It all started at Kanheri Caves when I popped up the suggestion that I would be going for Daman exploration, Dr Ajay who like me is an avid traveler lapped up my offer and our program to visit was set.
I asked few of my friends to join but I got the standard reply " Arre pagal itna garmi me mar jayega Sunday hai ghar per rest kar" . Well the truth is my friends must be feeling restful chilling in front of TV on a lazy sunday but for me this scene would only make me restless. Our Journey: Earlier we had planned to go by car to Daman but cost per head was coming close to Rs 1000 per head and that too only for travelling ! Perhaps that is the reason I blurted " Arre yaar itne me toh mai char bar Daman jakar aa jaonga" So sanity prevailed and we decided to go by train to Daman. Let me inform you that there is no train which go to Daman, the nearest Railway station is Vapi and from there Daman is 12 kms away and can be reached by road. There are many express trains going to Delhi or Ahmedabad which halts at Vapi station which one can catch and reach Vapi. However I prefer to go by Passenger train because though they are slow atleast I am assured of a seat. We decided to catch 7:40 am Virar-Surat Shuttle from Virar station. The train took around 3 hours to reach Vapi and from there we rushed to the Taxi Stand.
Vapi Here we are
Taxi stand is just outside the Station on west side. There are regular sharing taxis which go to Daman from Vapi. We paid Rs 30 per person and mind you 6 people sit in these Taxis. A drive of 15 minutes and we were at Nani Daman Taxi Stand.
At Taxi stand :All set to go
After getting down from the Taxi we were all set for our street walk. Just opposite the Taxi stand is shopping center which local people call Dubai Market ! I personally felt it should be called Duplicate Market !(after all it contained only cheap imitation of foreign goods). However what got me interested was the construction date of the market. 1879 !
Duplicate Market ..oops Dubai Market
Constructed Year : 1879
Our first destination of interest was to explore Nani Daman Fort. Hence we started walking along this market and little ahead on the opposite side of the road was another blast from the past. Yes an old police station building with typical Arc structures.
Nani Daman Police station
Walking through the streets of Nani Daman the old colourful buildings cannot be missed. Someday I will come again and do heritage walk here.
Colourful Houses
Colourful Old Gold
Daman is a typical coastal town where one can see major Portuguese influences in construction of houses, churches and forts.
After absorbing this Portuguese culture I was all the more excited to explore Daman Town.
1933 construction
I wanted to know more about its history and was all set for next stop.... Nani Daman Fort.
Another weekend was round the corner and nothing was planned for the weekend wanderer within me so I thought let me try out something nearby, hence Sunday Morning I took 7;40 am shuttle train from Virar Station to Palghar because this weekend my destination will be Shirgaon Fort in Palghar, Shirgaon Fort, I was given to understand is some 13 kms away from the Palghar Station. I took ST bus from Palghar Station to go to Shirgoan fort. The bus frequency I was told is quite good.One needs to catch buses going to Satpati to reach this fort.
ST bus to Satpati all set to go
A bus journey of half an hour and I was dropped at a coastal village,The Bus Conducter said "Aap Masjid ke stop per utar jana " actually this stop is before Satpati. I got down before Sarpati as I saw this huge Masjid along the road.
Masjid is the landmark to get down from ST bus
After getting down the bus I took direction from the locals and started walking for few minutes through the coastal village towards the Shirgaon Fort.
Sleepy coastal village
In few minutes I reached the main entrance of the Shirgaon Fort.
Shirgoan Fort Main Entrance
Before setting my foot on the fort let me brush up some history about the fort.
HISTORY: Historical name of Shirgaon during Portuguese ruling was Sirgão. Locals told me that this fort was built by the Portuguese though I could not find much history about this fort except that this fort was later won by the Marathas in 1738 along with the Dahanu Fort, Tarapur, Kelve and Asherigad Fort under the able leadership of Chimaji Appa. However in 1818 the Britisher captured this Fort.
Fort in Ruins
This been a land fort hence no trekking is required, one can simply walk in from the road to reach the entrance of the fort. Standing in front of the fortwe see Minar or tower on the right side and a gate next to that. Minar construction some how gives the impression of Mughal architecture Just at the entrance on the right side are inscriptions dating the origin of this fort to 1714 A.D.
Frontal view of Fort from outside
As soon as we enter the fort from the door we immediately come across a big entrance door on the left side which leads into central courtyard of the fort.
Interesting architecture
The structure near the entrance lies in a ruined state today, tall walls and small windows atop them spells the historic tale unknown to us in today's time. I am sharing few pictures of lost glory .
Tall walls with windows
Tales of lost glory
Door leading to central courtyard
The moment I entered through the door to central courtyard I saw a large ground with some ruined structure on the right side which looked like rooms probably for soldiers or for holding their rations.
Stairs leading to the rampart of the fort
Inside View of Large halls
I explored the inside, actually not much to see. I came out and as there was stairs which were leading to the top walls of the fort.This fort so reminded me of Arnala Fort ( You can click the link to read about Arnala fort here)near Virar.
These stone stairs going up ends on the ramparts of the fort which one can easily circumvent.I started to walk on the top. There are 5 Bastions on this fort.
View from the ramparts of the quarters,Rooms of soldiers
Walking on the ramparts of the fort just across from where I was standing I could see a white structure perched on the bastion so naturally started to move toward it to explore.
But before reaching this bastion I came across one more bastion. which has the usual windows and circular construction.
Moving forward from here I made my way to the white structure perched on the northern bastion. The spiral stairs take you to the top.Its quite sad to see lots of graffiti on the walls, How I wish people start respecting their heritage.
Upon reaching the top of this bastion I could see the whole fort and the most prominent thing was the multi branch Palm tree...wow must be one of its kind.
