Raigadh

After MP, this was my second excursion in the same year. This time was 3 day trip to Raigadh district. We started our trip or shall I say field trip on 8th Jan ’05 & returned back on 10th Jan ’05. Let me describe my trip in details.

On 8th Jan, early morning at around 7:30am we started our journey by bus. We reached Shrivardhan by 2:00noon where we were put up at Mr. Gandre’s place, a beautiful little bungalow.

Shrivardhan is a small city located around 200kms from Mumbai. It takes roughly six hours to reach by road. Beautiful beaches, plenty of temples & a great historical background partially describe this petite city. The history of Shrivardhan is related to the Peshwas, who ruled Maharashtra for nearly 105 yrs. Peshwai started in 1713 in Shrivardhan. The 3rd Peshwa Balaji Bajirao had built a house here in 1750 which is at present under the control of Municipal Corporation.

After resting and having our lunch we visited a temple which was built in 1979. Thereafter we went for a visit to Shrivardhan Fish Landing. We observed various fishes like silver pomfret, indian mackerel, crabs, rawas, surmai, along with various crafts like dugout canoe & semi-mechanized boat. After about an hour & a half we headed towards beach. It was a beautiful beach where we spent about 2 hrs playing and enjoying the serenity that surrounded us.

The next day we headed to Murud, a village in Raigadh district which

is about 45kms from Alibaug. The fortress Murud-Janjira is famous for being the only fort along India's western coast that remained undefeated despite Maratha, Dutch and English East India Company attacks. 300 yrs old fort is built in the sea 2kms inside of the village. There are inall 19 buruj in the fort. Every buruj has huge guns on it of which three big guns ‘kalal bangadi’, ‘chavari’ & ‘landa kasam’ are well known. Fort was built by Burhan Khan, a minister of Nizamshah. Ever after repeated effort to capture the fort by Marathas like Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji & Peshwas, the fort remained impregnable.

After spending time exploring the fort we headed towards Devagar to visit the famous Golden Ganesha Temple whereafter we went to Devagar beach.

On the 10th Jan that is the last day of our trip we headed for Harihareshwar, one of the finest places in Konkan. It is only 25 Kms for Shrivardhan. Harihareshwar is known as Kashi of Southern India. The hill on the seashore at Harihareshwar is also known as 'Harihar' or 'Pushpadri'. The town of Harihareshwar is not only known for its tranquil and picturesque beach but also for the of Harihareshwar. The temple is old & might be constructed in Shivaji's period. But it was re-constructed by First Bajirao Peshawa in 1723. The temple consists of idols of Brahma - Vishnu - Mahesh and Devi

Parvati. The other temples in the premises are of Shri Kalbhairav and Shri Yogeshwari. According to the one legend, during a confrontation with Bali the demon, Vishnu took 3 steps, one of which landed in Harihareshwar. Another legend tells of Saint Agasthi, who discovered four swayambhu lingams in Harihareshwar and found the peace he longed for.

Truly, Harihareshwar is a place of temples and beautiful seashore. The atmosphere here is very auspicious and creates pleasure. The seashore, beach, the dark woods near the sea and the temple are worth to visit.

From here we headed back to Mumbai, but not before a short visit to a Samrajya fish-farm (5kms from Harihareshwar) owned by Mr. Sharad Patil. We reached Mumbai at late evening.

All in all it was a fun trip and it was great to explore such exquisite beaches I would have ever known.