the original Coorg cuisine hence you would not be able experience the same in hotels.

While you make plans to travel to Coorg, first decide which route you would take to travel. It is big area and you can plan to stay as per your convenience at various places e.g. Ammathi, Kushalnagar, Siddapur etc.

The interesting places to see in Coorg are as follows:

Raja Seat:

Towards western end of the Madikeri town is Raja Seat (king’s seat). King used to spend evenings here, watching sunset and breath taking view of the valley below; hence named as Raja Seat. It has beautiful garden and fun-park.

Raja Seat - Madikeri

View of Coorg Valley from Raja Seat

Madikeri Fort:

This fort is in town of Madiekri on a hillock, with museum. Cars can go on top and altitude is not very high anyways. Visit the museum to see traditionally used artifacts and weapons. The fort also has two life size stone statues of elephants which belonged to kings. The story is that once in the feet of rage; the king killed these elephants and later as repentance created their statues. The rest of the fort has palace buildings, which now house government offices.

Omkareshwar Temple:

Haleri King Lingraja- II once killed a Brahmin. And in act of repentance built this beautiful temple with Shivaligam brought from Kashi. The Temple complex has pond inside.

All these destination are fairly close to each other and it is possible to see all of them in a day.

Abbi Falls:

Aapproximately 8 km from the Madikeri are Abbi falls; situated in lush green surrounding. The water falls from approx 70 ft height, and the whole place is scenic. However vehicles do not go up to top and you would have to take local rikshaw/jeep and then trek.

Dubbare Elephant Camp:

At a distance 15 km from Kushalnagar on Siddapur road, is Dubare forest with elephant training camp, situated on the banks of river Cauvery. This is training a camp where; rogue elephants are brought and trained. Plan visit to this place in early morning hours, to participate in elephant ride and bath. There is boating facility also available here.

Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement and Golden Temple:

At bylakuppe, is the biggest settlement of Tibetan in exile in South India; with big Namdroling Monastery and Padmasambhava Budhha Golden Temple. The monastery houses thousands of monks who come to learn Buddhism and the temple has approx 55 ft Buddha Statue. It is a must see place, where you suddenly see change of culture from the rest of the Coorg. It is on Mysore Madikeri highway just 2 km before Kushalnagar.

Nisaragadham:

Situated on the banks of Cauvery is Nisargadham complex. It is protected forest area where you can see deers, elephants, rabbits etc. It is a place worth visiting near Kushalnagar . In case you plan to visit this place, club it along with Dubare and Golden Temple as they are close to each other.

Talacauvery and Bhagamandala:

Talacauvery is the origin of river Cauvery and is considered to be one of holiest places in Karnataka. Situated in Brahmagiri Hills, with dense forest around, this is a great place to visit. River emerges from Kundike and flows towards Bhagmandala ; where it meets two other rivers Suyothi and Kannike to form Triveni Sangam. This is known as Dakshin Kashi, with temples Bhagamandeshwar, Vishu, Subramanya and Ganapathy. Plan a day’s visit here(it is 48 km from Madikeri) and return back to base camp by evening as there is no place to stay here.

Besides these there are other attractions like Malahalli Falls, Harangi Dam etc.

If you plan to visit Coorg just make sure that you take out enough time. This is not a place which you can enjoy while in hurry. Stay at Homestay and enjoy nature for at least 3 days. This is nice weekend gateway for people from Bengaluru and Mysore.

Panhala and Kolhapur

I reached Panhala pretty late in the night. I stayed in the homestay of Mr Kurade. He is lawyer by profession and was very nice person to talk to.

The next day morning I explored fort of Panhala. Luckily I got a very good guide through Mr Kurade; Sharif Hanif Nagarjee. Sharif belonged to family of Nagarjees; one’s who beat “Nagara” (traditional giant drums to announce opening, closing of the fort gates along with other important events). Their family was appointed by Shivaji during his rule. He is 8th descendent from this family; he knows history well and can also tell you some inside stories about the rule at that time.
Panhala is a huge fort on a hill. It is also a very old as it was first constructed in the 11th Century A. D. under rule of Shalivahans. The 15 km boundary wall constructed during that time is still visible with 135 bastions. The wall is made of Soil and at places supported with stone wall exterior, to absorb shock of cannon balls.

There is ample water and food storage on the and as such it was suitable to operate this fort as the capital. Shivaji operated from this fort through bulk of his rule.

The courtyard leading to Teen Darwaja

There are many interesting places to be seen on this fort. The most important of them are 1. Teen Darwaja 2. Sajja Kothi 3. Konkan Dawaja.

