Ratnagiri - Ganpatipule

Welcome into a ride through Konkan!

This is a travelogue of my Diwali ’09 trip to Ratnagiri and Ganpatipule. These two places lie on the Konkan coast of India. They are one of the most scenic places in Maharashtra.

It was a chilly October morning. The wind from the open train window was slapping against my face. The train picked up speed and departed from Thane station even as we arranged our luggage and settled ourselves down into our seats. I was just admiring the beauty of nature when the train sped into the Parsik tunnel at top speed. The engine suddenly blared and the loud voice boomed and echoed in the tunnel. The train came out into the open sent the nearby grass almost flying away. But this display of majesty lasted barely for a few minutes. The train slowed down changed its track curved a bit and then zoomed into the Konkan railway. The fun began there itself.

Soon, the usual thud-thud of the train, the loud horn, the screams of the tea-coffee vendors and the gossipping of the passengers began. This time, the train went on non-stop till Panvel. It was surprising to see that the common ‘crossings’ on the Konkan railway hadn’t yet come our way. It was anyway good for us and the train made steady progress.

My tummy began grumbling and I had to answer it. I immediately began buying almost everything good that the vendors brought – idlis, hot steaming vadas, coffee. I had an interesting game of chess with my father which I lost at the last moment due to a wrong move while under pressure.

The sun was not yet seen clearly. I was surprised to not find the sun though my watch showed 7:30 a.m. It was when I went to the door that I found the answer to my doubt. The entire area was engulfed in a very thick fog. The visiblity had reduced to barely 25 metres. It was so thick that even if I went near the door, the wind felt chill and wet on my face.

The feeling of nature that I received at that moment was one of the best I had received while in a train journey.

The train halted a couple of times but within no time, I saw a huge station approaching. Yes, it was Ratnagiri.

Janashatabdi Exp

We did not have much luggage and quickly walked out of the station. We met my uncle who greeted us in a very cheerful way.

Vroom……Vroom. The car geared up and we set out for our first outing in Ratnagiri as tourists. We had planned to first visit a well known local fort which was touching the sea. The view from the top of the fort was inviting. The vastness of the sea could be experienced well from that spot. The cool sea breeze was soothing in the otherwise hot surroundings. My uncle had quite a number of times visited this place and hence asked us to move about the fort by ourselves. While returning home, he told us and made us aware of the landmarks of Ratnagiri city – Main market place, central police station, famous local temple, multiplex, etc. My aunt had prepared a delicious Konkan dinner and I ate it relishingly. The day was a one studded with many new experiences in my life.

The next day I woke up early in the morning and showed keen interest in studying the daily routine of the Konkan natives. My aunt had prepared my favourite steaming ‘upma’ which I enjoyed greatly. We scratched out a plan for the day and it was decided that we would be visiting the famous ‘Ganaraj temple’ town of Ganapatipule. I was in full energy and after having a heavy breakfast of upma, pickle, coffee, some native sweet we set off to the bus-stand. It was fun to reach the bus-stand in the way we do it frequently in Mumbai – share auto! I realized one thing after all my trips in South India till now, that the public transport and autorickshaw system was very well organised, maintained and developed in South India as compared to Mumbai and nearby cities.

The temple had a mystic aura and anyone would fall prey to the greatness and power of Ganpati, the ‘destroyer of obstacles’.

Ganapatipule Temple

There was a strong scent of burning incense sticks in the insides of the temple whereas there was the smell of a rough and churning sea as soon as we stepped out of the temple.

We too chanted some mantras of Lord Ganesha and then set out once again. We also saw the smarak of the famous Marathi poet – Keshavsut (Krishnaji Keshav Damle). But since it was the day of the Vidhan Sabha elections, we could not view the place entirely as it was closed. We hurried back to Ganpatipule and had a short lunch of hot idlis. We too had packed some farsan and other foodstuffs and I munched on them as we waited for the bus to come from Ratnagiri and take us back home.

Since morning, I was amazed at the excellent service provided by the ST buses in Ratnagiri and appreciated it. But the cancellation and delay of buses due to elections left me disgusted on the state transport local bus service. The return journey was a comfortable one as the area had suddenly become cool due to continous showers for about an hour.

Back at home, I was tired by the day’s excursion and after having an early dinner, immediately went to bed.

The next day morning, I got to experience the usual simple Konkan breakfast – of soft rice, pickle, papad which they call in Marathi as ‘ma} Baat’. That day, I wasn’t keen to journey by bus after the earlier day’s problem caused by the buses. Hence, I requested my uncle to hire a known autorickshaw who would show us all the worth-seeing places on the way instead of walking in the hot sun had we journeyed by the ST bus.

Pawas is a small town. It is famous for the Swami Swaroopanand Samadhi Smarak which is nested in lush green surroundings alongside which flows a small but clean stream. Here too, the temple offered the best place for a true devotee. There was a temple of Lord Vitthal. We were lucky to have reached the temple at the perfect time when there was the aarti. It was a wonderful experience as I have always had an intense loving to sing aartis in front of god. The aarti went on for about half an hour after which, we got darshan.

Since Pawas is a very small town, there wasn’t any proper hotel and the only good one was a veg and non-veg one. Hence we went to a wayside vada-pav stall where he gave a freshly made vadas. The vadas were very tasty but it seemed as if I was getting boiled from my insides too even as the harsh sun was heating my body. I drank some cold water which we had carried in simple ‘cold storage’ bottle. It was very refreshing.

We once again started off on our way to two famous temples (Adivare), one of Ganpati of black-stone and the other of Lord Surya (Kanakaditya temple), which is quite uncommon in Maharashtra. I again munched on the foodstuffs we were carrying. I was enjoying the day really well as we had our own vehicle at our disposal. The autorickshaw driver too was very friendly to us and being a native of those places, he had many old tales of the places to narrate to us which seemed to have descended generation after generation among the local people.

As the sun came up, we started sweltering under the heat. I was intently thinking deep in my mind that I had a nice AC car with a chaffeur. I reflected upon man’s attitude that he is never content with what he gets be it the best of things that can be provided.

On the way back to Ratnagiri, we halted at a huge lavish hotel built on a rocky mountain that pentrates a bit into the sea. Here, they had built the replica of the famous ‘unsinkable’ ship Titanic which sunk in the Atlantic Ocean during its first voyage itself after it hit a huge iceberg. Having seen the movie a number of times, I was very excited to visit this place. After clicking a few photos, having the complimentary snacks and cold-drinks which they provide, we left back for Ratnagiri. I was eager to get back home and narrate the incidents of the day to my uncle and aunt. We went straight home and had some ‘chivda’ and ‘ladoos’ since I had not eaten much for quite a long time. It is also that due to the great level of excitement during any picnic or journey, I tend to eat a lot.

The next we were to leave by train for Thane. I was happy that I had got such a wonderful opportunity of visiting Ratnagiri and Ganpatipule and was also sad that this wonderful trip was finally coming to an end.

We moved about in the morning within Ratnagiri visiting Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s birthplace, Savarkar smarak, Thebaw palace, and a local Hanuman temple. When we visited Lokmanya tilak’s birthplace, the place had a somewhat patriotic feeling. Savarkar’s smarak too had the same effect. There was even the replica of the boat through which Savarkar had tried to escape. Thebaw palace, though being almost 100 years old, seemed to be a strong heritage strucure. It truly looked a palace of the times of monarchial rule of kings.

While going to the station, I remebered all the various places that we had visited during our stay I Ratnagiri and all the different things I saw and experienced. The return train journey too was nice and we reached home by 11 pm. The last trip of my Std. 9 had come to an end fruitfully.