Around Dahanu..
Dahanu is a weekend destination and not really a place for a long vacation, however its a great place to include in a trip to the nearby tribal areas like Jawhar and Sajan. In Dahanu its beach hopping from Dahanu to Narpad to Bordi that you can do in the almost 20 km long coastline. You can also visitt the orchards and chikoo farms nearby.
Mata Mahalakshmi Temple
Mahalakshmi is the `kuldevata` (patron God) of tribals, the temple is located close to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Western Express Highway, on the border of Maharashtra and Gujarat, near Dahanu. Every year a festival is held called Mahalakshmi Yatra for 15 days starting from Hanuman Jayanti. During the festival the tribals arrange 'tarpa' - the traditional tribal dance and other tribal art forms.
Palgar is approximately 50 kms from Dahanu. Palgar also has some very secluded beaches inspite of being so close to Mumbai! Kelva Beach is the most popular amongst the beaches in Palghar. Kelva fort and Sheetala Devi temple located at the lakeside add the attraction of the Kelva beach. Shirgaon is a small stretch of beach near Kelva beach. The palms and the suru trees lining these beaches add to its charm!
Udvada a small town, 80 kms from Dahanu houses the Parsi fire temple. Fire holds a central position in the parsi religion. The fire depicts all forms of energies and a powerful link between the material and spiritual worlds. The Udvada fire temple holds an Atash Behram fire (a fire collected from 16 different sources and a result of rituals extending over 15000 hours). Non parsis are not allowed here.
Food in Dahanu
Dahanu is famous for Parsi food. You can try some great Parsi food in any of the local parsi restaurants. You can especially treat yourself to Fried Boi(Mullet Fish), vin-daloo fish curry, sali margi or ghosht. Local cuisine is quite spicy so check before you order!
Udvada - The Mecca of Zoroastrians..
Jawhar - The Tribal Hills..
Jawhar is a small hill station located about 70 Kilometers from Dahanu. An erstwhile tribal kingdom in Maharashtra Jawhar is famous for the warli paintings. The Jai Vilas palace the residential palace of the kings of Munke family is a tourist a major attraction here. There are a few 'points' like Hanuman point and sunset point which offer panoramic vistas of the valley.
