Nagaon - Cricket on the beach!

Nagaon Beach (09th Nov 2013)

Nagaon beach - all to ourselves!

          Beaches somehow don’t enthrall me that much, but I guess the group was a little weary of the same old trekking and needed another kind of getaway. So we planned a short visit to Nagaon beach near Alibaug. The list of beach bums was more or less constant this time, 10 former and present colleagues to be precise. Special migratory couple from Gujarat also joined us on this trip and PP, the profile princess also joined (He just couldn’t stop requesting for profile pics for facebook). The new entrant was Sumit Jagtap. It was also different this time since we behaved richer and went by cars instead of the usual local transport. Andy’s Ertiga and Jitesh’s Vento flew us to our destination.

          Our initial plan of leaving early was disturbed by Andy and group coming late and I had to face the brunt throughout the trip from Chu Chida and Profile Pravin. On the way we halted at Ekveera restaurant near Karnala and had our usual missal paavs and wada usals, the only things available on the breakfast menu – a huge relief for Chu Chida since he was almost fainting from hunger - Never bring children on such trips!

          We reached Nagaon by around 1 pm and were desperately hunting for our booked hotel Niwant. Hotel Niwant (http://www.niwant.com/) is an MTDC approved homestay type of hotel and is about a km further from the way to the beach. We had a room to accommodate ten people together with an open terrace. There are other a/c and non/ac rooms downstairs. The service is good. We immediately ordered for our lunch and really feasted on it. It was fantastic local food, both the veg and non-veg grubs. Once the feast was over, the lazy bums wanted to rest their bums and spoiled the initial plan of going to Kankeshwar Temple which is around 14 - 16 kms from Nagaon. Nagesh and I tried every possible way to disturb the sleeping fancies by playing cricket in the room and hitting the ball all over them but then we expressed pity on them and went to play downstairs.  Sumit, Nagesh and I played one-tappi out below the coconut trees and Sumit was clean bowled for at least 5 times…haha!!

          It was waky waky time for others as we kicked and abused and finally left for the beach at 4 pm. When I had visited Nagaon beach about 4 years back, it used to be pretty secluded but now there were huge crowds of people come out to enjoy the weekend. The beach is clean and is a long stretch where you can pick up your own spot either for a romantic rendezvous or mingle in the crowd. The beach is lined with Suru trees. There are water sports available at Nagaon like Banana boat ride, para sailing, speed boats etc. Horse rides and cart rides also feature! It was low tide when we entered into the water and till quite a distance the water level was pretty low. Water anywhere is pretty luring and we had great fun jumping and splashing in the water. As usual, no event can end normally with Chu Chida around and everyone involuntarily cornered him and hurled sand all over his body. As the sun was setting Chida was turning brown!

          Then came the main event of this beach trip…Cricket! Nagesh’s Ch… vs Soumen’s Bhoots! We won the toss and elected to bat and pulled out a decent score in spite of Profile Pravin wasting the entire over and then getting out. Till then we didn’t know that he was an impostor in our team and was bought by the opposite team. We almost won the match but Profile Pravin, like Ishant Sharma, as they say….showed his aukad and was hit sixes on practically every ball and we lost. Nagesh and Chida danced jubilantly like the ‘Chak De’ hockey team girls.

          Returning back, we saw lots of wet stuff walking on two legs. Everybody drooled – just human man! Returning back at the hotel, we cleaned ourselves of the beach sand by the spouting water from the pipe in the garden. That was fun too!! Then we went for a walk in the countryside, had ice creams and bought booze for the boozers. As usual Profile Pravin had his unique demand of Tuborg…we are getting used to him! Back at the hotel, the boozing party begun with a singing session but wasn't enjoyed as much as we did on the Bhimashankar trek. Then came dinner and with it came Bhai stories which was listened to with rapt attention. Pravin had just read the book ‘From Dongri to Dubai’ and was narrating excerpts from it and Jitesh had his own incidents to tell.

