Seeing a place through the eyes of a local is very enriching and informative . As we discovered talking with Yogiraj. Alibag has more than beaches, luxury villas and a few Jewish families. It has a historic past dating from the time of the Rashtrakutas.It was part of Raigad district that came under Rashtrakuta rule.

A smattering of British Presence

The islands of Bombay that were handed over to the British as part of the dowry of the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza when she married King Charles II, were cunningly shown by Portuguese cartographers as being closer to Brazil which was of more importance to the British. Disappointed at finding out that these malaria-infested islands were in the Orient, the crown handed over the islands to the British East India Company, little realising what a treasure they had parted with!

In the 17th Century when Alibag was still part of the Maratha Empire, an unarmed British ship foolishly ventured towards the mainland and was captured by the Maratha Navy in nearby Thal creek and its crew imprisoned in Khanderi Fort nearby.

It wasn’t long before Alibag came under British control and vestiges of colonial architecture can be seen in some buildings like the Forest Department Office which was once the Collector’s bungalow and the Geomagnetic Observatory.

This important observatory made out of special non-magnetic Porbunder stone, serves as the calibration centre for all those who use magnetic compasses for navigation. It is also part of a global network that measures geomagnetic forces, and its data is shared by scientists worldwide.

As with most government buildings, entry is prohibited without prior permission so I could just about get a photo from the car.

The Mission that failed

On our way to the waterfront, we passed the Konkan Education Society Head Office administrative building, which is important simply because it is built on the site of an impressive colonial stone building that housed the John Elphinstone Scottish Mission. Though the Mission ran a successful school, it failed miserably to convert the locals. So, the Scottish missionaries had to pull out and hand the school over to the locals to run.

Maratha Navy

It was past noon and the sky was still overcast when we reached the waterfront. There before us lay the magnificent-looking fort just off the beach. The tide wasn’t low enough for us to walk across, so we could just see it from afar.

The great Maratha warrior Shivaji realised the importance of a maritime force to protect his kingdom from marauding sea farers like the Siddhis and the Portuguese. Thus began the construction of Kolaba Fort or Alibag Fort as it is known today. He enlisted the help of Ferraro Viegas and his son to design and construct the Fort. With 200 local craftsmen ( or tapasis) the construction began on April 19, 1657.

It was completed by Sambhaji Maharaj and was the stronghold of the Maratha Navy under admiral Kanhoji Angre.

An informative post on this fort can be accessed below

Kolaba Fort ❤️ Never be fooled by the low tides

More Alibag

There are many temples in Alibag and Yogiraj wanted us to see the Ram Mandir temple which was built by Govindsett who was a Dewan of the Angre. A lithograph of this temple was by colonial artist James Forbes can found in his book in ‘Oriental Memoirs’.

This temple has an inner sanctum sanctorum with marble idols of Ram, Laxman and Sita . There is another inner hall for special pujas and a large hall with balconies for public worship. A set of stairs on either side allowed women and children to sit upstairs while the men congregated below.

You can find out more about this temple at https://alibagonline.com/places/shree-ram-temple-ramnath

Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to spend so we had to give the Karmarkar Sculpture Museum a miss. I was a bit disappointed not to see this because my father claimed that the sculpture had made a small door stopper of me as a baby! I wanted to check if this was true of just one of his tall stories!

Another site which Yogirsj insisted we visit was the Icecream Soda factory on our way out of Alibag. This highly recommended treat is manufactured locally by D. Samson Digodkar. Sadly, the road was under repair and the signage was easy to miss.

The sky was looking ominous with dark clouds which had already broken into a drizzle. We still had another 6 hours to go so we decided not to turn back to look for the factory.

I will have to go back to Alibag some time soon to taste the original Icecream soda. factory. I’m sure the Little People would love it.

Very few people know that this little gem just hours away from Mumbai offers you something more than beaches and luxury villas. It is the perfect spot for a weekend break for history buffs.

Ciao,