2006-05-17T22:00:00.000+05:30

Arnala is a small fishing village about 17 kms from Virar. The Arnala fort is on a small island. The island houses a village, fort and a private resort.
A mosque and a temple peacefully co-exists inside, without any qualms. The watch tower at the tip of the island, is a source of mysterious stories.
Reaching there: One can reach Virar by road as well as the Western Railway. State buses ply between Virar and Arnala. One can also catch a rickshaw from Virar to Arnala.

History
The fort was originally constructed in 1516 by a local chieftain of Gujarat, Sultan Mahmud Begda. In 1530s, the Portuguese, after establishing at Bassein (Vasai), conquered this fort, started reconstruction and named it as Ilhas das vocas. The Portuguese retained control of the fort for over 2 centuries.
In 1737, Chimaji Appa, brother of Baji Rao I, took control of Bassein fort in a battle, the Battle of Vasai. Soon after this, Shankarji Pant, Chimaji's general persuaded him to take on Portuguese to get Arnala Fort. The first attack was routed by Portuguese' naval force. Soon it was followed by a second assualt, which took Portuguese by surprise and they lost control of the fort. Marathas controlled the fort till 1817, when they were attacked by British and forced to surrender.

Information courtesy: www.Wikipedia.org

2006-05-14T23:05:00.000+05:30

An areal view of the island. Photo courtesy: www.wikipedia.org
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Narrow roads from the Arnala market, through the village takes us to the jetty. Ferry plies between the Arnala mainland and the island regularly, often carrying more passengers than it can carry. Every one is getting ready for the ferry.
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A cramped ferry. Some of us just managed to keep one foot on the floor.
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Ascending and descending from a violently swinging boat is an art by itself.
Landing at the island, wading through the water to the shore.
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Questions on history. Perspectives, and more....... Introduction session in progress
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From the beach, narrow alleys through the village in the island lead to the entrance of the fort. An old abandoned boat near the entrance serves as a dining table.
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View of the fort from the sea
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Dealing with my inner-child. Swinging
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Soon it was time to deal with the inner-monkeys as well. Most of us climbed the tree
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Entering the fort
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On top of the entrance dome. The picture reminds the infamous picture of the Kar Sevaks on top of Babri Masjid
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At 700x700, the fort is relatively small. We started our exploration from the entrance dome and took a walk along the top of the boundary wall, spending some time at each bastions. Some of them have room-like structure for storage. One of them had a dark, narrow, winding pathway leading to the base.
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At one of the bastions, Dyanesh finds himself at peace. Except that he replaces a canon, which is far from the symbol of peace
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After a long and tiring walk in the scorching heat, through the fort wall, it was time for some rest near the mosque.
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Lunch was organised at a fisherman's house. It was feast for non-vegies
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A long walk around the island, completing one circle
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A kerosen wick lamp. Villagers worship this, taking a bow while passing this. Perhaps this must have been the location of an old light house, which saved many lives
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The light house. Inside is thick vegetation, with shrubs and small trees. There is a cave like pathway in the base, where one has to crawl through, braving many snakes.
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Though we were extremely scared, we made an attempt to go into the cave. A few feet inside, the cave splits to two sides, running in a circular shape. We did not see any snakes, but a neat skeleton of a rat sent us back in no time.
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Mark of cannon ball strikes on the wall
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Dnyanesh makes an attempt to scale the wall
manages well....
and makes it to the top
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My attempt.....
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stroll at the beach
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the castrol team. An oil slick?

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Treks organised by Nature Knights. Reach Nature Knights at natureknights@yahoo.com

Arnala Island Fort