Teen Darawaja:
This is one of the main entrances to the fort. The huge entrance is said to constructed first by Hindu rulers and hence first part is in Hindu architecture. The second part was constructed by Muslim rulers and hence it is in shape and dome. The third part was constructed by British and hence it looks like gate of a church.

Teen Darwaja: See the difference between First Arch (Hindu Temple Architecture) and second arch (Islamic Shape)
Sajja Kothi:
This was the main building in the fort. Shivaji's son Sambhaji was kept here under house arrest due to misunderstanding during their family feud. You can brillinant view of the surroundings from here.

Interiors of Sajja Kothi

View of Sunset from Sajja Kothi

Konkan Darwaja:
This gate faces western side towards region of Konkan. Shivaji had visited this fort after his Konkan conquest and since then it is called as Konkan Darwaja.

Siege of the fort and escape of Shivaji:
Siddi Jauhar, a senior lieutenant of Mughals led a siege to the fort in 1660. It continued for quite some time. He also brought long range cannons from Portuguese and some signs of damage by them can be seen at Konkan Darawaja even now. Once it was clear that it was no longer possible to hold on to the fort; Shivaji escaped from the fort on 12th July.

The story of his escape is very interesting. Shiva Kashid from nearby village was trained to act as his dummy. Shiva Kashid escaped first only to be captured and Shivaji escaped later from the same route. Shivaji moved fast towards Vishalgarh(a fort 80 km away) and while on the way ; Siddi’s forces came very close; Baji Prabhu Deshpande adviced Shivaji to go ahead so that he would hold forces in Ghodkhind ( a small pass in the mountains). With a small platoon; Baji kept Siddi’s forces engaged till morning while Shivaji reached Vishalgarh safely. Baji attained martyrdom in the process and his story is one of the most important chapter of sacrifice and bravery in the history of Maratha Empire.

Besides history of Maratha's there are locations which are from time of Shalivahan Rulers and the most important of them are granaries. Three massive granaries were built by King Bhoja in approx 1000 A.D. . During the construction phase the wall of the granaries would keep collapsing after being raised to 6 ft or so. A priest was called and he suggested to make human sacrifice of either a pregnant lady or a lady who has just delivered a baby. Subsequently announcement was made and lady called Jakhubai who was daughter-in-law of Gangu teli(people who used to sell oil) became ready. She was sacrificed at this place and even now there is stone statue depicting the event. The three granaries are named after her daughters as Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. The fact that to build a wall even a king had to take help of a lady; gave rise to the saying 'Kahan Gangu Teli aur Kahan Raja Bhoja.' Over period of time this context changed and today it is said in exactly opposite manner and spirit.




Granaries - (Estimate height by comparing with standing at gate - constructed in 1000 A.D.)

Statue depicting Jakhubai's sacrifice at the place of sacrifice

Besides Historical Significance, famous temple of Jotiba (Shiva in the form of a warrior)is just 8 km away. Kolhapur is also just 20 km from Panhala. Kolhapur has famous Mahalaxmi temple and Palace of Bhosale’s with Museum.

Hence I would recommend this place to all those who travel to Bangalore by Car. It is a nice place to take night halt; it is almost midway to Bangalore and has nice weather and history both. Not to forget it is also famous for food with specialty in spicy non-veg. food. Stay at homestays and enjoy real history of Panhala and distinctive taste of Kolhapur cuisine(visit www.mygreatstay.com). It is far better way to experience real India than Hotels and Resorts at better prices. See www.mygreatstay.com for largest collection of homestays in India.

I left from Panhala and went to Kolhapur. There I stayed at Homestay called Hirwai. It is a really nice place with small garden owned by Mr Chandrakant Patil . In his small garden he keeps water and food for birds and you can see them chirping in the morning. At least 7 to 8 varieties of birds can be seen there, he is also a photographer and you can see some nice photos with him. In the morning Naved reached from Nagpur and we then started our onward journey on NH 4 together

Coming up next Chikamagalur and Coorg …………in the amazingly green Karnataka……………

Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani

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This is second round of my journey from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar and further ahead to Kolhapur, Panhala and then to Coorg and Kerala. We planned to cover entire distance by road in the car.

I started from Mumbai and after lunch at Pune with my good old school buddy Dinesh Apte, I moved on to Mahabaleshwar. By evening I was at Panchgani; which is just 18 km from Mahabaleshwar and is home to most famous public schools in Maharashtra.

