A short 25 km drive southwards, without
going back to the highway, brings you to the larger town of Devgarh,
famous for its Alphonso mangoes. It also has a post-Shivaji period
fortress. Its ramparts now house a lighthouse.
Devgarh is a fishing village. It has a
wonderful natural harbour because of the manner in which a finger of
land juts out into the sea and then suddenly turns north forming a
protective barrier. The beach is set in a gentle curve and on my first
visit I missed it completely. The approach is not r49quite apparent. Go
through the town and negotiate the bazaar that is located on a steep
slope.
A little after that the slope peters out and the road
progresses, hugging the parked fishing trawlers, in various stages of
repair and disrepair. Turn left and a short drive will bring you to
the beach. There’s a brightly coloured temple located to the left.
The road continues up a hill and ends at the southern entrance to the
fort.
The view from here in the evenings is
magnificent, especially on cloudy days when the sky rapidly changes
hue just before sunset. The waves crashing on the rocks below provide
a fitting serenade to this spectacle.
Just like the Taj Mahal, I am of the
opinion that Devgarh beach must be visited on a full moon night. (The
daily newspapers, available here on the same evening, give the phase
of the moon). A peculiar phenomenon of
phosphorence in the water makes
the surf on the waves glows in the dark. When you kick the sand as the
wave recedes, sparklers seem to emanate from the sand and water. Like
stardust on the beach.
About half an hour’s drive north from
Devgarh is the village of Padavnewadi. The road is not metalled after
you leave the main road to Vijaydurg. Also, the beach does not have
shade and the sun can be quite fierce in such circumstances. So time
your visit either early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
Padavnewadi, I feel its worth mentioning, because the local technique
of fishing is much in vogue here and if you’re lucky you can time
you visit to coincide with one such event.
Just south of Devgarh is the village of
Mumbri. If you want to get to its beach, you have to cross the
backwaters of the creek by a local rowboat. Actually, the boatman just
punts across, by pushing against the riverbed with his bamboo stick.
There is a rather large boat-building yard near the mouth of the
creek. When we were there last, we got to witness the elaborate ritual
of launching a newly built boat. There’s lots of puja,
prayers and then begins the hard work of literally manually winching
the boat into the water for the first time.
You can drive right up to the jetty and
safely leave it there under some shady spot. After crossing the
backwaters for the price of Rs 2 (!), just head west by means of any
footpath that you see -- never mind if it means going through
someone’s garden, he won’t mind. After a while you should come to
a beach; one of the rare ones that has sand dunes and shady palms. The
dunes lend a different perspective to the way the beach appears.
If you have the time, head north along
the beach and take the bridle path up the hill and head for the temple
of Kunkeshwar and another beach. Or try your luck and see if the
locals are going to indulge in fishing. You may be able to capture
some ‘ethnic’ faces and people on your camera.
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Getting there |
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By Road :
From Mumbai 480 km. (National Highway), From Belgaum 64 k.m by Bus.
By Rail : Near Railway Station - Nandgaon (Konkan Railway)
By Air : Dabholim - Goa & Mumbai Air Port 480 km.
State Transportation buses
available daily services
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Places
to see near by
Devgad |
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