Mesmerizing Konkan

Hi All!

When you speak about Konkan, the first thing comes in your mind is sea, coconut tree, betel nut trees and sea food. The area full of natural beauty, serene landscape, less pollution, lots of rain and the place free from urban development. Konkan is word which means corner (in Hindi Kona), piece of land or area on earth. It is an amazing region lies between the coastal region of Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats. Its eastern boundaries are formed by the Western Ghats (Sahyadri Mountain Range) and the Arabian Sea make its western boundaries. Daman Ganga in the north and Gangavli River in south makes it north and south boundries. It starch from coastal areas of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.  The people living in Konkan speaks Konkani language which is a mixture of Marathi and other language like malvani, koli etc. Konkan region has agriculture a major source of income and the local economy depends on mainly tourism, fisher mangoes, betel nuts and cashews.

When you say about tourism there are many exotic beaches like Alibagh and Ganpatipule, Forts like Murud Janjira and Sindudurg, Ratnagiri is famous for Alphonso Mangoes and mix of hills of Sahyadri Mountains and the gushing waves of Arabian Sea, and the ancient temples like Marleshwar, Harihareshwar and Shri Ganpatipule Mandir.

Day 1

Devrukh is the place where we decided to stay. Devrukh is near about 305 Kms away from Pune and almost the same distance from Mumbai. Devrukh is the town in Ratnagiri district having decent climate and lot of greenery as you will see most of the land in surrounding is utilized for farming. The town has its own importance in history as it’s been said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj used to frequently come to this town for visiting “Shri Soljai” temple. And the same town was used as horse stable in the times of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. There are many nice hotel where you can use for accommodation. We started from Pune in late morning and reached Devrukh at night.

Day 2

We started our Konkan trip by visiting Marleshware temple. It is about 17 Kms away from Devrukh. It’s a small Shiva temple and can be reached by climbing approximately about 400 stairs. While climbing there are many food stalls where you can get refreshments to keep climbing and also water flowing down and over the rocks makes a very beautiful sound which will follow you with your climbing. Upon climbing all the way up you can see the temple in the cave and there is very small door or entry to get into the caves. There is a very beautiful view of Marleshware waterfall just in front of the temple which can be admired. You would love the place as it’s surrounded by high picks of Sahyadri Mountains and the scenic view of big and small waterfall in the surroundings.

Than we went to Ratnadurg fort which is basically in the Ratnagiri. A walking distance of 2 Kms from the city. The fort is famous in the region due to the existence of Bhagawati temple inside the fort. The fort was under the rule of Shivaji Maharaj as he won it from Adil Shah of Bijapur in 1670s and later it went to Pehwas regime and finally won by British in 1818. It’s a very nice fort as it’s in much better condition than the other forts in the region. On one side of the fort you can see a very magnificent hill which bottom rocks are meeting with the sea and the other side you can see Ratnagiri Jetty. At the end of the day we went to Ratnagiri beach to see Gateway of Ratnagiri which is a nice platform built into the sea.

Day 3

We decided to go Ganpatipule which is about 60 KMs from Devrukh and 25 Kms away from Ratnagiri. It is approx. 329 Kms away from Mumbai and 336 Kms away from Pune. As we started from Devrukh it took us about 2 hours to reach Ganpatipule. We reached near about 11:30 am and it took us 30 mins more to find the appropriate parking, the reason being that there was lot of rush. We could see cars parked couple of Kms from the actual spot. Ganpatipule is the famous tourist destination in Konkan region and also in Maharashtra. The Ganpatipule is very famous for the 1600 yrs old Swayambhu Ganpati Temple which is at the base of the hill and on the beach. The name originated from the belief that Ganpati the Hindu God, came to Pule from his previous residence Gule when he was insulted by a lady.

There was an ancient folklore which state that the Brahmin who used to live in this place got the opportunity to witness the self-manifested deity of lord Ganpati immerse from the ground on itself thus called Swayambhu Ganpati. Ganpati here is considered as the most awakened and is famous as Navsala Pavnara Ganpati (One who fulfils all kind of vows).

After Darshan we went to beach which was crowed. We spend some quality time in water playing with each other. Also at the beach we enjoyed Jet Ski ride, the banana ride and the bandwagon ride. There are other water sport at the beach which you can enjoy. At the beach there are washrooms where you can purchase a bucket of water at 10 Rs each for bathing. There are many refreshment stalls as well for you to eat. It’s a very beautiful and clean beach. The best season to visit is from Oct to Feb where the climate is not hot. It was night we reached Devrukh.

Day 4

It mainly for the return journey back to home. We reached Pune somewhere around 7 pm.

To summarize, it was a new experience and a wonderful trip. You will feel close to nature and people in this region are simple, loving and down to earth. Most of the population is involved in agriculture which is their primary source of income. The main take away point is that the region specifically Raigad, Ratnaagiri and Sindhudurg District are having less pollution as they away from urban areas. There are lots of other places in Ratnagiri district which you can visit like ancient Karneshware temple, Jaigad fort, Bhavanidad fort, Khorninko Dam, Savat Kada Waterfall, Mamacha Ghar Camp etc.