The climate was pleasant and journey was great. The road to Pune was expressway and hence was very comfortable. The road after Pune to Wai was also very comfortable. Climate at Panchgani was exceptionally good with bit of chill in the evening.

I stopped for tea at stall of Parameshwar Gole; he was talkative and nice person. He showed me homestay of his cousin by name of Shubham Niwas.

I stayed there for the night. The next day I explored Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. Like other hill stations around Mumbai; even Mahabaleshwar was popularized by British. They also made it summer capital of Bombay Presidency. Being at altitude of 1372 mts from mid sea level; it has very pleasant weather in the summer.

In the area around Mahabaleshwar, five rivers flow (Savitri, Gayatri, Krishna, Koyna and Venna) thus making it agriculturally advanced. The mountains around are covered with thick forests of Javali. This was one the areas where Marathas fought fierce battles with Mughals by taking benefit of the terrain.

Needle Hole Point captured from Highest Altitude spot of Mahabaleshwar - Triveni

Panchgani Table Land on right and Valley of Krishna river - from Triveni

While you go Mahabaleshwar keep in mind that Panchgani weather is as good and it is not crowded. So if you want peace, and privacy then better to stay here. Mahabaleshwar has shopping areas and lots of budget as well as premium hotels. Panchgani mostly has homestays; there are some with pretty nurseries around and some with strawberry farms. These can be ideal for few days of peaceful stay.

Sight Seeing:

There are many sight seeing points in Mahabaleshwar; but few of the very good ones are given below. In fact my advice is not to see every place; you would waste time and energy. Also as is the case with every hill station; many points are generally created to make the list longer; and one can do away with some.

Few of the best ones are as follows:

You would find them every where

Arthur Seat: This is probably the best of all points. It is approx 10 km away from new town, but it is worth visiting. Named after Mr Arthur Mallet, this point gives splendid view of the Savitri Valley right below you. You can also see Pratapgadh; from here on a clear sunny day. On the way you may also enjoy view from Marjorie Point and Tiger Springs (apparently tigers used to come here to drink water!!!).

Needle Point/Elephant Head Point: It is called as needle point, as a rock is standing maintaining some gap from cliff making to look like Needle hole. The shape of the rock is such that it also looks like elephant head and trunk, thus called elephant head point. One can get breathtaking view of the mountains around and Krishna River in the valley. While visiting this point you can also see Lodwick point on the way.

Kate’s Point and Echo point: Both these points are towards Panchgani; overlooking Krishna valley. As the name suggests you get clear echo from the valley here. If you are interested in echo then only visit this point.

Venna Lake: Just, as you enter Mahabaleshwar from Panchgani, you are welcomed by buzz around Venna Lake. You can enjoy boating, riding etc., along with eating as there are many stalls of all kinds of food stuff here. This is probably the most crowded point after Malcom Peth (i.e. main market of Mahabaleshwar)

Venna Lake

Temples: Mahabaleshwar Temple: Temple of Shiva referred to as Mahabali (all powerful) is the presiding deity of the town. This Shivalinga is considered to be swayambhu (lord has appeared himself) and fulfilling wishes of the pilgrims.

Panchaganga Temple: Dedicated to the sacred five rivers in the area around, which bless this area is Panchaganga temple. Springs coming out of Gomukh(cow’s mouth) is considered to be representing five rivers.

Pratapgadh: At 24 km from Mahabaleshwar stands this invincible fort built in 1656 by the Founder of Maratha Empire, Chhatrapati Shivaji. This is one of the toughest forts to conquer; as the approach consists of small winding roads with steep gradient. This made it virtually impossible to carry heavy artillery or even big battalions. This also made it the chosen spot by Shivaji, to meet his one of the biggest adversary Afzal Khan of Bijapur, who met his fateful end here. Make it a point to see the graves of Afzal Khan and his bodyguard Sayyad Banda (legendary fighter of that time) built and maintained with grants given by Shivaji. There is a tunnel on the fort which supposedly opens few kms away and was used as escape route in times of trouble.

Tapola lake: At approximately 30 km from Mahabaleshwar is Tapola situated on banks of Shivsagar lake (backwaters of Koyna dam – the biggest in Maharashtra). The journey is especially breathtaking with scenic beauty of valleys, river and mountains. As you suddenly drop altitude from Mahabaleshwar, the flora and fauna changesalong with weather; this can be of special interest to nature lovers. Tapola, has boating club where you can enjoy boat rides - right from small rides in a paddle boat to a long journey around Shivsagar lake in speed boats (total expanse of lake is 80 km). Adventure seekers can also plan, overnight tour to Vasota fort. However, it would need permission from Forest Department as it is a part of Koyna Nature Reserve. Please reach Tapola, early in the morning, carry enough consumables and learn topography well before you start; as there are no support systems around and the terrain around Vasota is confusing. There are tents where you can plan overnight stay as well.

