Malvan (Marathi: मालवण) (also written as Malwan) is a town in Sindhudurg District, the southernmost district of Maharashtra. This culturally and historically important town is a Taluka place in Sindhudurg District. Malvan taluka consists of villages like Aangnechi wadi, Achra, Khalchi Devli, Jamdul, Juva, Pankhol and Sarjekot. Malvan is wellknown for its historical monument, the Sindhudurg fort, which is beautiful and vast in area.The staple diet of the people is fish,fish curry and rice.It is known for its variety of mangos (Malvani Hapus - Alphonso). It is also known for sweets such as Malvani Khaja (Made from Gram - besan flour and coated jaggery) and Malvani Ladoos. A very important part of Malavni culture is a Malvani Dashavtar, a drama-play based on mythological stories. There are many tourism places in Malvan. The main occupation here is fishing. Many foreigners visit here.The nature of the people here is very helping and hardworking. Several apocryphal and some more credible stories related to the name Malvan exist. Salt was produced in large quantity in the Malvan region. Salt producers use term Mahalavan to describe a region rich in salt, a compound word from "Maha" meaning great, and "lavan" meaning plantation (or salt). Another possibility is a phonetic derivative of the compound of "Mad" and "Ban", Malvani for coconut trees and garden respectively, relating to the large number of coconut trees in the region.

 
Location and Reaching there


Malvan is easily accessible by Road. By road, Malvan is 514 km away from Mumbai, 200 km from Ratnagiri. When arriving from Mumbai or Goa, take National Highway NH-17 till Kasaal and then take a State Transport bus or Rickshaw for an approximately 35 km ride to Malvan.
Nearest railway station is at Kudal/Kankawali and nearest Airport is at Dabolim in Goa. Overnight trains from Mumbai to Kudal are daily. State Transport buses from Kudal are frequent to Malwan. you can also reach there by your own vehicle.
Those who want to come from Pune, Best option is M.S.R.T.C (maharashtra state transport) bus from pune - Malvan. Bus Timing 7:00 am (Express bus) and 8:00 pm (Semi- luxury bus) everyday from Pune. (note : There is no MRSTC vovlo bus from pune to malvan) You can also go for Kadamba Transport Corporation buses which daily depart from Pune toGoa. You can get down at Kasal and from there catch Malwan buses. The timings are: Luxary(Non AC) 6:30pm (Pune - Madgaon) and Volvo (AC) 7:30pm (Pune-Panaji).
Also there are plenty of buses heading towardsGoafrom Pune which go via Kasal. If you don't get direct bus from Pune, come to Kolhapurby any MSRTC or KSRTC bus.Kolhapuris the centre point for the buses heading towards Konkan,Goa. Buses coming from Pune as well as Sangli, Solapur, Bijapur have to go via Kolhapurto enter into Konkan.
If you are travelling first time on this route, kindly note that there are some buses from Pune, Kolhapur indicating the same boards of Savantwadi or Panaji but go via different routes. some buses enter into Konkan/Goa via Gadhinglaj-Ajara-Amboli route. If you want to come to Malvan, don't catch these buses otherwise you will get down to the southernmost part of konkan. Enter into the buses going either via Radhanagari-Phonda-Kankavali-Kasal or via Gaganbawada-Talere-Kankavali-Kasal. Then catch the Malvan bus from Kasal.



Places of interest around Malvan


CHIVALA BEACH

 This a beautiful stretch of clean sands and clear waters bordering Malvan town  from North West. It is a very small, calm, serene and safe beach , with minimum crowd. The beautiful “Rock  Garden” is located to extreme left side of the Chivala Beach. There are many beachside  home stay accommodations and hotels, which are very popular among tourists. “Vasanti Niwas ” is one such house located near the beautiful Chivala Beach , giving the perfect home stay experience. It is a perfect spot to laze around and an excellent spot for morning and evening – walkers !!! 
  

ANGANEWADI - BHARADIDEVI

 Anganewadi (14 kms. From Malvan) is supposed to be Konkan-Kashi in the south.  It is one of the twelve hamlets of MasureVillage.  The ancienttemple ofBharadi Goddess is a famous prominent place of Pilgrimage.  The grand fair is held in February March every year, when thousands of devotees from all over Maharashtra, Karnatak andGoa visit Anganewadi to evoke the blessings of Bharadi Devi.  In fact, the tradition of the fair began 300 years ago.  A sanctified, self emerged stone is believed to be the idol of Bharadi Goddess.
 

