Murud Janjira

Murud is a beautiful fishing village on the western coast of India – about 5 hours drive from Bombay (Mumbai). Since it has a municipality, water supply, schools and hospitals, you could even term it a small town.
It has a beautiful beach ideal for swimming, bathing and water sports. The beach is fringed with swaying coconut trees, a variety of palm trees and casuarinas. Unfortunately, the only water sport presently available is boating, sailing and deep sea fishing.
Murud is historically important because it was the capital of the Janjira State (area – 842 sq. kms.). The Nawabs of Janjira ruled the area around from here. The Janjira Fort is located 2 kms. into the sea – about 6 kms. from Murud.

History of Janjira State

During the past several centuries, traders brought slaves from Abyssinia and other parts of East Africa and sold them in Egypt, Arabia and India. The Abyssinian slaves had black skin and curly hair. They did not have the thick lips the Negroes have. They were called Habshis or Siddis.
They were faithful, brave and hard working. They were very trust worthy. In India, successive rulers appointed them to positions of high trust.
In 1490, King Malik Ahmed Shah of Ahmednagar broke away from the Brahmini kingdom and established his own Nizamshahi kingdom. He appointed his Abyssinian slave the commander of the Janjira Fort.
In 1621, Janjira became an independent state. Siddi Ambar Sankak Habshi became the first ruler of independent Janjira State. The Siddi rule continued for 327 eventful years till the merger of the State with India in May 1948. The last ruler was Siddi Mohamed Khan, who after the merger, settled down in Indore.
His successors have a palatial palace at Murud complete with a museum. But the present Nawab also lives in Indore.

History of Janjira Fort

The Janjira Fort has a colourful history. During the 15th century, the Rajpuri village which is 4 km. from Murud was inhabited by fishermen and the Nizams ruled the entire coastal region.With the Nizam’s permission, the fishermen built a wooden fort (Medhekot) on a huge rock in the sea, 2 km. off the shore of Rajapuri, to protect themselves from pirates and thieves.
Later, Burhan Khan, the minister of Nizamshah, the ruler at Ahmednagar, demolished the wooden fortress; and between 1567 and 1571 built an impregnable stone fort in its place. He named it Janjira Mehroob (Mehroob means crescent moon).
Siddi Ambarsatak, the fore father of the rulers of Janjira (later, they adopted the title of Nawabs), was nominated the commander of Mehroob.Shivaji made six unsuccessful attempts to conquer this fort. Later at various points of time, Sambhaji, the Peshwas, the British and the Portuguese tried to take over the fort, but Janjira remained unconquered till its merger with India in 1948. Janjira is one of the rare forts in Maharashtra which could not be taken over by the Marathas. The reason for this is the impregnable fort and superior naval forces and marine skills of the Siddis.
The Siddis ruled from the Janjira Fort which is located 2 kms. into the sea. Surrounded on all four sides by the Arabian Sea, the fort is undefeatable. It could never be captured by anyone. In the 1950s, the Archaeological Survey of India took over charge of the fort. They relocated all the residents of the fort to the nearby villages. Some restoration work is presently going on.

Nawab’s Palace

As you enter Murud, you will see the stately mansion of the Siddhi Nawabs of Murud Janjira perched on a high hillock overlooking the entire bay. You can visit the museum there. The present Nawab usually lives in Indore.

Janjira Fort

India has a large number of forts. But Janjira Fort is unique.
To visit Janjira, you have to go to Rajpur village (4 km). From there, you have to go to the Janjira Fort by sail boats. Rajpur has a harbour and a beautiful sea beach. For the first time in my life, I saw buffaloes swimming and bathing in the sea.
Once you reach the fort, you will find it most captivating. The strong entrance has successfully withstood numerous attacks.
The five-storied Surulkhana palace is almost in ruins. The top two stories have fallen off. Some renovation work is going on.
There are 2 large fresh water tanks inside the fort and some tombs.
The fort had about five hundred canons. But only a handful remain today. There are in all 19 Buruj (ramparts) in the fort. Every Buruj has huge guns capable of sinking any approaching vessel. Some of the guns bear names. The 3 most important big guns are ‘Kalal Bangadi’, ‘Chavari’ and ‘Landa Kasam’. These were built by an alloy of five different metals.
During its hey days, a large number of people lived inside the fort. But after it was taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India, the residents were moved out. Much of Janjira Fort has been corroded and washed away due to the insistant battering by the Arabian Sea. But what remains is still a most formidable structure.

