Arnala Fort
I had looked up on the net for forts outside Mumbai and I got the name of Arnala from there... it said something about:
"the Mughal fort being in ruins".
"Do visit the famous Jiv Dani temple on your way" said the article and off we went on a Sunday morning to Virar's famous Jiv Dani temple - where we had to climb over 1300 steps to see the diety and the lovely view of Virar and its vicinity.
"Virar is endowed with an excellent beach which is around 6kms away" We had a glimpse of the excellent beach to be greeted by "danger" and "do not enter" sign boards. Instead of attempting to break the law by getting into the dirty water, we ventured further into the fishing village to reach the jetty point.
A five minute boat ride lead us to a quiet and unassuming island. We were already feeling like we onto something good when we realised that the island had no shops, no phone booths, no touts to welcome you and the best part of all - no one except us was at the fort.
Since the fort is built on an island and surrounded on all sides by water it is also known as "Jaldurg" or "Janjire Arnala" Portuguese called the island "Ilha das vocas". The people in the island were very generous and hospitable and we spent an hour walking around in the lonely fort which overlooks the clean brown sand disturbed only by the mucky sea water.
From the Muslim rulers of Gujarat to the Portuguese traders to the Maratha forces to the British navy, the fort has changed a lot of hands. It was finally exchanged between the British and the Marathas under various treaties.
The fort in true secular fashion has a temple and a mosque adjacent to each other. As mentioned in the article - the place was indeed in ruins and the potions of the fort looked untouched for centuries.
We had to leave quickly or we would have to wait for five hours till the next ferry in the evening. It was a long ride back home and as is the case... there is always the next time
Arnala Fort
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