JAI GANESH TEMPLE(Medha : Malvan)

 Jai Ganesh temple, just half a kilometer from Malvan city, is a unique piece of modern, cultural, architecture, built  by Jayantrao Salgaonkar a famous Maharashtrian astrologer who renovated his old family house and transformed it into this grandGaneshTemple, as a memoire of his mother.  The temple is named JAY GANESH, as the devotees are believed to be very successful in life.  Inside the sanctum dome, are inscribed eight traditional idols of Lord Ganpati.  The idols of Lord Ganpati along with Riddhi & Siddhi are gold plated.  The influence of Vedic tradition is experienced in the calm and beautiful natural surroundings of the temple.  In addition to the eight famous Ganpati Temples (Ashta-Vinayak) this Jai Ganesh at Malvan might be called ‘Ninth Ganpati’ inMaharashtra.
 

SINDHUDURG SEA FORT (Ocean Fort 1.5 km from Malvan)

 This huge and historically famous sea-fort was built by King Shivaji Maharaj on the island of ‘Kurate’ in 1664,  The foundation – stone ceremony was performed on 25th Nov. 1664, not actually on the island but at a place named as ‘Morayacha Dhonda’ at Dandi Beach-Malavan (2 Km from Malvan).  This sea-`fort was constructed to keep a watch on coastal Naval movements of the period.  The Main entrance gate is in the east, built in snaky, Zigzag pathway, so as not to be seen by the enemy.  The Main gate (Mahadwar) is 9ft. High and 3.5ft. Broad.  The fort is Spread in the vicinity of 48 acres with 2.5 km long rampart walls, 50 observation towers and semi-circular bastions.  There is a main flag-pole on the highest bastion.  It took three and half years for the completion of the construction work of Sindhudurg (on 27th March 1667) Some uncommon wonders of nature are seen inside the fort.  There is a coconut tree having two branches in front of the main entrance.  Sweet drinking water is provided by 3 wells Sakharbav, Dudhbav and Dahibav along with a tank for storing rain-water.  There are temples of Shivarajesjwar, Hanuman, Mahadev, Bhavani and Jarimarishrines.  Wooden machine boats are used for transportation service.  Millions of Indian and foreign Tourists visit this fort every year.  You can enjoy a bird’s eye view of the panoromical beauty of Malvan-from Tarkarli to Devbaug Sea Beaches.


SARJEKOT FORT (2 km from Malvan)

 SARJEKOT, a sea fort having two-fold rampart-walls, is situated on a creek-bank at Revandi Village.

 

Devabag-Display of Rare Coastal Beauty

 Devabag is a beautiful coastal village, full of coconut groves, zooming along western winds. Karli-Creek on one side sea water on the other and the confluence ofArabian seaon the third side of this village makes it a nector to the eye.  As Devabag is just 3 km. from Tarkarli, all the tourists do visitDevabagBeach.  Local fisherman arrange to make their boats available to tourists for Dolphin-Safar.  Sea -gulls also add to the natural beauty.

 

HOUSE BOAT (from Walawal to Devabag Confluence)

 There are many rivers and creeks in Sindhudurg District.  Now-a-days MTDC has provided houseboats to tourists, so that they may enjoy Backwaters to their heart’s content these Houseboats sail along a creek of 22km in length, where there are small harbours such as Walawal, Nerurpar, Dolphinspot of Devabag Confluence end so on.  These houseboats are named as ‘Hiranykeshi’ and ‘Karli’.  The length of the houseboat is 45ft.  The interior decoration is very fine.  Each houseboat has two luxurious AC bedrooms. You can relax on open deck and observe the scenario around.  There are other provisions like T.V., Dressing room, fishing Net, Binocular, Toilet, Kitchen etc.  A separate security boat is also provided and accompanies the main houseboat for 24 hours.  At night, these house boats are beautifully illuminated which offer an immemorable black –water tour.


ROCK GARDEN

 The tourism department has provided a beautiful Rock Garden just near Malvan (1km) which is famous as the unique of its kind inIndia.  This rock garden is rich with colourful, decorative flower-trees and sea weed, attractive pathways, greeneries, beautiful pond, rare curtles, artificially created misty atmosphere and so on.


BHARATGAD   

 The fort is situated on a high hill near Village Masure.  It occupies the area of six acres.  It was built by Raje Fond Sawant of Sawantwadi State.  Now the rampart wall are dilapidated in many places and wild trees have grown everywhere.  These walls have 10 bastions (semi-circular watch towers)  There is an ancient temple in the North and also an old, deep well.  In Olden days,  there was an underground pathway from this fort.  The ruins of old building and remarkable deep wells can be seem here. Many battles were fought in historical time.  In 1818, the British army invaded the fort, under the command of colonel Emlock, captain Grey and Fearson.


