JOIN USVasai beckons tourists with its diversity
The Vasai taluk of Palghar district in Maharashtra is unique in many respects as it has, inter alia ,pristine beaches, agricultural zone, fishing zone, industrial zone, forest zone, tribal area, mushrooming township and hills. No other taluk in the country can boast of such diversity. Its rich forests marine life and wetlands are unique.
The Portuguese called it Bassein (Baçaim) and then by the British, it also had various other names during the course of history. The town has historical importance too. It was a part of the territory of the Hindu Devgiri Yadavas until 1317; later it became a seaport for the Gujarat Muslim kings.
As it was under Portuguese influence for a long time, young entrepreneur Kiran Bhoir has embarked on a mission to develop it into a mini-Goa to attract tourists. He has started a website www.minigoa.com and is conducting several package tours of Vasai taluk. This include the historic Vasai fort. “Vasai has the potential to become an international tourist spot,” said Kiran Bhoir of KMC Holidays and Offshore.
He said Vasai, rich in nature bounty-- according to legends -- is created by “Bhagawan Parshurama”, which is having unique, beautiful, historical, spiritual, and natural tourist places. Vasai is blessed with forts, spiritual places, clean beaches, churches of Portuguese era, green farms and lakes.
Vasai’s most important place is “Vasai Fort”. This fort was held by Portuguese for about 205 years. “Chimaji Appa conquered this fort from Portuguese. This fort had seven churches, but today we can see only five. Here we could see a very old spiritual Nageshwar temple which was restored by Peshwas. After victory of Vasai fort, Chimaji Appa had built the temple of goddess Vajreshwari which is also inside the fort, besides Nageshwar Temple.
The fort also has Mahabali Hanuman temple, constructed by Chimaji Appa. A very interesting part of this temple is Hanuman idol has moustache face and peshwa turban on the head. At the
entrance of Vasai Fort we can see huge monument of Peshwa Chimaji Appa,” Bhoir said.The Arnala fort is on an island. “We have to take a boat. This fort is surrounded by sea but has fresh drinking water wells,” he said.
Another island in Vasai is Panju. In India’s freedom struggle, this village gave 21 freedom fighters, which was largest in the area. The village had population of about 300 then and about 50 families . Soon, there will be a special boat ride facility for tourists near the village.
Visitors also can see at Nirmal, which was created by Parshurama, the temple of Adi Shankaracharya Vidyaranya Swami. The temple on a hillock provides a bird’s eye view of the surroundings.
The Samadhi of Adi Shankaracharya is also in the same place. Besides the temple, Parshurama had created two big lakes Nirmal and Viamal. Replica of Shani Mandir in Vasai-Wagholi area, which is about one km from Nirmal, is very calm and beautiful and has been drawing good crowd.
Hira Dongari Dutta temple is one of the attractive places in Vasai, which is on a small hillock near Giriz. The whole Vasai region can be viewed from this vantage point.A famous ancient place is Nallasopara’s Bauddha Stupa, which is believed to have been inaugurated by Gautam Buddha himself. Samrat Ashoka also visited to the place.
“We could find a replica of this stupa at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh. The government is contemplating on declaring this ancient stupa as an international tourist place. Currently, renovation work is on,” he added.
Vasai also has beautiful beaches like Bhuigaon, Rangaon, Kalamb, Rajodi, Navapur and Arnala and a fine stretch of sand to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city life. On the eastern side of Vasai are Vajreshwari, Ganeshpuri, Natural hot water springs, Usgaon and Pelhar dams.
Ganeshpuri is a beautiful temple complex, famous for Swami Nityanand’s Samadhi. It has a very peaceful ambience with a flowing river behind the temple and natural hot water springs. Vajreshwari temple is about 2 km from the Ganeshpuri
temple. The temple was constructed by Peshwa Chimaji Appa, after he won the Vasai fort from Portuguese. Goddess Jivdani Temple is on a hill in Virar East and ropeway facility is available here.Tungareshwar near Vasai is frequented by tourists. “One can see Swami Sadanand Maharaj hermitage and God Mahadeva temple. Visiting this place gives a feel of trekking,” Bhoir said.
Another ancient place in the eastern area of Vasai is Ishwarpuri in the heart of mountains. This place has hermitage and samadhi of Rishi Sandipani, who was a teacher of Krishna, Balram and their friend Sudama. “Development of Vasai can lead to an international tourism destination,” officials of Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation said. “Our aim is to promote Vasai, its history and culture,” said Subrato Roy of Pragati, a socio-cultural organisation.
The famous Treaty of Bassein between Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat and Kingdom of Portugal 1543 was signed here leading to the Portuguese gaining control of the city. In 1661, when Bombay was passed on to the English as dowry of Catherine of Braganza, who married King Charles II - making it significant in the history of Mumbai.
Besides, the campaign of Chimaji Appa, who liberated several places from the Portuguese rule is a very important piece of war history. The Treaty of Bassien of 1882 between Baji Rao II, the Peshwa from Pune, and East India Company, was also signed here, that in a way weakened the Maratha empire.
India’s first Christian saint Gonsalo Garcia was born in a tiny village here while St Francis Xavier lived in Vasai. Before them, Marco Polo passed through. Greek merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes is known to have visited the areas around Bassein in the sixth century, and Chinese traveller Xuanzang later on June or July AD 640. Sopara was a major port town whose trade had linked ancient India to Mesopotamia, Arabia, Greece, Rome, Africa among others.