Underi Fort
Khanderi and Underi are the forts built on two Islands near Thal, very near to Alibaug. The forts still stand proud in the Arabian Sea as they stood against the British and the Siddi in 17th century, and their walls are still intact. We can see the iron canons with cart wheels on Khanderi, which are rarely found in Maharashtra. Underi was taken over by Siddi and then begin a series of skirmishes between Siddi and the Marathas
Underi became a news sensation when it was sold on May 16, 2006 by State government to Ramesh Kundanmal of Dolphin Stone Crest Estate Pvt Ltd at Rs 2 crore. Later, due to media pressure and consistent protest from trekking community, the deed was cancelled.
History :
On 9th January 1680, Siddi started building fortification on Underi Island. The Marathas attacked on the dawn of 27th January, but did not succeed. During Sambhaji’s reign, the Marathas attempted another attack on 18th August 1680. However, Siddi was ready for this and 80 Marathas were killed, including Maynak Bhandari’s son. Yet another attempt happened on 18th July 1681 which caused a great damage to Siddi, but the fort was not won. On 28th January Naro Trimbak captured the fort and named it as Jaidurg. In 1818, the fort went to the British, who gave its ownership to Angre dynasty in 1824. When Angres surrendered to British in 1840, the fort came under British control again.
Type : Sea forts
District : Raigad.
Fascinating Spots :
As we step from the boat in the front of main entrance, we can notice how the fort has been in ruins due to lack of care-taking. If start the trail from left, we come across 3 ponds for harvesting rain water. One of them is big enough to have stairs to climb down. Ahead there are remnants of a palace with a Tulsi Vrindawan in front. We can see canons scattered along some bastions. As we reach the southern bastion, we can see a secret passage door through the bastion. There is another door in the western walls, which are in dilapidated state now. There are total 12 bastions on the fort, the four of them being strong and each place in one of the four directions. These 4 bastions have a circular platform in the center.
Ways To Reach :
Thal town is located at about 8 km north of Alibaug, and the diversion to Thal is 4 km away from Alibaug on Alibaug Revas road. ST buses ply regularly between Alibaug and Thal. We can hire small boats from Thal beach, owned by local fishermen who take us to the fort. Khanderi is located bit far from the beach, and can be visited irrespective of high or low tide as it has a jetty. Since Underi has no jetty, one can visit it only during low tide. There is a method to find the timings for low and high tides.
High tide timings can be taken from Hindu Panchang by multiplying the date by ¾. For example, if it is the 4th day of the month (Chaturthi), then (¾ x 4) gives 3. This indicates that the high tide will be at 3 am and 3 pm. Low tide will occur 6 hours after high tide, hence the low tide timings would be 9 am and 9 pm.
The fishermen might sometimes demand doubled costs, and we need to bargain with them. Also, most of the fishermen leave for fishing early morning, by 6 am. Hence we need to inquire locally about the timings.
Following are the timings as per Hindu Panchang for low tides
Pratipada 4:00 to 6:00
Dwitiya 5:00 to 7:00
Tritiya 5:30 to 8:00
Chaturthi 6:00 to 9:00
Panchami 7:00 to 9:30
Shashti 8:00 to 10:00
Saptami 8:30 to 11:00
Ashtami 9:00 to 12:00
Navami 10:00 to 12:30
Dashmi 11:00 to 13:00
Ekadashi 11:30 to 14:00
Dwadshi 12:00 to 15:00
Tryodshi 13:00 to 16:00
Chartudshi 13:00 to 16:00
Poornima / Amavasya 14:30 to 17:00
