JAWHAR

There is a lesser known hill station in Thane district known as Jawhar. The setting is absolutely picturesque as much as the more popular Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar. This culturally vibrant town is one of the very few tribal kingdoms in Maharashtra and is the home of the famous Warli paintings. These paintings were traditionally made of rice paste and were used to decorate village huts.The theme was mostly village life.

The small town has a palace called "Jaivilas Palace" built by Raje Yashwant Rao Maukne. The stone used for this is syinite which was brought from Kalidhond which is 5 km away from its location. This palace is decently maintained and a portion of it open for tourists. There are some paintings, artefacts and some old furniture for viewing. A section of this palace is still used by the current generation of the royal family. This palace has a beautiful public garden in the front and a small private garden at the back. This is about 2 kms from the town. about 500 meters off the main through thick bushes is the small track leading to the palace. 

On the east side, nearly 2 kms from the town is an old temple of Maruti, which was once surrounded by dark forest of cactus, thus known as Katya (thorns in Marathi) Maruti mandir. The temple is located on a table top hill which is surrounded by valley from three sides. This spot is now known as Hanuman Point.  The Kasara ghat, Shahapur Maholi fort, and Royal Jaivilas Palace can be seen on the three sides of this valley. This place is most beautiful place during the monsoon with the green plains in the valley and fog all around the surrounding mountains.

The road access is very good:

• 140 km from Mumbai
• 100 km from Thane
• 70 km from Nasik

Route from Mumbai: There are two ways to reach Jawhar from Mumbai. First is through the busy towns, Mumbai > Thane > Bhiwadi > Wada > Vikramgad > Jawhar. The second, is via the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, just after Charoti toll naka take the first right. This a narrow single lane road through the forest and hilly region for about 40 kms leading to Jawhar. Both routes are almost same in terms of distance and well signposted through out. I presonally suggest, if travelling in the early morning, one can take the route through Bhiwandi, however at all other times the second route is preferable to avoid traffic on route one.
 

Places to Stay 

There are only two fairly decent hotels, Shanti Sarovar Resort & Hotel Sankalp, to stay in Jawhar about 1 km from the main town on either sides. These hotels are newly built. The food here is also strictly okay with limited variety. There are couple of more small hotels where food is available. However, most tourists visiting this place do prefer staying as Thane, Mumbai, Nasik are within driving distance from Jawhar. Also, Vikramgad, which is 25 kms from Jawhar also has family owned farmhouses turned into bed and breakfasts.

PICTURES

Jaivilas Palace

  

View from Hanuman Point

Jawhar - Mumbai route via Charoti Naka