Hello, my friends!
Hope you all are doing great and rocking as always! Unlike my other connect posts, I have tried writing something specific. Hope you will enjoy reading this one.
Maharashtra’s forts speak the stories of courage and determination of a great king 'Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’ and the Marathas. Although Shivaji Maharaj built/ won around 350 forts on the lands of Maharashtra, there is multiple historical evidence that Janjira fort remained unconquered even by Marathas till it officially became a part of India. With the curiosity of visiting one of the unconquered marine forts, I decided to go for a short trip to Murud with my trekking group (The Navigators).
What is so special about Janjira?
Janjira literally means ‘Island’ in Arabic (Jazirah). The Janjira fort was built on an island close to Murud village, Maharashtra. This ocean fort (often called Murud-Janjira) is 90 ft tall above sea level and took around 22 years to be built. It was built by a local Koli (Fisherman) chief for their safety. Sidhhis took over the charge from the chief by fraud and later ruled this island for many years. It remained undefeated even after multiple attempts by Portuguese, British, Dutch and Marathas due to the complexity of this fort. Sambhaji Raje Bhosale (son of Shivaji Maharaj) even built another smaller fort called Padmadurg as a counter offensive but Janjira remained unconquered.
How did I travel to Janjira?
We (a group of 6) started our journey from Dombivli by a private vehicle towards Rajapuri village (around 4 hours). We had our delicious breakfast (Misal Pav) on the way to Rajapuri. After reaching our destination, we booked a small boat (around Rs. 80 per head) which is run by localities. At this location, you can find multiple small stalls where you can eat, have refreshing energy drinks like fresh lime soda etc. If you have forgotten your hat or sunglasses, you can buy it here. Also, do not forget to carry enough water or energy drinks and dry snacks to survive the tour to Janjira in the bright sun. (Trust me, as the sun goes up, the temperature rise makes walking difficult inside the fort; as most of the places have no roof inside).
Our boat carried around 20 people to the fort. The boat left us near the fort entrance facing Rajapuri. Getting down from the boat was really an adventure during high tide (The boat keeps moving and you have to aim for the steps). The boat allowed us around 4 hours to visit the fort (although it is impossible to cover the entire fort in just 4 hours, we had to agree as there is no alternative to it).
The interior of Janjira (Major attractions)
Janjira keeps you engaged throughout your boat ride. The massiveness of Janjira as it stands tall in the ocean is really mesmerizing. Although it goes unrealised, the main entrance of Janjira (towards Rajapuri) remains hidden till you actually reach the entrance. It can not be seen from a distance. Once you reach the fort, you opt for a tour guide or explore the fort on your own. Tour guides usually charge around Rs. 500-600/ boat, irrespective of the number of people).
There are few major attractions inside Janjira, which includes,
The sweet water lake- In Spite of being surrounded by saltwater, the interior of the fort has a source of sweet water, the lake is still maintained and tourists can drink the water (sold at no cost by villagers).
Cannons- There are multiple cannons in the fort which are made of 5 different metals, the three of them - KalalBangdi, Chavri and Landa Kasam are the largest ones and the major attraction of the fort. They are still mounted on the walls facing towards the sea.
The minute details of the fort are very difficult to notice unless you already know it, like the sign of Sidhhis, which ruin is what structure etc. One can see the fort Padmagurga (also known as Kasa) from Janjira, which needs special permission to visit from the navy.
We spent long hours around the fort and enjoyed seeing the ruins of royal structures like quarters for officers etc. and returned to the Rajapuri deck by the same boat. We had our late lunch in a nearby restaurant, which was more of a Konkani style. The food was really delicious, few of us tried the Fish Thali, Chicken thali etc. We all loved the preparation.
Later we drove to Murud beach which is very close to Janjira fort. We spent an evening at the beach and came back with great memories of the Janjira fort. One can visit multiple beaches which are located in close proximity to the fort. Janjira is definitely a must-visit place even if you are not a fan of historical structures. The journey to this place itself explains the importance of this fort. Hope you all will enjoy reading this little information about Janjira-the unconquered fort!
Do let me know in the comments if you would like to read something about Maharashtra’s attractions or you can also suggest which state you would like to read about in my next post!
Happy reading.
Nowadays I keep exploring small Maharashtrian outlets which serve misal pav. In Dombivli we have many, reasonable and heavenly! Hope we all meet sometime to have misal pav (In continuation with 
