Bassein Fort aka Vasai Fort: Part 1

The heat in Mumbai was burning the city crazy 41 degree Celsius, so thinking of going for a trek was not a good idea, But a wanderer is a crazy soul so we find ways to hoodwink the obstacles and make ways to kill the monotony of the routine.

I find my succour at Vasai fort

Whenever I find nothing to do I simply go and visit the forts in Mumbai. So this time I thought I'll go to Vasai Fort. Nothing was planned I just packed my bag and took early 6 am train from Andheri to Vasai. It was 6.47 when I reached Vasai station and came out of the platform on to the West side.

Sun was just rising,
making my morning all the more beautiful

 There are lots of autoriskha which ply from Vasai railway station to Vasai fort. But then they cost you a bomb, 120 Rs and that too for a distance of  just 6-7 kms. I dropped the idea of taking auto and came little further out of the station and inquired about the buses going to the fort. Luckily the Bus stop is just 5 minutes walkable distance from the station. The bus arrived in 5 minutes bearing the board Killebunder on it.The bus ticket cost me only Rs 15. A bus ride of 20 minutes and I reached Vasai Fort. Meanwhile while travelling in the bus I called Femina who stays in Vasai  to join me if possible, to her credit she not only agreed but  reached the fort very quickly.

I got down at the Chimaji Appa Statue.

Statue of Chimaji Appa

Upon entering the premise you see a towering Statue of Chimaji Appa sitting on a horse which looks very imposing and awesome. 

Let me make you little wiser as to who was Chimaji Appa

"Shreemant Chimaji Ballal Peshwa (aka Chimaji Appa)(1707–1740) was the son of Balaji Vishwanath Bhat and the younger brother of Bajirao Peshwa of Maratha Empire. He was an able military commander who liberated the western coast of India from Portuguese rule. The high watermark of his career was the capture of Vasai fort from the Portuguese in a hard fought battle." 
(Source Wikepedia)

Look of the Statue from the entrance gate

Standing on this raised platform one can see the boundary wall of the Vasai fort at the far end. Nothing much more was to be seen here so I clicked few pictures and moved on.

At the jetty side of Vasai Fort

As I came out of this place I saw someone waving from the autoriksha, on closer look I realised it was Femina. She left the auto and from here both of us started to move towards the jetty or the sea side entrance of Vasai Fort.

One can see ruins of Vasai Fort church from the Jetty side

Vasai Fort had two entrances one was from the land side and other from the sea side.You can see ruins of one of the church from the jetty side. Talking about the pillars on top of St Joseph Church, one local fisherman folk had an interesting story to tell, according to him there is treasure in form of gold coins and jewels in that pillar and if anyone tries to rob it, that person gets bitten by the snake who guards it.( I love stories chaye kitni bhi sahi ya jhooti)😜😜😜

Is there a treasure waiting for me ?

We now started our journey of exploration of Vasai Fort aka Bassein Fort.

Bassein Fort / Vasai Fort / Baçaim Fort :

The name "Bassein" is the English version of the Portuguese "Baçaim" (with the "ç" spoken as "s" and with the "m" silent), itself a version of an apparently native name that may have a connection to the Vasa Konkani tribals of the North Konkan region, extending from Mumbai into "South Gujarat." The Marathi name of the place is Vasai.

The complete form of the Portuguese name is "Fortaleza de São Sebastião de Baçaim" or the Fort of St. Sebastian of Vasai. The Vasai fort is a monument of national importance and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (Source Wikipedia)



As we walked from the Jetty we come across a huge Entrance gate of the fort. 

Entrance of the fort from sea side

What I found disturbing was to see how easily a small temple has crept up near the fort door and it clearly looks like new structure, so I am wondering what the ASI are doing ( Isaw one blog dated 2014 when this structure was been erected).

The entrance door was completely damaged and the iron embellishing it was completely rusted.

Rusted and damaged Entrance door of the fort

upon entering this entrance door we come across another door on the right, we walked through it and I saw a temple on my left and a little walk further we come across the St Joseph Church.

Lekin hum, hum hai ! 
Seedha Rasta humko dikhta kum hai ! 

It so happened that I saw a stone stairs going up on my left to the remnant wall. I quickly climb up because I wanted to have  a glimpse of the sea from top of it and I also wanted to take a top shot of the Church.
Locals call this kind of erratic behaviour as Khujli 😜

Top shot of Sea

Once I reached the top of the remnant wall I realised the meaning of term Kabab me haddi when I ruffled the feathers of a human lovebirds. Kamaal hai ek kona bhi nahi choda.

A traveler tip : Next time when you venture at such isolated place make enough noise that the lovebirds are forewarned and they untangle themselves from their compact compromising positions. 😜😜

Rows of boats saluting the sun

Leaving them on one side Femina and myself we both started to click pictures of the lovely sea with rows of boat standing as if saluting the morning sun. The chirping of the birds were loud and clear, the hum of the sea waves electrifying. One of the best mornings viewed by me.

Femina and Myself taking one deserving selfie

We left the cosy couple behind and started to walk along the narrow remnant wall parapet.This walkway was hardly 3 feet wide and bottom must be 20 feet so we had to be careful because as they say nazar hati durgatna ghati So please Don't risk it  and chup chap go from route going from below only.

Walking on this narrow path offered me a bird eye view of St Joseph Church from behind.

Back View of St Joseph Church
from top of Remnant Wall of  Vasai fort

As I was still on top of the remnant wall, I took the opportunity to click the exterior of St Joseph Church.

The blown away top of the church and those mystical towers were beckoning me to come and explore St Joseph Church. We quickly got down the next available stone stairs which was descending down though it was broken but we risked it.

All this running around up and down took the wind away from my lungs for a brief while, So Guys I felt I needed a break.

I need a break here

Talking of break, I am pausing here for while and I will soon come with next part of this blog.


So If you like to see churches of Portuguese times,bell towers,those swanky arches and Engraved grave stones on which the dancers danced to the tune of bollywood songs. 

Stay tuned second part coming very soon.

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.