On the way to Tapola

Shivsagar Lake (Backwaters of Koyana - on the way to Tapola)

Tapola Lake and Boat Club

Mahabaleshwar and Panchagani have lot of options for stay. Budget hotels are mostly in the town and near main market, they are easy to reach but do not give really a great experience. You can opt to stay in bunglows or in strawberry gardens; there are options of bed & breakfasts/homestays in both kind of stays and they are especially good if have few days to spare. Good quality hotels and resorts are also there but they are really expensive. Hence I advise to stay at homestays and also help common men earn their living; find them on www.mygreatstay.com

Mahabaleshwar now is a good place to visit even for people from Mumbai. Due to better connectivity of roads one can reach in 4 hrs and driving is pretty easy with 6 lane roads. In fact its is easier to visit Mahabaleshwar than Alibaug which 2.5 hrs by road but where driving can be real pain.

I decided to leave Mahabaleshwar, by the next day afternoon and reach Kolhapur by night. However I got late, also on the way I changed my plan decided to stay at Panhala Fort. Kolhapur is at higher altitude and Panhala fort is visited by most as the climate here is really nice.

Coming up next Panhala the mighty fort……………………….

Murudeshwar, Karnataka

We reached Murudeshwar at 8.00 pm and headed straight to the beach. After a sharp turn towards beach; a giant statue of Shiva came in our sight. It was be biggest statue that I had ever seen in my life. Overlooking the beach; the lord looked as if caring for the whole world. The beach was bustling with activity even at that hour. We sat for almost at hour on the beach; without speaking a word to each other. It was a kind of spiritual experience. We left and checked in with Gomes Yatri Niwas.

Giant Shiva Statue in the night

It is a nice place right across the beach. We went out had dinner and came back; then kept chatting for almost 2 hrs while enjoying nice see breeze.

After getting up in the morning we went for a stroll and saw fisherman with their catch. The auction was going on for the catch; as it was removed from the tiny boat. Kind of instant distribution and pricing system, I wondered about how fast they were in doing business.

We then went to see the temple. It has massive gopuram at the entrance and the temple is really well developed. This is one of the holy places of Shiva temple, along with four others as mentioned in my post for Gokarna. There is a chariot of Arjuna in the garden around. We then went again on the beach for a dip in the water and then had lunch. The beach is long, lined with coconut plantations. This place is well developed with facilities like speed boats and water scooter available

Gopuram at the entrance

Chariot of Arjuna

In case you visit Goa and have few days to spare then make it a point to see Gokarna and Murudeshwar. There are few homestays and you can have a relaxing holiday of 2 to 3 days here. These places are few hundred meters away from the temple and hence are pretty quiet and serene

Murudeshwar beach

This was our last destination along the coast and we started our return journey towards Mumbai by evening.

to find homestays at Murudeshwar visit this link :

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Coming up next – Journey from Mumbai – Kolhapur -- Chikamagalur – Coorg – Wayanad – Palakkad – Alleppey…

Gokarn and Yana.

We left Goa towards evening. While leaving we saw some beautiful beaches in South Goa namely Betalbatim and Colva. These beaches are nice and secluded, with hardly any visitors. The area around these beaches is calm and quiet. If you are in Goa on a holiday and have a day or two to spare do visit these beaches. Normally not many tourists visit them; but that is precisely the reason why the surroundings are still lush green.

Gokarn:

After Goa, we entered Karnataka. Instead of taking a break at Karwar we headed straight to Gokarna. By the time we reached Gokarna it was pretty late. The town was almost asleep. We could get dinner only at a small hotel. While myself and Naved opted for fish curry and rice; our driver Pintoo opted for his regular veg. meal. We also ordered prawns fry and as it was really soft (prawns being fresh) we ordered it once more. Post dinner the bill came and to our utter surprise it was Rs 120/- only. The place was really a run down but a lot of people were eating there. After dinner we checked in a hotel and spent our night.

The next day morning we moved on to Gokarna temple early in the morning. This is a very famous temple of Shiva (Mahabaleshwar). Normally Shiva lingam is above ground but here it is below ground and it is covered by stone cover called Kavach. The lingam is a pointed like an ear of cow and hence came the name Gokarna. They allow you to touch the lingam.

