Forts in Central India
Janjira Fort
Murud-Janjira is the local name for a fort situated at the coastal village of
Murud, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India.[1] It is famous for being
the only fort along India's western coast that remained undefeated despite
Maratha, Dutch and English East India Company attacks.
History
The word Janjira is not native to India, and may have originated after the Arabic
word Jazeera, which means an island. Murud was once known in Marathi as Habsan,
or Abyssinian's land. Some of the people also split the name as "JAL JEERA"
meaning fort in the water.The name of the fort is a concatenation of the Konkani
and Arabic words for Island, "morod" and "jazeera".The word "morod" is peculiar
to Konkani and is absent in Marathi.Thus, during the rains, the fields get
flooded,but the morods never flood.The State of Murud-Janjira was known to the
Maratha Empire as Habsan,the land of the Habshis.
Architecture
Sambhaji Maharaj (Son of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj)constructed a fort on a
nearby island (Padmadurg Fort, now known as Kasa). Kasa is not accessible to the
public and requires special permission from the Navy.To Reach the Janjira Fort,
sailboats are available from Murud Port (which is behind Ekdara Village) and
Rajpuri port.Murud doesn't just have a Beach & the fort. It also has a Temple
over the hill next to the New Bus Depot (known as Datta cha Dongar) Hill of Lord
Dattatray. One can have a paranormic view of Murud & both the islands together
from the hill.Further ahead of the hill is an Idga Mosque, the walk though the
dense jungle is a experience in itself.The fort also boasts of a sweet water
lake inside it. It is considered to be a miracle that the Fort surrounded by the
salty water of the sea has a lake full of sweet water. Also the cannons in the
fort are quite unique. The biggest cannon boasts a range of around 18 km. It is
said that since the entire cannon could not have been transported at once they
had to be brought in pieces and they were then assembled inside the fort.
How to reach ?
Where to stay ?