A TRIP TO MAHIM KELVE

Dates: 14th and 15th July 2007

I had recently read ‘Bhatkanthi’, a book in Marathi on adventurous journeys by Milind Gunaji. I found a mention of Mahim Kelve Beach in that book. I discussed the plan of going to this place with the office staff. We decided to stay at Palghar on Saturday night i.e. 14th and venture out the next day. There were no bookings done and we were prepared to spend the night on the Palghar platform.

Others joining me were Dilip, Dinesh, Ganesh, Mangesh, Navnath, Sakharam and Satyavan. When we were ready to leave the work-place, Sanjay, a colleague of mine asked me if we had made arrangements for the stay at Palghar. I said that we were going to stay at the platform itself. Sanjay said that if we wanted he could make arrangements for our stay overnight at Palghar. His maternal uncle stayed in Palghar. Sanjay could possibly co-ordinate with his Uncle and make arrangements for the stay. He told us to leave while he made the arrangements. Thanking him profusely we left for the Bus-stop. We had to reach Borivili Station first in order to catch the 124 Down Ahmedabad Passenger train.

By around 9:15 p.m. a somewhat empty contract bus bound for Borivili came. We hopped into it and occupied most of the vacant window seats. We reached Kandivli by 9:45 p.m. Midway Sanjay called to inform us that he had made bookings for us at Laxmi Guest House. Three rooms along with extra beds had been arranged.

There was traffic near Thakur Village and it was around 10 p.m. when we finally reached Borivili. There were some Volvo buses lined up near the stop where we got down. However on enquiring with the drivers, we came to know that most of them were going to Surat, Vadodara etc with no halts at Palghar. We then made our way towards the ST Bus stand, where we were told that there were no buses leaving for Palghar for that night. So we made our way towards the Railway station as our last resort.

We reached the station by 10:45 p.m. The passenger train was scheduled to arrive by 11:30 p.m. We purchased tickets and decided to have dinner at some hotel nearby. But finding a hotel was quite a task at that time and we had to dash off after a hurried dinner to the station.

The train came by around 11:35 p.m. The general compartments were full in no time. We stood besides the door as there was no place more comfortable. We passed through Vasai Road by 12:10 a.m. When we reached Virar, the last station in the suburban section it was 12:30 a.m. We reached Kelve Road station by 1:00 a.m. Here the train was put into siding and some 4-5 express trains passed by. It was 1:40 a.m. when we got down at Palghar station. We asked a RPF personnel at the platform about Laxmi Guest House. He told us that it was nearby and at a walk able distance only. The Guest House was on the first floor. It was around 2:00 a.m. when I stood near the Hotel entrance door and rang the bell. The door was opened by a fellow, who could have been around 40 years and was probably accustomed to find people coming out so early in the morning. We paid the advance amount and got into our respective rooms. There was a television set in each of the three rooms. We decided to catch up with the latest news before we dozed off. There was nothing much in particular and we switched off the TV and plunged into deep slumber by 2:30 a.m.

I was awake by 5:30 a.m. Had a bath and awoke others. By around 7:00 a.m. we checked out of the hotel. Before leaving I enquired with the hotel owner how far the Kelva Beach was and what was the comfortable means of transport. He said that although there were buses plying between Palghar and Kelva Beach, the 10-seater Vikram was a better option. We descended the stairs of the building and made our way to the main road. There was a 10-seater waiting outside. It was 7:45 a.m. and we were way behind schedule. So we hopped into the 10-seater. We passed through a lovely route which made each one of us feel that we were far away from the hustle bustle of the city and amidst some sleepy town.

We reached the Beach by 8:10 a.m. It was one of the best settings I had seen of a beach. A large number of cypress trees lined in front of the sea were a treat to watch. As it was low tide the sea was at quite a distance from the beach. Most of the members in the group rushed into the inviting sea. We were frolicking in the sea for some 2 hours. We saw a fortification (Later I came to know this was called ‘Alibaug’ fortress) at a distance towards our left hand side in the south direction. We decided to explore it.

This fortification was at a sufficient distance. We walked for more than half an hour to reach it. At close quarters it looked like a part of some fort which had chambers on the inside. There is no proper entrance to this structure. One has to make use of the stepping stones and enter the fortification through one of the opening. Inside there was plenty of vegetation. There was a small tank as well. We took some snaps inside the fortification. While we were enjoying the new found place some one from the group informed us that the place was getting surrounded by water from all sides. We got back to the shore quickly without wasting further time. It was a lucky escape.