There is legend is that Ravana’s(King of demons) mother was devotee of Shiva and used to pray with a lingam made of sand on the sea beach. The waves used to destroy the lingam in high tide, so Ravana went for praying and penance for years; in order to please Shiva. Shiva being very kind gave Ravana, his atmalingam (lingam with Shiva’s soul).This caused panic among Gods and they sent Ganesha (shiva’s son) to bring it back.

While Ravana was returning to Lanka he reached Gokarna towards evening. It was time for his Sandhyavandana(evening prayer), and he was looking for someone to hold this lingam in his hand. As, Shiva had told Ravana that, wherever lingam is kept on ground for the first time it would stay there forever. Ganesha, went in disguise as a Brahmin boy, raising cows near this beach. Ravana, handed over lingam to him; ganesha tricked Ravana and kept the lingam on beach.
Later, Ravana was furious and he tried to remove this lingam from ground but nothing would work; hence it is called Mahabaleshwar (the one which is powerful than Mahabali). The lingam broke into pieces and four of them fell in the area around; which are namely Murudeshwar, Gunavanteshwar, Shejjeshwar and Dhareshwar. All these towns are pilgrim centers with Shiva temples.

Beside the temple Gokarna is a nice town to visit. Time seems to have frozen here; priests wearing traditional dhoti are moving around. The look is of very old village. On the way to temple is a wooden chariot; which is used for annual festivals. The wooden carved chariot is very beautiful. The temple complex is also very old and nice.

Entrance to the temple and Wooden Chariots

Gokarna beach is closer to the temple, besides at approx 1.5 km to the south of the temple is Kudle beach. It is small but secluded,; you can even walk upto this beach along the coast. Further South is Om beach; which is frequented by foreigners. There are a lot of beach shacks here where hippies and backpackers with meager budgets stay.

Om beach in the shape of Hindu OM symbol

Kudle beach

Though this town has potential to become tourist spot; there is not much leisure tourism here. Foreigners are here as it is cheap; but better off tourists don’t come here; Indian visiting are mostly pilgrims.

Yana:

While we started towards Murudeshwar in the afternoon we decided to take a detour and visit Yana. We had heard that it is a nice place. So as we came closer to Kumta we took left towards Sirsi. On the way some 16 km inside deep forest is Yana. The tar road gave way to dirt track and we reached base of Yana through thick forest. We started climbing and after 50 mins we reached the spot. On the way we saw some rocks here and there. They were grey in shade and were completely out of place as if having dropped there.

Road in the forest

Rocks on the way

As we reached top, we saw two magnificent and giant rock formations. We were awestruck; this scene in front of us so beautiful; that the climb looked as really small investment.

Yana is natural wonder, where these two giant rock formations have sprung up; from nowhere on the top of mountains. It has probably happened due to molten lava or a meteor having struck the earth. The rock formations are huge; 120 and 90 meters high from their base. They are named as Bhairaveshawar Shikhar and Mohini Shikhar.

Giant Rock Formations of Yana

Mythological legend is that Bhasmasuara, was given powers by Shiva, to reduce to ashes, anything that he puts his hand on. As a result he became uncontrollable, to the extent that he wanted to put his hands on Shiva and then marry his wife. Shri Vishnu came to help of Siva. He took form of Mohini(beautiful dancer) and challenged Bhasmasura; to a dance competition. In this competition Mohini tricked him to put his hand on his own head as a dance step; and thus reduced him to ashes.
This spot is lesser known and rarely covered in any travel magazine but in my opinion it’s a must visit spot.

We climbed down somewhat tired and decide to take bath on tap which was flowing with natural spring water. The bath made us fresh we then had a cup of tea and moved towards Murudeshwar.

If you go to Goa and have 2 days to spare make it a point to visit both these places.

Coming up next Murudeshwar… enjoy reading and keep giving feedback.

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Vengurla and Shirda - The last on Maharashtra Coast

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Towards the far south of Maharashtra are Vengurla and Shiroda. Vengurla has Sagareshwar beach which is close to heart of the town. There are others like Mochemad and Sagarteerth close by. However the town is not really a tourist destination may be because it is too close to Goa. The language and cuisine here is also closer to Goa (not the Portuguese cuisine but south Goa cuisine). The town has crowded and chaotic roads. But once you cross it; you reach Sagareshwar beach. There is a light house on the hillock towards your right overlooking many small islands in the sea.

Sagareshwar Beach

Sagareshwar Beach

This is mainly a trading town where you would find numerous cashew factories on the way. The cashew here is of really good quality.