          While others went to sleep, 5 of us played cards till the wee hours of morning. In fact we were planning to drive home with the first rays of the sun but finally left at 7 am. Chida lost a lot, Pravin and I won and Chida has promised not to play again with us. Khelega kya Chida? ‘Tereko actual mein chu banaya’ J . Nagesh as usual knew all the roads and misled us continuously, but we reached home earlier than we anticipated (Pravin, Chida, Sumit and me not having slept a wink – and I drove most of the journey…pat my back please!!). A fun trip with a big enough group and it turned out to be the lowest budget trip.

A bit about Nagaon

• Nagaon is about 10 kms from Alibaug and though currently not secluded, you can find your own spot and have fun if you do not want to mingle with the crowd. It’s a long stretch of sand.
• The water levels are pretty low during low tide.
• As I have mentioned water sports are available.
• There are a lot of staying options around the beach and a little away from it too, depending on the damage you can handle on your pocket.
• Try the local culinary treats and have sol kadi for sure (I had 5-6 glasses each time!)
• The other spots nearby are Alibaug beach and Colaba fort on Alibaug beach, Kihim beach, Akshi beach and Kankeshwar Devasthan which is supposed to be scenic since on a hill top (We missed it this time).
• Mumbai to Nagaon distance - around 100 kms

Idhar paani udhar pathar aur beach mein hum

Beach buddies

Ghoda gaadi pe sawaari

Bhai's from Gujarat

Ever seen so many wicket keepers?? Nobody wants to field!!

Waving flag

Cricket on the beach

Watch tower - Baywatch ishtyle

Frolicking in the water

Chal Dhanno!!

Lakdi ki gaadi - asli ka ghoda

Bat man

The group minus Nagesh

Posing at Cadbury Naaka Thane - where it all began

Hungry faces at Ekvira Restaurant

Hotel Ekvira - Near Karnala

Feasting on local food!

What a banquet!

Hotel Niwant entrance

Our room at hotel Niwant

Hotel Niwant - Courtyard

Hotel Niwant

Standing tall

Kelwa/Palghar - Beach bumming

02nd June 2013

Secluded Kelwa Beach

          I have a book called ’52 Weekend Getaways from Mumbai’ and I intend to put a tick against each destination. So, Palghar it was this time. My parents elderly gang had been to this place and they had enjoyed it, so we too looked forward for the trip. My purpose of taking this trip was to enjoy a long drive.

          Palghar is situated around 100 kms from Mumbai/Thane on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway (NH8) and is the next major junction after Virar.. It is also a railway station on the Western Line. If you are coming by train and wish to spend time at the Kelwa beach, you can get down at the Kelwe Road Station, one stop before Palghar.

          We chose the wrong season and most importantly a wrong time of the day to visit the beach. We left Thane at around 12 noon and were there at the beach around 2:30 pm. Needless to say, the sun was its mocking best at that time of the day. The drive was nice though not very scenic. The roads however were pretty smooth and wonderful to drive on. You need to take a left at Manor junction to get to Palghar and Kelwa beach is almost 14-15 kms further.

          My intention was to spend time at the offbeat Devkhop Lake on the Manor Palghar road but was lead to disappointment on being informed by a villager that  there is hardly any water in the lake and hence no boating. As you cross the Surya river en route, you come across a small dam which is a nice enough spot and where you can spend some quality time by the water. Palghar is a town like any other. I find it funny that the final lanes while reaching most of the beaches look and feel almost the same. Whether you are reaching Kashid, Gorai, Arnala or Kelwe, the by-lanes stay the same – has anyone else made this observation? My nephew who was bored till the time we reached Palghar suddenly got fresh looking at the numerous Coconut and Toddy trees. By the time we reached the beach, we were dead hungry. There are many resorts on the way to the beach including the MTDC resort and what looked like a Dharamshala too! However, don’t expect to have only lunch at any of the resorts unless you are staying there since it is quite likely that you might be turned down. People were frolicking in the pools and enjoying the rain dance amongst some blasting music – not my idea of fun!

