Murud Janjira

Murud is a serene fishing village with a striking sea-shore and irregular wooden cottages. This village is a great holiday getaway that lies around lazily in the bright sunshine of the Konkan coast. The beach is bordered by coconut palms, betel palms and casuarinas groves that are gently kissed by the sunrays. This is one of the quietest getaways close to Mumbai (Bombay) less than half a day of driving.

The place - Murud-Janjira

Janjira is located near Murud and has one of the strong and hardy forts of the Konkan coast. The Janjira Fort in Murud is located in Raigad district of Maharashtra. The specialty of this fort is that it is located within the sea, 3 kms from Murud. The rough tides of the Arabian Sea brush against the wall of this fort regularly and yet this fort has withstood the sea since the 15th century.

This fort was used as the majestic island fortress of the Siddhis, the wall of the fort is 40 feet high. This fort had not been subjugated by anybody for over 350 years, since the 15th century. The British, Portuguese nor the Maratha ruler Shivaji could conquer this fort despite repeated attempts.

This Fort was in the past a wooden fort built by the local fishermen of Murud. They built this fort so as to protect their village from pirates. Later rulers of Ahmednagar demolished the wooden fort and built the existing fort. The fort had several towers and battlements, huge guns and canons were kept ready to throw away enemies. A major part of the fort has been corroded by the sea water.

Murud is 165 km from Mumbai, a drive of about 5 hours. Roha and Panvel are the nearest stations; from here you can take a bus to Murud. Taking a ferry from Mazgaon's Ferry Wharf, to Rewas, 23 km from Murud is very convenient. Alternatively you can take a catamaran from Gateway to Mandwa. Plenty of accommodation is available in this place.

Places of interest

• The palace of the Nawab
  
• The Janjira Caves
  
• A few kilometers away from here are two unexposed beaches Nandgaon and Kashid. Nandgaon is famous for its Ganapati temple, an annual fair is held here every February.
  
• Padmadurga Fort was built by Emperor Shivaji and is located north -west of Janjira. It is not as huge as Janjira but Padmadurga is an equally enjoyable sea fort.
  
• Datta Mandir is situated on a hill and is dedicated to Shri Datta. It was built by Swami Bramhendra; a yathra is organized for Datta jayanti. It is believed that Swami Bramhendra discovered padukas (traditional footwear) on the south western valley three centuries ago.