Murud Janjeera – A Weekend Getaway from Mumbai

Around 160 km from Mumbai lies the port town of Murud, famous for an ancient fort built on an island in the Arabian Sea. I happened to visit the place during my trip to Mumbai and fell in love with it almost instantly. Though far from offbeat, this one enjoys the attention of many a tourists as well as travelers. The fort, or the remains of it, called Murud Janjeera  is a breathtaking beauty, trying to stand intact, passing the test of time as well as the water that splashes its boundaries unapologetically.

It’s a few hours from Mumbai, till the village of Rajapuri, from where one needs to hop on to a ferry which carries us to the island-fort. The port is typical one, bursting with energy with people carrying on daily business chores as well as enticing travellers to get on that entirely unsafe boat till the fort, without a life-jacket. I am not sure if there are any regulatory bodies or any safety guidelines being followed here. It takes a good 20-30 minutes to reach the fort and I tried to concentrate on the amazing view.

It seemed surreal but got more and more real as we progressed towards the fort. It was a huge structure, standing the test of times, witnessing history being written, guarding it’s people from the outside world. We hired a guide who told us interesting things about the fort and showed us the insides with an upbeat enthusiasm. The ruins don’t make much sense without these stories.

This fort had once been used by Shivaji during the guerrilla warfare days and it’s structure and placement seem to be perfect for that. This was a heaven, away from prying eyes of enemies, and provided a safe harbour. Murud Janjeera Fort has been declared of historical importance but the state of these ruins and zero maintenance all around seemed to narrate two different stories, one on paper and one in real. Sigh.

Three huge canons from the era are still present in the premises. These canons are built of a metal of a special kind which is not a good conductor of heat. Even in scorching heat, the canons were super cool.

Every nook and corner seemed to be boasting about an era gone by, of a once-upon-a-time story of bravery and battleship, of a prosperous place which provided shelter to the royals as well as ordinary. While history intrigues me, it’s nature that holds my attention forever and soon I realised how beautiful it all was, apart from being iconic. The blue of the sea and that of the sky, the lush greens sprinkled everywhere and a tinge of brown-black ruins – it all made a perfect picture.

Yet another fact that surprised me was that there were two fresh water lakes in the premises of Murud Janjeera Fort. though the fort is built on an island in the sea. This one is one of those miracles of mother nature and it seemed like she bent her own rules for the survival of humanity. Though these lakes are reduced to ponds now, and are not at all in a good shape. There is no maintenance whatsoever and a layer of green algae is what one sees.

The state of the lakes made me sad. But I continued exploring the place. Moving further, I found a steep cliff  and the view from the top was pretty amazing. I stopped to admire it for a while. From this one point, the boundaries of Murud Janjeera Fort were visible and one could get a clear view of the entire premises as well as spot an enemy’s ship sailing in the panorama.

Murud Janjeera Fort could be developed into an amazing destination from tourism point of view but sheer lack of maintenance and safety procedures to reach the place left me really sad. Even though it has been declared that this fort is of huge historical importance, none of the authorities seem to notice that it needs care and attention. We are ruining the remains of our heritage and it’s not really a pretty picture to post. I hope the authorities wake up before it is too late and resurrect the ruins of a great piece of history.