Date - 18th December 2019
We (I and my husband) were planning to visit Ganpatipule for a long time but could not make it due to our busy schedules these days. But finally, the day had come, we were travelling to Ganpatipule to enjoy Xmas holidays and it was our bag pack trip, had not done a booking in any of the hotels. Our plan was to reach and then choose the hotel based on the location, ambience and of course a budget. I wanted to visit Audumber (Shree Kshetra Audumbar is in Palus Tehsil, 8 Kilometers east of Bhilawadi Railway station, is known for the shrine of Shree Dattatraya held in high reverence.) after hearing very good things about the place from a few of my friends and decided to have a halt there to break our journey in two parts to avoid continuous 8 hours driving from Pune.
Our journey began on 18th December afternoon around 3pm towards Audumber, after reaching Satara I started feeling nostalgic about Karad as I completed my engineering at Government College of Engineering Karad and did not get a chance to visit the college. I started convincing Kiran to visit the college as we were passing by there and got tempted to eat vada pav at the college gate, he agreed to have a pit stop at Famous Tapri for Tea and Wadapav.
We reached Audumber around 7pm evening. If you are going to the place, please avoid late-night travel as google map do not work there, it will misguide you and you will not be able to find it. We could only reach after getting the help of locals there. Audumber was our last minute plan and hence booking was not done to stay there. We met Mr Anant Kunte, who is a very kind and humble person who has given a room, it was the last available room there. After quickly freshening up and heading towards Shree Dattatraya temple, when entered in a temple we came to know that Aarti is going on and joined them. After aarti got over we returned to the room and enjoyed delicious prasad, which included amti, bhat, batata bhaji and Shira.
Date - 19th December 2019
We went to visit the temple and surrounding area, the temple is situated at the bank of Krishna River. After spending 2 hours on the premises we were back in the room to pack our luggage and vacate the room. Returned key to Mr Kunte to inform him about us leaving the place and left for Ganpatipule around 9am.
We took a right from Mumbai-Bangalore highway after Islampur and decided to follow Amba ghat route via 32 Shirala. Amba Ghat is one the most beautiful ghat with natural surroundings I have ever seen till today (I have not yet visited Amboli), picturesque mountain-scapes, green valleys and a pleasant climate. Beware of bad roads as road conditions were worse on a few spots, few rough patches and stretches were really dangerous. Though serene and natural surroundings make it a complete de-stress zone and one can spend hours staring at the silent valleys below. Could not resist ourselves to a quick stop for photography and tea and resumed our journey towards Ganpatipule. It was around 2 pm and started feeling hungry but decided to have lunch near Ratnagiri and hence continued to drive, but my son Aaravya was very hungry so we started looking for a good hotel and had lunch at Nisarg Dhaba.
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| Amba Ghat |
Followed the route as directed by google Maps by taking right from the Hatakhamba post office, and the road was very narrow as seems internal cycleways or footways, it took almost 1.5 hours to cover 30km and anyhow we managed to reach Ganpatipule at 5pm. Ganpati idol at Ganpatipule is said to have sprung up from the soil. This deity faces the west, to guard the western gates, unlike deities in other Indian temples who face the east. The temple is at the base of a hill, and pilgrims walk around (pradakshina) the hill as a mark of respect.
After reaching there we inquired at MTDC resort but unfortunately, there was no room or cottage available. After checking a few more resorts, got to know about Omkar homestay, it was a small lodge kind of arrangement but the rooms were very clean, pleasant and spacious too, so we decided to stay there and checked in. After taking some rest, went to visit the temple for aarti @ 7pm, and got prasad (Pulav and Sheera) as guided by local Sevekari. It was December month and could see many school trips and children were enjoying prasad and having fun at the beach. We were tired due to travelling the whole day so just had a walk at the beach for 15 minutes and went to the room. Our focus was to explore only nearby places. There was a map showing nearby tourist spots in Omkar homestay, after speaking with the owner got some guidance on when to visit which place and he advised me to visit Pawas tomorrow in case wanted to visit as some event was getting started on 21st December and would be large crowd staying there for next couple of days. We decided to visit Ratnagiri and Pawas the next day.
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| Ganpatipule Temple |
Date - 20th December 2019
After waking up at 6am, we visited Ganesh temple for darshan and started our journey towards Ratnagiri at 8am, and reached Patit Pawan Mandir, a place associated with Veer Savarkar. The temple is meant for showing the social reforms which were spearheaded by Veer Savarkar.
Patit Pawan Mandir, Ratnagiri
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| The Ancestral Home of Lokmanya Tilak |
It was almost 11.30 am so we started driving towards Pawas, saw a long stretch Bhatye beach and a temple of Zarivinayak, a quick stop was must there. A beach was not so clean when we were there but heard that it’s usually a clean shoreline with soft sands.
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| Bhatye Beach |
Ratnagiri to Pawas road is very scenic and in some places, you get the top view of the sea from the mountains. Pawas is famous for its natural beauty and tranquillity. We reached Swami Swarupanand Math Pawas around 1 pm, the place is a very peaceful, spiritual and neatly maintained memorial and his residence is now converted into an ashram which is used as a lodging and boarding facility for devotees. After taking darshan of Samadhi we explored some parts of Math. But as we made up our minds to see ancients Mahakali and Kankaditya temples hence did not spend much time at Pawas except having ice cream and some quick shopping at Desai Bandu Ambewale which is the exact opposite of the Math entrance.
