Four Special Trains Btw CST, Mumbai and KARWAR

Mumbai : Central Railways have decided to run 4 Special trains between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and Karwar to clear the extra rush of Passengers as under:-

109 Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus - Karwar special Train will leave Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus at 11.55 pm on 17.2.2009 & 21.2.2009 and will reach Karwar at 2.00 pm on next day. 

110 Karwar - Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Special Train will leave Karwar at 3.00 pm on 18.2.2009 & 22.2.2009 and will reach Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus at 4.20 am next day.

Composition: These special trains will run with 17 coaches including 3 AC three tier, 8 sleeper class, 2 Second Class Chair Car, 2 General Second Class coach and 2 General Second Class cum guards brake vans.

Halts: Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Khed, Chiplun, Savarde, sangmeshwar, Ratnagiri, Vilawade, Rajapur, Vaibhavwadi Road, Nandgaon Road, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, Kudal, Sawantwadi Road, Pernem, Thivim, Karmali, Madgaon, Canacona and Asnoti. 

Reservation for 109 & 110 specials will be open from 9.2.2009.

My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore, with References to Karwar

My Reminiscences by Tagore, Rabindranath, 1861-1941

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Literature tagore

Gaongeri Cross - Caution !

Six Roads meet at this place. NH-17 runs from North to South, towards the South-West is the Gaongeri Ramnath Temple Road, North-West is the Baval village Road, North-East is the Road to Majali Market (Old Goa-Karwar Road) and North-West is the Road to Sadashivgad Market.
Accidents keep happening at this place very often. The villagers residing at near this Cross are awakened in the dead of the night or even during the day, by the loud bang of an accident, and have to remove the victims from the mangled vehicles.

These are the pictures of a recent accident that happened at 10-00 pm IST on the spot, an hour after we passed through that place. There was a Collision between a MUV - Tata Sumo and this car. And this is what remains of the Car.....

And yeah, forgot to say that the lone person that was driving this car was unscathed...
So much for Luck ! Careful next time.....

Traditional fishing @ Karwar

Traditional fishing Shot during the monsoons at Amdalli - Mudga Fishing village in Karwar, when mechanised-boat-fishing is prohibited.... It was a Sunday, and a boy helps his father in the work.....

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Nice Words About Karwar in Gladeye's Blog....

People are kind – they go all out to help a woman traveler. I remember hitting Karwar, west coast, Karnataka, without a hotel reservation. Karwar is an awesome 3-hour bus ride from Goa. Karnataka tourism has put out these fabulous ads with lines like ‘but for Karwar we wouldn’t have had the national anthem’, ‘the sands here inspired Tagore to pen his first play’ etc. All very bewitching and unsuspecting people fall for it. Not that the sea is not awesome – it is; and the shells larger than what one has seen anywhere else.

But, here’s the catch: There are no decent hotels on offer. One would imagine that a town by the sea will have hotel rooms looking out to the sea. I was disappointed. Lonely Planet in hand, I checked out the first hotel. Firstly, no sea view, no nothing. The more expensive rooms were okay – so I asked to have a look at the cheaper rooms. They led me through a narrow corridor on the first floor on the other side of the hotel. One of the doors was open. A board outside announced services of a palmist! I glance inside to see the fortune teller – pot bellied middle aged male, ochre robes beads, tilak and all. And I beat a hasty retreat. Strange men in strange robes as neighbours will not do. It doesn’t help that the room the boy shows me sheets with holes in them.

So, I leave my bags there, tell them I’ll be back soon, take some reccos from them where I can get a sea facing room and off I go, hopping into the first auto I see. Enter Karnataka and the language of signboards changes suddenly from English to Kannada. Men wear kumkum, women wear the orange flower in the hair, the bus has a puja with bright yellow flowers, the lungi appears. I see a non-descript building, I cannot read the board but I can tell it is a govt building. The auto man tells me it’s the PWD guest house. So we go have a chat. Yes, rooms are available – Rs 100 per day, but you must get persmission from the PWD office in town. The auto guy takes me willingly. About 11 am in the morning, the all male-office is surprised to see a female unescorted visitor. I tell them my request. First, they are bewildered. Then, they say its election time, so they are expecting guests, they need to check. A flurry of activity. Phone calls are made. A young man asks me to write an application. I do that. Couple of minutes later, he calls the guest house and I have a room.

