Alibag, also known as Alibaug (Pronunciation: �libaːɡ, is a coastal city and a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

Raigad district Raigad district (), previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The headquarters of the district is Alibag. Other major cities in the district are Panvel, Karjat, Navi Mumbai, Khopoli, Sh ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is the headquarters of the Raigad district and is south of the city of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. Alibag is part of the

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Mumbai Metropolitan Region (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Muṁbaī Mahānagara Pradēśa''; abbreviated to MMR and previously also known as Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area), is a metropolitan area consisting of Mumbai and its Satellite city, satellite tow ...

and is situated at a distance of about 96 km from Mumbai and 143 km from

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. Alibag is a holy place for Padmakshi Renuka, who is also known as the goddess of

Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...

History

Alibag was founded in the 17th century by the

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of the Maratha Navy Kanhoji Angre. Alibag and its surrounding villages are the historic hinterlands of

Bene Israel The Bene Israel (), also referred to as the "Teli, Shanivar Teli" () or "History of the Jews in India, Native Jew" caste, are a community of Jews in India. It has been suggested that they are the descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes via t ...

Jews. According to

Indian Jewish The history of the Jews in India dates back to ancient history, antiquity.Esther David, Jews arrived in the region over 2000 years ago, escaping persecution from the Roman Empire, when their ship wrecked here. As they got into the business of oil-pressing and plantations, continued practising

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

and took holidays on Saturday, they came to be known as 'Shanvar-telis'('Saturday – Oilpeople') There is a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

named 'Magen Aboth Synagogue' in the "Israel Alley" (Marathi ' इस्राएल आळी ' meaning Israel lane) area of the town.

Etymology

A Bene Israelite named Eli (Elisha/Elizah) used to live there at that time and owned many plantations of mangoes and coconuts in his gardens. The natives started calling the place "Eli cha Bagh"(which means "Eli's garden") and in the subsequent generations the pronunciation changed to simply "Alibag", and the name stuck.

Geography

Alibag is located about 120km south of

, at . The average elevation is 0 metres (0 feet). The District Government offices are located along the seacoast road.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Alibag had a population of 19,491. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Alibag has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 54% of the males and 46% of females' literate. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. 75% of the population speaks the Marathi language. As of the 2011 census, Alibag had a population of 20,743, of which 10,646 are males while 10,097 are females, and 17,431 were educated, with a literacy rate of 84%.

Climate

Cyclones

In November 2009, Cyclone Phyan made landfall in the city. Damage to property was reported in the districts of

Ratnagiri Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in southwestern Maharashtra, India. The district is part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for the Hapus or ...

, Raigad,

Sindhudurg Sindhudurg Fort (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡ is a historical sea fort located in Arabian Sea near the Konkan region of Maharashtra in Western India. The fort, commissioned by Chhatrapati Shivaji, was constructed between 1664 ...

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

and Palghar. Eleven years later, in early June 2020, severe cyclonic storm Nisarga made landfall in Alibag at peak intensity. The cyclone blew off tin and

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

sheets from roofs and uprooted trees in Alibag. Several trees fell on houses.

Places of interest

Historical

Kolaba Fort Kolaba Fort located at Alibag beach is an old fortified maritime base in Alibag. It is situated in the sea at a distance of 1–2 km from the shores of Alibag, 35 km south of Mumbai, in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is ...

, an old fortified maritime base which was the naval headquarters of the Maratha ruler

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

, and was used to launch raids on British ships. * 'Kanhoji Angre Samadhi', the memorial to Maratha Admiral Kanhoji Angre Magen Aboth Synagogue in Alibaug

* Hirakot fort, built by Kanhoji Angre in 1720

Religious

* Kalambika Mandir, temple built by Kanhoji Angre * Balaji Mandir, temple to Lord Shri Balaji or Shri Venkateshwar (an avatar of lord Shri Vishnu), built in 1788. * 'Magen Aboth synagogue' in the 'Israel Alley' area of the town

Scientific

Alibag houses a magnetic observatory that was set up in 1904. It serves as one of the significant observatories forming part of a global network now run by Indian Institute of Geomagnetism. The observatory has two buildings; the first building has

magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...

s that record changes occurring in the geomagnetic fields. The second building consists of precision recording instruments, which give data about

geomagnetic storm A geomagnetic storm, also known as a magnetic storm, is a temporary disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere that is driven by interactions between the magnetosphere and large-scale transient Plasma (physics), plasma and magnetic field structur ...

s caused by solar storms which are shared with other countries.

Transport

Road

Alibag is situated near National Highway – 166A. It is approximately 108 km from Mumbai. Alibag also has MSRTC bus connectivity mostly from Mumbai and Konkan division.

Boat services

The nearest

jetty A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French la ...

is Mandwa, from where

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

services are available to the

Gateway of India The Gateway of India is an arch-monument completed in 1924 on the waterfront of Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of George V for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911 at Strand Road near We ...

A Ro-Ro service is available from Ferry Wharf to Mandwa from where Alibag can be reached by road.

Notable people

Notable people born in Alibag include: * Kanhoji Angre – Indian admiral, Maratha Navy's Chief (18th-century India) * Datta Narayan Patil – Indian Politician & Social Worker * Devdatta Nage – Indian actor *

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, film maker, mainly working in Hindi language, Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi cinema. Widely regarded as one of the finest and most influential actors ...

– Film actor and writer * Sanjay Raut – Indian journalist & politician * Ramesh Tendulkar – Noted Marathi poet and

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

's father * Adesh Bandekar – Marathi actor, politician * Arun Shridhar Vaidya – 13th

Chief of the Army Staff (India) The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is a statutory office held by the professional head of the Indian Army (IA), the Army, land forces Military branch, branch of the Indian Armed Forces. Customarily held by a Military star ranking, four-star Gen ...

* Mugdha Vaishampayan – Indian singer * Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari – Indian spiritual Guru *

Mukri Mohammed Umar Mukri (5 January 1922 – 4 September 2000), popularly known as Mukri, was an Indian actor, who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. Born as Muhammad Umar Mukri in Uran. He started his film career with the film ''Pratima'' along ...

– Indian actor

Education

Alibag has a Government Medical College for medical students in the district. The medical college started in the year 2022.

Geographical indication

Alibag White onion was awarded the

Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...

(GI) status tag from the Geographical Indications Registry, under the

Union Government of India The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territo ...

, on 16 November 2022. ''Alibag Pandhara Kanda Shetkari Utpadak'' ''Gat'' from Alibag, proposed the GI registration of Alibag White onion. After filing the application in January 2020, the Onion was granted the GI tag in 2022 by the Geographical Indication Registry in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, making the name "Alibag White onion" exclusive to the Onion grown in the region. It thus became the second onion variety from Maharashtra after Lasalgaon onion and the 17th type of goods from Maharashtra to earn the GI tag.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Konkan Bene Israel Populated coastal places in India Beaches of Maharashtra Cities and towns in Raigad district