Mirjan Fort- Kumta : During Monsoon

"Kumta" - My native town, is situated in coastal area of Karnataka and belongs to North Canara district.  Mirjan is a small village in Kumta, situated almost 11 kms from Kumta town on National Highway 17 between Kumta and Ankola. The Specialty of this small village Mirjan is – it has an historical importance fort called Mirjan Fort. Earlier Mirjan was also known as “Midijay”, “Mirji”, Merji”. Fort entrance This fort covers almost 10 Acres of land. It is built with Red Laterite Stones which are available in coatal area and tropical region. Since Kumta comes in Coastal line, you can see red laterite stones everywhere here. You will get many surprises when you enter into the fort. You can see many deep wells ( These wells are very deep, you cant see the end of the well and they are full of water irrespective of seasons), many secret doors, tunnels, watch tower, flagpole like structures.  Flagpole like structure in the fort History of this fort is somewhat scattered. Even localites are not able to answer properly about the history of this beautiful fort. Some say that this fort was built between the year 1562 - 1606 by Queen " Chenna Byradevi" who ruled this area during that particular period. She belonged to "Salva" dynasty and she was popular as "Queen of Pepper" Mirjan was main port during that period and they used to export pepper, rice, elachi, coconuts and other spices to different part of the country. Later this fort was ruled by many kings. To get the control on this fort Kings used to fight with each other. During war, people used to take protection inside this fort.  Photo taken from top of the fort   The department of Archeology has done excavation here in the year 2000. this fort is included in the list of preserved historical places. Now you can see the beauty of Mirjan Fort in many movies especially in Kannada movies.

Deep well inside the fort

 

HOW TO REACH : 

Nearest Places :	You can visit many tourist places near by Mirjan Fort. Gokarna Shiva Temple, Om beach, Dhareshwara Beach, Murdeshwara, Yana, ApsaraKonda etc
How to reach Kumta:	Kumta is well connected by Buses. You can get direct buses from Bangalore. It is almost 10 hours journey from Bangalore. Otherwise you can take buses from Hubli. There are frequent buses from Hubli.
Nearest Airport & Railway station	Nearest Airport is Mangalore Airport. It takes almost 6 hours to reach Mirjan from Mangalore Airport. Nearest Railway station is Kumta Railway station and Hubli Railway station, Honnavar railway Station.

PLACES TO VISIT

You can visit many tourist places near by Mirjan Fort. Gokarna Shiva Temple, Om beach, Dhareshwara Beach, Murdeshwara, Yana, ApsaraKonda, Karwar. Kumta is covered by greenery, hills, dense forests also you can see many beautifull water falls here. You can see green paddy fields and Sugarcane fields everywhere. Kumta is also famous for its arts and crafts shops. You can get all kinds of crafts which are made from sandalwood. Beautiful view from top of the fort

CULTURE AND FOOD

	Kumta has an unique culture. You can see mixed culture here. Its population consists of Brahmins, Konkanis, Halakki Gowda's and many more. You will get traditional foods here. More popular food is Havyaka Brahmin's unique food which is very tasty vegetarian food. Dont miss any of their recipes when you visit Kumta. Since it is coastal are you can enjoy varieties of sea foods also.
Hotels	Hotel Panduranga International Kamat Hotel Annapoorna Railotel

Best time to visit

During Monsoon- You can unleash greenery.  Mirjan fort wears green look during monsoon.