Tag: Konkan

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Of destination weddings and road trips

What’s hot, green and great fun on the beach? A road trip combined with a Konkan beach wedding, that’s what!
by Salil Jayakar

Destination weddings have always fascinated me. Imagine taking your vows at a sunny, beach side ceremony on one of Goa’s beaches or kick-starting a new life adventure among creatures of the wild at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. While such a wedding does throw up questions like who will foot the bill – for the more expensive ones – they nonetheless are a great experience for the couple-to-be and family and friends. Throw in a road trip, a bus load of family and friends, the scenic beauty of the Konkan coast – and you have the perfect ingredients for adventure!

wedding in KonkanIn May this year, my friend – the bride – decided to tie the knot at Chivala, an almost sleepy, beach side village in Malvan on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra. I was among the fortunate few friends invited. A bus was arranged for 20-odd people who’d make the overnight 12-13 hours journey and rooms were booked in a comfortable hotel with air-conditioning. The summer months in Maharashtra (and most of India) can be unfailingly cruel. Yes, AC rooms are a must.

On the evening we were to depart, I met the other invitees from the girl’s side. I was the only boy in the entourage. An otherwise privileged position to be in, but not when you have to share a room with two girls whom you barely know! For someone who finds travelling with and sharing rooms with friends problematic, this was a challenge of mountainous proportions to say the least. The finer details of sharing-a-room etiquette will be dealt with later.

As far as bus journeys go, I’ve done very few long-distance, overnight ones and I was woefully unprepared. Words of wisdom – wear comfy pyjamas and if you must wear shorts, don’t forget to carry a blanket to keep you warm. For the long-legged, grab a solo seat at the back so that you can stretch in comfort. I had a bruised knee from the constant bumps as my knee knocked into the seat in front. A 12-13 hours journey turned out to be over 15 hours long, thanks to a longer route and a breakdown.

It is here, in a nondescript village, that I was surprised over and over again: at a wine shop where we bought some beers and drank on the road (girls included) and no one batted an eyelid, on spotting a canary yellow Vespa parked in front of a green shuttered shop door by the dusty village road that said “this is India” and that elderly woman who cleaned a bike chivalawith jet-sprayed water with much gusto for nearly 30-odd minutes! Surely, India never ceases to surprise…or is it just the city-born-and-bred me who is delightedly fascinated by what must be everyday occurrences in a rural setting?

We finally reached Chivala as the evening sun was setting. Roofed houses dotted the landscape and its people went about their work, throwing a cursory glance at what must seem to them yet another tourist busload. Tired as we were, we set out for the first of the wedding ceremonies – the haldi function. We walked towards the beach enclave where a shamiana had been set up. Harsh halogen lights threw shadows of the tall palms all around and the gentle waves of the Arabian Sea made a soft whispering sound as they gently beat against the sandy beach. When was the last time you saw a night sky filled with stars in Mumbai? At Chivala, the night sky was littered with a million stars! We lay flat on our backs on the sand and tried to spot our favourite ones…in the revelry, surrounded by people, I had never felt more alone, so fortunate.

The traditional Maharashtrian wedding ceremony the next morning – at the same beach enclave – was beautiful, to say the least. The bride looked stunning in her traditional lemony yellow saree while the groom made for a dashing figure in a matching yellow dhoti and kurta. We, the bride’s entourage, made heads turn – shades of blue and red dominated and were stand out colours against the sand, sea and sky! The ceremony went off well, we giggled our way through a series of photos and made our way back to a sumptuous traditional lunch with aam ras, too!

Post lunch, half a day at our disposal, it made perfect sense to head to nearby Tarkarli with its sandy white beach and promise of water sports. The local rickshaw driver gladly wedding in Konkanaccommodated all four of us – one in the front next to him – as he made his way through meandering village lanes towards the MTDC resort, a sort of entry point to the beach. I’d heard a lot about Tarkarli’s beach and it did not disappoint. Looking out towards the sea, I could just about make out Sindhudurg Fort, a mere 30 minutes away by boat. I don’t know what to say here…a beach side walk is exhilarating! There’s something about sun, sea and sand… it brought a smile to my face and warmth in my heart I can’t explain.

As far as road trips go… this one did not have many stops along the way. But the journey was memorable, nonetheless. Strangers became friends along the way and new bonds were formed. On our way back, as the bus’s headlights shone down the twists and turns of the Western Ghats, my mind was a whirling dervish of the smells and sounds along the way…from the roadside beers and moong dal pakodas at the village where our bus broke down to adrakwali chai and kanda bhajia at Chivala market…not to mention the intoxicating aroma of the local garam masalas that I bought along the way.

