Trip to Shrivardhan, Harihareshwar and Dighi

A memorable trip to (Shrivardhan-Harihareshwar-Dighi)...

When you have a hectic week at work, you expect the weekends to passby in peace. You meet your old pals to make the time more interesting. An unplanned trip, fortunately happened last weekend.

It was in mid November in 2011. We decided to explore the beauty of Konkan. A journey from the beautiful ghats, fresh day and special collection of songs to hym, made the five hour long journey full of rough concrete road patches, as smooth as nothing. 

We first decided to visit Harihareshwar. Our first spot of attraction was a Cricket match, played near the sea shore. A small village level match caught our attention for a while. We desparately needed to find ourselves in the the sea, throwing out our clothes on the shore and in the next moment we found what we wanted. We found a place close to our first location. A small kaccha road headed straight from the main road to the sea. Our happiness forgot its limit and the next thing I remember is a dive in the shining sea due to the sun in the noon. 

Surprisingly the shore was deserted except for us. The shore was not even blessed with a stray dog.The silent sea and the environment made me realise that I am at the right place.This is what I wanted. Silence is what I wanted. 

Hunger pulled us out of the sea. We clicked some photographs and started towards a temple for which the town is well known. The temple is located on the sea shore and blessed with a beautiful landscape surrounding it. We offered our prayers to the lord and headed towards Shrivardhan, 20 Kms from Harihareshwar. 

After filling our bellies, we went to the sea shore of Shrivardhan. Also a quite place. This place had some visitors. The locals could be easily distinguished from the tourists. They were into there daily routine: some playing, some on an evening stroll. We on other hand enjoyed the beauty of sea and sun. The sun trying to kiss the horizon and continuosly approaching its destiny. I watched the beauty of nature settle down in my mind. Taking the advantage of this breathtaking scenery, we took some photographs. I, for the first time in my life drove a car, and that too on this beautiful beach with the sun setting on my left and its rays reflecting on us from the shining ocean. I drove the car on the shore for a while, till my happiness settled down. My friends took another chance to play with the sea and swam for a while.

The sunset took my breath away for fractions. The sky from above my head to the point it met the horizon, was filled with beautiful colours. The sun was silently perishing on the far end painting the sky with orange, yellow, violet, lime, and many more unnamed colours. These colours were spread across the sky, ruling their areas with best possible authenticity, marking the moment as the moment of the day. This moment can be better described in a photograph rather than in words.

We also found a place to stay for the night, that too on the beach. Unbelievably, the resort was less than 100 feets from the revisiting water of the sea. The resort was well maintained, with small huts for people to stay. It was surrounded by Coconut trees, Plantation of Blackberries and Chickoo. On the back side, was a small place for poultry farm. There were nets tied between adjacent Coconut trees for resting purpuse and to enjoy the beautiful sea facing the entrance of the resort. We decided to stay there immediately. After resting for sometime, we went to the main market of the village. My friends bought Kokam Sharbat(Squash), a speciality of Konkan. 

The night was completely dark on the beach, except for the street lights on the distant road and the lanterns and bulbs of the boats in the sea. The sea regularly tried to frighten with its furious sounds coming from its oscillating water levels. The stars shining brightly on the other end of the visible sea made the environment more beautiful. We again sat on the shore for a while, swallowing the pleasant weather of the nature. We had a good dinner meal. I then hardly recall when the tiredness forced me to sleep.

My mind came to senses the next morning when my friend called me to watch the sunrise at 6 A.M.

Instantly I woke out of sleep and went to the beach. It was cold outside. The sand was cold too and sent signals from my bare feet to the brain, breaking my sleep completely. I sat on the shore along with my friends and enjoyed the morning. We walked along the beach. I walked on the shallow waters of the sea, which was occupied by the water and the loose sand turn by turn, giving me multiple chances to collect beautiful shells thrown out by the sea. The steps left behind beautiful prints on the loose wet sand,which were then washed away cleanly by the sea water. I also found a fish on the shore, but dead. It was shining brightly, as if its scales being painted with silver, emitting colours of rainbow due to the rays from the rising sun. Villagers were enjoying the morning walk and the young ones played cricket on the beach. It was a nice moment to start the day. 

We had breakfast and decided to go to Dighi, a small village 40 Kms from our place. Collecting our memories from Shrivardhan we went to Dighi.It took us an hour and a quarter to reach there. Roads were as usual village types. Dighi is famous for Fort Murud- Jajhira (Jajhira means island). The fort is on an island. To reach there, we had to go by boat, which local folks call a launch. We hired a boat which had canvas sails. I felt good and ironic to sit on such a boat. I felt I was transporting to an ancient time. The journey to the fort is an hour long. We listened to the stories from the man who controlled the boat, an old man, in his 60s. He told us about the history of the fort. The facts and stories were sufficient to eat up our hour long journey. 

We had an hour to go around the fort. We hired a guide, on a reasonable rate, a difficult task for others. For the next half hour he told us about the palace inside the fort (called Sheesh Mahal), the 40 feet deep lake, the secret tunnel and other jaw dropping facts. Though the fort is in ruins, from outside it still stands strong, making it an interesting monument to watch. When you climb to the top most point of the fort, you will be welcomed by the cool mild wind and the blue ocean surrounding the fort. I sat there and took time to  appreciate the beauty of my viscinity. 

Our return to the village passed in silence, probably my friends were recollecting what they had experienced in the last 48 hours of their life. Our landing on the village land marked the end of tourist attractions we were suppose to see, and hence our beautiful journey to the the far west of Maharashtra, Konkan.

We had our noon meals and headed back to our homes. The journey back to Pune was filled with our experience stories and songs on the stereo to back them up. A beautiful journey came to an end after 400 Kms of run filled with some amazing landscapes, sceneries, never ending sea, friends and  fun.   

For more pics click here.