To the south of light house is the Beach stretching almost 2 km with white sand & clean blue water. Entire area is calm and quite so if you wish privacy Vengurla can offer it to you besides the fact that it has facilities of a town. Few beach side resorts are present along with MTDC tent resort.

Further down south is Shiroda; which has probably the most isolated beach with almost 3 km long straight stretch of sand and amazing tranquility. The area is so quiet that it makes you introspect. If you wish to sit at a place and think about life or meditate then this is the ideal place. There are few homes where; you can stay. Shiroda is ideal for painters, writers and honeymoon couples who want privacy.

Shiroda Beach

This was our last destination on the Maharashtra coast and we decided to move down to Karnataka. We did not intend to be at Goa as it is too well known, to be explored.

We tried to find out reason as to “why tourists do not come to Shiroda or Vengurla from Goa”; especially the foreigners. And we found that Maharashtra is too expensive as compared to Karnataka. This being a more developed state; labour costs are high and even property costs are also high. People normally believe that Goa is glamorous because of presence of foreigners. However, the foreigner who come to Goa are mainly budget travelers and backpackers. They stay for weeks or months and they have shoe string budgets. They spend much lesser than Indians.

There are many retired Europeans who come to Goa during the month of September and October. They anyway are struggling to make both ends meet with their meager pensions. So they come to Goa during winter; to avoid depressing Europe weather and enjoy pleasant India winter (which is as good as summer for them). They typically take a room on monthly rental of Rs 15000/- and equal amount they spend on food. Thus they end up spending not more than $800/- per month. They stay for 4 months or so and save money form their pension to go back to Europe for summer.

We then decided to go to Goa and find out whether this is true. We reached Goa by evening and stayed at Homestay called Villa Ludo Vici. It was a big nice Portuguese house with open area; located very close to Candolim beach and host lady was really nice and caring. Throughout the next day we met lot of Homestay owners; to find out whether they were interested in promoting their business. We got consistent reply that they do not want Indian tourists; they would rather prefer foreigners who stay for months together. The main reason is that they don’t want hassles of giving service; foreigners do not expect service as they are not used to same; on the other hand Indians demand service.

We were not much interested in spending time at Goa so we decided to move on to Gokarna in Karnataka.

This brings to end our journey of Maharashtra coast.

On the closing note I would like to mention interesting facts about Maharashtra;

From north to south every stretch is famous for certain agricultural product. Starting from north Bordi is famous for Chickoo, Kelwe for betel leaf, Palghar for Jamun(Jambhul), Dive Agar for Betel Nut, Ratnagiri for Mangoes and Vengurla for Cashew. Besides coconuts are there every where. So when you travel to these places please try these products.

Tourists typically go to places which are close by but they are not necessarily the best ones. Now Konkan railway is available so while making plan; make use of this new connectivity to the fullest and you can find really interesting places.

Tourism revenues are mainly come from Mumbai and Pune and thus locations, which are distant to these towns, are not really explored.

There are awesome beaches like Shiroda, Harnai Murud which not many people know. So if you plan to travel next time; try and visit them rather than the usual ones.

Homestay food is excellent especially fish curry; so even if you stay at resort try at least one meal there. There locations are excellent; however rooms are simple. On the whole however the experience is much better than resorts.

While talking to people I found that the less educated a persons listed to you as they do not a carry ego. They also trust you more. So talking to villagers is enlightening.

While we all know about beaches there are mountains of western ghats; which are equally beautiful but nobody has tried to promote them. Ghats of Amboli and Kashedi have tremendous potential for tourism.

The coastal roads are isolated and have nature around at its best so try them at least once. Most recommended is the Murud Janjira to Harnai Murud.

Thanks for reading …

Coming next Gokarna, Murudeshwar and the rocks of Yana…………

for interesting stay options visit www.mygreatstay.com, India's biggest portal of homestays..

Sindhudurg - Malvan & Tarkarli

While we started from Ratnagiri to Malvan, we saw these three men walking on the road; they were foreigners so we stopped out of curiosity. I was amazed to find that they were walking from Mumbai to Goa. I asked them what made them walk such long distance in a climate; which they are not used to. And one of them replied “We are not walking for Charity; but we are walking for Clarity”. We were amazed to hear that; but it is true. Almost 10 years back; I had walked in the mountains of Himalayas visiting Vaishnodevi-Yamunotri- Gangotri-Kedarnath-Badrinath; with my colleague and friend Nitin Joshi in just 9 days(109 kms). We had walked during the worst period i.e. August. There were heavy rains and we completed our journey facing landslides; often getting drenched in very low temperatures. Our biggest discovery was that; travel in tough terrains and long exhausting walks are a spiritual experience. We wished them good luck; if you are interested, visit their website http://www.walkforclarity.co.uk/.

cool dudes of walkforclarity.com

We took the coastal route and first went to Kashedi. There is a temple of Kanakaditya here. It is very old sun temple and is famous for is interiors. The pillars made of wood so strong that hundreds of years of saline weather could not damaged them. Roof is of interlocked wooden beams, in the ceiling are statues of gods carved in wood (see picture). It is amazingly intricate work and don’t miss to visit this temple.