Dattatreya Temple

The temple of Dattatreya is located on a high place on a hillock. You get a panoramic view of the entire bay from here.

Places to see around

Janjira Caves
For those interested in history, archaeology or religion, the 2000 years old Buddhist Caves near Bhalgaon (20 kms from Murud Janjira) are a must see. Leave a full day for exploring the caves and a wonderful picnic.

Padmadurg Fort
The Padmadurga Fort built by Shivaji Maharaj is situated to the north west of Janjira. It is not as big as Janjira Fort, but Padmadurga Fort is also an interesting sea fort which can be visited and enjoyed.

Beaches
There are two unspoiled beaches on the way to Murud – Nandgaon and Kashid. You can spend time swimming and sunbathing in these beaches.

Getting there

Distances
Murud is 150 km from Mumbai,

Air
The nearest airport is Mumbai 150 km.

Rail
Nearest railway station is Roha 122 km.

Sea
A most convenient way to go there is by ferry from Mazgaon Ferry Wharf to Rewas (23 km from Murud); or by catamaran from Gateway to Mandwa. From Rewas or Mandwa, you have to take a road transport.
(The ferry services are suspended during the monsoons)

Road
Mumbai to Murud 150 km
You can go to Murud by car or taxi. There are plenty of local public buses, too. The drive takes about 5 hours.
You have to travel up to Panvel and then take the road that passes through the Karnala Bird Sanctuary upto Pen. You have to cross Ali Bag (100 kms. From Mumbai). You will also cross the beautiful Nandgaon and Kashid beaches.
After 20 kms. From Alibag, you can also go to Murud via Roha, a small town dotted heavily with large and shady trees. This route is 10 kms. longer, but you will pass through beautiful country side.

Accommodation

There are a number of hotels where you can get food and accommodation at reasonable rates. There are no four or five star hotels. Try to stay in a hotel on the beach side.
There are a large number of restaurants where you can taste the authentic local (Konkanese) food.

Best Time to Visit

Murud has a pleasant coastal climate and can be visited any time of the year. But carry plenty of sun protection and light cotton clothes.
During the monsoons (rainy season), the sea can be rough and could be closed for swimming.

Conclusion

Murud Janjira is a beautiful tourist spot quite close to Mumbai. It is enjoyable. But it has yet to be fully developed to realize its full potential.

The Holy Sagar Island

When I was a young student in Calcutta, I often heard about Gangasagar (also known as Sagar Island, Sagar Deep or simply Sagar).

There is a popular saying that you can visit all the places of pilgrimages again and again, but you can visit Gangasagar only once.

I fancied Gangasagar was a small mysterious place which would come out of the oceans every year on the annual ‘Makar Sankrati’ festivities held there on the 14th January.
(Don’t ask me how an island can come out of the oceans and later disappear – because no one could ever explain this to me).

I first visited Gangasagar in 1986, to watch the Hailey’s Comet zoom past in the pristine early morning sky there.

The visit was organised by the Sky Watchers Association of Calcutta.

They had selected Gangasagar for the sighting because there was no electricity there.

But there were many other small villages without electricity – nearer to Kolkata.

Probably, the mystique surrounding the island was the reason they selected Gangasagar.

There was no electricity.

A generator provided power for three hours every day.

Even today, a generator powers some areas of the island for three hours every day between 6 and 9 PM.

The second time, I visited Gangasagar on ‘Makar Sankrati’ day, the 14th January, to see the festival.

My younger brother, a senior police officer, was in charge of the police arrangements there.

He invited me to visit the island.

I watched in fascination as he and other police officials worked almost continuously for three days and nights with short spasmodic spells of sleep.