Next we decided to offer our prayers to Shitladevi temple. The temple is wonderfully built and maintained. Having visited the temple we made our way to a hotel to have lunch. I opted for the tender coconut though. It was fresher than the ones I could have anywhere else back in Mumbai. I sat besides a tree and relished the Masala Chana having a nice view of the sea. It was around 2:30 p.m. when we made our way to next destination, Mahikavati Mandir. We also decided to cover Shirgaon fort also. We reached the Mahikavati Mandir, which must have been hardly some 4-5 kms. from the beach by 2:50 p.m. It was unlike other temples. It had a room where a family was staying between the entrance and the place of worship. As we had kept the meter running we didn’t have time to enquire about the significance of the temple. The place of worship was pretty old. We had darshan and returned back to the waiting Vikram. By around 3:20 p.m. we reached Shirgaon fort. It is situated near a school. Almost in ruins, we found some children playing cricket there inside the fort. We climbed the fort from the south side. There was a watch-tower on this side with no supports. As soon as we climbed up the stairs it offered a breath taking view of the sea and the village. Just behind this tower was a chamber which had a lot of vegetation. As we moved towards the east side along the narrow path I found some six-seven chambers down below. I then returned back to the chamber behind the watch tower. In this very chamber there is a secret entrance on the west side. We ventured inside it. However it was too dark to find out where it led to. So we returned back to the chamber and walked towards the south side. There was one more watch tower. However due to the dense growth of wild grass we found it difficult to get to the top and skipped it altogether. We then started moving towards the west side. There was a watch tower here too retaining all its grandeur. We made our way to it through a very narrow path. I thought this might have been the place where many of a ruler would have brought his beloved during the moon-lit nights and had enjoyed some romantic moments. We returned back to the North end and descended the stairs. With a heavy heart we left the fort and made our way to the Main Road. It was 4 p.m. We caught a 10-seater up to Palghar from there. One of the passengers, an elderly woman enquired where we were from. We told us that we were all were from different parts of Mumbai. I enquired where Alibaug was (I was still not aware that the small fortification by the beach from which we had luckily escaped was called Alibaug). She told us that there was only one Alibaug and that too was located near Mumbai. She said that she had been to Alibaug from Bauchaa Dhakka’.

Soon we reached a place called Chunnabatti. We just thought what a coincidence it was that there were three places near Mumbai which had similar names of places in Palghar: Mahim, Alibaug & now Chunnabatti. It was around 5:20 p.m. when we reached Palghar and had tea. We then made our way to the ST Bus stand. Here we caught the last bus going to Thane. We must have traveled for some 30 minutes when we reached Manor. An article on Manor in the internet had mentioned about Manor’s beauty. Just then I saw a mini dam like construction on the right side of the road. The Board placed nearby read ‘Soorya River’. I am looking forward to make a trip to Manor soon.

We passed through Virar, Boisar, Versova, etc. We could see many a Jain Mandirs constructed on the hilltops. I concluded that this entire stretch between Thane-Palghar is worth visiting especially during the monsoons. It was around 8 p.m. when we reached Thane Bus stand. On reaching Thane railway station we all parted ways and returned back to our respective homes.

Getting There:

Fare for the ticket from Powai to Borivili was 10 Rs. per head.
From Borivili to Palghar ticket for passenger train was 14 Rs per person.
Rooms we got for 80 Rs. per person roughly.
Fare from Palghar to Kelva Beach: 10 Rs. per head
Fare from Kelva Beach to Shirgaon fort (via Mahikavati temple): 20 Rs. per person for singular trip
Fare from Shirgaon fort to Palghar: 5 Rs. per head
Fare from Palghar to Thane: 70 Rs. per head

Best time to Visit: Monsoons if you want to enjoy the route. If you intend to go to the Alibaug fortress it is best to know the tide timings.

Important Information: It is very difficult to find a pure vegetarian hotel near the Beach, so best option is to carry food along. Coconut is a lot cheaper here. It is available for as low as 10 Rs and nice too.



Hotel Accomadation: Swad Resort for A/C, Non A/C Veg and Non Veg Food. Mukund Aba Wadi, Shitaladevi, Kelve Beach, Taluka Palghar Dist Thane - 401401

Contact Nos: (O) 952525 222471, 952525 699673 (R) 2898 0504
(M) 9860599097 9324045345