| A trip from Mumbai to Harihareshwar
This was my first trip to Harihareshwar, a small town located along the Konkan coast in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. Before leaving with my family I did some quick search on team-bhp and other forums for the routes, stay and sight seeing options in Harihareshwar and nearby places like Srivardhan and Diveagar. However I didn't find the exact stuff I was looking so decided to write my own findings and experiences from my trip which I guess should help my fellow team bhp-ians.
Quick facts about the place:
Harihareshwar, as the name suggest is an abode of Lord Shiva with an ancient temple Kalbhairav dedicated in his name. It's location near the Harihareshwar beach makes this temple’s backdrop extremely scenic. The Yogeshwari Temple, also known as the Dakshin Kashi, is also situated in the proximity (didn't get a chance to see this). Harihareshwar is at the southern end of the triple Raigad beaches of Diveagar Shrivardhan and Harihareshwar. Dighi at the northern end is the base for the trip to the legendary sea fortress - Murud Janjira. Historians relate the existence of the city with the great emperor Shivaji and also with the First Bajirao Peshawa who visited the holy place during 1723.
Distance from Pune: 190kms
Distance from Mumbai: 210 kms
My trip details are as below:
Day 1:
Started from Mumbai around 11am
Route while going to Harihareshwar:
Mumbai -> Panvel -> Pen -> Wadkhal -> Kashid (via Alibaug Road) -> Murud -> Mhasala -> Harihareshwar
Though longer we took the beach road via Kashid-Murud for it's scenic drive along the coastal route. The sad part was majority of this stretch is poorly maintained which increased our trip time by almost 2 hours. Still passing through picturesque villages and beaches makes for some consolation.
Day 2:
We first headed to see the temple in the morning around 9am. It's located right at the beach and there is a pradikshana marg which is a must see. The steps start right behind the temple. Check with anyone around the temple about the conditions of the tide as it is quite dangerous to go on this terrain during high tide. The trail starts off with around 60 steps – 60 long steps and then you have to climb down around 140 narrow steps (a beautiful cut in the cliffs) down to the sea. The coastal rock formation just at the bottom of the stairs are amazing and you can witness the pure sea waves gently hitting the rocks forming white foam just as well. After visiting the temple and seeking Lord Shiva's blessings, we headed to Diveagar via Shekhadi village. This is a highly scenic route as you travel alongside the Arabian sea for most part and the road is in good condition. At noon we halted at Exotica beach resort for lunch. Both the veg and non-veg food here is good. Post our lunch we started for Dighi around 15 kms from Diveagar via Borli to see the Janjira fort. There is a launch which takes about 30 mins to reach the fort from Dighi. A nice visit if you have the time and interested in historical places. Back from there we returned Diveagar and spent some time lazying at the beach.
Day 3:
Route while coming back to Mumbai:
Harihareshwar -> Mhasala -> Roha -> Nagothane -> Wadkhal -> Pen -> Panvel -> Mumbai
Started early for home as we had to reach before evening. This route is shorter but not very scenic or happening in any way. The Roha Murud road is 2-laned but narrow with quite a substantial part of it's stretch being patchy between Mhasala and Roha and Roha and Nagothane. We started at 9am and reached Mumbai by 4pm including a halt of about 1 hour for lunch in Panvel. That should give some idea of the time taken due to poor road conditions.
Stay at MTDC resort
I would say our stay at MTDC was good overall but the place can be more beautiful and enjoyable given the advantage of the location. If the waves are high you can almost hear the sound in your cottage (aka Konkani house) however you cannot really access the beach from the resort as there are plenty rocks. We asked for a guide but the resort couldn't help with that. One of the staff though was kind enough to give us a direction of the road and sight seeing which helped.
Other stay options
If staying in Harihareshwar I would recommend the Harihareshwar beach resort (which is right at the beach and near the temple) or the MTDC resort. There are other homestay options as well but not sure how good it may serve.In fact if you are not inclined to stay in Harihareshwar a better option would be to stay in Exotica beach resort in Diveagar, an excellent property of MTDC maintained and run by a private owner. Though we did not stay there due to unavailability of rooms we preferred to dine at Exotica as the food and services were very good perhaps the best you can find in the whole of triple beaches belt. Step out of the resort and you land at the beautiful Diveagar beach with white sands.
Information on beaches:
We went to the beaches of Harihareshwar and Diveagar. The beach at Harihareshwar is black sand and not recommended for swimmers as there are strong currents close to the coast and the general public are advised against swimming. There are a few water sports like Jet ski and ATV rides in conducted by Rudra water sports. We liked the Diveagar beach more due to it's white sand. Parasailing aided by Jeep, Banana boat ride, Camel and horse rides, ATV rides happen from here.
Hope this was helpful. Have also uploaded some pics which you should be able to relate with the above text. | 
3rd January 2013, 22:32
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