Murud to Shrivardhan and Harihareshwar, Dive Agar - Journey for Bikers, Motorists and Nature lovers

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Journey : from Murud to Shrivardhan & then Shrivardhan, Dive Agar and Harihareshwar.

If you wish to travel to Shrivardhan either from Mumbai or Pune, the commonly used route is to first reach NH 17 at Kolad via Roha and then go to Mangaon –> Goregaon and take right turn for Mhasla and then to Shrivardhan.

However we decided to take another route which goes along the coast through villages, the road is narrow and not in great condition, but it is unbelievably beautiful journey. We, set on course in the afternoon post lunch. We drove towards Janjira fort and half way took left turn to Agardanda.

Once we crossed Tokerwar, our one of the most spectacular journeys along side Arabian see began. Interemittantly, we were seeing creek on the right side where as lush green hills on the left hand side. It is very difficult to believe that such virgin and unexplored area exists; so close to Mumbai and Pune. If you are a nature enthusiast or you like driving or you are biker - this is the most recommended route by us. It may take more time but the experience is amazing.

We crossed following villages on the way

Tokerwar

Savli

Bhalgaon (after this village is bridge over the creek)

Mandad

Rovla

Varal

Tamhane

Kandalwada

Nigadi

Pabhare (the road goes thru the village so don’t get confused)

Khargaon – Budruk

Surai

Mhasla (From here turn right to Shrivardhan approx 18 km)

At Mhasla, you can decide to either turn towards Shrivardhan or to Dive Agar. We had decided to go to Shrivardhan as we had to meet Mr Bhagat or Bhagatsir (he is a teacher) over there. We reached in the evening, and located him.

Towards Agardanda

Savali to Bhalgaon

Rovla to Varal

He was one of the most impressive, knowledgeable and outgoing personalities that I met in my journey. Given the fact that he is a teacher; he had knowledge of grass root level issues and realities. We kept chatting till it was almost 9.30 p.m. We discussed many topics;; right from 1993 RDX landing at Shekhadi (its pretty close to Shrivardhan), to social issues involved in homestay business, to education to governance etc. His energy levels and would put a 20 year old young, to shame. Especially Ali had a special liking for him (because of ali's pseudo-socialist inclinations !!!!).

We then ate dinner and slept.

The next day morning we surveyed the whole town.It is a very interesting town which has great blend of modernity and tradition. It being a Taluka town there is trade and commerce,, which makes it cosmopolitan at the same time town also has historical importance. It is birthplace of Balaji Vishwanath, the first Peshwa of Maratha Empire. He was the first person to expand empire much beyond Maharashtra and bring unity across factions.

The town thus has significant population of Brahmins and they stay in a particular area ( named as Brahman Aali). This has added some colour of tradition, which make festivals very vibrant in the town.

The town is situated on coast and has very good beach, but access to the beach is a problem, you need to really look for access road. However, if you are travelling with family and want to experience traditional flavour this a place to be. With one of the persons here, we saw Dolphin and whale skeleton for the first time. It was interesting to see skeleton of huge whale, it is simply huge and strong.

Do not miss to see Jiwaneshwar Temple here at Jiwana Jetty. It is fabulous as not many people know about it. Wooden carved pillars are awesome. Also there is Laxminarayan temple in town which is really famous.

Jiwaneshwar Temple

Jiwaneshwar Temple - Wooden Pillars

Shrivardhan Beach

Balaji Vishwanath Statue

We spent day meeting people in the town and stayed overnight. This town has some natural advantages to develop tourism, being a big town access by public transport is easy. It is also possible to develop more restaurants over here and also activities on the beach. However there is general apathy in the governing bodies. Even the memorial of Peshwa is in real sorry state of affairs. We will have to wait till some other organization takes up the cause. In fact I would like to appeal to organizations of Chittapavan Brahmins to take first step in this direction.

The next morning we moved on to Dive Agar. This journey was also equally picturesque along side coast. You would see folllowing village en

Valvati
Aaravi
Shekhadi (known for RDX landing in 1993 Mumbai bombings)
Bharadkhol

Near Aaravi for the first time in my life I saw Dolphins while sitting in car and driving. They had come so close to the coast. Seeing them got down, and jumped like small kids. We spent almost 20 mins watching them and then moved on further

Dive Agar is a really interesting town, in fact its a village. It was a sheepish village, with progressive farmers growing Areca nuts, coconuts etc. The village has significant population of Brahmins. It also bear distinction of having its educated sons(they are educated in Pune and Mumbai) returning back to village to cultivate farms. As a result the village is very progressive as far as farming in concerned. It shot to fame in 1997, when a lady from the village by the name Mrs Draupadi Dharma Patil found a copper box in her fields while digging. When the box was opened it had a mask of Ganesha, made from pure gold. It is estimated to be 1000 years old, the quality of gold is superb and it weighed 1.3 kg.

