Ratnagiri- The City of Mangoes

मानसी अजय खामकर
(एल. आय . सी कॉलनी )

What comes to your mind when you hear about Alphonso mangoes? Rich, juicy and the king of all fruits!

Do you know who gave India its national fruit? 

Yess, Ratnagiri is a city in the state of Maharashtra, that is situated along the coast of the Western Ghats, which has given India its national fruit. From historic times, Ratnagiri is known to be a place of emperors and surrounded by the Arabian sea. It provides with the most sceptical views and everyone must visit this place once in their lifetime.

Now, I will take you on a virtual ride of Ratnagiri through this write-up! Let’s go!

One basic question,

Where is Ratnagiri and how can you reach there?

Now if you enjoy long rides on road and wish to drive, travelling by car would be the best option for you! Ratnagiri is at a driving distance of 347km from Mumbai and 301km from Pune.
And if you enjoy train rides then there are trains that run from Mumbai and Pune as well!
If you don’t own a car and train travelling is not affordable, then there are overnight sleeper buses as well.

Places to visit:

1) Tibha point and Tibha palace: 

Now, this is a place very famously also known as Sunset point. It is like a big garden with food stalls, adventurous rides and games for children and a viewpoint which opens up to the view of Arabian sea from great heights. It is open all days from morning 9 am to evening 8:30pm. Now if you are in Ratnagiri you should definitely visit this place and have a very famous dish from here called SAMOSA CONE. Of course, the dish has not originated from here but I had this delicacy first time at this viewpoint. It’s 100% recommended.

Now coming to Tibia palace, during the ancient times, the British had set this palace up for the king of Ratnagiri- Tibha. So, there is an attached museum to it as well but this place is open only till 6pm.

2) Bhattye Beach:

Along the western coast what you will find the most is beaches and lots of beaches! As we continue this ride, I will tell you about some more! Now what is so special about this beach is the view and the chaat items that you find here. There are food stalls that sell fresh coconut water and chaat items. Having a plate of your favourite chaat with a breath-taking view of the sea is an unimaginable sight to witness. You can also enjoy horse rides here that charge you with minimal amount.

3) Gateway of Ratnagiri:

Mandvi Beach: Many believe that the kings and the Britishers arrived in Ratnagiri through this Gateway and that all trades happened from here. This gateway is like a long creek with beach water on both sides and stretches to end right at the foot of Arabian sea.

4) Ganapatipule:

This place is my personal favourite and basically, it’s a pilgrimage centre. The positives vibes that you get when you just enter are so mesmerising. Also, the speciality of this place is that the god’s idol here is supposedly self-originated from the earth. Usually, there is a lot of rush here, but on Tuesdays the rush increases and if you are lucky you might as well get a chance to attend the prayers (aarti). The khichdi prasad here is also very famous.

There is an idol of a mouse, which is known to be Ganapati’s rider, right at the entrance of the temple. It is believed that if you wish for something and tell it in the ears of the mouse’s idol, it reaches the god and then gets fulfilled. Now, a believer or not but I have been visiting this temple since childhood and all my wishes are always fulfilled.

5) Khau Galli:

“Khau” meaning food in Marathi and “Galli” meaning lane. So, this is basically a place where you will find all lip-smacking snacks like chaat items, roadside Chinese, different flavours of Ice-creams and some very refreshing drinks. This place opens only in the evening and thus a must-visit if you are planning to have light food.

6) Bhagwati Fort:

It is also known as Ratnadurg fort. This fort was built in the 12th century and holds a very special place in hearts of all the Ratnagiri’s people. It spreads to around 120 acres and surrounded from all the sides by Arabian sea and the view is truly very picturesque. There is the temple of Goddess Bhagwati treasured inside this fort and hence it is called as Bhagwati fort.

7) Aare Ware Beach:

These are sister beaches which are at 15km distance from Ratnagiri. And they are so clean that you would feel there was no human intervention in this area anytime. But actually, the cleanliness is majorly due to the fact that many tourists are not aware of this beach. The water is blue and the sands are light creamish to brown in colour as they should be. The hilltop view of this beach is very picturesque and soothing. A must-visit place and 100% recommended.