          We went first to the Shitala Devi temple adjoining the beach and paid homage to the Goddess. There are many open air eateries just a minute before you reach the beach and we had our lunch at one of them. Local women cook and serve you food. Chicken thali it was for all of us. It was surprising that fish was not on the menu at most of these eateries even though Palghar is a coastal town. There are other smaller wada paav and bhajiya stalls and myriad other stalls selling everything that you would possibly be needing at the beach right from beach balls to shorts to caps!

          After satiating our tummies, we ventured out to the beach. The way to the beach is again lined by various stalls and the items on the list range from Coconut water to dried fish to yummy gollas to berries to mangoes to cool cucumbers and what not. Having so many toddy trees, seeing taadguls everywhere was obvious and we binged on them. It’s funny to see dried fish being creatively decorated for sale in a wicker basket. The beach is lined with Suru trees all along and though the sun was its shining best, there was a gentle breeze swaying the trees. The sand is a little on the darker side and the beach was relatively clean. Even on a hot summer afternoon, the turnout of people was amazing as they splashed and frolicked in the water. The whole lot of people though was concentrated in one part of the beach and the rest of the beach looked neglected and secluded. The entire beach would roughly be a stretch of 3-4 kms and you can see the Kelwa fort in the distance. I guess one need to walk parallel along the beach to reach to the fort and it is likely that part of the way to the fort would be submerged under water at high tide; something similar to the Colaba fort at Alibaug. There are camel rides and horse carts at your disposal. There are no water sports at Kelwa yet. Didn’t see any water birds either and the common scene of boats lining the horizon was also missing, maybe because of the wrong timing of the day. My nephew and I enjoyed splashing and running after each other in the water while my wife was happy observing us from a distance and enjoying the breeze while she guarded our belongings. As it turned 5 in the evening, the low tide started snatching the sand beneath our feet and we thought it to be a good time to head home. Sadly, didn't click many photographs this time.

          Overall the trip to Kelwa beach/Palghar is a good weekend getaway from Mumbai and one can add more spots to visit to their itinerary. One can go to the nearby Mahim, Satpati or Shirgaon beaches which are just a few kms away from Kelwa. There is also a fort lining the Shirgaon beach.

          We took a little longer to reach home since it started raining and we halted at a scenic location on the Ghobunder Road called Gaumukh. A good drive and a well spent Sunday!! 

HAPPY TRAVELLING!!  

Kelwa Beach - The horse carts were here!

Magic at the beach - floating in air and smiling too!!

Pakda pakdi on the beach

Shoes, camera, denims, water, taadguls, cap, everything available but nothing for sale

Kelwa Beach 

Water boy

Did he catch it??

All I need is a beer hic!

Jhonty, I have arrived!!

Almost everybody floats in water, floating in air is no childs' game

Konkan Yatra - Day 5 - Ganpatipule, Jaigad Fort and places nearby

Konkan Tourism

Jaigad Fort & Lighthouse | Ganpatipule | Karateshwar | Kunkeshwar | Laksmi Keshav Temple | Marleshwar | Rajapur | Ratnadurga | Ratnagiri | Vijaydurg

Other weekend getaways

Arnala Beach | Gorai beach | Jawhar | Karla Caves | Karnala Bird Sanctuary | Kashid | Konkan | Mahabaleshwar | Matheran 

18th July 2012

Day 5 (Ganpatipule - Ganpati Bappa Mourya!!)

          It’s such an arduous task to get up for office every morning. The alarm keeps ringing and you speak to it and say “5 minutes, just 5 more minutes” before you collapse yet again into your pillow.
          We didn’t need an alarm! The clock struck 6 and we were up and ready, packing our stuff and by 7 am, we were at the Ratnagiri bus-stop to catch the bus to Ganpatipule. That’s the power of a getaway!!
          Every destination on the Konkan plate is through ghats and ghats, turning and twisting like snakes, ascending and descending like a yo-yo. Through the Sagari marg, we reached Ganpatipule in about an hour. The bus stopped pretty close to the temple. Even though it was off-season, there were the hotel guys standing at the bus-stop to persuade you to stay at heir hotel. We thought of having a look at the MTDC before making a decision. The MTDC proved to be costly for us bag-packers and we didn’t look further and agreed to accompany the guy with the Scorpio to take us to his hotel as Nagesh was dying to sit in the Scorpio – the snake on the scorpio…haa!!

