Konkan – Dew Fresh & Captivating

Ratnagiri in Maharashtra is the perfect launch pad for anyone who wants to experience the Konkan during the rains.  Walk through the fern covered streets to reach the brooding Thibaw Palace, home of the Burmese royal family exiled by the British.  Just beyond, admire the views of Kajali River and Bhatye Beach.  You can also visit the pleasant little house where Lokmanya Tilak was born.  Ironically, Tilak was exiled to Burma by the same British! A short autorickshaw ride brings you to Bale Qila where you can peer down from the ramparts and bastions as Kala Samundar works up a furious surf, crashing against the fort walls.  In the evening climb up the lighthouse to see the sun go down over the Arabian Sea.

The Brooding Thibaw Palace in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra

The Light & Cloud Show at Ganapatipule Beach, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra

A visit to the Ganapatipule Beach to the north will give you a pure adrenal rush as the bus clambers up the edge of the hill and for a moment you will be suspended in air as the waves crash into the cliff below on your left. Take seats on the beach fringed by mist covered hills, as the sun, clouds and water come together to put up a celestial light show.

Church of St. Augustine in Velha or Old Goa

The journey through Konkan continues as we move southwards and catch a train to Goa. Goa Tourism has a nice property in Velha Goa or Old Goa just a short walking distance from the World Heritage group of beautiful churches. While you are on the Church Run, do not miss the ruins of the Church of St. Augustine.  Once you are sufficiently awed by the splendour, walk beyond the Viceroy’s Arch to watch cars drive onto the ferries on their way across the Mandovi River.

Om Beach in Gokarna, Karnataka

If you want to have a go at the beaches then get down at Gokarna in Karnataka. This is the undiscovered Goa where beaches are pristine and untouched by commercialisation.  Play a game of volleyball with foreign tourists and then watch the sun go down at the Om Beach.

Murudeshwar's Shiv Statue and the Gopuram seen in the distance

If you are looking for some hours of spirituality, then get off at Murudeshwar. The huge Shiva statue and temple Gopuram towering over the sea is definitely a draw.

Beautiful Vistas of the Konkan from Konkan Railway

The Madgaon-Mangalore passenger train hurtles through scores of tunnels and soars over rivers and sea, providing spectacular vistas and offering a bouquet of places where you can just get off and catch the train the next day.  The Konkan railway route comes alive in the monsoons. Enjoy the views standing on the door and get drenched by the spraying waterfalls. Skies will darken as another bout of rain comes down. Within minutes the sky changes from broody grey to breezy blue.

Wave Watching at Malpe Beach, Udupi, Karnataka

Udupi, the next stop, is a complete destination. Yes we have all eaten in the namesake restaurants serving inexpensive but delicious South Indian fare. In Udupi, spend some time looking at the turbulent waves at Malpe Beach. If you are lucky, catch a ferry to go see the Geological Monument wonder of St Mary’s Island. 

Krishna Temple of Udupi, Karnataka

Coming back into the city, take a walk through the old city to pay obeisance at the old Krishna Temple. Walking from the temple to the bus stand, stopover at the delightful Coin Museum and let the guide amaze you with the story of money in India as you walk barefoot among the displays. In the second half, take a bus ride to the wonderful town of Karkala. Karkala has the hill top basadi or the Jain Temple called Chaturmukha Temple. Inside the garbhgriha be ready to be astonished by the four sets of three life-like statues that glint in the dark.

Gomateshwara in Karkala, Udupi Karnataka

Few yards away rises another hill and the benevolent face of Bahubali smiles at you beyond the fort like walls of the Gomateshwara. If you have time, go see St. Lawrence Church and Ananthashayana Temple.

The marvel of Kodi Bengare, Udupi, Karnataka

Next day, hire an auto rickshaw to see the tiny sliver of land between the serene Suvarna River and the angry Arabian Sea. This is the surprise of Kodi Bengare where you can stand on this thin strip of land to see the raging sea on one side and the gentle river on the other. Surprises in Konkan keep coming.

