We got up early at 4:00 am and were ready to start the unforgettable journey. I put all the bags in Silver Arrow. We left home by 5:40 am. Immediately we were on NH4 since we live nearby. It was still dark outside. My first priority was to tank up fuel. Stopped at the BP company operated bunk around 25 kms on NH4. Filled the tank to brim and continued towards Satara. The road was empty with few trucks in between. I was cruising at around 80 to 110 consistently. Our progress was good. NH4 is one of my all time favorite road. There was fog intermittently which made me more cautious. The journey was uneventful and we reached Satara by 7:30 am (trip meter: 108). After around 15 kms we stopped roadside for breakfast. Wife had already packed up homemade methi parathas. This saved lot of time generally wasted in searching hotel and other things. In 10 minutes we finished the tasty breakfast and were on way towards Kolhapur.
Silver Arrow getting ready for the sojourn
Empty NH4 and the fog
Another dense fog stretch
Tasty home made breakfast
Near Kolhapur my father showed me a large statue of Lord Ganesh on the left hand side. It must have been around 50 to 60 feet in height. We didn’t visit the statue since we still had to cover lot of distance. We entered Kolhapur at 9:25 am (trip meter: 228). Till now our progress was really good. We had planned to visit Mahalaxmi temple. Parked the car near temple and entered the temple from the 2
nd darwaja. The temple was already full of pilgrims. And looking at the long queue for darshan, we decided to take darshan from a distance. Good thing about this temple is that you can see the Mahalaxmi goddess even from a distance. Clicked few snaps and headed out.
Mahalaxmi Temple Kolhapur
Beautiful carvings of the temple wall
We had planned to eat famous kolhapuri missal at the well known place called Phadtare missal. However we were not feeling hungry so decided to resume the journey. I had to ask for direction towards Rankala lake. This road takes you to Gaganbawda. Roads in Kolhapur are in pathetic condition. And the road near Rankala was in worst condition. We reached Rankala at 10:15am. I was driving very slowly. We continued on bad road for few more kilometers. Then we were out of town and suddenly the road was surrounded by sugarcane fields. The road was inviting again though there were broken patches. The stretch between Kolhapur to Gaganbawda was bit boring. We saw lot of tractors carrying sugarcane in trolleys thus making our progress slow.
Road towards Gaganbawda surrounded by sugarcane fields
We reached Gaganbawda at 11:45 am (trip meter: 291). I was surprised to saw MTDC resort in Gaganbawda. I was unaware about the next surprise lying ahead. Then the road entered in a ghal and we saw the Gaganbawda ghat. The location was scenic and we could see mountain ranges below. From the top the ghat road below looked amazing. I stopped the car at one of the vantage points to enjoy what nature has to offer. We spent around 10 minutes watching the mountain ranges and taking snaps. The road looked inviting and I enjoyed the drive down the ghat. The ghat is around 10 kms long.
First surprise...view from Gaganbawda ghat
Mountain ranges
Twisting roads
Silver Arrow against the hill
Then we reached Talere Naka NH17 (Mumbai Goa highway) at 12:45 pm (trip meter: 323) where you need to take left. We reached Kankavli at 1:05pm (trip meter: 345). Now everyone was feeling hungry so we started searching a descent restaurant. I parked car where there were 3 to 4 hotels. Went inside a average looking hotel “New Nikhil Lunch home” where I saw many people seating inside. Ordered veg thalis for everyone. The food tasted excellent. They served hot chapattis which removed my entire fatigue of driving for last 7 hrs.
Tasty konkani lunch
We quickly finished lunch and were on way towards Malvan. Near Kasal turned right towards Malvan. There are two turns to Malvan, the first turn takes you through many villages and has small roads. The second turn which is actually through Kasal is a state highway. Since this was our first visit we took the first turn and were unaware of the road through Kasal.
First view of Malvan backwaters
We reached Malvan at 3:05pm (trip meter: 396). Entered the main market and asked for Patkar’s heritage home and guided by few people. We were welcomed by our host Mrs Rane. Patkar’s heritage is a home stay facility created in a very old house (in fact it was an old vada). The rooms were ok and provided basic facilities. Our host told us that though they have provision of 10 persons, our family is the only guest staying there for next couple of days. We got refreshed and took some rest. Then asked Mr Rane for nearby places. We then visited Medha ganesh temple. This temple has been built by Shree Jayant Salagaonkar also famous as Jyotirbhaskar (maker of well known Kalnirnay calendar). The temple is very beautiful and well constructed. We took blessings of Ganesha. The atmosphere was very good. Then went to rock garden (half km away) which is right on the beach. The name was given since there are lots of rocks on that beach. We found that the garden was inaugurated in 2009 and is very well planned and maintained. We were really surprised to see this garden. There were lots of tourists waiting on the rocks to see the sun set. We couldn’t see sun set due to clouds over horizon. Then we went to Chivla beach which is next to Rock garden. Because of darkness waited there for few minutes. Chivla beach is famous for its circular shape and clear water.
Meddha Ganesh Mandir
Rock Garden
Beautiful flowers
Rock Garden: Rocks on beaches
Sunset from Rock garden
Chivla Beach...notice the circular shape
Then we asked for Malvan Rameshwar temple and were directed towards Deolwada. This place is famous for 4 to 5 temples next to each other. I parked the car and we entered the first temple of Shree Narayan i.e. Vishnu. Took the blessings and asked few people for Rameshwar temple. At around 100 ft we found Rameshwar temple. Everyone was very excited to see the temple. The trust has done renovation of the temple recently. Temple was large though empty. The temple was excellent and there was a serene peace, calm. We took the blessings and asked the manager for guruji. He told us that guruji lives next to the temple. We went to guruji’s house and decided to perform Abhishek the next morning.
Guruji Sumedh Joshi (9421262933, 02365-252993).
Since our ancestors lived in Malvan and this was our first visit, I asked my father to perform the Abhishek. We also purchased photos of Shree Rameshwar. Returned back to our rooms with very good feelings. The dinner served by our hosts was ok. I liked the solkadhi a lot. At 10:30 hit the bed. First day went very well. We got the darshan of our kul dev Rameshwar for the first time. First target of this sojourn was achieved on day one.
Shree Narayan Mandir
Shree Rameshwar Temple
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