The BRANCHED Coconut Tree inside the Sea fort

                    

    

A popular tourism spot around 450km from Bombay, Malwan boasts of beautiful beaches, excellent sea food (the local Malwani cuisine) and Water sports. Being my home town it holds a special place for me, though I have been here only on a couple of occasions. The pull to my native place was more for enjoying Snorkeling and Scuba diving with friends as well as a taste of the local cuisine, also the locals here are extremely hospitable and the cost of bed and boarding is relatively cheap 



Ships moored off the walls



The Entrance

A Bell from ancient times

The lure of water sports pulled us towards a lesser known but attractive destination - the Sea fort of Sindhudurg built by Shivaji, the great Maratha warrior King in 1664. Located in the Arabian sea on an island, it is barely a few kilometers from Malwan

The sea scape around Malwan had threats from enemies such as the Siddis of Murud so to keep them in check, Shivaji selected 'Kurte island' as a strategic location to build this fort

A rusted cannon has seen better days

                                 

The fort was built over a period of 3 years and spreads over 48 acres. It has an amazing 2 mile long zigzagging rampart with 42 bastions, walls which are 30 feet high walls and 12 feet thick, and a hidden main entrance which can be only located by a regular visitor or a local

  There are three sweet water reservoirs in the fort ramparts. Even if the water in the nearby villages dries up in summer, these wells are always full. A hand and foot print of Shivaji is embedded in one section of the fort. There is also a hidden passage which starts in a temple, goes under the island for 3 km, under the sea for 12 km, and from there 12 km to a nearby village. The tunnel was an escape route if the enemy entered the fort, however, the British partially closed this passage after the fort was abandoned.

One of the few houses left inside the fort

                                    

And lastly the Branched Coconut tree - OUR TREE HAS 1 TRUNK DIVIDED INTO 2 TREES. ACTUALLY THESE MAY NOT BE BRANCHES  BUT COULD PROBABLY BE 2 TREES ORIGINATING FROM A SINGLE SOURCE & LOOKS A QUEER Y-SHAPE……..Be sure to visit my home town for a glimpse of this wonder



Snorkelling is catching up amongst the tourists