Hi guys,
I am writing this review after a long break.
During the long holi weekend, I decided to go for the weekend getaway in and around Mumbai. I was looking at options from Lonavala to Kashid to Harihareshwar but could find a hotel to stay, since most of Mumbai’s crowd had already booked these places much in advance. Finally I asked by Travel agent to look for a place where I can get hotel booking and he suggested Murud-Janjira, where he could manage to get a hotel booking in Shoreline resorts.
Murud is in Raigad district which is about 165 kms from Mumbai and 45 kms to the south of Alibag. Murud is known for its relatively virgin beaches and place is full of coconut and betel nut trees. Murud with its alluring beach, whispering casurina, coconut and betel palms and an ancient fort is worth a weekend visit. Murud is quite a small village with the least of accessibility to the outside world. Beware that there is no mobile network too in Murud, but I understand that MTNL is about to start a mobile service in the near future. Needless to mention that the natives are mainly into tourism and/ or fishing for their living. The Shoreline resort was quite impressive. Though the resort not exactly on the shore it is on the opposite side of a narrow road. Since there are few small dwellings in front of the resort, the sea could be seen from the hotel room itself, which is quite refreshing. Shoreline resort would not definitely qualify to an upclass posh resort but the service is quite remarkable that too at a reasonable tariff. The tariff includes all meals, since there is no alternative eating place, provided somebody actually goes to the marketplace and settles for a below par meal.
The drive to Murud actually takes quite long (3 hours) considering that it is only 165 kms away from Mumbai, mainly because of the bad roads and the curves which makes driving strenuous. But the drive, atleast from Alibag to Murud is quite scenic since one drives through the road with water and the beaches on one side of the road.
The major attraction is the Janjira fort which in the midst of the sea which is situated roughly 2 kms inside Murud. This is one of the oldest sea-forts in Maharashtra and extremely strong, though, some monuments inside and the walls of the fort are destroyed. There are in all 19 Buruj in the fort. Every buruj has huge guns on it. There are 2 water tanks inside the fort and some tombs as well. The fort was built by Burhankhan - a minister of Nizmashah. Marathas including Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji and Peshwas tried to capture the fort, but all those attempts failed. So this is one of the rare forts in Maharashtra which was not managed by Marathas. Padmadurg - a fort built by Shivaji Maharaj is to north -west of Janjira. Though not as big as Janjira, still Padmadurga is also a sea fort worth visiting.
Overall the beach, the fort and the tranquility is quite enchanting.
Regards
Vijay