Coastal Odyssey: Gokarna Beach & Om Beach

The road journey that we had embarked on from Karwar to south of the the western coast was proving to be one of my best exploration adventure,I knew the beaches along the coast are very good but I had never expected to come across such quite,serene and enigmatic temple of SRI LAXMINARAYAN MAHAMAYA TEMPLE ANKOLA ( click on this link if you want to read about laxminarayan mahamaya temple) , Sitting at the steps near the temple I was all but in a trance, never wanted to take away my eyes away from such beautiful temple.

I was zapped by the beauty of this temple

Seeing me transfixed my wife tapped on my shoulder and said "Ab yehan rahkar sanyas lene ka vichar to nahi na" I smiled and said "Sanyas aur mai, arre abhi toh aur kitni manzile mera intezaar kar rahi hai " saying this we all moved into our car searching for the next destination, Koi Bola tha na ki aage beach hai....toh Chalo phir.It has began to rain again, but we were all enjoying every moment of it.

Idyllic and mystical drive

We again took to the highway NH17 and started moving toward south, the signboards were suggesting that our next destination should be Gokarna beach,Om beach, Kudle Beach.Actually we were given to understand by a local person that beaches were in a row along the coast so one can easily cover them all.It has started raining again and overcast climate is always so idyllic and mystical.

Coastal roads offer a spectrum of beautiful shades of nature that "yeh dil mange more ", I honestly wanted to get out of the car and enjoy the bounty of the nature 

Bounty of nature

but Oh, My time constraint ! and this thought actually reminded me of the beautiful lines of poem which  played out in my mind 

What is this life full of care
We have no time to stand and stare.

I know only one thing,

Manzilon ka kaam hai pukarna,
Aur Musafir ka kaam hai chalna,
Isiliya ,Mai toh chala 
Jider chale rasta.

Moving in towards the Gokarana beach

So taking a right turn from the Highway we moved on to the narrow lanes of village to take us to the Gokarna Beach and little ahead we saw this board leading us to the beach.

Once we reached the village the lanes kept getting narrower as some festival was going on. Gokarna is known to be a holy town. As one of the local said that this town has a historical reverence and the name is derived from Go (Holy Cow) and Karna (Ear). I for one takes these thing with a pinch of salt.Gokarna has some fantastic temples as my visit was short so I decided next time I will catch the temples.For now its only beaches.

Only beaches for me 

So Gokarna Beach here I come. I was told that Gokarna Beach is very secluded and lesser visited one, but surprisingly when we reached the beach I found it quite crowded.

Gokarna Beach, 
look out for the large numbers of tourist car parked.

Many tourist buses and car, probably from Bangalore or Kumta were there. In order to buy my peace of mind,I decided to go about exploring, where the crowd was sparse.

Mai toh chala jider chale raasta

Hence I walked along the coastal village, toward a small hill nearby.

Typical Coastal Village

We slowly started to move  towards the hillock which had a regular stairs leading all the way up , So just a gentle climb of 10 minutes and we were on top.

Catching the view as we were climbing

Once reaching the top we find there is a small temple and a viewing point which offers a good vantage point to have a amazing views of the beaches nearby.

Viewing Gallery

View of beaches nearby

Another view from the top

Standing atop the hillock we could see the extended coastline and at the farthest point I could see a small pink temple and I had now set my eyes to go and check out what it is.

So quickly we trekked down the hill and resumed our journey toward that pinkish temple at the end of the coastline. Luckily for us one can drive till that small temple.The thrill of exploring each nook and corner is such,that you come across things which surprises you.

Small temple in a small town

Entering through this gate I saw this lovely pool with some young boys diving and enjoying the cool waters.

Small pool in front of the temple

Now this is what I call cool surprise

Ram Temple

The view from behind this temple was also very nice,we sat on the rocks enjoying the cool breeze and watching sea water hitting out at the rocks tirelessly again and again

We enjoyed sitting on the rocks and enjoying the sea.

It was now time for us to move on to our next destination and it was Kudle beach and Om beach.

Kudle Beach

Actually all these beaches are very close to each other. In fact they appeared little further because the road takes a longer route. As we were moving through this serpentine roads the sky was again threatening us with an another downpour.

The gathering clouds

Some day I would love to trek along the coast and explore the the beaches, that would definitely be an experience.We didn't go down to Kudle beach instead only had the top view, we stood on the road and absorbed the beauty of the place before moving on to the Om beach. A little drive and we were standing at the entrance of the Om Beach.

Entrance of the Om Beach

Now this was interesting because in order to go to Om beach one has to climb down the stairs.We parked our car and started to move from this point to the beach below.

First view of the Om beach

This is the way to go down to the beach.

Stairs leading to the beach

Om Beach is so called because of the om shape of the beach.

Om shaped Om beach

Om beach is very popular among the foreigners, now that was what I was told of and it is very famous for booze party.  In the same breath I was informed to be very careful as the beach is full of drug addicts.As I had no plans to stay here so missed the opportunity to have the first hand experience. Talking of the beach , it was indeed very beautiful and the rocks had this peculiar colour.
  