For what is any road trip without car or bus trouble, roadside food and memories?

(Pictures courtesy Salil Jayakar)

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Places

Chandore lights up Konkan’s hoary past

Season one of excavation at Chandore, which is in Konkan, revealed some intriguing artefacts, ceramics and sculptural elements early this month.
by Shubha Khandekar

As the second (annual) season of archaeological excavations at Chandore, near Mangaon in the Raigad district of coastal Maharashtra draws to a close, this tiny, idyllic village has increasingly begun to look like a key hub where international trade flourished under the Shilahara kings about a 1,000 years ago, and continued up to the Maratha period in the early 19th century, through the pre-Shivaji Bahamani regime and the rule of the once pan-India Peshwas, before they suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of the British in 1818.

Facets of the history of the Shilahara dynasty that ruled the entire seacoast from Sopara in the North to Savantwadi in the South, through the 11th to the 14th century, are unfolding slowly but surely with the excavation, undertaken jointly by the Centre for Extra Mural Studies (CEMS), University of Mumbai and the India Study Centre (INSTUCEN), under Dr Kurush F Dalal, the Field Director, who teaches Archaeology at the CEMS.

This makes Chandore a crucial site, demanding extensive and long term historical, ethnographic and archaeological investigation to ascertain the antiquity, the cultural sequence and nature of the settlement at Chandore and its environs, that would shed light on hitherto unknown aspects of the history of the region for the past 1000 years and more.

This was acknowledged, endorsed and emphasised by the presence of all the bigwigs present on site on a Sunday drenched in welcome rain early June: Dr Rajan Velukar, Vice Chancellor, Dr Naresh Chandra, Pro-Vice Chancellor, and Mugdha Karnik, Director, Centre for Extra Mural Studies, Mumbai University, Dr A P Jamkhedkar, former Director, Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra, Dhananjay Karnik, Drs Samuel Nazareth and Suraj Pandit, all Directors, India Study Centre (INSTUCEN), Dr Kurush F Dalal, Field Director of excavations at Chandore and Suresh Bhosale, President, Mahad Manufacturers’ Association, which came forward to finance the initial phases of this year’s excavation. In addition, Pallavee Gokhale from Pune, NR Swamy from Bangalore (Genesys International) and Vaidyanathan from Mumbai joined hands to do a GIS based study of the vast expanse over which the ruins are strewn.

While Dr Velukar committed the University’s support to the excavation, Dr Jamkhedkar interacted with the villagers of Chandore at a public meeting and explained to them the historical importance of the site, the need for conservation of the remains of the past, if possible through the establishment of a small local museum and the prevention of their pilferage, and the critical role that the villagers must play in the process.

Where is it?
Chandore is located on a ridge running north-south along the Arabian Sea coast, about 30 km to its west, a location that had carved out a unique role for the village in the political, economic and religious life of the Konkan region.

Chandore excavationThe first season of excavation revealed a rock-cut stepped reservoir, with images of Hara-Gauri (a form of Shiva and Parvati), embedded in a niche in one of its walls. Stylistically the image has been dated to the Shilahara period by Drs Arvind Jamkhedkar and Suraj A Pandit. This reservoir was adjacent to a Shiva temple, whose only extant remains consist of a sunken sanctum and a Nandi placed in the temple’s courtyard, a hopelessly crumbling image of the divine bull that one is afraid to touch for fear that it will completely disintegrate.

Excavations at the site have so far revealed plans of at least three temples, built as per the local traditions during the Bahamani period, which preceded Shivaji by about two centuries.

This kingdom had later split into five, including the Adilshahi out of which Shivaji carved out his swaraj.

Other finds from the excavation consist of a silver gadhiya coin from the 11th century, glass beads and bangles, and monochrome glazed ware potsherds typical of the 14th century.

Historically important
Chandore was incredibly active between the 8th century and 1818 when the Marathas lost the final battle against the British (Third Anglo-Maratha War). The local towns of Mangaon and Goregaon have historically been very important places on the internal highway and have both been feeders to the port of Mhasala, especially during the Maratha, Bahamani and Adilshahi phases. Both the traditional routes passed Chandore and it is only now that the route from Goregaon has bypassed Chandore, the Mangaon-Mhasala route still goes past Chandore.

The Chandore-Mhasala stretch is also a part of the Mangaon-Goregaon-Mhasala-Borli-Diveagar-Shrivardhan route. Thus Chandore lies on a critical route between the hinterland and the ports of Mhasala and Diveagar.