As the news spread, the tourists thronged this place in hordes. This spirituality of tourists with consumptions of spirits disturbed the peace and serenity of the place. Thus in initial few years there was a lot of resistance towards tourism. However over a period of time things settled and now its a destination place.

Suvarna Ganesh

We met Mr Uday Bapat, Sarpanch of the village, he was nice person with lot of knowledge. That day was also a very interesting day, it is called World Hand Wash day. Staying in Metro I never realized that there are days like these, as well. This day is to increase awareness about cleanliness and sanitation among children. All the schools were having some program or contests to make kids aware; that they should wash hands before and after eating anything. I realized that to bring change such small initiatives are important, also there are people who are trying to do something. In Mumbai I had seen a lot of empty talk and celebrity buillshit on women's day and children day and all sorts of days in media, It had almost no relevance to reality. However at grass root level people are working with honesty and integrity for benefits of society, we are far away from such realities.

We tried meeting President of the Homestay owners association here but he could not give us time. We also discussed tourism initiatives with many homestay owners in the town. In the course of discussion we realized that this has social dimension also.

Every village is more feudalistic in structure either economic or social; as compared to indstrial socities. And thus there is a lot of gap between rich and poor, the landlords and small farmers or farm labours. While we asked people why cant you join us so that we increase business, the small operators told us that we need to go thru the association. It is controlled by the rich and famous here, they would not like us to come up in life, else their social dominance would be questioned. Hence nothing would happen thru the association.

My experience of cancelled meeting with president, was compelling me to believe them, but my progressive mind was not willing to agree. Later in my meeting with Mr Bapat, these doubts were cleared he promised us to hold a general meeting of homestay owners.

Dive Agar Beach

Dive Agar panchayat is doing a lot of efforts to promote good for the society. To mention specifically we found ladies employed by Panchayat cleaning the beach, this is not done even by Zilla Parishads at other places. Though we did not achieve a single tie-up we appreciated work of Panchayat a lot. We felt there was not much merit is waiting for another day here, and we decided to move to Hariharshwar and visite Dive Agar again on some later day. My pesonal opinion is that there is a lot that can be done to promote tourism here. However people in general and association in particular need to look at Marketing as Revenue Initiative than cost. As of now everything is literally "god given" and if efforts are not made this place would become full of lodges like Shirdi or Ganapatipule.

We reached Harihareshwar in the night.

Bhairav Temple

Its a nice small place with hills coming closer to coast. It has famous temple of Shiva in the form of Harihareshwar. The beach near temple is rocky and risky so swimming here is not possible. However very few people are aware that just 1.5 km ahead are the beautiful coconut plantation stays. The beach here is safe and you can enjoy your stay while being on Pilgrimmage.

Typically, places which are famous for temples rarely have good stay options e.g. Shirdi, Ganpatipule, vaishnodevi, guruvayoor etc. The reason is that most of the owners of hotels or homestays do not really need to focus on service and experience to gain business, everything is literally "god given". However, at Harihareshwar we could locate few homestays which were really nice. We listed them and moved on.

The next stop for us was even more interesting: We had decided to move in a ferry across creek with our TOYOTA INNOVA loaded with us ......................................coming shortly

for interesting homestay options in virgin areas : visit www.mygreatstay.com.

Alibaug

contd....

(In case reader finds any difficulty in understanding this post or they want additional travel tips do not hesitate to write to me at kishoraher@gmail.com)

We reached Alibaug towards late in the evening. On the way I called up the place where I had stayed earlier; but he was already having guests so, he suggested me to stay at Shree Holiday Resort owned by Mr Kaustubh Raut. We went there, Mr Raut is really a nice and humble person. He started this business of Homestays just last year. He has only 2 rooms for guests but lot of open space with garden. The garden does not mean the one with lawns ( I find it too artificial and too much in order to be called natural). So the garden here means plantations; and across coast of Konkan gardens are only plantations)

We had food and kept chatting with Mr Raut for some time. He moved here after taking VRS from his earlier employer. He was constructing 2 more rooms. His eagerness to provide service was amazing. I was thoroughly impressed. Next day morning we got up and had breakfast. We got some travel tips from Mr. Raut. We also explained him about our venture and he was willing to join in.