The Jewel Box of St. Aloysius Chapel in Mangalore, Karnataka (photo courtesy - chapel's guide)

On the bus to Mangalore, it seems you have stepped into DTC bus. Students from Delhi studying in the colleges of nearby Manipal are heading to Mangalore to raid the malls.  Mangalore will be the last stop before you retrace your path back to Goa. The Konkan trail is so thrilling that you want to partake it again. But not before you take a walk through the streets of cosmopolitan Mangalore and look wonderstruck at the painted interiors of a jewel box called St. Aloysius Chapel.

Konkan, you are beautiful and magical – let this magic continue forever. And above all, let it rain!

The story first appeared in the June 2016 issue of magazine NRI Achievers

Konkan – Dew Fresh & Captivating

Related Links in this Blog

http://justrippingg.blogspot.in/2015/11/udupi-whats-on-menu-special-surprise-of.html

http://justrippingg.blogspot.in/2015/10/udupi-whats-on-menu.html

http://justrippingg.blogspot.in/2015/09/ganpatipule-beach-cliffhanger-surprise.html

Lokmanya Tilak Birthplace

Monsoon Magic in Ratnagiri

Ratnadurg - The Cliffhanger Fort in Ratnagiri

You have given up on forts in Maharashtra. First you are not sure if you are already inside a fort since the gateways, walls and bastions are all gone. And if by chance you do spot a sign that says this open space overgrown with vegetation is a fort then you have to literally go down on your knees, like an archaeologist half buried in prehistoric dirt squinting at a possible weapon of mass destruction, to look for anything surviving. And that archaeologist has better chance of finding the tool that your ancestor used to kill a boar than you to find anything standing in a fort in Maharashtra.

View towards the Southern part of Ratnadurg and Arabian Sea - at Ratnagiri Maharashtra

The only reason you are going to go see Ratnadurg is that it offers awesome view of the roaring waves crashing below. And while all built structures would be gone, the monsoons would have created a green carpet all around. Also, you would stay true to the mission of this trip – enjoying the rain and sea and greenery.

It can't get prettier than this - on the way to Ratnagiri Fort

You are heading towards the western most tip of the town that juts out into the sea. This projecting land divides Ratnagiri’s sea shore into Safed Samundar (White Sea) to the North and Kaala Samundar (Black Sea) to the South. The narrow road leading to the fort is submerged in a sea of greenery.

Heading up to Northern part of Ratnadurg or Bhagwati Fort

Ratnadurg apparently has two distinct parts. You are on your way to the North or Upper Fort. The road dips before you see the ramparts of North part of Ratnadurg as the auto rickshaw huffs and puffs up the steep climb to the main gate of Bhagwati Fort or Bale Qila.

The Ugly, the Grotesque, the Joke - Maharashtra ASI wake up and smell the coffee

First look at the gate and your suspicions are confirmed. Maharashtra ASI is indeed full of nincompoops. Just when you thought these so called keepers of heritage cannot outdo themselves, they just outdid their outdoings! These people are killjoys: they just might put you off forts unless you have regular diet of forts of MP and Rajasthan to keep your faith alive. Keeping up the statewide healthy tradition, they have dutifully let this fort too wither and crumble. And when everything was gone they have installed this hideous fiberglass wall up in front. It seems you are entering the sets of a C Grade movie. They should seriously think of handing over the heritage here to someone competent like MSRTC or to MP ASI.  

Bhagwati Temple at Ratnagiri Fort

You did not have any expectations and in your frequent visits to heritage places in Maharashtra, you have learnt to stay unfazed. The only built structure is the Bhagwati Temple from which the fort gets its name. It is modern and painted. You keep moving.