RAMGAD

 The fort Ramgad is situated on a high hill near the village of the same name.  It was built on 8 acres of the mount.  The security wall of the fort is 10 ft high and 8 ft broad, having 15 watchtowers or bastion.  There is a temple in the fort, where 7 big cannons are placed in a row.  The rampart wall is dilapidated but a traditional unique structure named Tulsivridavan is so far intact.  When king Shivaji built the renowned sea fort at Malvan, he also arranged to build some other small forts-Ramgad is one of them.  Now a days, the local farmers cultivate some of the land for farming. (Malvan to Ramgad 32 Km, Kankavli to Ramgad 11Km, Nearmost Railway Station 12 Km.)


SHIVARAJESHWAR TEMPLE

 This temple was built at the centre of famous Sindhudurg Fort, by King Shivaji’s youngest son Prince Rajaram, in memory of his father in 1695.  Here one can see the idol of Shivaji Maharaj in fisherman’s attire.  The image was paved on Panhalagad.  The main hall of the temple was constructed byKolhapurState.  The daily worship is performed by local Sakpal Family.


SCUBA DIVING AND SNORKELING (Tarkarli)
 
 Do you wish to dive deep and have a thrilling sight of the treasure hidden at the deep bottom of the sea  ? The famous Scuba Diving and Snorkeling Centre at Tarkarli offers you this rare  opportunity.  Variety of sea plants and weeds, corals and moss, Multi-coloured fishes, turtles and whales and other wonders inside the deep sea can be viewed here through the facility provided by a project, namely Konkan Diving Dream.  It’s really a rare experience to see the water-world in the deep sea.  There are 4 points-King’s Garden, CoralGarden, Surgasm Point and Lagoon Point, which can be observed through Snorkeling and Scuba Diving.  King’s Garden point is at the south of Sindhudurg fort, where you can see different species of fish such as Angle Fish, Banner Fish, Cobra Fish, Butterfly, Zebra Fish and so on.  Similarly Various sea-plants and lotus-shaped Coral and Moss can also be seen.  Here the deep water-world is just without waves and calm and serene.  CoralGardenis a second Point near Rock Garden, where one can have a view of Coral Structure formed before 300 years.
The third is a Sargasm Point situated at deep sea – level near Tarkarli, where natural sea-garden is formed, here is a site of various parrot-fish, Butterfly Fish, Auja-fish and especially Dolphins, too.  The last and best is a lagoon –point, situated at the Devabag Creek Bank where snorkeling facility is also provided.  Glittering, Clean, white sand and colourful fishes add to the wondrous beauty of this point.



SNORKELING

 There are two kinds of viewing the wonders of the sea water- Snorkeling and Scuba – Diving.  For snorkeling, experienced guides take you to the depth of the sea.  But in stead of reaching bottom they provide you with a special Snorkeling – Mask.  You can hold the pipe of the mask in mouth and float along sea-waters and see the wonders at the sea-bottom. The guides also inform you about other details such as sea-life, whale-watching and so on.

 


SCUBA DIVING

 Scuba Diving is a wondrous (thrilling) experience of watching deep secrets of the sea, where scuba-guides take you safely.  Dr. Sarang Kulkarni, a world-famous Scuba-Expert manages to arrange and provide this sea-tour to the interested tourists.  Why delay then ? Launch on this Scuba-Snorkeling tour at earliest.


DREAMY islands in Kalawal creek.
Pankhol Juwa & Khot Juwa


 The creek of Kalawal has proved to be unique, due to many islands and isles in it.  There is a human population on two of these islands, approachable by boat.  Pankhol Juwa (island) is situated in the vicinity of Hadi-Village, while Khot Juwa in Masure premises.  The geographical area of Pankhol Juwa is 16 sq. Hectors, there are 45 houses and the population is 200.  As a precautionary measure at the time of flood like situation in Rainy Season, the houses are constructed differently i.e. on high foundation.  This Juwa (island) offers you a beautiful site of Kalawal Creek and coconut tree-grooves along riverside.


RAMESHWAR TEMPLE (Achara)

 Rameshwar is believed to be the principal deity of Achara town.  Formerly Kolhapur State Chief Chhatrapati Shambhu Maharaj had donatedAchareVillage to Lord Rameshwar.  The architecture of this temple is grand and the newly built lamp-Poles at the entrance add to the attractive appearance of the temple.


