Sep 30, 2005 05:06 PM
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(Updated Sep 30, 2005 05:06 PM)
I went to glorious Konkan in Jan. 05 by Car. I wanted to write this review little bit earlier but...ok..better late than never! I have covered Konkan extensively. It was 13 days trip. Below is narration of my trip. This is Part I, I will post other parts subsequently. I hope this will be useful... waiting for your comments and also you can e-mail me at deshmukhmm@gmail.com.
Getting Started
Many years the beauty of Konkan region has thrilled me. Konkan is land of world-renowned Alphanso mango. It is a land where tourism has become prominent business, which has improved everybody’s life in Konkan. It’s beautiful beaches, temples, historic places and above all its simple people, makes Konkan a unique tourist destination. After studying various hand-drawn maps and going through lot many Internet sites, the journey of Konkan starts.
Stops & Places
Lote Parshuram
It is believed that Konkan is Land of Lord Parshuram. Naturally, our Konkan darshan starts from this temple which is near Chiplun. After having hearty breakfast at Hotel Visava at Mahad, we have reached Lote Parshuram which is 77 kms. from Mahad. This temple is very old (approx. 300 yrs.) and beautiful. To reach the main temple there are steps going down. The temple contains 3 idols. While coming from temple, you can test famous Kokam Sarbat in nearby juice centres.
Vindhya Vasini Temple
This famous Goddess temple is in Chiplun. When we went there, it was 13.30 hrs. and temple was close. Owner of nearby flowershop told us that it will reopen at 1500 hrs. After some pursuing, he was kind enough to gave us keys of the temple and allowed us to take ‘Darshan’. Temple is small & beautiful and you can take rest in peace for few minutes.
Dervan
I have many times heard about famous historic museum known as Shiv Shilpa. Shurshti of Dervan. Therefore, after visiting Vindhya Vasini Temple, we went to Dervan from Savarde village. Through many sculptures, life of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has been shown with tremendous reality. All important events in his life has been recorded with brief historic paragraph under every sculpture. There is Samadhi Mandir of Digambardas Maharaj. (P.S. Sari is compulsory for ladies for Samadhi darshan). Visit to Dervan is like visiting history with its full glory.
After visiting Dervan we went to Hathkhamba Phata near Ratnagiri and took night halt at Hotel Alankar.
Route and Kms. from Thane to Hathkhamba fata (near Ratnagiri) (Total : 340 kms.)
Thane to Lonere Phata (144 Kms.) Lonere Phata to Mahad (23 kms.)
Mahad to Lote Parshuram (77 kms.) Lote Parashuram to Dervan (32 kms.)
Dervan to Hathkhamba phata (64 kms.)
Rajapur
Though we went in the month of November, we experienced heavy rains for about two hours on our first night halt. Next day weather was clear and there was pleasant auroma of wet plants & earth around us.
Our next destination was Rajapur. This town has very unique place because of its geological feature. Suddenly, without any indication, water flow appears on the nearby mountain (3 kms. away) which is called as ‘Ganga’. There is no particular day or time when it will appear but it appears after a period of 3 years and it stays there for about 2 months. From the childhood I have heard about this ‘Rajapur’s Ganga’. Now, I was about to see the same.
When we reach Rajapur it was almost 1200 o clock. After asking 2-3 local fellows, at last we reach the temple. There are about 14 Kundas near the temple. It is understood that in these Kundas water appears. They have been named as Kashikundh, Varunkund, Herakund, Vedikakund etc. Unfortunately, ours was not time for appearance of Ganga therefore Kundas were empty. We have learnt that when Ganga appears there is lot of rush and Rajapur becomes pilgrim Centre. We were totally disappointed because of the condition of the Kundas and nearby place were also not clean. I think no one goes in this temple except the Ganga timings.
Near the Rajapur, there is a temple called ‘Dhoodpapeshwar’ which is 6 kms. away. This is very secluded place. Instead of taking your own vehicle near the temple, better to park the vehicle in the market and then go by local Rikshaws. It is a ride through deep vegetation. Temple is very old and beautiful. They have got dormitory for staying.
After visiting Rajapur we have come again to NH 17 and started for Tarkarli beach near Malwan. A long way to go.
Route and Kms. from Hathkhamba fata (near Ratnagiri) to Rajapur
Hathkhamba phata to Rajapur on NH 17 is 82 kms. & it takes about 2.5 hrs.
Tarkarli Beach & Malwan
After about 15 kms. from Rajapur we came across Kharepatan. Here we took our lunch break at hotel Madhuban. (incidental information : It is understood that one can stay at Kharepatan and then go for Dajipur (famous Bison Sanctuary) which is 35 kms. away). Our next stop was Tarkarli beach. Tarkarli is 6 kms. from Malwan. We reach Tarkarli at around 17.30 hrs. and were fortunate to watch Sunset on this narrow but attractive beach with clear water. Efforts of reaching Tarkarli have drained all the energy but after watching the Sunset and stretching the legs on the soft sand on the beach, I was feeling fresh though little bit tired. MTDC has beautiful accommodation facility at Tarkarli which is near to the beach.
Route and Kms. from Rajapur to Tarkarli Beach near Malwan (Total = 107 kms.)
Rajapur to Kharepatan (15 kms.) Kharepatan to Nandgaon Phata (23 kms.)
Nandgaon phata to Shirgaon (11 kms.) Shirgaon to Malwan (52 kms.)
Malwan to Tarkarli beach (6 kms.)
