Amboli Hill Station

Amboli is a hill station at an altitude of 690 meters in the Sahayadri Hills of Western India, one of the world's "Eco Hot-Spots", in Sindhudurg Dist. 70 kms from Belgaum & 35 kms from Sawantwadi.

Amboli is a hill station in south Maharashtra, India. At an altitude of 690 meters it is the last hill station before the coastal highlands of Goa and a relatively unexplored one.

Amboli lies in the Sahyadri Hills of Western India, one of the world's "Eco Hot-Spots" and it therefore abounds in a variety of fairly unique flora and fauna. Amboli hilltop gives a fine bird's-eye view of the Konkan coast. Colonel Westrop developed Amboli as a hill station after the opening of the Ghat Road from the coastal town of Vengurla, in southern Maharashtra, to Belgaum.

Amboli village came into being as one of the staging posts along the road from Vengurla port to the city of Belgaum, which was extensively used by the British, to supply their garrisons in south and central India.

The hills of Amboli village provide one of the sources of the Krishna river (The "Ganges" of south India) and an ancient Shiva temple (called Hiranyakeshi) exists at the cave where the water emerges. The main attraction for tourists is the incredibly high rainfall (7 meters average per year!)and numerous waterfalls and mist during the monsoons. Legend has it that there are 108 Shiva temples in and around Amboli of which only a dozen have been uncovered, one as recently as 2005.

 

Amboli is one of the few hill stations of Maharashtra from where one can see the sea. This hill station is totally swathed with cloud during rainy season. The hill station is very charming in winter when the rains have stopped and there are a thousand waterfalls gushing down the hills. This is an idyllic place to relax, unwind and go for long walks. Spend your days meandering through scenic hillscapes and misty forests, pack a picnic and wander up un-tread paths.

 

Sunset Point: Driving into Amboli, try and plan your arrival for the dramatic colours and clouds at the evening hour at Sunset Point. At 690 m ASL, this is a lovely ghat to wind around, on your way to Goa or to Mumbai. 0.5 kms away from Amboli Bazzar.

 

Hiranyakeshi: Hiranyakeshi. Rapunzel With hair of spun gold  Art deco temple , irreligiously tawdry, with manmade stream fed out of manmade pond routed thro art deco cow’s open mouth. The rivulet flows from beneath a huge boulder sitting in the mountainside.

A temple with strategically placed deities is  right next to the stream outlet.

Deep inside another boulder is a dark cave that one can enter crouching, rumored to be 70 feet deep.

 

Mahadevagad Point : Mahadevgad point, 2.5 km each way, mostly uphill, through varying degrees of vegetation, from lush, to deforested. Been there thrice and had we stayed an extra day, we’d go there again. it was the old allure of “lets see where his trail leads” that took us there, first trudging step after step on an eccentric well used trail, and then onwards, on to its connection with a tar road.

 

Kavaleshet Eco Valley : This at over 10 km, is the furthermost of all our trips so far. Just off the highway and the road is transformed into a red rough track, there are unseasonal clouds and faraway thunder, it may just rain. The track is a kaccha rasta, twists, turns and goes every which way, goes up slopes and down, twice we had to wait for sugarcane and paddy laden trucks to pass.

 By the side of the road, green fields, lush with paddy, sugarcane and nachnee, on the other side black completely burnt out fields, an exercise in contrasts, desolate black and abundant fresh greens.

 

Shirgaonkar Point : Welcomed us strangers on the mostly upward trail to shirgaonkar point .

After trekking 3 km , all one sees is a milestone proclaiming shirgaonkar point zero- but no benches, no steps to anywhere, no railing -just a yellow grass, boulder strewn incline on one side, a sheer stone wall on the other .

 

Amboli Ghat : One of the best ghats of the Sahyadris there are also plenty of treks and walks that take you into the forests where you can sight bison, panther and the occasional stripes of a tiger. Reinvigorating your system with pure mountain air and soaking in the deep relaxing silences of the jungles, Amboli is recommended for the best natural vacation in the Western Ghats.

Altitude : 690m.

Temperature (°C) : Summer: Max. 40, Min. 22 Winter: Max. 33, Min. 12
Best Season to visit : October to March

How to reach

By Air

Nearest Airport: Belgaum – 82kms

                        Dabholim – 120 Kms

By Railway

Sawantwadi Road Station – 36 Kms (45 minutes by Road)

Belgaum Station – 70 Kms ( 1 Hr 30 minutes by Road)

Kolhapur Station – 110 Kms (3Hrs by Road)

By Road

1. Mumbai – Amboli - 545 Km ( via NH 17) (10 hrs) Route : Panavel - Chiplun - Kanakawali -Sawantwadi
                              - 520 Km ( via NH 04) (9½ hrs) Route : Panavel - Pune - Satara – Kolhapur

2. Pune - Amboli - 360 Km (7 hrs) Rute : Satara – Kolhapur

3. Panaji (Goa) - Amboli - 90 Km (2 hrs) Via Sawantwadi 

4.Sawantwadi-Amboli - a) State Transport, 50 buses a day operate from Sawantwadi bus stand  to Amboli at every ½ an hour. (from 6:30 am to 6:15 pm)

                                  b) Local Transport – Auto Rikshaws & Taxis

Hotels :

1. MTDC’s Green Valley Resort 2. Shiv Malhar  3. Whistling Woods  4. JRD International   5. Sailee Hotel