Wooden statues of gods in the ceiling

Wooden pillars- painted, hence dont look like wood

Roof interlocked wooden beams

We also went to Purangadh, it’s a nice spot but the sea is rocky and if you wish privacy go there else nothing much to see.

Purangad

We reached Malvan; towards late in the evening and I tried to locate my friend of school days, Rahul Pantwalawalkar. Going against the popular trend; Rahul had learnt Ayurvedic Medicine and settled in Malvan; leaving behind is big home at Dadar- Hindu Colony; one of the most prime and popular localities of Mumbai(people who are from Mumbai can appreciate magnitude of this change). I had no clue as to where he stays and I decided to speak to Chemists as they would most likely know a Doctor. I found first chemist and he told me that his clinic is at the other end of the town; but also told me not to worry and keep asking direction for Dr Pantwalawalkar’s clinic; which everybody would know. I was skeptical, but to my surprise everybody knew it. I amazed by his popularity.
I reached clinic and filled the slip; which is given to every patient and waited in the queue. I entered his room and he asked “yes, what is the problem?” I looked at him and smiled and he stared back at my face for few moments; and screamed “arey, you Kishor!” after so long time. We hugged each other spoke for few minutes and then again I waited again outside for him to complete his work.


We then chatted for till late in the night, he is one of the most popular doctors in the town. Meeting him is a pleasure as he radiates tremendous energy(he even speaks too fast).
I had visited Malvan before and stayed at Tarkarli, one of the most popular beaches of Malvan. However, Rahul told me that I should try Chivala Beach this time. We went to Chivala beach and stayed with Prof. Prasanna Mayekar. By the time we reached it was dark, I could see the waves hitting the beach in front of his home and could hear roar of the sea.


We went out for dinner and came back and slept. The next day morning we got up at 5.30 a.m. and decided to go on the beach for a stroll, as soon as I stepped out; what I saw was one of the most beautiful scenes in front of my eyes.



The beach was not more than 50 mtrs from our room, it was a 2 km long stretch of the sand, in form of an arch; with not more than 10 fishermen. I had stayed at Tarkarli before; but this was something very different. We were staying at 15 minutes walk from heart of Malvan town and still the beach was so secluded and private. Only seasoned travelers know about this beach; the rest go to Tarkarli.

Chivala Beach

If you are a family and wish to avoid crowd, especially if women of the family want privacy while going in the sea; then this is the most recommended beach. If you are a honeymoon couple; then lso this is the most recommended place. Entire stretch of 2 km is at your disposal with white sand and clear water and absolutely no human beings making it as good as your private beach. Do stay at Mr Mayekar’s or Mr Ram Patil’s place they are right on the beach(visit http://www.mygreatstay.com/ to locate and book these places).
We moved to Sindhudurg fort after breakfast. It is an amazing fort in the middle of the sea. Rocky surroundings make it difficult for enemy boats to reach giving added protection to the fort.
This is among the last of the big forts in the chain almost 65 forts (small and big- ranging from North to South) that Chhatrapati Shivaji built along the coast of Maharashtra. The fort sprawling over 45 acres was built in record time of 3 years (1664 to 1667).

There are 42 bastions to the fort along the boundary wall. The wall is built with Mixture of jaggery, lime, udad dal(lentils) and molten lead. It is so strong that after facing strong waves for centuries they are still intact. There are three sweet water wellss namely Dhudhbaon, Dahibaon and Sakharbaon (baon means “well” in Konkani the native lanugage). Besides there are temples of Bhawani, Mahadev(Shiva), Mahapurush and Shivarajeshwar. Shivarajeshwar, is temple of Shivaji, built by his son Rajaram. This is also the only fort where palm and foot print of Shivaji, taken in lime mortar are preserved. These were taken when he came to visit the fort after its completion.
In front of the Mahadev temple is a small well and apparently there is a secret tunnel from inside the well(local legent). This tunnel goes few Kilometers under the sea and comes out on land. It was used as escape route, in times of trouble. You can see the opening in the picture; but where exactly it leads; is not known as excavation is yet to be done.
This fort again shows foresight of Shivaji; who had predicted that enemy will not only come from land but also from sea and hence building forts is necessary. Given the fact that, later British used the same route speaks of this wisdom.
Our guide told us very interesting story about construction of the fort. While this fort was being constructed, Shivaji had to go Agra to meet Aurangzeb who put him under house arrest. The reins of kingdom were with his mother in his absence. But obvious in such situation; money was falling short and his mother Jijabai gave token currency to workers with a promise that once Shivaji is back, everybody would be paid. Later the money was paid. But the saying came that “ye killa(fort) Kavadiyon ke Mole mein bana hai”