Dude, you aint finding nothing here in this fort, so might as well take my photo

The Jetties below the Ramparts of Ratnagiri Fort

Keeping to the walls you move to your right. Rain keeps you company. It feels good - this rain in Konkan is rejuvenating your body and soul. You just have to be careful as you try to hold on to the umbrella; the wind driven over the Arabian Sea is threatening to parachute you with the umbrella to the churning waters below. Down there you can see couple of jetties for boats. Looking closer you can see the jetties are protected by concrete tetrapods. Such tetrapods line up Marine Drive in Mumbai to protect the expensive real estate.  The views are incredible as high winds sweep across the fort and below the waves churn up white surf – it is Safed Samundar after all.

The ramparts have been restored by the authorities but the same jokers have made it look like the boundary walls that you see lining up the government buildings.

Let's drop anchor in Konkan

Oh well, focus on the job at hand. The monsoons, like across Ratnagiri, have spread magic before your eyes. The fort has come alive in rains with greenery and butterflies and vines and cliff banana plants - a sight that had cheered you up in the crumbling Narnala Fort in Akola last monsoons. You make your way along the walls soaking in the atmosphere circumambulating around the Bhagwati Temple as it keeps peeping through the tree cover on the left and the turbulent waves roar below on the right.

Looking towards the Southern Bastion with the Lighthouse

The Southwest bastion, just beyond, has openings through which an eye was kept on ships coming in, and with them, the accompanying pirates. The southern part of the fort, from here, is covered in mist; even as the seas and the skies dissolve into each other again. The waters below keep rolling into the cliff and here above, in the fort, the rain sends you in sweet rapture.

Soon the rain starts pelting and you come back to take refuge in the temple. It has been a familiar pattern all day today – skies lighten up, clouds roll in, rain follows - first gently and then in torrents. Torrents will soon turn into gentle dancing rain before sun peeps out and the pattern repeats.

Green Carpet rolled out for you - Ratnadurg

Even though there is absolutely no feeling of being in a fort but protocol demands a little description of this so called fort. Ratnagad or Bhagwati Fort was built by the Bahamanis to be later conquered by Bijapur’s Adil Shah. The fort passed into hands of Shivaji in 1670. Later British and then Peshwas became the owners of this horse-shoe shaped fort sitting on top of this laterite hill in Ratnagiri. It is said Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi had visited this fort before the First War of Independence.

Ratnagiri or Rain Forest of Amazon? 

On Cloud Nine - South part of Ratnadurg with Lighthouse. And that is sea on the left side!

It is time to go to the south part of the fort. You go down into the valley in the middle and then climb the narrow road along the southern ramparts as you follow the light house showing the way. This is the first time you are this close to a lighthouse.

Lighthouse at Ratnagiri Fort

View of Kaala Samundar from Ratnadurg

The sign indicates that the Ratnagiri Lighthouse or Deep Stambh is run by the Directorate of Lighhouses and Lightships under the Ministry of Shipping. You had no idea such departments exist which leads you to think there must be a directorate that runs the traffic signals on Delhi roads. You are greeted with same delightful views as you look over the Kaala Samundar and the fishing village below. Under misty skies today really can’t make out if the waters are indeed black.

Best Seat in the Fort

It has been a wonderful day and half in Ratnagiri and the little known city in the beautiful Konkan has effortlessly managed to charm and thrill you.

Road to Konkan

You are sure that even with the yearning for his homeland, King Thibaw would have been grateful to be living in picture perfect Ratnagiri: a frame that has sea beyond the cliffs, rapturous rains, misty hills, greenery everywhere and beautiful people. The beauty of Konkan and Ratnagiri would have dulled some of Thibaw's pain. You feel lucky that Ratnagiri chose you to discover her many charms. It is time to discover other Konkan charms in the rains.  

Getting There: Ratnagiri has friendly auto-wallas who can drive you to the fort unless you want to walk the few kms through the greenery. 

Ratnagiri lies on the south west coast of Maharashtra on the Mumbai-Goa highway and is well connected by trains from Mumbai. Ratnagiri is about about 350 kms from Mumbai and 300 kms from Pune. In Ratnagiri you can hire auto rickshaws to take you around the town and to the fort. The Jijamata Garden will offer you spectacular views of Arabian Sea and Bhatye Beach. Other attractions are the Thibaw Palace, now turned into a museum and Ganpatipule Beach with spectacular views of the sea from the cliffs on the way and scintillating light shadow play on the waves.

