Sid's Travelling Experiences: Weekday Off To Kelve(Kelwe), Kelva(Kelwa) Beach, Shirgaon Fort(Killa), Bhavangad Fort in Palghar District and new update of Edvan island's Ashapura Mata Temple

Morning sunrise 06:00am on NH3

Starting off from our Bhandup residence me, my two friends and my brother are off suddenly for a day trip to Palghar on a weekday. Our main destination to cover which for long on our minds was the famous Shirgaon Fort(Shirgaon Killa) near not so famous Shirgaon Chowpatty(Shirgaon Beach). At 05:30 am we departed from Bhandup and in a matter of 2.5 hours we reached Palghar of course having Google Maps helps otherwise my friends was almost going to drive his car into a river(Lolzzz!!!!)

Shirgaon fort (backside)

Going to Palghar via car is through Ghodbunder road or NH3 from Thane which goes all the way to Surat in Gujarat and further. And if you want to travel via train which can be super hectic early morning you can get down on Palghar station and further travel by ST buses or hire a vehicle to reach your desired destination.

Towards shirgaon beach

Okay so the first destination that we reached was Shirgaon Fort.13 km away from Palghar station looked like this when we got our foot out of the car.
As shown in an episode of Discover Maharashtra(A Marathi travel show) there are a lot of multi-branched palm trees around it(well I thought that a palm tree with multiple braches is unique....sigh) anyways but we first decided to go nearby Shirgaon Beach. I will show you a video of the beach I shot below.

Well now you know why I called it an infamous beach. Unlike most beaches it is silent but not sane as when you actually go there the people have literally dirtied the place which can be one of the best beaches in Maharashtra. New eucalyptus tree plantations can be see so maybe people there are trying to convert Shirgaon beach into a tourist attraction Bless them, not a clean beach :( Next place obviously the Shirgaon Fort. Quiet amazed that the fort is still looking so great as well as the people are putting an effort in its maintenance. A small but great to look at it has an entrance in one of the watch towers

Followed by a larger area in between and then you just

have your own time exploring the fort. Walk on the terraces, watch towers, Exploring the escape route(got stuck in one of those), watching the only canon on the fort and the best part to have a sit in the highest terrace part of the fort where you can enjoy the fresh breeze and also see the writing done by youngsters on the walls.

My video on the fort below

Moving on after spending like 3 hours on the fort around we started heading to our next point that was Shitaldevi Mandir (Temple) in Kelve village near the very famous Kelva Beach. So we planned have something to eat we had food in a hotel near the beach and then went into the temple at around 11:00 am

A very old temple of Goddess Shitaladevi has ancient Ram Kunda(pond) in it. Has very pleasant atmosphere in the temple. Everything the temple has been reconstructed and Navratri festival is celebrated here with a big ceremony. Video of the temple below

After the temple being a too hot whether instead of going to the beach nearby we went on to see Bhavangad Fort (Bhawangad). Actually never heard before it wasn't even on the list of what we decided we just saw a sign board on the road saying "Bhavangad ->" and so decided to go there.

A very very very small trek (Lolz) and within 2 minutes you reach near the fort. An old temple in its vicinity (which we forgot to see) walk further and inside the fort its all ruins. nothing except some watch towers and a freshwater well which is now reconstructed can be seen. Didn't spend much time on the fort and arrived to our last and final place to visit that is Kelva beach and Kelva Fort no. 2

Kelva fort no. 1

Well you guys will be wondering then why didn't I mention Kelva Fort No. 1 okay here's a thing we wanted to but we went on a wrong time there. Its a small fort in the sea and can only be accessed when there is low tide. Not so near to the beach that you can go through water when there is high tide and not so far off that any ferry service will take you there beside the fort is like nothing much to watch so we did manage to take a picture

We did bought a lot of Sugar Palms(Tadgole in Marathi) from a near by house who were selling them and just refreshed ourselves with this tasty fruit.