View of the fort from Boat

Well in front of Mahadeve Temple - opening of the tunnel can be seen

We came back and had lunch. We then moved on to see the surrounding area. We went northwards on coastal road to Aachare and then to Kunakeshwar.

There are some very interesting places on the way; which not many tourists know about. Once you leave Malvan at approx 5 km is Ozar. Don’t miss to spend time at Brahmanand Swami Samadhi here. It’s a small valley with a fresh water pond, a cave where swami stayed and some very old trees. The environment is blessed with absolute tranquility and is prefect for meditation.

Caves where Swami stayed

Old trees

We spend some time over there and then moved on to Aachare to see Rameshwar Temple. It’s more than 600 year old temple of Shiva with wooden pillars and ceiling. The pillars are big and carving is delicate. The pillars are painted and hence at first glance you don’t really understand that they appear to be cement or stone ones. We spent some time in the temple; speaking to the priest. He was delighted to know that we are travelers and not tourists. Even, he was fond of travelling and just few months back he had come back from Kashmir. The beach at Aachare is nice and secluded so if you are want to read/write a book or generally ponder on life then this is a recommended place.

Wooden pillates with carvings

Wooden ceiling

We then moved on to Kunakeshwar. The temple here is famous and was undergoing renovation. The town is like any other temple town; with crowded roads, lot of noise and dirt. I personally did not like this place much. It was already dark and we did not spend much time there. We started journey back to Malvan.

The next day we got up and went on a stroll on the beach. We then met people from the town who are running homestays. Ghar Mithbawakaranche is the oldest operator here and is famous for food. They chatted with us for some time. We then went on to meet Balu Padwal of Visava. Later we met Mr Khanvilakar of Ya-hoo hometel and many others. Their stories are worth reading (most of which are not told by them; but it is our research). They are mentioned here and I urge you to read on; as it not only the beach and sea that make a place interesting but tourism is about people and knowing their stories; is to know real India.
MTDC started effort of marketing Tarkarli with setting up a resort. At that time there was nothing in that town. Mr Mithbavkar, a locale from the village started as canteen contractor (I don’t think MTDC would have been able to get any outsider that time as business was not great). MTDC resort became famous for two reasons one its location and second its food. Mithbavkar operated the canteen till 2007 but in 2008 the property was privatized and his contract was discontinued; it is also suspected that there was political interference in the deal. Thus, the man who helped develop tourism and is a local lost his job and somebody outsider got it courtesy government body which was supposed to protect them. He is now operating his homestay and the food is still a big hit.
Balu, is absolutely forthcoming and blunt; which is why I liked him. If you go to Malvan make it a point to meet him. He started his life with selling Jambhul(Jamun) in a crate in front of MTDC resort gate. He started interacting with tourists and came to know that they need somebody as guide. He then started working as guide to them. This made him understand tourist psyche and preferences. From little money he had; he then started a homestay. He has now bought a boat and he plans to start backwater cruise(what a dream for guy who is not trained by anybody).
Mr. Khanvilkar was working working at Mumbai. There was lock-out in his company; he went back to Malvan to start a homestay as means of livelihood. He knew benefit of getting organized and hence formed association of homestay operators. They regularly meet and learn from each other.
Homestays are thus symbols of grit, survival instinct, innovation and commitment. It is better to support their dream of the future; than to throw money at some resort and buy luxury; raw material to which is cheap labour of locals, exploitation by people in power and dirty capital.
We spent evening on Tarkarli beach with plans to start for Vengurla in the morning…..

Coming up next Vengurla; then Gokarna and Murudeshwar ………………keep reading and keep giving feedback…

friend while you read this blog; two my fellow friends(jasleen and amit) are participating in mitsubishi driving challenge. they are the most lovely couple one can find on earth... vote for them by clicking link below....