Ratnagiri as everyone who loves mangoes knows is famous for fabled Alfonso mangoes. It is the coastal district of Maharashtra state in India. At the time of our visit in January, the mango trees were in full bloom and the fruits becomes ready by March end and April. The tree though does not give any impression that it yields such delicious fruits, it seems very modest. There are hundreds of varieties of the mango on India. This mango is not the original inhabitant of India. It was brought here by Goa’s Portuguese governor .
The Alphonso Mango is named after Afonso de Albuquerque. This was an exquisite and expensive variety of mango, that he used to bring on his journeys to Goa. The locals took to calling it Aphoos in Konkani and in Maharashtra the pronunciation got further changed to Hapoos. This variety then was taken to the Konkan region of Maharashtra and other parts of India.
Ratnagiri has beautiful sea coast dotted with rich coconut trees, mangoes and cashew nut. Fishing is the main occupation of people here. When you enter the city from jetty side, the streets reek of fish smell. The fish is spread over large area for drying. You can see the big storage houses for the fish with special trucks standing outside them for taking the fish to ports for export.
In Ratnagiri, we went to see the Ratangarh fort which is built atop a hill and very tortuous road leads up to the entrance of the fort. There is temple inside the fort. It is called Bhagwati temple. Outside the temple gate is a bust of the great sea commander Kanoji Angre who ruled the Indian ocean and the British were so frustrated by him that they labeled him a pirate. The people in the coastal Maharashtra think otherwise and he is held in great esteem. From the ramparts of the fort, one could see the blue Arabian sea sprawled over a vast area and there is a jetty in which small ships were being loaded with cement. This is the same temple where the exiles Burmese king Thibaw Minh used to come and pray with his family.
From there, we went to visit the Thibaw palace where the exiled king was confined by the British along with his wife and daughters. My interest to see the place had arisen after reading the “Glass Palace” novel written by Amitava Ghosh. The story of the king occupies many chapters in this book. That how the British had their eyes on the vast teak forests and crude oil in the Burma and when they failed to convince the king into agreeing for the exploitation, on some pretext or the other defeated the king and arrested him and his family. That how they were shipped to Madras and then finally to Ratnagiri, thousands of miles away from their country.
The palace is now a museum containing art pieces from around the Ratnagiri and other districts of Maharashtra. There is only one room in the first floor building where king’s effects like his bed, a few photographs, and few other objects are kept. The area around the building is now completely filled with houses. In the novel, the time period is is way back in the past, the area around was vacant and the king used to sit in the first floor verandah and watch the Arabian sea with binoculars. The people of the area respected the gentle king very much and depended on him for the information about the arrival of fishing boats into the jetty. He was also the first to announce the arrival of monsoons in the area with the clouds coming from the sea. I felt that people does not give this place much thought. May be it is not on their visit schedule. In fact, there is not much to see in the city. Surroundings are most beautiful.
Ganapatipule is famous for beach and Ganesh temple. From Ratnagiri the place is about 25 kilometers for most of the time road runs along side the sea coast and there are troughs and peaks all along the way. From my experience, it seems to be an odd combination because two mutually diverse activities are juxtaposed. I saw the liquor shop just outside the temple. Most people from cities like Bombay and Pune come here for enjoyment and to unwind. Temple visit is a bonus. The beach is very beautiful although sand is deceptive because it slips from under your feet. The MTDC cottages are just adjacent and rooms are good. Food though is just average. There is nothing else to see. It is a beautiful sight at the sunset when the sun becomes a progressively reddish colored disk and slowly and slowly it is going down and down to sink in the Arabian sea.
Here are some pictures of breathtaking beauty of the place.
We have a travel website which is a Maharashtra travel Guide in which we have a page for Ganpatipule with lot of information regarding the place. We also have information regarding Ganpatipule Hotels for which we provide direct link to the hotel websites. In addition to that we have a portal with information exclusively about Ganapatipule which is http://www.ganapatipule.in
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