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| Swami Swarupanand Math, Pawas |
Pawas to Adivare roadside is very picturesque as it went through the side of Purnagad, a small fort located on a northern hill on the Muchkundi River; but were not have enough time to go and see a fort so escaped it before we change our minds. After reaching Mahakali temple we were surprised to see such a beautiful old temple, though maintained very well, thank god it god added to our trip and we have been there. The five Gods, Shri Yogeshwari, Shri Mahalakshmi, Shri Mahakali, Shri Mahasaraswati and Shri Rawalnath are situated in this temple premises. The statue of Shri Mahakali is made up of black stone and is known to be facing southwards. The Goddess wears a necklace and a crown that holds the Damaru, Trishul, Talwar and the Panchpatra in each hand. Just by side of the temple, there are another temple - Nagareshwar(Shiva) temple and Ram Mandir.
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| Mahakali Temple, Adiware |
We had our evening tea at Adivare and headed towards Shree Kanakaditya (the Sun God) Temple, Kasheli which is a quiet and serene village is at a distance of approximately 30 km from Ratnagiri. The temple is about 900 years old and has a bright historical background. Authentic Konkani Kaularu architecture can be seen there. The interior of the temple is very beautiful with carvings and carvings on wooden pillars. Various deities are found carved on wood on the walls and roof of the temple. Rath Saptami festival is the most important festival there and the biggest attraction of this festival is a wedding ceremony of Kankaditya and Kalikadevi, the temple is certainly worth a visit.
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| Shree Kanakaditya Temple, Kasheli |
We started our journey back to Ratnagiri as it was already 5.00 pm and didn’t want to miss the sunset at Aare-Ware beach. Bypassing through dense Casuarina forests before crossing Purnagad's creek bridge near Gavkhadi beach, could not stop ourselves from getting down and visiting the beach, spent only 15 minutes there and resumed our journey. We reached at Aare-Ware beach around 6.45 pm, the sky was bright orange and red, the Sun is already touching the surface of the ocean. It seems in a hurry to disappear; slipping quickly behind the line of the horizon spreading its last rays, offering a perfect spot for nature photography.
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| Sunset at Aare-Ware Bridge |
Date - 21st December 2019
On Saturday we decided to stay at the hotel and not to visit any of the nearby places. Had lunch at Bapat Veg where the food was good. But Modak were awesome, enjoyed eating there. We went to the beach in the evening to play and had fun by doing a few water sports and returned after sunset.
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| Sunset at Ganpatipule Beach |
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| Sunset at Ganpatipule Beach |
Date - 22nd December 2019
We went to Malgund beach for a morning walk, this beach is 2kms from GanpatiPule and was there for 2 hours to roam around. It is the birthplace of famous Marathi poet Keshavasuta, he is regarded as a poet who heralded the dawn of modern Marathi poetry. There is a monument at Malgund dedicated to his work and also a museum where you can find information on most of the modern-day poets of the Marathi language. The memorial is a real treat for people who are interested in Marathi literature. His belongings are displayed in his old house, which has now been converted into this historical memorial. Getting an opportunity to see his century-old copper utensils such as panchpatra, moodpatra etc is too rare a treat to forgo. Malgund also houses Nirmal Nagari of holiness Nirmala Shrivastava of Sahaja Yoga fame.
After having breakfast at the only Shack on the beach we went to Kavi Keshavsuta Smarak and spent 2 hours exploring the premises but the time was insufficient, one can spend a day there as there is a lot to read and a library where you can find almost all books including the ones which are very rare to get these days.
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| Kavi Keshavsuta Smarak, Malgund |
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| Jay Vinayak Temple, Jaigad |
The Jaigad fort is a small fort that stands about 250 feet above sea level and has been erected very close to the shore, the fort is not maintained well. Jaigad fort is beside the village Jaigad, vehicles can reach up to the main entrance of the fort by a tar road. The lighthouse, located very close to the fort, gives a stunning panoramic view of the ships that sail the tranquil waters of the Arabian Sea. This can also be viewed from the fort; however, the lighthouse gives a much better vista of the majestic sea. Marathi movie ‘Killa’ has some scenes from the Fort and lighthouse.
We only spent one hour as the sun was so strong and could not bear the heat, returned to Ganpatipule and had our lunch at Bapat Veg. We went on the beach in the evening for a walk and were there for 2 hours, attended evening aarti (@7pm) at Ganpatipule temple and returned to the hotel to sleep early as tomorrow early morning wanted to travel back to Pune.
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| Jaigad Fort |
P.S - All photos are taken from google as I lost my camera.
Date – 23rd December 2019
Our return journey started around 8am as we wanted to reach Pune till 4 pm. Had a pit stop at Amba Ghat for much-needed tea and had lunch at a restaurant near Karad and continued travelling to our city. We are reached our home-sweet-home @ 5 pm safely.
Thank you for reading my blog. Hope you liked it.
Phone Numbers - 9075910033/9075910666
https://www.hotelsinganpatipule.com/Omkar-Lodge-Ganpatipule.php
