Trip to Revdanda, Alibaug

Revdanda is small village at western coast near Alibaug, Raigad district of Maharashtra. Its a serene location with beautiful beach and historic forts. 

After many days of waiting, we were planning to go out, but due to lack of car, it was very difficult to travel at present as we sold out our car. Lots of travel plans were made and canceled.

Aaravya was bored so we decided to go out on upcoming weekend to Mahad, Pali then Revdanda, immediately booked the car on ZoomCar.

We left Pune for Mahad at 6.30 am on Saturday and reached there at 8.30 am. 

Mahad Ganpati Temple, is one of the Ashtavinayak temples of the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha called as Varad Vinayak. It is in Mahad small town situated in Khalapur taluka near Karjat and Khopoli of Raigad District, Maharastra, India. We wanted to take blessings before 9.30 because at 9.30 I had to attend online parent teacher meeting. Hence as soon as we reach there we stood in the queue for darshan of lord Varad Vinayak.

The temple is simply designed with a tiled roof. This temple is said to be built by Subhedar Ramji Mahadev Biwalkar. The idol of this temple faces the east and has his trunk turned to the left. A Gomukh is seen on the north side of the temple from which flows the holy water. A holy pond is situated on the west side of the temple.  This temple also has the idol of Mushika, Navagraha Devtas and Shivalinga. There are 4 elephant idols guarding the 4 sides of the temple. As there was not much crowd, the darshan took place in 15 minutes and after sitting in front of Bappa for 10 minutes, we came out of the temple. 

Immediately after the visit we had a quick breakfast in a small hotel there, and once the school meeting is over at about 10 o'clock, we headed towards Pali. Located in the Sudhagad taluka of Raigad district, Ballaleshwar Pali is one of the ‘Ashtavinayakas,’ and remains thronged with the devotees of Lord Ganesh.

Ever since watching Fatteshikast movie we have been very curious to know about where exactly Umberkhind is and wanted to visit it once.  Umberkhind is one of the most iconic historical places in Maharashtra. Battle of Umberkhind took place on 3 February 1661 in the mountain range of Sahyadri near the city of Khopoli, Maharashtra, India. The battle was fought between the Maratha army under Shivaji Maharaj and General Kartalab Khan of the Mughal Empire. The Marathas defeated the Mughal forces. It instantly transports you back hundreds of years to the era when the famous Battle of Umberkhind was fought. Remembering the history, we reached Pali around 12pm. As its February, Sun was little bright, we parked the car and headed straight towards the temple.

Dhundi Vinayak temple is on the way to the temple. Many times, many visitors can get confused and may think that this is Ballaleshwar. The Ballaleshwar temple is  wooden temple which was renovated in 1760 and built in the shape of the letter "Shri" in Devnagiri script. The temple is constructed in such a way that the sun rays fall directly on the deity during prayers. The bell in the temple was brought by Chimaji Appa after he defeated the Portuguese in Vasai. The two lakes nearby add beauty to the temple. 

After spending an hour there, we left for Revdanda, and on the way the cricket match was going on in the field, so after watching the match for a while, we went ahead and reached the destination at 3pm. The first thing we did when we got there was lunch because we were so hungry.

After resting for an hour, we went to the beach at 5:30 pm. Revdanda beach is a silent beach, not much crowded, but water was a bit muddy. There is Revdanda fort, an old Portuguese fort situated at the beach. Korlai fort is close by too, which is a must visit. We skipped both the places as we were tired and Aaravya wants to enjoy playing in water and water sport activity. And I don’t want to miss the sunset there, as it was as beautiful as ever.

Sunset at Revdanda Beach

Korlai Fort seen from Revdanda beach

After 7 o'clock we went to cottage, we stayed at Uday Homestay which is a bit old and a budget cottage, but he is our family friend's neighbor so we preferred to stay at his place.  After freshened up and we went out to explore the surrounding area; and most importantly we wanted to find a delicious meal for the night. After inquiring, we found out that there is Fafe's restaurant in Chaul which is famous for veg food.

We wanted to visit Chaul next day as to see famous Rameshwar temple there. The Chaul region is famous for its temples. But Google Map showed 10 minutes only, so we went to Raghunandan Restaurant. On the way to the restaurant, we saw Rameshwar temple and immediately stopped there. That temple is very beautiful, a typical Konkani temple; many Marathi movies have been shot here. The temple was shown in Cycle Cinema, ever since I have wanted to visit it. We decided to come back the next day because we came to know that the hotel was crowded as it the only pure veg restaurant in the premise. 

We ordered paneer butter masala, dal tadka, garlic naan and pav bhaji for Aaravya and all the food was very tasty and not spicy at all. If you are close by the place, try this restaurant once and you will definitely like the food there. After drinking cold coffee, we reached the cottage around 10.30 pm.

Photo taken from Google

Next day, Kiran and I got up at 5:30 in the morning and went to walk on the beach. The atmosphere is very fragrant, a nice combination of a slight and gentle breeze. We sat on a wooden bench and chatted for hours. Then we walked to the market and stopped at Suruchi Snacks center for tea. We placed an order (ghavane and chutteny) for breakfast, we went to the room, freshen up, checked in. 

