Konkan Coast in Monsoons by Ajoy Dasgupta

 


The Western Ghats run largely parallel and straight to the Arabian Sea, leaving a narrow shoreline that is known as the Konkan coast. This Konkan coast goes down vertically from Maharashtra, then Goa, crosses Karnataka and finally peters out in Kerala.  When monsoons set in, usually in the month of June, this long belt becomes all wet, green and spectacularly beautiful.  One way to enjoy this is to travel on the Konkan railway line, a spectacular contribution by E. Sreedharan (who then went on to head the Delhi Metro Project). There are many trains in this section including a Jan Shatabdi and   Vande Bharat. You get to see plenty of ponds, lakes, water bodies and rivulets. The hills have many seasonal waterfalls and the low hanging nimbus rain clouds on the Ghat hills look enchanting.

Cutting across the Ghats i.e. from the plateau to the plains is also a very nice experience during monsoons.  Apart from the Mumbai Pune expressway Ghat section, and the parallel railway line, there is another railroad crossing from Bengaluru to Mangalore via Sakleshpur.  The latter section is so beautiful during monsoons that the Indian railways have now added ‘vistadome’ coaches for tourist viewing pleasure. 

Many of the railway stations in the Konkan section are very picturesque, for instance Karwar station.  My personal favourite would be the quaint, little Chiplun station.

So, while Goa during monsoons is indeed attractive with its empty beaches and shacks, less noise and tourists' rush, there are many less well known but equally attractive places in the Konkan coast belt, especially during monsoons.

Some places that we have visited along the coastal Maharashtra include Ganpati Pule beach and beach side Ganpati temple.  Also, there is the Murud Janjeera fort that can only be reached by boat. Some famous coastal places in Karnataka includes Udipi ( we all know about Udipi restaurants, isn't it? ) and  Mangalore ( with its ice-cream parlours including the popular ‘gadbad’ icecreams) and fish meal restaurants, seaside Murudeshwar temple complex with its giant Shiva statue and many more attractions.

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