          After having a round table conference and thinking of all the pros and cons and in the benefit of the country and mankind, we decided to stay at ‘Konkan Sea View’ which is far from the beach and temple. However, the good thing was that the hotel provided pick-up and drop services anytime you wanted to get down to the temple till 8 pm. We also opted for their planned tour of visiting the nearby places. The room was in okay condition but we got it cheap for INR 800. There was no sea facing view which the tout had promised. Hot water was available and the toilets were in good condition. We had to ask the guy multiple times for cleaning up the room though and room service was a bit lousy. There is no dearth of accommodation in Ganpatipule and most of them you will find near the temple and beach itself. Most of the eateries are also in the line of the temple itself.



Ganpatipule Temple & Beach


Ganpatipule Temple

         The tour started with us visiting the Ganpatipule temple. We 6 people had an entire TATA Winger to ourselves and the trip was to cost us INR 900 i.e. INR 150 each. The Swayambhu Ganesh temple is what gives this place its fame. It is flocked by thousands of worshippers throughout the year. This deity faces the West, so as to guard the western gates, unlike deities in other Indian temples who face the east. It is a neat temple having carvings of AsthaVinayak Ganpati on its outer walls along with other Goddesses. There is a huge mouse at the entrance of the way to the temple. The temple has a shining ‘Kalash’ and ‘Trishul’ on its top. The temple is overlooked by the mountains behind it and the shining clean beach and the sea in front. Various Deepmalas outside the temple make it look more beautiful. We paid our obeisance to the Lord. If one wants to have a pooja done in the name of someone, they can pay whatever they wish and write their names and addresses on the provided enveloped. Whenever a MahaPooja happens in the temple, the prasad is sent to the devotees address. We were lucky enough to be present as the Aarti started. As we were walking out, they were offering prasad of khichdi which we ate with relish. One can buy those big prasaadi ladoos from here for taking home. They are really yummy!!
          As Sada, Sandy and Balu went to the beach to click more photos of them – proof that they were here, Jayu and me went to the small shops outside the temple to buy some of the famous Kokum stuff. I bought some Kokam Aagal which is used to make Sol Kadi, in the preparation of fish etc. The other stuff you get here are dried Mango pulp, jack fruit chips, Kokum syrup, ginger products, aavla products, pedas etc. The beach here is not very safe for swimming though is a very clean and scenic stretch of sand.

History of the temple

          During the reign of Moguls (about 1600 years before), there was a' kevda' (Flower tree) Jungle at the foot of the hill where the temple of the 'Swayambhu' Ganapati is presently situated. Here lived Balbhatji Bhide, a brahmin, who was a renter of the village, during the moghul period. Bhide encountered a major personal problem. Bhide being a determined person, that he was, made up his mind to give up food and water till being relieved of the personal calamity. He stayed in the Kevda - Jungal for penance and to worship his tutelary direty' mangalmurti' (Lord Ganesh) during this period, Bhide had a vision about Lord Ganesh who said, “I have come to Aagargule (Ganesh Gule) to fulfill the wishes of my devotees. You worship and propitiate here, and will be relieved of all your difficulties”
          During the same period, one of the cows of Bhide was not giving milk, for which reason, the cowherd kept a close watch on her. He was astonished to see that the milk was flowing from the cow's udder on the place where the idol of the God is placed at present. The cowherd narrated the incident to Bhide. After cleaning up the entire area Bhide found the idol of Lord Ganesh which he had seen in his vision He built a shrine here and started performing the rituals. (Source :http://www.ratnagiriinfo.com/tourism/Ganpatipule.html)

