Amboli, Sindhudurg

Amboli
आंबोळी
town

Amboli Hill Station
Amboli

Location in Maharashtra, India

Coordinates: 15°57′45″N 73°59′52″E / 15.96250°N 73.99778°ECoordinates: 15°57′45″N 73°59′52″E / 15.96250°N 73.99778°E
Country  India
State Maharashtra
District Sindhudurg
Languages
 • Official Marathi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Telephone code 02363
Vehicle registration MH-07

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

Amboli lies in the Sahayadri 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. However, as in the other parts of the Sahaydri Hills, denudation of the forest cover and unregulated government assisted "development" (read "hotels, resorts & highways") are gradually ruining a once pristine environment.

Historically, 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.

In the hills of Amboli village lies the source of the Hiranyakeshi river, and an ancient Shiva temple (called Hiranyakeshwar) exists at the cave where the water emerges. The main attraction for tourists is the incredibly high rainfall (7 m average per year) and the 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. There aren't too many places to see or things to do but it is quiet, unpolluted and the local residents are good natured and helpful.

Transport

Amboli is well connected by road to all the surrounding cities (Kolhapur 129 km, Belgaum 68 km, Panjim (Goa) 90 km) by road and the nearest airport is at Belgaum, about 1.5 hours drive away. All the roads are good and a new airport is expected to come up in north Goa shortly, reducing the travelling time to just over an hour.

Accommodation

There are a few decent (and relatively cheap) hotels at Amboli. A few of them being,Nisarg Family Resort, Hotel Sailee, Whistling Woods, Silent Valley Resort Shanti Darshan and Hotel Shiv malhar. Most of them provide hot water baths and have facilities like restaurant, room service & cab services.

Hotel Pushkarleela have lodging and restaurant services. It provides easy access to tourist for sight seeing places.

MTDC also have a good resort.

Local transport

The only local transport is motorised three-wheeler rickshaws and a couple of private taxis. One can find them parked near the main bus stand and these are available without much bargaining.

Tourist attractions

There are in total 8 places that are listed by MTDC. If one does not have ones own transportation, three-wheeler rickshaws are available. You'll need them only for a day to check out the tourist places and can then depend upon your legs to take you the ones that interest you most.

Nearest cities

Nearest railway stations

Tourists coming from Mumbai, Goa, Delhi and various trains of Konkan railway can reach Amboli from Sawantwadi railway station. There are buses both from Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation that ply frequently between Belgaum and Sawantwadi Via Amboli and charge Rs.24. Private Cars are available from Sawantwadi railway station to Amboli. You can also reach Amboli from Sangli and Kolhapur stations by bus via Nipani-Gadhinglaj-Ajara. This allows you to visit famous tourist spots like Ganesh temple of Sangli and Mahalaxmi temple of Kolhapur along with visiting Amboli.Belgaum is a useful railhead for the tourists coming from the karnataka and other southern parts.

Nearest railway junction

Tourists coming from Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad etc. can reach Amboli from Miraj junction whereas coming from Bengaluru, Mysore, Hubli, Chennai and Tirupathi etc. can reach from Belgaum railway station. Private Cars are available from both Miraj and Belgaum railway station to Amboli.

Some photos

External links