Sindhudurg -India's First Tourist District

Sindhudurg      

  Sindhudurg is the best place for tourists. It is southern part of Kokan region of Maharashtra. Headquarters of sindhudurg is known as Oros. Sindhudurg is a part of Kokan region. Sindhudurg is the tourism’s district of Maharashtra. It is established in 1 may 1981. Administrative head office of district is at Oros Bk. It is the southern part of Maharashtra. It is located on the north by Ratnagiri, south by the goa state, west by the Arabian sea and to east across the crest of the Sahyadri's is Kolhapur district. Sindhudurg consists of 8 talukas named as Oros, Devgad, Vaibhavwadi, Malvan, Kankavli, Vengurla, Sawantwadi and Dodamarg. This district is famous for Cashew Production. Major crops of this district are rice, coconut, kokum, mango, cashew. Sindhudurg has Redi Port which is famous for iron mineral exportation in Europe. Sea coast length of sindhudurg is 121km² .

               Sindhudurg has climate which remains warm and humid in most of the year. Languages speaking in there are mostly kokani, malvani also with fluent Marathi. Malvani cuisine is famous about sindhudurg which consists of coconut, rice, and fish normally. It is also famous for seafood which has fish especially Bangda, Paplet, Prawns and Tisrya. 

Must visit places of Sindhudurg-

1. Malvan
2. Tarkarli Beach
3. Sindhudurg  Fort
4. Vengurla  Beach
5. Amboli  Waterfall 
6. Kunkeshwar  Temple
7. Vijaydurg  Fort
8. Sawantwadi

Malvan-

    Malvan (also written as Malvan) is a city and a taluka in Sindhudurg district.  The main occupations of the people in this area is fishing and agriculture.  The main food of the locals is fish curry and rice.  The city produces Alfonso mangoes and is also known for desserts like gram-besan flour and coated jaggery as well as Malvani Khaja ​​made from malvani laddu.  Other sweets that attract tourists are Konkani Mewa, Ambavadi, Phanaspoli, Dry Fruits, Cashew Nuts, Coconut Wadya and Malvani Spices.  Dashavatar (Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu), a play based on mythology, is an important cultural element in the area. Salt growers use the word "Mahalavan" to describe a salt-rich region, the conjunction of "Maha" is great and "Lavan" means plantation (or salt).  "Mad" and "Ban", respectively, belonging to many coconut trees in the region, are the phonetic derivations of the Malvani compound.  Malvani, the dialect of Marathi is the local language.

Tarkarli Beach-

    It is a coastal and remote place in South Maharashtra.  A few years ago, Tarkarli beach was declared as the Queen Beach in Konkan.  Monthly, thousands of tourists are visiting this place to rejuvenate and experience the thrill of water sports activities.  All Watersports activities in Tarkarli are operating in accordance with international safety standards and with modern safety equipment under the guidance of a professional dive master.  

     People in Tarkarli renovated their homes and converted them into bed and breakfast plans.  Some of these are accredited by a government body known as MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation).  MTDC has its own resort in Tarkarli, right on the beach.  Various scuba diving centres are in Tarkarli. There are various options available to stay in Tarkarli.  The nearest airport is Chipi Sindhudurg International Airport in Goa Dabolim Airport.  Tarkarli can be reached by train from Sindhudurg and Kudal and Kankavali by Konkan Railway.  From Malvan, you can easily reach Tarkarli by bus and rickshaw.  Tarkarli is 475 km from Mumbai and 576 km.  

Sindhudurg Fort-

    Sindhudurg fort is the historical fort which was build by the Chh. Shivaji Maharaj in the year 1664. It is build on the island named as Kurate Island. Hiroji Indulkar supervised the construction of this fort. Over 4000 pounds of lead were used to build this fort. The main purpose of building this fort was to counter the rising influence of foreign merchants. This fort is located on the shore of Malvan town of sindhudurg. This fort is a protected monument.

Vengurla-

    Vengurla is a town in Sindhudurg district.  It is surrounded by semicircular ridges of surrounding hills consisting mainly of cashew, mango, coconut and a variety of berry trees.  The hills of Dabholi, Tulas and Mochemad are to the north, east and south of Vengurla respectively, while the Arabian Sea is to its west.  The city has a rich cultural heritage.  Vengurla taluka has some temples including Devi Sateri, Shri Rameshwar, Shri Navdurga at Kanyale Redi, Shri Mauli at Redi and Shiroda, Shri Vetoba at Aravali, Shri Rampurush Mandir at Kanyale Redi, Shri Ganesh and Shri Ravalnath at Redi.  Vengurla, being a safe and natural port, the trading center was initially established by Dutch traders between 1665 and later by the British rulers.  Signs of the Dutch - British rulers are present in the city: Dutch warehouses, St. Luke's Hospital, Crawford Market, etc. Roads, markets, commercial and office buildings, municipalities, hospitals, parks etc. in the planned city,  developed by the British rulers.  The 130 year old Vengurla Municipal Council is the oldest municipal council in the state of Maharashtra.

Amboli  Waterfall-

    Aamboli is known as Maharashtra's 'Cherapunji'. The highest rainfall in Maharashtra is in Aamboli.  Aamboli receives an average of 750mm  of rainfall. It is lies in hills of Sahyadri. Aamboli waterfall is most loved place of tourist. The nearby places which are full of nature are Aamboli Forest, Kavalesat, Hiranyakeshi, Ganesh kund. Due to heavy rainfall, this area is surrounded by full of rice plantation in  rainy season. 

   

 Kunkeshwar Temple-

    Kunkeshwar is a village in Maharashtra, India.  Kunkeshwar is located on the banks of the Arabian Sea.  There is a temple of Hindu god Shiva in the city.  Kunkeshwar is built by the sea.  Kunkeshwar Alfonso produces mangoes.  Kunkeshwar is in Sindhudurg district.  Kunkeshwar is 16 km from Devgad (Devgad), 54 km from Malvan and 60 km from Kankavali.

  The nearest railway station is at Nandgaon which is about 42 km from Kunkeshwar.  Mahashivaratri is celebrated every year in February and it celebrates "Amavasya (Amanta)" for three days.

        

Vijaydurg Fort-

    Vijaydurg fort is known as Estern Jibralter. This fort was built in the year 1193, by the Raja Bhoja 2 of Shilahar kingdom. Previously it is known as Gheria. But after won this fort by Shivaji Maharaj from adil shah it is named as Vijaydurg. This fort is featurrs in Marathi movie Killa. World Helium Day is celebrated since 2009 on vijaydurg fort. This fort is situated at peninsular region of vijaydurg in devgad taluka.

Sawantwadi-

    Sawantwadi is a taluka of sindhudurg. This area is mostly Konkani speaking area.  The local language of this area is malvani. Sawantwadi is majorly known for their skilled wooden crafts. We can get lots of traditional arts and crafts work. Main attractions of tourist in Sawantwadi are Moti Talao and Hiranyakeshi & Shilpgram.