Ganpatipule Temple

AsthaVinayak Ganpati

Beautifully carved Shikhar of the temple

 

Peshwa Smarak


Peshwa Smarak, Ganpatipule

         We moved on to our next destination which was the Peshwa Smarak. The rains would not leave us alone. The smarak is an old house of one of the Peshwas. Though the house construction looks rustic and authentic from the outside, am sure there has been many recent additional touches to it. It gives a glimpse of how houses used to exist earlier in this part of the country, though not much has changed and am sure many of the richer houses in the villages would be similar to this. As you exit the house on the back side, it opens to a small garden with a beautiful wall, a small pond and a library and the office behind it.



Beautiful Garden inside the Smarak premises

Fish Aquarium – Matsalay

         

          We went to another fish aquarium which is on the way to Jaigad from Ganpatipule. The charges were INR 15 per head, but the fishes were not that great. Most of them were tank fishes, which anybody having a fish tank at home would be aware of. The bad part is there is nobody to show you around or give you some information on the fishes. Can be avoided!

Jaigad Fort


Entrance to Jaigad fort

         From the Jaigad fort, we expected the splendor similar to Vijaydurg and Ratnadurg as this was yet another sea fort. However, we were disappointed!! Nothing to see much in the fort and it is a small one. It would hardly take 20-30 minutes to roam the entire fort. Though the entrance looks promising from outside, as you enter, the walls are marked with unwanted graffiti and the love stories of the village youth – Pakya loves Pinky, Arun and Prabha on either side of the arrow bisecting the heart, phone numbers of girls to be called in distress, stories of friendship of Amar, Akbar and Anthony – why were books and pages and slates ever invented? There is a recent concrete structure being built almost at the entrance, don’t know what it is for but looks quite unwelcome. There is hardly any security to be seen at any of the forts in Maharashtra, how sad! A huge well and some broken building structures adorn the base of the fort. Some shepherds were grazing their sheep and it looked pretty. The scenery also ain’t that pretty though you get to see the sea and the nearby port, it is not half as wonderful as Vijaydurg or Ratnadurg. While I was clicking photos, the others went ahead. As I walked the edges of the fort, saw a snake. Thankfully I saw it and didn’t step on it. It was a slender brown snake camouflaged very elegantly in the stones of the fort and it was about 2 feet long. This was the 2nd snake I had seen in the last few days. The other one I had seen when we stopped to take a leak as our vehicle broke down while returning from Kunkeshwar. This was a similar looking snake. I froze and returned back. On giving the snakes’ description to my friends later, they said it’s a poisonous one and it was a wise decision to not have ventured forward.
          After Jaigad, we broke for lunch at a hotel our erratic driver took us to. The food wasn’t good and there was no sol kadi!!



Huge well inside Jaigad fort



This is where I saw the snake

Jaigad Lighthouse



Jaigad Lighthouse

          The Jaigad fort, lighthouse, Karateshwar Mandir, the huge Chougule shipyard and Jindal power plant are in the near vicinity. As it had rained heavily, the road to the lighthouse had turned too mucky. You SHOULD visit the light house if you are in Ganpatipule. A Hyderabadi guy, who is stationed there for the maintenance of the lighthouse, shows you around and inside the light house. The scenery from the top is very beautiful and serene! The guy explained us the machinery of the lighthouse and how it worked. He explained how every lighthouse has a different colour combination. This one had red and white stripes whereas the one in Ratnagiri has black and white stripes. The light emanated from here is visible for 44 kms in the sea. It is a huge help for ships in the night to know where the shore lies. Ships can also know the identification of each lighthouse from the number of flashes generate in each minute, since each lighthouse has a different combination. The funny part was that this lighthouse was being operated from Mumbai and not here. The lighthouse was a nice experience. There are timings to visit it – from . Just outside the gate of the lighthouse, the scenery is very beautiful with greenery leading all the way up to the sea.
          Somewhere on the way, we saw Undi beach which has blackish sand but was completely deserted. This was one of the designated spots in our tour but we were happy to skip it.