The surroundings of Chandore too are replete with hero stones, locally called veergals (see pic on right) , and sati stones, which together Chandore veergalsnarrate a story of valour and sacrifice, and reveal aspects of ancestor worship and the custom of Sati. Indravan, Nivachivadi, Govele, Kakal, Nalephodi, Mhasala, Borli Panchatan, Diveagar and Deokhol in the proximity of Chandore constitute a sprawling complex with thriving international trade and vibrant religious activity on a large scale.

There is, however, no inscription in this entire repertoire to give us any definitive names or dates for any of these locations, with the exception of Diveagar.

The earliest occupation of Chandore, surprisingly, seems be of the Stone Age when small, microlithic tools were made in a pre-metal era. This could push the antiquity of the site back by several millennia, and Stone Age experts who have visited the site have recommended a detailed study of the raw materials used for the tools, the structural and functional aspects of the tools and the geological context of the habitation.

The bulk of the original research published on the Shilahara dynasty consists of a volume of the inscriptions of the Shilaharas by VV Mirashi (Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol IV brought out by the ASI in 1977). Scholars have subsequently found sporadic copper plate and stone inscriptions of the Shilahara dynasty in the Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra as well as the coastal area of Goa and Karnataka, and have attempted a reconstruction of the history of the region.

A particular location at Chandore is referred to as ‘kalavantiniche gharate’– the dwelling of the nautch girl(s) – in local tradition, which comprised an essential service at a trade route hub, for merchants and traders on long journeys away from home. This yet again confirms the status of Chandore as a thriving semi-urban centre.

Also, an annual religious festival is part of a tradition from the hoary past and draws in large numbers of people surrounding areas. This calls for ethnographic enquiry and its integration with historical evidence in a holistic approach to unfold the secrets buried and forgotten since yore.

This seasons excavations have just drawn to a close and the excavation team is busy cataloguing and analysing the artefacts, ceramics and sculptural elements revealed in the course of this season’s work.

(Pictures courtesy Dr Suraj Pandit, Pallavee Gokhale and Rhea Mitra-Dalal)

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Kharcha paani

Proposed Mumbai-Delhi corridor meets farmers’ agitation

The process of acquisition of farming land for the proposed Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor is currently seeing agitation from 10 States.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is facing stiff opposition from farmers in Maharashtra. And the reason is the proposed Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor.

Currently, farmers and activists from 10 States in the country are up in arms against the proposed corridor, for which land is being acquired from farmers. Yesterday, the agitation reached Khandesh after crossing Konkan.

As per the NAPM, under whose direction the agitation is taking place, the yatris started off on foot from Karla SEZ area (Lonavla) late at night to reach Malegaon in the morning, where they were welcomed by their comrades from Rashtriya Seva Dal. The first halt of the yatra was at Jodge, where 3,600 hectares of land of five villages have been given notice under the Maharashtra Industrial Development Act (MIDA).

“A population of 30,000 villagers in Jodge, Jayuk, Chicharovar, Sayane BK and Sayane SH villages have been given notice. The villagers have rejected the entire project. They say that they are against forceful acquisition of land without a stated reason and without the consent of gram sabhas under MIDA, especially since MIDA already has possession of prior acquired land,” an NAPM spokesperson said. The yatra is said to have then reached Dhule city after giving support to the struggle of these people, and promising to connect their struggle to the one underway at the national level.

Shyam Patil, a Dhule resident and agitator, said of the Dhule-Nardana Industrial Area, “The MIDC has completed the formalities under clause 32 (1) and (2) for acquisition of 634 hectares of land in Malich, Gorne, Baghode, Menane and other villagers, despite a textile industrial area already in function in the region.”

Suresh Desle of Maliv village said, “The people who had lost their land earlier are yet to get their due, and now fresh notices have been give out to villages with dual crop farmland. I had discussed the gram sabha’s proposal in this regard not only with the Collector, but also with the Secretary and Minister. However, no conclusion has been reached till date, and the sword of acquisition still hovers over their heads.” He added that a small committee had also been formed with the support of local farmers there.

The next meeting was at Sonegaon, with the gram panchayat and villagers. While the land there is also under threat under the Dhule-Bardhana Industrial Area, the process of acquisition hasn’t begun yet. The people there allege that the collector has given away 43 acres of land, which belongs to to the gram panchayat, to the Dhule-Itarsi Wiring Company without any legal investigation or gram sabha consent.

“A frightening image of MIDC is evident at every step. 17 lakh acres of land have been acquired for industrial purposes in Maharashtra, from the Konkan, Marathwada and Khandesh to Vidarbha in the last 50 years. People across different regions have expressed their anger at MIDC, and are all set to intensify their protest,” the NAPM spokesperson said.

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