We went to Rameshwar Temple after having heavy breakfast with kanda bhajji, ghavane and chutney, misal at Suruchi. Chaul is about 15 Kms from Alibag, and the drive takes us through the picturesque villages of Akshi and Nagaon. There are three prominent temples in Chaul – the Rameshwar Mandir, Datta Mandir and the Hingulja Devi Mandir. Due to interest of time we visited only Rameshwar temple.

The Rameshwar temple seemed much more beautiful than the darkness of the night. It is a very ancient temple of Lord Shiva. The Rameshwar temple has existed for several centuries, but the exact time of the construction is unknown. Research shows that the temple has been renovated many times in history. The Mandir has three tanks : parjanya kund, agni kund, and wayu kund, representing three elements of nature – Rain, fire, and air. The temple is a perfect place for tourists to spend time, it is typical simple coastal temple, wonderful place to spend some relaxing time and to meditate. Apart from us, there were some other tourists. 

Rameshwar Mandir, Chaul

Rameshwar Mandir (inside)

We did not want to leave the Rameshwar temple, but since we wanted to visit Nagaon beach and Birla temple, we immediately headed towards the Nagaon beach.

Nagaon Beach

Nagaon was very crowded and somehow, we managed to reach to the parking. On the beach, it was crowded like a fair.  As it was getting hot we decided to leave the place as early as possible, after playing some water sports, we left in half an hour and reached Birla Temple via Chaul.

Birla Mandir is a Ganesh temple of very modern architecture in white marble, situated on a small hill (130 easy steps) near Salav village. The temple is built by Vikram Ispat company, which is a part of Birla group, may be hence the lord Ganesh is called as Vikram Vinayak. 

The temple has marble floors, and the hall of the temple is open from all sides. The ceiling of the temple is transparent which allows free flow of air and ample of light to come in. On entering the temple there is a square shaped nave. The nave is also made of marble and is very beautifully carved. The beautifully carved idol of ‘Ganapati’ is placed the nave. The idols of ‘Riddhi and Siddhi’ are placed on both sides of idol. Around the nave are small temples of ‘Radha-Krishna’, ‘Shiv-Parvati’, ‘Bhavanidevi’ and ‘Suryadeva’. In the garden next to the temple there is a statue of “Late Aditya Birla”. This is a place visited by tourists from all around. The entire hill is a temple complex with beautiful gardens & fountains all around. It's a nice place to spend the evening, a very peaceful point. We should have visited in the evening to feel the lighting. 

Birla Mandir, Revdanda (Photo taken from Google)

Aditya Birla statue at Birla Mandir (Photo taken from Google)

 

Please note no camera and mobiles allowed inside and there is no locker facility if you visit by public transport and you are alone, if you are with family you have to give all the mobiles to one family member who will wait outside the temple.

After visiting Birla mandir, we directly travelled back to Pune and reached at 5 pm via Tamhini Ghat. 

We :) 

Highlights - 

Trip duration - 2 days (12 February 2022 and 13 February 2022)

Distance travelled - 400Km

Budget - 15K

Relaxing trip to Konkan – Ganpatipule and nearby magnitudes in Ratnagiri

 Date - 18^th 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 - 19^th 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.

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.

Ganpatipule Temple

Date - 20^th 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

We planned to visit The Birthplace of Lokmanya Tilak but we were hungry and decided to have pet puja first, had breakfast at a small Udupi restaurant and parked our car nearby parking available. After talking to the restaurant owner we came to know new places which can be visited near Pawas which includes the ancients Mahakali temple at Adivare and Kankaditya temple at Kasheli. But before that, wanted to see Tilak Ali museum by walking as heard that parking could be a problem there and it is not far, also wanted to roam in the local market to get famous Kohalepak from Helekar Sweets.

Tilak Ali Museum is the ancestral house of Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the house is a classic example of native Konkani architecture and it has been turned into a museum to preserve the memory of the great freedom fighter. It depicts the life of Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and his struggle for Indian Independence through paintings and pictures. The museum had a collection of personal belonging of the great leader.

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.  

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Sunset at Aare-Ware Bridge

Date - 21^st 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.          

    

Sunset at Ganpatipule Beach

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.

Kavi Keshavsuta Smarak, Malgund

After that, we went to Jay Vinayak temple which is on the way to Jaigad and is located approximately 19 km away from Ganpatipule. This temple is built by JSW Energy Ltd thus it is also known as the Jindal Ganpati among the locals. The temple is surrounded by a clean and beautifully structured garden and serenity. The fresh air and cool environment are relaxing therapy for tourists. However, we could not spend much time as wanted to visit Jaigad fort and should return to the hotel till 3 pm for some rest as would be driving back to Pune the next day.

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.

Jaigad Fort 

P.S - All photos are taken from google as I lost my camera.

Date – 23^rd 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. 

Contacts-

1. Omkar Lodge(homestay), Ganpatipule
Phone Numbers - 9075910033/9075910666
https://www.hotelsinganpatipule.com/Omkar-Lodge-Ganpatipule.php