TRAVEL TO "THE GAMES BRITISH PLAYED"; BURMESE KING'S EXILE in Ratnagiri, India and it's unexplored serene beaches.

Sanjay, our guide opened a Gutka pouch (a type of mouth freshener with betel nuts) and emptying it in mouth continued,

'The solders jerked their rifle down with a snap. The bayonets glittered in the sunlight. Suddenly the king Thibaw's feet gave in and he went down on his knees. The fear crowded his face. He thought they would kill him now. The queen Suphalayat turned her face away. She was a fearless and a shrewd woman who had engineered the throne of Burma (Myanmar) for her husband, then a prince and knew that the British wouldn't kill them. If so they had been eliminated in the palace itself. She knew the British solders were presenting arms as a ritual on an appearance of the royal prisoners! It was a sad end, she thought. The king Thibaw had fouled the relations with the British in the year 1883 and finally the Viceroy of India issued an ultimatum to which the king Thibaw responded by declaring a war against the British. The inevitable followed. The king Thibaw lost the war, was held prisoner, the Viceroy of India on January 1, 1886, proclaimed annexation of Burma and deporting the king and his family to India on exile.

The British sent the family by a steamer to Madras via Ceylon (Sri Lanka). It was a terrible journey for the young family. A palace was built in a then remote western coastal village, Ratnagiri in 1887.
The king Thibaw spent rest of his life in a remorse confining himself to the solitude and darkness of the palace, walking to what is now called, The Thibaw Point and looking at the vast and stunning expense of the blue Arabian sea. Seldom he went to the village. There had been stories of queer happenings behind those walls.
The fate of his children was a chequered one. His eldest daughter princess Myat Phaya fell in love with a local guy, a servant, Shrimant Gopal Bhaurao Sawant and married him. The miseries followed her and also to other children. The king died in 1916 and the queen in in 1925 at Rangoon. The princess Myat Phaya was turned back from Burma in 1947 the reason being married to an Indian Hindu. She returned to Ratnagiri, the only home she had. She died in poverty'.
The guide paused.

It was a stunning revelation! I looked at the palace. The dilapidated structure had a haunting aura. it took some time for us to digest what we heard. It was not just a story and though not a history buff, I knew it was a historical fact, our narrator being from the tourism department.
Ironically, The last Indian mogul emperor, Bahadur Shah Jaffar was exiled in Rangoon, Burma by the British!

We left for nearby Thibaw Point at the edge of a hill. It was a heavenly scene. The multi dimensional vista with an expense of the blue Arabian sea.

Bewildered! So many beautiful beaches in Ratnagiri? Incredible! I fail to understand why tourists are mad about crowded beaches? Perhaps because of the luxuries and amenities available! The first one we visited was-

Pandre Beach: It was a large expense, a true picture post! White sand, clean, quite and large fringed with the palm trees Then to-
Bhatye Beach: It started after a magnificant structure called- Bhatye bridge. What a sight! However the final beauty was-
Ganeshghule: 20 km away from the town. It was a place where we were forced to stop and sat quietly enjoying the silence and the serenity fo the nature's miracle!
In the afternoon we went to-

Ratnadurg Fort; The Maratha king had all the time and space. Situated between two hills it must have been one of the finest forts on the west coast of India. The fort offers you one of the greatest view of the blue sea and the hills around. Then we went to pay our respects in the temple of Bhagwati in the precinct of the fort.

In the evening we walked around the small town and it's market. The town of Ratnagiri was famous for it's mangoes around world (Ratnagiri Hapus or Alphonso). Of course it was not a season for mangoes but we learned a lot about different dishes prepared from mangoes and Ha...Ha, how to eat them!

Route: By road: Mumbai-Panvel_ NH17 to Mahad-Chiplun-Sangameshwar- Hathkhamba-Ratnagiri (Time: 8 hours)
By train: Konkan Kanya Express from CST station Dep- 10. 50 PM; Arr. 0545 (Time: 6.5 hours)

stay: The Kohinoor Samudra Resort- The resort has a beautiful location on a hill with an excellent view. web site: http://kokaneskohinoor.com Mumbai Reservations: 91-22-24385555

(source of the story on the king Thibaw exile: The Hindustan Times, 16 September, 1995 and wikipedia)