Travel Tip: Most lighthouses including the one here at Ratnagiri are open for public viewing from 4 to 5 pm.

Related Posts on this Blog:

1. The Anguish of Thibaw Palace
2. Lokmanya Tilak Birthplace
3. Ganpatipule Beach Cliffhanger

4. Monsoon Mania in Ratnagiri

Ganpatipule Beach – The Cliffhanger Surprise in Ratnagiri

The gear drops into its slot with a deafening clanky protest, the bus seems to pause and then lurches forward, the engine screams like a beast in death throes and the entire body frame shudders. For a moment it appears the bus will pulverize into oblivion. The metallic grinding of the gears, the ear-shredding screams of the engine and the clattering of the window panes – it seems you are caught in Transformers movie set where Autobots and Decepticons battle each other. Wait a minute, did you just get airborne for a moment?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A version of the story appears in Asian Age Mumbai edition on 11th July 2016

Ganpatipule: A Surprise Beyond the Cliffs

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Ratnagiri Surprise beyond the Cliffs - Ganpatipule Beach

So far in your experience the drive to a beach has been, well, like a walk on the beach. To be fair, the drive to Rishikonda Beach beyond Vishakhapatnam does involve driving on a hill with the sea below but on the right you can see the stretch of sand between the elevated road and the waves - almost like a walk on the beach.

Sometimes over the cliffs, sometimes through the hills

But then you remember this is Western Ghats and here in Ratnagiri everything comes with a surprise. It seems the entire city of Ratnagiri sits on a hill and on the edges the vertical cliffs drop straight into the sea. You saw the waves lashing the foot of cliffs at Thibaw Palace and then again at Ratnadurg.

Lovely Monsoon Day - Greenery, Hills, Waves and Rain - all in one frame

In the July 2015 Outlook Traveller issue, Ganpatipule Beach is listed as a must-do destination in the rains with its heavenly display of light and shadows over the waves. The same issue also lists Thibaw Palace in Ratnagiri as one of the 100 must-do destinations in India. 

You are riding the reliable red Maharashtra State Transport bus to Ganpatipule beach about 25 kms north of Ratnagiri. You have always liked the bus services of MSRTC and have always wondered if the management of built heritage here could be taken over from Maharashtra ASI & Tourism and given to MSRTC!

Sitting on the right made you miss some views but still exhilarating

And then you grab the seat rails as the driver throws the bus into another hairpin bend even as he twists the gear stick until one of the gears again finds its place. It is the gearbox that is helping coax power from the old engine to climb these twisty roads on top of Western Ghats. And then what you see or rather what you cannot see make your hair rise on their ends. It seems the bus just turned on the edge of the hill – no, you cannot see the vertical cliffs below – and the view blows you away. It seemed for a moment you were suspended in the air over the hill as white surf churned up waves crashing into the side of the cliff below. The excitement levels just hit the red zone; you had never imagined India, besides having everything else, had roads too that snaked high over cliffs with roaring waves below.

On a rain swept day, the screaming bus ride high up on the hills by the sea is purely exhilarating. It is turning out to be a wonderful day in Ratnagiri as you experience extreme emotions. While the first half at Thibaw Palace filled you with all pervading sadness, few hours later, the thrilling ride to Ganpatipule has filled you with joy. There is more to come.

The Drop-point at Ganpatipule

The bus on the short route from Ratnagiri to Malgund, two kms away, drops you at the Ganpatipule checkpost. Ganpatipule is a village famous for its Swayambhu or self originated Ganesh Temple. The deity is considered the Paschim Dvardevta or Western Sentinel, one of the Ashta Dwar Devatas or Eight Welcoming Deities. Legend has it that Ganpati angry by the remark made by a local woman moved to Pule or Sand Dune from His original abode of Gule few kms away. And so the place got its name Ganpatipule.

