Janjira fort also called the invincible Sea Fort is off the coast of Murud Janjira some roughly 400 metres into the sea. Fort has a huge campus with two freshwater lakes, hundreds of houses for residents, king queen palace, granary store, temples, mosques, etc. Some sightseeing places in and around Murud Janjira.
The construction and layout of the fort is quite thought-provoking. How come such a massive fort housing freshwater lake was constructed off the mainland?. How could nobody ever win this fort as mentioned in history books? I was quite a bit puzzled by these questions.
It was a long due trip. There couldn’t have been a better time other than winters to take a bike tour along the Konkan coast during winters. Put the plan in place between friends and friends of friends.
The trip was initially planned for Diveagar and Harihareshwar for 3 days which was changed runtime to Murud Janjira on day one, river rafting on day two and Diveagar beach on day 3. Embracing the change made the trip adventurous and exciting.
Mumbai to Murud Janjira
Four bikes and 6 boys left from Mumbai early in the morning and rode to Vadhkal Naka via Panvel.
We experienced mild traffic due to extended weekend on Friday morning. Took left from Alibaug towards Nagaon beach and kept riding the coastal road passing Kashid beach and Murud finally taking the break at Rajapuri village.
My bike – enroute Murud
Bikes lined up. Observe the Murud Janjira Fort in the background.
Ride from Kashid to Murud was amazing. Sealine ran right down the roads. Sea waves hitting the rocks were one of a pleasant thing to watch. It was around 3 PM when reached Rajapuri village.
There are 3 locations from where boats ferry to Murud Janjira fort
- Easiest of them is Rajapuri village
- Another one is Khora Bandar which comes before Rajapuri while coming from Mumbai side. Khora Bandar jetty depends on tides, it is operational when tides are high otherwise you will have to go to Rajapuri village.
- And the third one is Dighi which is not much helpful for tourists.
Getting a ticket is not easy 🙂
Booking jetty ticket is another pain. On weekends you can expect heavy rush of tourists.
You won’t be able to enjoy the trip as there is too much hassle in getting a ticket, boarding a ferry and then getting down on the fort.
Ticket counter issue ticket to a limited number of people around 50 per boat. Boat ferries these people and come back then next set of tickets are provided.
It is the responsibility of ferry owners to bring the tourist back. They give around 3 hours to explore the fort.
Sails lined up on the way to Fort
Another view of sails around the jetty
View of the Murud Janjira fort when approaching via boat
Got the cameraman (Vishwanath).
We were lucky to get tickets in the first set and boarded the small boat which then transferred us to a bigger boat waiting little away from the jetty.
It is certainly difficult for oldies and differently-abled to move from one boat to others and then get down in knee-deep waters near the fort then walk over the slippery stones towards the boat.
This is during low tides, during high tides boats directly deport on the entrance. Small entrance becomes nothing like a mess.
Scouting the Murud Janjira Fort
Boats stopped little away from the fort due to low tides. Removing our shoes we jumped in the water and walked up to the entrance. Guide took Rs. 100 per person which I suggest having, as without guide you won’t be able to understand the spots.
This is a kind of emblem at the entrance of the Fort. They had some mechanism to use this as to validate if someone should be allowed inside the fort or not.
Left to right – Mehul, me, Vishwanath, Chetan and Jayesh. Photo credits to Shahnawaz.
Inside of the fort
Our guide walked us through two lakes, masjid, granary, watch windows, hidden alleys, granary inside the fort. Everything I mentioned was planned with enough details and strategy.
It’s a two-storeyed fort. The top storey has 3 huge cannons facing the mainland.
Pond inside the fort
An image of the lower storey inside the fort. Notice the window, from outside these are difficult to detect and from inside it gives a good picture of the situation outside. Grains were stored in this place.
A view of the ruins from the first floor.
Left to right – Chetan, Mehul, Niraj, Jayesh, Vishwanath and Shahnawaz. This spot is the highest place in the fort. Recently, authorities installed a huge Tiranga here.
Another view of the fort walls facing away from the entrance.
3 huge cannons placed on the top floor. Earlier a wheel mechanism was used to move and position it.
It was certainly interesting walking down the history and watching the remains. Our guide informed us that boats will be leaving shortly and hurry up to get onboard. Again we were transferred from a bigger boat to smaller ones.
On reaching back to the mainland, took our bikes and rode to Murud where our friends who loved non-vegetarians went inside a popular restaurant.
By the time we finished our dinner, it was 8 PM. In the meantime, Mehul and Jayesh booked a nice villa near Kolad in the golden valley which was some 60 km from there. Ride to Kolad in the wintry night was certainly a good one.
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