Over the next few days we wanted to see all the interesting places around Alibaug. We also wanted to compare which beach is the best.

Accordingly we visited all the beaches on Rewas - Mandva - Alibaug road. We also met quite a few number of people and following is the essence of our findings.

There are mainly 3 beaches in this area; if we move from Southern tip to north, the first is Saswane, the second Kihim and then Awas. Alibaug is the hottest destination for weekends and you would not get place to stay unless booked in advance. Still not many people know about these beaches. Of the three Awas is the best one, but very few know this. Kihim has a lots of rocks and Saswane is full of rocks. However most of the people know only Kihim as MTDC has promoted it heavily. So while you go to Alibaug make sure that you see Awas as well; besides its not too far and local transport is available.

Awas Beach

Kihim Beach

Saswane Beach

In addition there are two more places that one must see..

1) Kunakeshwar Temple : Going to this temple can be a nice trek. However it would take more than 1.30 hrs so avoid afternoon climb.

2) Karmarkar Shilpalay : This is known to very few .. but in my opinion this place is a must visit. You get to see master pieces pf sculpturing.

To see more pictures and know about stay options visit http://www.mygreatstay.com/
There is also the fort of Alibaug but it is closer to Alibaug town and not to this road.

There are also two forts namely Khanderi and Undheri in the sea; you can tie up with fishermen to go there. These are among the first 2 forts; in the chain of 65 small and big forts from North to Suoth; that Chhatrapati Shivaji built to protect coast of Maratha Empire.

The interesting aspect of tourism about this place is that it is controlled neither by service nor by location. It is controlled by mode of transport and proximity. Till Catamaran service was not existing; bus and car were the popular modes of transport. From the road to alibaug, Mandva road is quite far and as such buses do not come here, they rather go to Alibaug town. As such Nagaon beach(which is on Alibaug - Revdanda road) was more popular.

Then started Catamaran service, the operators of Catamaran also deployed buses which would drop people on the way. Thus, travelling on this road became very comfortable. This brought boom in tourism business.

When I met people along this road to promote their homestays; they were simply not interested. I met chieftains of their association; they were of the opinion; that they need business only on weekdays or get us foreigners so that we can charge more. Putting such condition on our portal would have been nothing less than stupidity; so I did not really put effort in this area.

The other reason sited by them for avoiding tie-up was that they would have less profit margin. Anyways in my first two days of Konkan visit, I realized four key aspects of homestay owners:

1. They believe volume can not increase so there is no point in losing margins. In other words, Cost orientation is much higher than Revenue Orientation.

2. People with exposure to tourism or apparently educated people; also are not confident of bringing in premium customers to their homestays. All of them are competing for the same set of middle/ upper middle class customers.

3. From the people I met, I found out that people who can speak English(it is not a measure of education always; as there are many people educated in Marathi here); believe in questioning rather than listening to you. They are also the most suspicious kind of lot (while I write this in English; I am suspecting that you would bunch me along with them).

4. People are divided on the basis of need. Established people do not need marketing efforts where as new comers do need it. Unfortunately associations or social bodies are presided over established people so the associations do not try or rather discourage marketing tie-ups. This leads to, not so established people feeling that, established ones do not want them to come up. Funnily later in my journey also wherever I met associations I could not do business. Thus progress is an individualistic or at best family phenomenon; associations have not much contributed to it.

On this note, we moved on further south to Revdanda and then to Murud; bidding farewel to Mr Raut.

Murud is approximately 1.30 hrs drive from Alibaug.

We started late in the evening and reached Murud at around 8.00 p.m.

Travel Tips:

• Do not forget to carry Mosquito Repellent.
  

• Do not venture in deep sea, the coast here is rocky and you can suffer injury.


• In case you wish to see clean waters; you need to move ahead to Kashid at least.


• Do not create noise; homestay owners' are hassled with behaviour of tourists. As most of the people only consume booze during the visit and create raucous. These are homes and they do suffer from indecent behaviour
  
  

Soon coming Murud Janjira and Kashid..............this journey will continue till I cover entire western coast of India... so keep reading and keep writing to me


for better quality homestay options please visit:

http://www.mygreatstay.com

Travel From Mumbai to Alibaug

The first Journey Mumbai to Down south Coastal India:

As I start this blog to share my experiences in my pursuit to follow my dream of travelling to every nook and corner of this great country India and let you all see them thru my words, lenses and not to mention guide you in case you would like to come and stay at these places thru my travel portal.