Today you are more interested in the beach that provides front row seats to the incredible display of lights and shadows over Arabian Sea waters.

Gateway to Ganpati Temple at Ganpatipule

The sky is dark with another impending rain dance performance as you walk towards the beach. The same greenery and moss covered walls guide you towards the beach.

Life is a Beach - at Ganpatipule Beach Ratnagiri

You feel the child-like excitement as you step on the soft sand with the waves coming in. Right now you cannot make out the horizon as clouds hang low on the waters. The beach on both sides is fringed with hills. Coconut palms, mangroves, cashew trees from the waters to the hills provide a green canopy. The hills above, the water beyond and the clean and golden beach all seem to be enveloped in this mist.

Dog Day Evening at Ganpatipule Beach Ratnagiri

In the rain, there are more dogs on the beach than tourists. Just as much dogs seem to love monuments, it seems they enjoy the beach even more. Shacks are boarded up; the MTDC resort on the hill looks vacant. You walk into the distance through the lapping waves. Some rocks still survive on the sands even after the lashing by the waves all these years. Sitting on the sand with your back against a rock will be your front row seat to the promised show in the sky.

Take your seats as the show is about to begin

And then things start to happen rapidly.

The Grand Celestial Show at Ganpatipule Beach

Notice the silver sliver of a horizon

It is sunset time. The rain stops all of a sudden, and the mist begins to lift over the hills. The seemingly stone like impenetrable grey skies break up to give shapes to the clouds that start to float revealing an opening. As if on cue, sun appears through this opening in the sky.

God has lifted the curtain off heavens especially for you. You have bought all the seats in the theater. For the next fifteen minutes, you are treated to a celestial spectacle as the sun and the clouds and the water come together to put up a soul-stirring performance ethereally choreographed just for you.

What you witness is truly indescribable. Spotlights dance over the waters. Light and shadows play on the water. The clouds, the streams of light and the rippling waves create 3D effects that no Transformers CGI computer can render. And you watch all this amazed and wide-eyed. Nature has her way to exhilarate and absolutely stun whoever cares to stop and listen and watch.

Curtains come down on the Celestial Spectacle - Ganpatipule Beach 

The clouds move back in. Now this particular cloud seems to hang over the waters. God has brought down the curtains after the spellbinding performance. You don’t remember ever seeing such a play of lights and shadows from a beach and you have seen plenty of sunsets on the sea. It is quite possible that together with the cliff hanging drive to the beach, this light-shadow play phenomenon is unique to Ganpatipule Beach.

One Last Look

Skies take colourful hues even as the curtains come down on another marvellous day in Konkan. It is time once again to walk reluctantly from another surprise here in Ratnagiri. Monsoons in Konkan provide myriad of colours and sights. Ratnagiri is just the beginning. The canvas that is coast of Karnataka beckons.

Getting There: Ganpatipule is 25 kms north of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. For spectacular views of the sea and surf take the Aare Ware road which is different from the NH-17 Mumbai-Goa highway.

Ratnagiri lies on the south west coast of Maharashtra on the Mumbai-Goa highway and is well connected by trains from Mumbai. Ratnagiri is about about 350 kms from Mumbai and 300 kms from Pune. In Ratnagiri you can hire auto rickshaws to take you around the town and to the fort. The Jijamata Garden will offer you spectacular views of Arabian Sea and Bhatye Beach. Other attractions are the Ratnadurg with its Lighthouse and Thibaw Palace, now turned into a museum.

Travel Trip: On the way to Ganpatipule from Ratnagiri, if taking public transport, sit on the left of the bus to see the amazing views as you soar high above the cliffs with sea stretching into the horizon and waves crashing below your feet.

Reference: Outlook Traveller, July 2015 page 97

Related Posts on this Blog:

1. The Anguish of Thibaw Palace
2. Lokmanya Tilak Birthplace

3. Monsoon Mania in Ratnagiri

A version of the story appears in Asian Age Mumbai edition on 11th July 2016

Ganpatipule: A Surprise Beyond the Cliffs