Coloured Rocks

I was also informed that the police is very vigilant and they check the autos or taxi plying in, to check the tourist if they are carry drugs or narcotics. Luckily for me I didn't come across any such incident.

With such beautiful sight before you its hard not to spend some time clicking pictures and as they say a picture is worth thousand words , hence I shall be sharing few pictures now.

 

After spending some splendid time here with my daughter and wife and our lovely host Vijayji and his daughter it was time to move on to somewhere in the town of Mirjan. To explore another forgotten legacy known as Mirjan Fort  (Click on this link if you want to read our next adventure at Mirjan Fort)

Vajragad Vasai (Hira Dongri)

Few days back I got a call from my friend Shashi to get ready to go for trek to Vajragad. I said ok and disconnected the mobile, but suddenly I remembered that nowadays the entry to Vajragad is restricted so I called him again and said "Boss Vajragad can't be be done as it's under the military administration" He replied "Aare Aashishji yeah pune ke pass wala nahi hai, Aapan Vasai wala Vajragad karne wale hai", Now this got me thinking and all excited. I quickly got busy searching on google for information. Just couldn't believe another fort lying in my backyard and I am unaware of it. Somehow the wait was intolerable for me and Sunday looked very far. Luckily for me I saw my friend Mervyn online on Facebook , I pinged him and soon we got to discussing our weekend plans and believe it or not he too had Vajragad Vasai on his mind! and Bingo we were on!.

Next morning at 7.00 am both of us met at Andheri Station and took Virar Local, being Saturday morning the train was not much crowded so we reached Vasai Station quite comfortably.Moving out of the station we proceeded  toward the western side. There is this ST stand right outside the station.
From Vasai ST stand we were take bus to Girij Village, We were informed by the ST personnel that we can take bus going to Bhuigoan also as Girij village is en-route.Our bus left from Platform no 1 and we were told that the bus frequency is there at every 20 minutes,

At Vasai ST Stand

Soon the bus arrived and we were on our way to Girij village, Please note one thing here that when you buy bus ticket ask for Datta Mandir Girij and not Vajragad because locals hardly know the place by Vajragad.The bus journey is short and sweet passing through city,village and some lovely winding roads. ( The distance from Vasai station to Girij is around 6 kms).

Lovely misty roads

As soon as Girij Bus stop arrived the bus conductor informed us accordingly and indicated us to get down. It is always a good practice to tell the bus conductor to inform you whenever your destination arrives. Once you get down from the bus you need to cross the road and walk few steps backward 

This road goes toward Arnala

and you come across this not so imposing gate which is the entry gate to the temple. Though there is a board but chances of you missing the same is very high , so always ask passing villager for direction.

The not so imposing gate of Vajragad/Datta Mandir

The moment you enter this gate you are transformed into a complete different world, the calmness around you is so pleasing , especially with the early sunlight playing hide and seek with the coconut trees around you

Early morning bliss

Little walk through this forested route you hear the birds singing and chirping and before you realise you see the well carved out steps leading you to the top.

steps leading to the top

Setting my foot on the top I suddenly realised that there is just a Temple on the top and nothing else

My first reaction was "Hey it was suppose to be a watch tower so where are the fortification " Anyways we thought let us make the best of the situation and enjoy the bounty of beauty all around us. The top also offer a fantastic view of the nearby Vasai fort and Arnala fort.

Beauty of Nature

The temple was freshly painted and we were given to understand that it is managed by a private party however it is open to general public.

Well Maintained Temple

 At the entrance on the temple above there is a statue of Gajanan Maharaj

Statue of Gajanan Maharaj perched on top

The temple is very neat and clean ,well maintained.

 We then decided to explore the top little bit more and realised that there is more to the top then only the temple, Just next to the temple is an idol of hanumanji

Hanumanji's Idol under the tree next to the temple

Long shot of Hunuman idol under the Tree

and little further  behind this you see stairs going down to an open ground. 

Staircase behind the temple

View of stairs from below

and next to the stairs there is squarish kind of water well seeing the various pumps attached to it , it seems to be the main source water supply to the temple.Temple authorities have put out strict warning to avoid swimming as this well is deep.

Squarish well behind the temple.

Another view of the well with the temple behind

source of water supply as can be seen from the water pipes submerged in the well

and next to the well there is a Peepal tree beneath which another small temple is made.

temple under the tree

Just when I was standing here I noticed the two bastions with a small wall. Actually this is what has remained of the original Vajragad.

Reconstructed left Bastion of the Fort 

Right side Bastion 

Wandering on the top I never once felt that this place was a fort or watch tower as the history books mentions. The only sign of history I could relate to was the presence of the wall and the bastion. Otherwise this place is epitome of peace and tranquility. 

 After completing our exploration of this temple we descended the stairs which are behind the temple and came across this beautiful open ground which again presented us with some lovely sights.

We moved on from here having a last look at the Datta Mandir and moved on to the Shankarcharya Temple nearby. In my next blog I will be covering that, till then happy reading guys and Thank you so much.