The Sindhudurg district - The tourism district of Maharashtra
Sindhudurg district is the southernmost district in the state of Maharashtra that borders the state of Goa in the south, Kolhapur district and Karnataka state (only a tiny part on south east) on the east, Ratnagiri district in the north, and the Arabian sea on the west coast. The coastal length of the district is around 122 kms. It is further divided into 8 tehsils / talukas in its administrative territory.
Sindhudurg district gets its name from the Fort Sindhudurg, that the Maratha empire founder King Shivaji built in Malvan between November 1664 to 1667, at a location named Kurte / Khurte island around 2kms in the mid sea from the Malvan coast. King Shivaji was instrumental in establishing the first naval fleet in India with his vision to protect the area from the coastal attacks, and also to use it as a trade route watchdog authority to open new avenues for tax collection from the merchants.
The district itself did not exist as a separate district until 1981, when on the 1st May 1981, the single large Ratnagiri district was broken into two regions, with the southern part separated as the Sindhudurg district. However, unlike the rest of the districts in Maharashtra where there is always a main city with the same name as the district, Sindhudurg did not have a city with the same name as such. Hence, a new city named Sindhunagari city was also established to be created on May 1st 1981, in a village named Oros, in Kudal tehsil. The city was built over decades with primary aim to house administrative headquarters for the district administration, such as the district collector, the police, the health etc.
Sindhudurg has three tehsils / talukas on its west coast which have a coastal access. These are Devgad, Malvan, and Vengurla. While the remaining 5 tehsils / talukas are fully landlocked. The Mumbai Goa highway passes from the north to the south in the mid of the district. The cities from the tehsils Kankavli, Kudal, Sawantwadi are located on these highway areas and have benefitted from lot of development compared to the other tehsils.
Malvan is the richest tehsil thanks primarily to its booming tourism industry, thanks to the fort Sindhudurg heritage on its shoreline and long beaches such as Tarkarli next to the fort area, that draws lots of tourists and also helped create a booming home stay and tourism industry making people quite entrepreneurial. It also has a strong seasonal fruit industry such as cashew that creates many cashew based industry products.
Devgad is the 2nd most richest tehsil / taluka in Sindhudurg district, thanks to the Devgad Alphonso / Hapus mango heritage and fishing industry. Devgad Alphonso / Hapus is world famous for its distinct aroma, shape, smell and is one of the most expensive fruits India produces during summer seasons. The quality comes due to special soil conditions around Devgad region suitable for mango growth. The taste and structure of the fruit changes as you go away from Devgad in nearby areas such as Ratnagiri. The story goes back to Portugese times when a Portugese general and viceroy of Portugese India named Afonso De Albuquerque, in the 16th century, using the grafting technique, pushed for creation of a new superior breed of mango, that was firmer than the earlier ones that were too soft. The locals started calling it after his name eventually. Over the time, the name Afonso transformed in local languages, becoming known as Aphoos in Konkani and eventually Hapoos / Hapus in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Sindhudurg district was named as the tourism district of Maharashtra by the state government, less than 10 years ago, due to the abundance of the natural beauty including its splending coastline, the Sahyadri mountain regions and the rain forests it creates resulting in the extensive biodiversity.
If you are a tourist visiting Sindhudurg to explore its beautiful locations, be a responsible tourist and do not create pollution by throwing garbage around and showing lack of civic sense. Let's keep the nature in its pristine form to leave it to be enjoyable by the future generations, and help preserve its beauty by creating awareness for the importance its existance as it keeps on getting threatened by the greedy politicians and businessmen to turn the natural resources into mines, deforestation, and related destructive activities.
Comments