I was joined by Ali in my maiden trip and we decided to start with the western coast of India by road. Our mandate was to travel thru the small roads connecting villages and avoid highways as much possible. We did not want to miss any village around the coast; so that we come across the most unexplored areas. We wanted to discover virgin beaches, forgotten monuments of historical importance, local faiths and stories around the worshiped deities and also get a flavor of local cuisine, customs and home stay that we could share with all people.

I had decided to start a portal on the concept of home-stays (Bed and Breakfast) while Ali was on the lookout for an irresistible spot where he would start his resort. Though both of us were sure about what we wanted to do however we had different approach to our business (but obvious, Ali was all the time trying to convince me that how dumb I was; and without his guidance I would be nowhere in life).

Following is the extract of our journey and also about lots of people whom we met; their approach to tourism, business and of course have a slice of their way of life, faiths, believes, convictions, aspirations – we were dealing with personalities totally different and some of them probably you would never meet in your day to day life. We saw lots of places and had tremendous insights into the interiors of this giant nation. Hope it makes interesting reading for you all.

Before we start I need to specify that I have travelled a lot in India before, ranging for Kashmir to Badrinath (in Himalayas); from Jaisalmer to Benaras etc. However I had not travelled much on the coasts. My earlier travels were about seeing places and a hurried running around with the local guide to complete one tourist location to other. On the contrary this time I was a traveller and not a tourist – I had time at my disposal so I spent at least a day even in a smallest location that held me with its heavenly beauty rarely known to many others. I spent time with locals. So this not a journey only about places, rocks, trees, rivers and sea but this is about living beings as well. Who I believe are the real essence of India... so welcome to my version of real India and real life...................

We began at from Mumbai by 4.00 p.m, Ali had landed at airport by 12.oo to join me. We had lunch meeting with Khan (our engineering college friend) at Vashi and moved on towards Panvel. The moment you cross Panvel and turn right to Goa highway; you cross from grey concrete world to emerald world, with lush green hills around. The air becomes clean and to feel it well a/c needs to be switched off.

Approximately 12 km head of Panvel 12 km is the fort of Karnala. Just 5 km before you reach the fort is Shirdhone, birthplace of Aadya Krantikarak (first Revolutionery) Vasudev Balwant Phadke.

Shirdhone:
Born on 4th November 1845, he was grandson of Fort-in-charge of Karnala, due to which he had happy and luxurious childhood. Since early days he was fond of bullock carts so he was presented with a Goat Cart by his family and you can see it even today.Born on 4th November 1845, he was grandson of Fort-in-charge of Karnala, due to which he had happy and luxurious childhood. Since early days he was fond of bullock carts so he was presented with a Goat Cart by his family and you can see it even today. While he was working with British Military Finance Dept in 1870, his mother expired and he was not granted leave. This episode had deep impact on him and he decided to revolt against British Rule.



In the famine of 1876 while people were dying of starvation, he raised a force of locals and to raid the rich and famous in order to feed the poor. His vision was to achieve freedom for nation, and create Indian Republic. Subsequently, he was caught British and charged of treason. He was sentenced for life imprisonment and shifted to jail of Eden in 1880.
On 17th Feb 1883 he died of tuberculosis. His old home is today in dilapidated state; but there is a memorial built in his
honour. While you travel on this road please do not forget pay homage to this hero of the nation.

I had seen this place before but Ali was pretty excited to see it. While I was clicking pictures of the Memorial, he explored the rest of the village. We then moved on to fort and bird sanctuary.










Karnala Fort and Bird Sanctuary:
The climb to fort of Karnala is approximately 3 km, however the last 1 km is slightly rocky path and hence difficult for those who are not used to it. It can be really refreshing trek as the surroundings are lush green.







There is also a small bird sanctuary around the fort. As per laws birds can’t be kept in cages now (earlier this was the case); therefore try nature trail of 1 km in the sanctuary. There are close to 130 varieties of birds here, morning and evenings are better times for bird watching. Do not forget to carry binoculars.

I had climbed to the fort twice before and Ali once, besides it was getting late in the evening so we decided to move on further............

For information of good quality stay options and homestays visit:
http://www.mygreatstay.com/