Jaigad Lighthouse

Source of light - a guide to ships

Karateshwar Mandir

          The Karateshwar Mandir is at the tip of the mountain and is at a very scenic location near the se shore of Jaigad. It is a temple of Lord Shiva in one of his forms. It was raining very heavily and some of our folks wanted to skip this. We waited for some time and as the rain subsided, we quickly ventured to the temple. There is a ashram being built outside the temple. It is said while doing pradakshina to any of the Shiv temples, one should traverse only half the circle and not cross the path of the Shivling. 

Lakshmi Keshav Mandir



Lakshmi Keshav Temple

          The Lakshmi Keshav Mandir was the last destination. It was far from Jaigad. Our erratic driver tried every possible way to frighten and kill us by his superb driving skills on the dangerous ghats but we survived by the grace of God. You asked him a question and he behaved like a deaf person. Expecting him to tell something about the place was too much!
The Laksmi Keshav Mandir at Kolisare village was at a very secluded but scenic spot. We could not see the idol as the interiors were locked. The temple is well built and clean. The wooden arches
          Are nicely constructed and care has been taken that no water drips in the temple. There are steps leading down where you can see ‘Teerth’ from the temple flowing. Even though at such a secluded spot, care has been taken to built toilets for the bhakts, which is not a common sight in other such temple complexes.

History of Temple

          Kolisare is not only famous for its natural beauty but also famous from Spiritual point of view. A renowned temple of Lord Lakshmi- Keshav is situated at Kolisare. Lakshmi- Keshav is Kuldaivat (Guardian God) for many Maharashtrain families. The temple is around at 2000 feet height from mean sea level. The deity of the Lakshmi- Keshav is having a long history. Before 1200 years ‘Rashtrakul’ family was ruling over Marathwada region of Maharashtra. All the family members were devotees of Lord Vishnu and they had constructed many beautiful temples. After few years due to attacks of Mughals, many deities were immersed into the water for protection. Such one deity is immersed into the ‘Rankal Lake’ near Kolhapur. The same deity is installed at Lakshmi- Keshav Temple Kolisare. This ceremony was took place in the year 1510. The deity is the example of rich ancient Indian sculpture. The height of the deity is around 5 feet with all the ornaments and weapons. (Source :http://www.ratnagiriinfo.com/tourism/Kolisare.html)



The wooden arches of the Lakshmi Keshav Temple



Beautifully located - Lakhmi Keshav Temple

Prachin Konkan

          From the Laksmi Keshav Temple, as we drove back to our hotel, we passed by Prachin Konkan, which was on our itinerary but had closed down at 6 pm.

          When it was dinner time, we walked all the way down in darkness from our hotel to the vicinity of the temple as most of the restaurants were out there. It was a good 2-3 kms walk and we enjoyed it as there was no rain but the wind gave us company and arguing over a distant light which some thought were from the lighthouse we had visited in the afternoon, we reached Joshi Khanavli where we were ready to have dinner. For a change the food was good and we had sol kadi too though when we asked for the next glass, there was none left. Another eventful day came to an end as we huffed and puffed back to our hotel listening to the timeless guitar of David Gilmour.

More Photos

Entrance gate to the Ganpatipule temple

Way to the beach

...and the door opens to the Lord



Deity carvings on the Ganpatipule temple



God and me



Shikhar



AsthaVinayak Murtis



Ganpatipule temple



Non Peshwa come to visit the Peshwa



Peshwa Nageshwa



Angels



Jaws - Part V



Jaigad fort



Old and withered - Jaigad fort



The grass is green on all sides!!



Seen it all!!



The chimneys of Jindal Power plant from the fort



Maaaaaahhh!!!



Beautiful Jaigad Lighthouse



View from the Lighthouse



Group photo at the top of the Lighthouse

There flows the wind