What do you do when you have a Safari? You jus pack your bags and hit the road.. and this tym the road led us to Murud-Janjira.
Murud-Janjira is a fort located on a island jus off the coast f the village Murud in the Raigad district f Maharashtra. It was the Siddis who built the 22-acre fort and is known for being unconquered.
It's approx 190kms from Mumbai. We started at 6:45am and reached the fort at 11:45. The road to Murud-Janjira is quite pleasant except for the last 50kms. The last 50kms comes once you cross the famous Alibaug beach. On the way, there's this infamous beach, Kashid. Kashid's beautiful with white sand which are a rare sight in India. It's less populated and considerably clean. It's less populated because people just stop at Alibaug and never venture further.
Once you cross Kashid, there comes a rural area called Murud. There are 3 villages surrounding the Fort which is surrounded by water on all 4 sides. This waters is the Arabian Sea. There's a boat service which runs from the bandar to the fort at a mere Rs.20/ person. There's one boat every 45minutes. No safety measures are followed inside the boat. So, you better take care f yourself once inside. The approx distance to the fort would be 5kms and it takes bout 15mins to reach there on the boat. Interesting thing is, you've got to change the boat to a smaller one because this big boat cannot go near the entrance. The smaller boat takes you near the entrance. There is yet another amazing feature f the Janjira. The entrance can only be seen when you're extremely near the fort. The architecture of the fort is such. Imagine the engineering at that tym. #Respect.
Once you're in the fort the boat guide gives you enough information about the fort to whet your appetite and then charges Rs.50/person as a charge for his services as a guide.
Inside the fort there is a secret tunnel which was built 70ft under the fort to reach the villages. It's closed now but one can see it's entrance. There is a 12 tonne cannon placed strategically near it's entrance. There was debate about how such a heavy cannon was carried up there. There is a Dargah inside the fort. Some broken structures constitute the center f the fort. There is a pond inside the fort. Although the fort is surrounded by all sides by sea, this pond consists f sweet water. The locals say it's a miracle and the queen used to bathe in that pond. When you climb the highest point of the fort you see a distant fort again in the middle f the sea. Rumours has it that it was built by Shivaji's son Sambhaji in order to conquer the fort but was unsuccessful. The stone with which the fort is built is so strong that in so many years it has gone in just 2 inches due to the crashing waves. There's this woman inside who provides water to the thirsty tourists for free but tourists usually leave some change behind.
The visiting tym for this fort is jus 45minutes. Hence, taking the services f the guide may actually be helpful.
P.S. - Worth visiting. Carry sunscreen and a hat because there's no shade whatsoever. Try to reach before 11: am and complete the visit before the sun becomes unbearable.
P.P.S - If you're lucky you will spot Dolphins.