A fire broke out in the fair.

Thick black smoke filled the air.

But the fire brigade quickly moved in and quelled the fire.

This is the largest fair in India – after the Kumbh Mela which is held every 12 years in three different centres – Haridwar, Allahabad and Nasik – by rotation.

But in Gangasagar, the logistic problems are multiplied several times by the fact that the pilgrims have to be ferried to the island.

The boatmen try to overload their boats.

After all, they get this unique opportunity only once a year.

Sometimes, boats collide with one another.

Sometimes, they capsize.

In 2008, the auspicious day spilled over to the 15th January.

The number of pilgrims swelled to 5 lakhs (half a million).

The Island
Gangasagar is a little known island located on the continental shelf of the Bay of Bengal at the confluence of Hooghly river (a tributary of the Ganges River) with the Bay of Bengal – about 150 km south of Kolkata.
Gangasagar does not sink into the sea.

It is quite a large island with an area of about 300 sq km.

It has 43 villages with a population of over 160,000.

There are schools, post office and even a police station.

There are numerous waterways and small rivers.

There are mangrove swamps.

This is also the home of the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger.
The Kolkata Port Trust has a pilot station and a light house here.

The West Bengal government is planning to build a deep water port on the island.
Mythology

According to legend, after slaying the demons on earth, King Sagar decided to perform the Ashwa Megh Yagya to proclam his supremacy to the world.
A horse would be taken around the earth accompanied by the King’s 60,000 sons from Queen Sumati and one son Asmanjas from the second queen Kesani.

Indra, the supreme ruler of the gods, was afraid that if the Yagya was successful, he might lose his throne.

So he wanted to interfere with the Yagya.

He stole the horse and tied it to the ashram of sage Kapil Muni, who was then in deep meditation.

When King Sagar’s sons could not find the horse, they searched everywhere.

Finally, they found it tied near the meditating Kapil Muni.

The sixty thousand and one angry sons of King Sagar stormed the ashram of Kapil Muni disrupting his meditation as Indra had planned.

Kapil Muni was very angry.

He opened his eyes and turned all the sons into ashes.

The only way to bring them back to life was to bring down Goddess Ganga from the Heavens and wash the ashes with the holy water.

Bhagirath, grandson of King Sagar, meditated for a long time to persuade Ganga to come down to the earth.

But the coming down of Ganga would have been too torrential and would have caused colossal damage.

Finally, Lord Shiva agreed to receive Ganga in his large tresses to break her fall.Ganga descended down to the earth through Shiva’s tresses.

King Bhagiratha then preceded the holy river in his chariot and ripped open a gorge through which Ganga could flow.

The river followed Bhagirath to Gangasagar where Kapila Muni livedand washed the ashes.

All the sons came back to life.
Reaching there
To reach Gangasagar, you have to cross the Muriganga river/creek by ferry.

You can take the ferry either from Harwood Point (80 kms from Kolkata) or Namkhana (13 kms more from Harwood Point).

After landing at Sagar Island, you will have to cross the whole stretch of the island (32 kms) by local bus or taxi.

It is possible to travel from Kolkata right up to Gangasagar by car or taxi.

At Harwood Point, the car can cross the river on a barge.
Places to see
· Kapil Muni Temple
· Fair Grounds
· Sea Beach
· Sagar Marine Park
· Sagar Lighthouse and Port at Beguakhali
· Ramkrisna Mission Ashram
· Sushama Devichowdhurani Marine Biological Research Institute. (SDMBRI) at Bamankhali
Accommodation
There are sufficient boarding and accommodation facilities at Gangasagar.

· State Youth Hostel
· Bharat Sevashram Sangha and some other ashrams
· Larica Sagar Vihar (the only hotel)
Recommendation

Gangasagar is a remote, secluded, not much visited spot.

If you are looking for novelty and raw nature – this is the place you should head for.

The West Bengal Government is planning to construct a bridge connecting the mainland with Sagar Island.

The 3.3 kms long bridge is likely to cost around Rs 600 crores.

A feasibility study has already been completed.
Visit the place before the bridge is constructed.