Then way on a trail towards Kelva Fort No.2 which on the beach. This fort is also not that huge as most of it had been sunk in sand due to years and years of sand accumulation. And when being near the most famous beach in Kelva it has to littered by the visitors which is a sad thing .

Looking carefully you will see the fort is star - shaped and entering the fort is a real game of limbo as you have to crouch and walk in through the doors now half in sand. Again nothing much but will make you happy that you did like 3 forts in a day.

And was it for the day as trips in summer can be really tiring especially when you are all out of water. But our main concern was the traffic on the NH3 (which we couldn't escape from, we got caught in the traffic for an hour) and decided to leave without waiting for the sunset. But still was a day well spent. Here's a video of my best friend and fellow travelling partner (YouTube username: DJaYesh) of the same journey. Please take a look.

Thank you

New Update Ashapura Mata Temple, Edvan Island, Palghar September 2017

Another fun ride with my good friend and fellow YouTuber DJaYeshS (Jayesh Sarang) to Edvan island, not so popular yet very peaceful and somewhat unexpectedly adventurous holy land of Goddess Ashapura Devi Mandir. We decided our trip a day prior to our journey (as usual...) and this time only two of us as others weren't

available (So we ditched them...haha :)......
Stopping with my lame jokes...Edvan Village is situated in Palghar taluka of Thane district and western railway's Saphale being the nearest railway station. But the train timings are important to keep note on. We chose the option of two wheeler as it is fun and who wants to travel by local trains changing at Dadar to go to western line and again spend a considerable amount of time to reach Saphale. Tum - tum rickshaws, ST buses are available. In short its a lot of hassle so better choose the highway.

The journey started at morning 08:00 and it took us 4 hours to reach the place as we had to stop at places for breakfast and get ourselves comfortable and sometimes taking the wrong route (Sitting on two wheelers for a long time is a pain in the a**...and I don't even know if its punny....you can comment below....) So people going to long rides on bikes and people sitting behind them, you get a bow from me...(applause!)

The way to Edvan island

So we reached Saphale around 10:00am and the journey from Saphale to Edvan is amazing especially after monsoon you get to see all this lush green vegetation and clean water bodies. There are two routes, one reaches to Kelva the past we visited last year and other goes to Edvan. Around 12 noon we reached the place and there is a concrete way constructed to the island enabling vehicles to enter to the island. It a small island with mangrooves vegetation around and from a distance Kelva beach is visible.

Temple entrance

After entering the temple you can se the beautiful sea view to one side. Goddess Ashapura Mata (Ashapuri Devi) is one of the seven sisters of Goddess Durga and Navratri is one of the grand festivals celebrated here by the locals.

Shree Ashapura Mata

The temple is quite old and well kept. You have to ascend down into the cave via staircase and take blessings. The silver idol of Goddess Ashapura is beasutiful. Now the adventurous part, you have to crawl towards the end of the cave and the ceiling of the cave is so low but nothing will make a person feel claustrophobic because the cave is spacious and well lit. I am glad the people incharge of the place are concerned about the cleanliness around. The path through the cave is unexpectedly fun to go through and if you are bored on the way here trust me it will make you feel worth it....haha!

Behind the temple there are stairs going to the top of the rock from where you can experience a beautiful scenic view of the beach and the sea and the whole island. and then there is a small cave temple of Goddess Barodkarni Mata or Barodkarni Devi. The stairs to this small temple are being construted and the overall place is being kept with good maintainence so that more tourist and devotees visit the temple. I wonder how the place looks at night though? hmm...thinking.....

A view from the top

So after about spending 3-4 hours at the place we decided to leave the place and head straight home seriously....just one spot this time....dissaponting I know....but Thane National highways have a a lot of traffic in the evening to we had to ........

Entrance to Barodkarni Mata

But even after spending whole time on just one spot I would say it was well spent all beacuse of the small adventure we had inside the cave temple...and

Shree Barodkarni Mata

you can go through it a number of times .....totally up to you....but don't do that otherwise the person distributing prasad will think you are crazy.....laughs laughs and laughs :)