TARKARLI BEACH

 The village Tarkarli has proved to be world-famous, due to its grand and spacious see beach, crowded with tourists from November to May every year.  Its clean and sandy stretch is the main characteristic.  Millions of tourists visit this shining spot.  Facility of Tent-resorts and restaurants is provided by MIDC.  Speedboat and water scooter facility is also being provided in the near future.  The tourists of Five Star Deccan Odyssey Train do visit this beach.


DEVBAG BEACH (10km)

 DevbagBeachis in fact a confluence of the Kali Creek ad theArabian Sea.  Tourists are allured by bright, white sands and blue water-lagoon, near Bhogave.  One may travel from Tarkarli to Devbag confluence by Speed boats and water scooter, provided by Manali Resort.  Changing formation of sandy – mounts every year is a wonder to note.



CHOUSOPI WADA – DHAMAPUR

 This lodge-type construction is specially meant for tourists.  The construction of this grand Resort has been made, taking into consideration the rural outlook.  It has a dreamlike  appearance hidden into the thick forest around.

 
ACHARA BEACH (22km. from Malvan)

 This beach is a vast stretch of white shining sands, safe for swimming, Tourists are lured by Dolphin sites and coconut groves nearby.



THE HOLY CAVE (Shrine) OF BRAMANAND SWAMI – OZAR

 The village Ozar is just 5Kms. From Malvan, where one can see a grand cave, paved into rosy rock (Laterite), believed to be the shrine of shrine of a spiritual master named Brahmanand Swami.  There are idols of Swami Brahmanand and Saibaba of Shirdi.  There is a natural clean water tank too.  Green beautiful and natural background add to the serene, spiritual atmosphere.


DHAMAPUR

 Dhamapur is a beautiful village in Malvan Taluka having a wonderful famous and vast lake around which 68 acres of land is developed as a tourist site by Sindhudurg Forest Department.  Variety of birds can be watched from 40ft.tall tower, specially erected for the purpose.  It is a sort of bird sanctuary.  Attractive pavements through thick groves, special light arrangement, tent resorts, chousopi wada (palace like resort), children’s park, nature observation centre, inviting boating facility are available here.  On the bank of this large lake there is an ancient temple of goddess Shri Bhagavati.  The lake itself occupies 5 acres of the site the Dhamapur lake is supposed to be developed by a fore sighted person named Nagesh Desai.  The water of the lake is used for local agriculture, too.

 
TONDAVALI BEACH

 To some extent, this beach resembles Devabag.  A creek on one side and the  Arabian seaon the other, a narrow stretch of land is as if a hideaway paradise for tourists, taking turn-off from Achara-Malvan road.  This beach is a secluded, serene spot where you can take a solitary stroll.


BAMBOO BOAT HOUSE

 The Project of the Bamboo Boat House is the first of its kind inIndia.  It is constructed solely with Bamboo-wood, amidst the Cypress Plantation.  All the four suits of the houseboat are air conditioned and attractively designed with Bamboo-patterns.


GAVPALAN

 The four Yearly tradition of Habitants of Achara : staying out of village for three days.  (time: The month of Marga Sheersha English month December)
One may remark it a blind belief but a peculiar tradition of leaving usual locality and staying for 3 days in natural surroundings is no doubt interesting Whatever it is, all the villagers after every four years gather in the temple of Rameshwar and perform a peculiar devotional ritual called ‘koul-seeking’ i.e. blessed consent of god when they ‘get the koul (i.e. consent) they abandon their houses and erect temporary shades at the outskirt of their village.  They spend three days there with all the family members as well per animals when village is like an abandoned side.  On one hand a strange silence prevails in the village while on the other hand outside the village the atmonsphere is full of excitement and rejoicing like a weekend picnic – how fantastic it all seems.


MORAYACHA DHONDA AT DANDI BEACH MALVAN (Ganesh rock)

 This rock on the sea shore at Dandi 2 km form Malvan is in fact a foundation stone (with an image of God Ganesh carved on it of the Sindhudurg fort.) It is on this spot that King Shivaji himself had performed the foundation stone ceremony of the Sindhudurg Fort

 


PADMA-GAD (Fort)

 Padmagad is a small fort, build on an isle facing to the main gate of the fort of sindhudurg near Malvan.  As per historical references, it was built for storage and maintenance of building material used for the construction of Sindhudurg Fort.  Later on it was used as a Dockyard, where naval ships and vessels were repaired.  You may reach Padmagad on foot, at the time of ebb, when sea-waters have receded.
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