Unique multi branch Palm tree
Bird's eye view from the Bastion.
After spending some time here I went on to explore the other bastion which we saw at the entrance door.
Bastion on the other end, waiting to be explored
Bastion from ground level
Exploration of these ancient forts is always an adventure because we often come across secret tunnels, caves etc. Shirgoan fort too has its quota of such historical mysteries.
Doors to unknown
The sun was hitting me hard and I think I have seen all that I can see so felt it was time to move on now back home. Shirgoan Fort is a small fort which you can explore in two hours. Do visit it if you are at Palghar.
Watch the video here for the Shirgoan Trek
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We had just finished our Bhramgiri Trek (You can click on this link to read), the source of Godavari river. We rested a bit,snatching few moments for early morning breakfast which extended from chapatis to pickle and nimbu pani and tea.It was now time to move towards our next destination, DurgBandar Fort. We left the temple premise and started walking along the railing towards the Shiv Jatta Mandir.
The colossal plateau offers some of the most amazing views
each scene unfolded just like a picture book in front of us.
The undulating mountains left me speechless.
But just like a true traveler I cannot afford to fall in love with the place, got to move on..... Kyo ki Nazaaro ke liye rukh gaya toh Manzil bura maan jayegi.
Enroute to Bandardurg we first come across the Shiv Jatta Mandir. Its a small temple on the opposite corner of the Bhramgiri Temple.
Shiv Jatta Temple in other corner
Outside view of Shiv Jatta Mandir
Inside view of Shiv Jatta Mandir
Now there is a folklore associated with this temple. It is believed that after the sin of Gau hatya (Killing Of the cow) was committed by Rishi Gautami he was advised to pray to Lord Shiva who will absolve him from his sins by releasing the river Ganga so as to wash away his sins, pleased with the penance Lord Shiva gave river Ganga to him, however Ganga was very attached to Lord Shiva so she refused to let go his hairs where she resided.Lord Shiva was infuriated and he started his Tandav Nritya and dashed his jata(Hairs) on the stone,frightened by this the Ganga appeared there.(Source of the story Internet) Another thing that I noticed were these small stones kept one over the other, The locals told me that people do this so that there wishes are granted.I remembered seeing this at Bhimashankar Temple and yes even at few of the Himalayan treks that I did.Its all matter of Faith....Jider baat Vishwaas ki hoti hai.... toh koi logic nahi chalega
Peculiar Stone stacking ...its all about Prayers and wishes
Next to the Shiv Jatta Temple is a small water cistern or well, I was told that it has a potable water, Seeing the water I wont take the chances but on lighter note I would say as Indians we can drink any kind of water and nothing can happen to us.(Disclaimer: Don't take this observation of mine too seriously 😃)
Water well next to Shiv Jatta Temple
It was now time to move on from here to our next thrilling experience, hence we started to walk between the Shiv Jatta Mandir and the water well as seen in above picture, but towards the back side of the temple to our next destination, that's Durg Bhandar.
View from backside of the Shiv Jatta Mandir
The walk from here was through dense vegetation with the valley on our left side our walk was through thick vegetation as we had gone after the rainy season.
Walking through the thick vegetation though irritating and dangerous due to danger of snakes giving a sweet little peck on our feet 😅 ) but felt interesting due to the presence of lovely yellow flowers all around us.
and picturesque surroundings and the inviting looks of the dome shaped Bhandardurg ahead.
.
That's the place where we want to go....Bhandardurg Here I come
this walk through the vegetation lasted for hardly a 10 minutes and we come across a small water cistern and little further walk as we start to really feel the presence of being near our destination and we see the dome shape of the Bhandardurg ahead
Sanjog here trying to capture the Dome shaped mountain of Bhandardurg.
Our trek is like walking on top of the mountain till we reach the stone steps.The picture below will help you understand our trek.
This walk abruptly comes to an end near a narrow passage with stones steps going down 20-30 steps and giving almost mystical experience as you descend to the bottom.
Mouth of the stone steps going down.
Narrow stone stairs
Climbing down these narrow stairs were making me feel very claustrophobic, I actually hate close spaces but thankfully I was immersed in the eerie feeling of the place that I didn't realised when I had reached the bottom of this stairs but before I could let out sigh of relief I saw this small hole like stone doorway through which I had to crawl to get out of this place. Hey Ram! ab yeh kya naya stunt !
OMG ! Am I got to crawl through this....No way
yes that's what my first reaction was.. Omg! am I to crawl through this...No way 😰, someone from the gang tapped on my shoulder and said "buddy this is the only way! well, ab marta, kya na karta, so Chal pada" a little crawl and I come out on the other side in a bright sunlight.
Uff...out in the sunlight again
Standing here I could see long ridge on which I had to walk to reach the outer side.
Ready to walk on this ridge
Walking on the ridge is always a thrilling experience as you can feel the breeze and the thrill factor is always on top form.As soon as this ridge walk ends We see another small entry door , something similar that we left behind so crawling time again 😄😄
Crawl time again
Crawling through this small entry door we again reach the narrow passage of stone stairs. so this time we got to climb to reach the top.
Climb thru the dark stairs
Coming out of this narrow stairway we reach the top of bhandardurg but still little walk through narrow stone cut rocks were awaiting us.
Narrow stone cut rocks
Walking through this narrow path was quite awesome because the view of the lake and the civilization below looked very beautiful from here
Beautiful views
There is a small bastion , where we all assembled together and had mini breakfast break with a group selfie thrown in and some personal photo shoot.
Selfie Time
I was here....Moment !!!
It was now time to go back and the return journey was quick albeit the monkey scare that we got on our way back to the base.It was a fun trek which can be easily done in a day.
