INDIA. Tarkarli, Konkan – Maharashtra: Konkan Darshan is a road journey along the wonderful Konkan coast. The thin and narrow strip of the Konkan coast is sandwiched between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats. The coastal highway, National Highway 17 connects Mumbai to Goa and Mangalore.
A train trip on the Konkan railway is exciting, but not half as much fun as a road journey. During the road journey, one can witness the splendour of mighty sea forts, Nawab’s Palaces, unexplored beaches, fresh seafood prepared from age-old recipes, cashew drying factories, the Vashisti, and Savitri rivers meandering through the ghats, and an ancient place of pilgrimage.
Read Also: The Stunning Beaches Of Kerala
Tarkarli, situated on the confluence of river Karli and Arabian sea, six kilometers from Malvan in Sindhudurg district is a perfect hideaway for a ‘me and myself’ kind of holiday. Virtually, a virgin beach with silver soft sands and pristine clear waters, Tarkarli is a heaven for sun worshippers and has acquired international fame.
Staying options
The staying options at the beach are limited and the best option is the Konkani Hut cluster of MTDC resort. After unpacking and freshening up as the traveler stumbles into the courtyard of the Konkani Huts of the MTDC resort at Tarkarli in Malvan area, a long stretch of silvery sands and blue waters fills the frame. In the backdrops of the frame looms the massive silhouette of the famous Sindhudurg fort.
An excursion to the virgin haven reveals its incredibly romantic facets. The desire of wondering into rolling waves clothed in varying shades of silvery froth, and their contours gently heaving up and down is simply irresistible.
Sunset and night sky
Sunset at Tarkarli is a fascinating sight in itself and is a beautiful experience. To watch its colours changing every moment just before the darkness set in is simply breathtaking. When I was there, I was mesmerised and I even forgot to click my camera and take some unforgettable pictures. When the rays of light reflected on the waves through those clouds, the whole sea presented such a picturesque view that it could not have been described truthfully even by a poet.
As the sun finally ends its journey for the day, it’s time to go in, relax, have your dinner and then head back to the beach to enjoy the night sky at the sea. And it really is an amazing sight – enough to turn one into an astronomer – with bright stars, the glow and shimmer of different constellations, and the faint light of other stars.
Explore Tarkarli and surrounding locations
Next morning, you can go and explore the scattered China stone hamlets with sloping roofs that are confined within small individual ‘wadis’ of tropical fruit trees including the renowned Alphonso mango, jackfruit, kokum, cashew nut, coconut, areca nut, and palm groves that contribute in making Tarkarli a paradise for nature lovers.
Tarkarli has quite a few surrounding areas that can be explored, namely, the coastal forts of Vijaydurg and Devgarh and the island fortress of Sindhudurg.
Malvan
Very close to Tarkarli, the old settlement of Malvan is virtually hidden by palm trees. Malvan was once a trading post, but today it is known for its saltpans, Chinese clay pottery, and most especially for its spicy and pungent Malvani cuisine, which is quite distinct from Konkan cuisine. Malvan also boasts of a long, lovely beach from which one can see the great sea-fort of Sindhudurgh.
Fish auction at Malvan
The most interesting activity at Malvan is the auction of the day’s catch when all the trawlers come home in the evening. Resembling the trading floor of any stock exchange various types of fish are sold to the highest bidder. It is an exercise in organised chaos that an outsider will be at an utter loss to understand. It is all over within an hour or so with the catch having exchanged hands, loaded onto trucks, and dispatched to the markets in the larger cities inland.
Folks, I will leave you here only as I am gonna explore the area a little more, will tell you more about SindhuDurg Fort later. Till then – have a wonderful sunny outing…..
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