Harihareshwar - Dakshin Kashi..

I have to be thankful to puneritraveller.com for me having visited so many beautiful locations across Maharashtra which i am not sure i would have unless puneritraveller had happened!

If i have to elucidate what i mean, if i had visited lets say Diveagar, i probably would have visited Harihareshwar just to explore along with it however i wouldnt have gone to the same region to see Harihareshar exclusively. 

Anyways..we visited Harihareshwar again recently on account of work to get listings of a few more hotels in Harihareshwar for puneritraveller and we sure did add couple of more accommodation options in Harihareshwar in the Harihareshwar hotels section of puneritraveller.com.

Harihareshwar is the southern most amongst the Raigad beaches and is quite a beautiful location, however Harihareshwar is known more as a pilgrim destination than for its natural splendor thanks to the ancient temple complex and the famed 'pradakshina'. The ride to Harihareshwar is quite the hug the clouds kiss the sands experience! With hills all around one would go through a lot of twisty turny narrow roads climbing up and down the hills to reach this beautiful beach. 

Harihareshwar is not a big town so when you reach Harihareshwar you wouldnt find much of activity, there is not even a big bus stand to give you the feeling that you have reached your destination! anyways..there is no two questions about the major landmarks in Harihareshwar well if you have to it is the Harihareshwar temple and the Harihareshwar beach.

From the Harihareshwar bus stand a right turn and a short walk leads you to the Harihareshwar temple.Harihareshwar temple complex with deities of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma along with the temples of Kalbhairav and Yogeshwari is an important pilgrim centre and is chiefly responsible for exhalting Harihareshwar as a tourist destination! beleived to be blessed by Vishnu according to legends Harihareshwar is proclaimed as 'devghar', and is of foremost importance religiously. 

At the far end of the temple the 'pradakshina' starts. Its in fact a hill arond wich probably due to natural gradation a walking path has formed and the walk even if not for religious reasons is a must do however be careful with the potholes! At the end of the 'pradakshina' is the famous stairs up back to the temple complex. There is a stretch of beach where the 'pradakshina' starts however with the temple around playing in the waves here is not a lot of fun.

Once you reach the bus stand a drive straight ahead leads to a beautiful stretch of beach on your right hand side. This stretch is quite a nice secluded stretch. MTDC has a few huts here and there is water sports options also available here.

The drive ahead from here gets you to Bagmandala, the ferry point across the creek which will get you to Ratnagiri district! You can visit the Bankot fort, Mahalaxmi temle in Kelshi and probably the Kadyavarcha Ganpati temple in Anjarle if you wish to even in a short vacation to Harihareshwar!