I thought about it: The men could have said no, we don’t have room – too bad. But they made so much effort to see if it was possible to get me a room. Something like – a woman lands at your door seeking shelter – we cannot turn her away. With my metro mindset I would probably have done that if I was in their place. But they didn’t. When I reach the guest house I find the auto guy doesn’t overcharge for taking him on a spin around town, and the guest house has given me its best room.

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An award winning Short Story by Mr.Ravibala Shenoy set in Karwar...

Ravibala Shenoy works as a reference librarian at a large public library in Illinois and writes book reviews for Library Journal. Her writings have also been published in The Chicago Tribune, Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and The Times of India.

The Sacrifice

RAVIBALA SHENOY, Jul 07, 2007

The night is pitch dark.

Shri Ganeshaya Namaha, Kartik Krishna Dvadashi, Saka 1821 [November 28, 1899].

With this invocation I write in the light of the mashal. The dry palm leaves emit more smoke than light as they burn. I am sitting in the unwalled shed near the water ramp waiting for the sailboat that will take me to Karwar. The boat is supposed to arrive in Kharge from Kadra after midnight, but there's no telling when it will come.

The air vibrates with the sound of insects. Small creatures, waghonyo, with tiger stripes on their backs, are crawling all over this shed.

Tonight, I am on my way to the Karwar harbor from where the steamer to Mumbai departs in the morning. Why am I leaving? I am finished with Kharge. There is an island in the middle of the Kali River called Ulge. To go there one has take a coracle from Kharge. If two people sit in the boat along with the boatman, the boat sinks to about four fingers from the level of the river. A raging current can tip the boat in such a way that you feel that at any moment the water will rush in. That is how I feel, and why I must leave Kharge. I have told no one that I am leaving home.

Continue Reading....

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About Karwar

Karwar is a port town situated 100 Km from Goa and 260 Km north of Mangalore. Tucked between the sea on one side and the Western Ghats on the other, Karwar is an unexplored destination. The tranquil ambience of the place had inspired the famed poet, Rabindranath Tagore to pen his first play here. Situated on the banks of Kali River, Karwar was an important trade centre and a former settlement of the British and the Portuguese. Besides boasting a number of beaches, Karwar is known for its historic towns and sacred temples. It is also the gateway to many other nature excursions in the region.

Sightseeing Highlights:
The most popular attraction in Karwar is its unspoilt beaches. Devbagh Beach with its soft sands bordered by casuarina trees, offers good diving and snorkelling opportunities in the Arabian Sea. Other beaches in the area include KodiBagh Beach and KajuBagh Beach.

Sadashivgad Hill Fort on a mountain top on the outskirts of Karwar offers beautiful views of the sunset. There is an ancient Durga Temple in the complex. A 300-year old Venkataramana Temple in the town exhibits fine ochre paintings. An octagonal church, mostly in ruins is another tourist attraction, besides the famous Dargah of Peer Shan Shamsuddin Kharobat. Naganatha Temple is a unique temple where an anthill is worshipped.

Excursions out of the town include the popular Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary (110 Km) which has wildlife species including civet cat, wild boar, spotted deer, flying squirrel, leopard and elephants. Kavala Caves inside the sanctuary have beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formations. Gokarna 60 Km south of Karwar has two other famous beaches, Om and Kutle. Kurumgad Island is a short 45-minute ferry ride from Karwar and has a number of unspoilt beaches.

Other Activities:
Devbagh Beach and Kurumgad Island offer good opportunities for diving and snorkelling. Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is a must visit. The local food of the Karwar region is spicy and flavourful. Do check out the local specialities such as Bunpuri, Kalwa Sukka, Oyster Bondas and Misul.

Fast facts:
State: Karnataka
District: Uttara Kannada
Languages spoken: Konkani, Kannada

Getting there:
Closest airport: Dabolim Airport in Goa
Closest stations: Shirwad Railway Station
Main highways: NH 17
Getting around: Private taxis, boats, ferry

Coordinates: 14.8 N 74.13 E
Climate : Summers 22°- 40°C. Winter 10°- 32°C
Best time to visit: October to May

Tourism Info:
KSTDC, Near DC Office
Ground Floor, Minividhansoudha
NH17, Opposite Karwar Beach, Karwar.
Tel: 08382-221172