Saitavde, or Saitawada, is a small village on the Jaigad creek in

Ratnagiri district Ratnagiri District (Marathi pronunciation: �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The administrative headquarter of the district is located in the town of Ratnagiri. The district is 11.33% urban. The district ...

. It is about 390 km southwest of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, and about 58 km to the north of Ratnagiri city.

Geography

Saitavda is located at . The entire northern part of the village overlooks the

Shastri River Shastri River is a river in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. It originates near Prachitgad, flows near Sangameshwar and meets Arabian sea near Jaigad Fort. References

{{coord, 17, 18, N, 73, 14, E, display=title, region:IN_type:r ...

, while the southern portion is surrounded by hills; therefore, giving it a scenic valley-look.

History

Although the exact history of Saitavda is not known, the earliest mention is found in the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency printed in 1880. In the report Saitavda is termed as a "petty division of Ratnagiri" during the Land Surveys conducted in 1827, 1853 and 1867–68.

Demographics

Saitavda is spread over 5.44 km². The total population is around 3067, with about 692 households. It is divided into: Borsai Mohalla, Khatib Mohalla, Gumbad Mohalla, Peth Mohalla, Shirkewadi, Boudhwadi and Chinchbandar. * Language:

Kokani Konkani () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

* Food: Staple diet consists of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

* STD code: 02357 * PIN code: 415613

Climate

The climate is

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

with 3 main seasons: * Summers (March to May) are hot with maximum temperature nearly touching 38 °C. * Monsoons (June to September) are accompanied by regular rainfalls and looks attractive during this season. * Winters (December to February) are pleasant with moderate day temperature and cool nights (15 °C). Saitavda receives an annual rainfall of 3500 mm approx. Overall, the climate was healthy and pure since there were no industries/factories nearby. But with JSW coal fired powr generation plant Chowgule port JSW port slowly pollution has started taking place.

Agriculture

The terrain is very hilly, providing little scope for agriculture. Nevertheless, it is densely shaded by

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...

nut,

jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...

and various other trees. Being in the

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

region, Saitavda is home to the world-famous Alphonso (Hapoos) mango. Another equally delicious variety that can be found here is the Payri mango. It is the second largest commercial variety of mango in the Konkan region, and can sometimes be more expensive than the Hapoos.

Festivals

As the population is predominantly

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, the two main festivals celebrated here are

Eid al Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , date ...

and

Eid al Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's com ...

. Other festivals like

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

Ganapati Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu de ...

, etc. are celebrated amongst the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Getting there

* By Train: Regular, daily express trains between Mumbai and Ratnagiri are operated by Konkan Railways. From Ratnagiri station, take one of the many private vehicles (popularly known as trax or seaters) that ply between Ratnagiri and Saitavda. * By Bus: State-owned and private buses operate regular services from Mumbai to Ratnagiri. From Ratnagiri, take one of the many private vehicles (popularly known as trax or seaters) that ply between Ratnagiri and Saitavda.

References

* http://maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/RATNAGIRI/places_Saitavade.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20090410104719/http://ratnagiri.nic.in/Gazetter/BombayPresidency/ratnagiri/land1_surveys27.html#1 * https://web.archive.org/web/20090410104746/http://ratnagiri.nic.in/Gazetter/BombayPresidency/ratnagiri/land1_surveys51.html#1 * https://web.archive.org/web/20090410103148/http://ratnagiri.nic.in/Gazetter/GOM/directory23.html * http://ddws.nic.in/

External links

Payari mangoes
{dead link, date=May 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Villages in Ratnagiri district