Karwar is beautiful . If you have ever dreamt of being in tune with the waves, bobbing along with the flow and gazing at the blue green waters, then look no further. Located just 8 kms from Goa, along the same coastline , it is completely different from the party destination with idyllic beaches . On one side is the narrow coast embracing the sea, while on the other side, the Western Ghats stand tall. Straddling both mountain and sea, Karwar is a nondescript little town perched in between, oblivious to its own beauty.
Pic : Lakshmi Sharath
Our first view of Devbagh was in the dark. After several stops enroute to Karwar, we got stalled by a traffic jam near the port where iron ores to be exported gets dumped by lorries. The road at some stretches seemed red. We were staying at the Jungle Lodges property at Devbagh and we quickly called the manager at the resort to inform him of our delay.A boat was waiting for us in the dark as we made our way to the jetty,which looked like a dilapidated boat house . We sailed across the sea in the night and reached the island.
The moonlight was a muse to none other than Tagore who was inspired by Karwar to pen his Prakritir Pratishodh. A beach here still remains in his memory. It is said that the 22 year old Tagore stayed with his brother , Satyendranath Tagore, who was the district judge in Karwar. The confluence of the rivers and the moonlight night when he went rowing solo promoted him to write his ode to Karwar. The quote I read somewhere says – “The sea beach of Karwar is certainly a fit place in which to realise that beauty of nature is not a mirage of imagination, but reflects the joy of the infinite and thus draws us to lose ourselves into it.”
Pic : Lakshmi Sharath
