Visit Rachol village
Firstly visit Rachol village for Rachol Seminary. Also worth visiting the arched gateway of an old fort built by the Bahmani king.
In 1520 the Rachol fort was ceded to the Portuguese to defend against Muslim and Hindu attackers. The most famous being a siege by the Maratha King Sambhaji in 1684.
In the 1560s there was mass exodus of Hindus from Rachol to Shiroda and Ponda. As a result of Portuguese decree Hindus took the idols of their deities across the Zuari River from Rachol.
As the Portuguese empire expanded the fort fell from favour and abandoned. Consequently the fort fell into disrepair and nothing much of it remains today. Nevertheless the stone archway and the dried up moat are the only visible features of the fort today.
Admire the serene village surrounded by lush green paddy fields in the monsoon season
Further more watch pelicans and stork in the Khazan wetland with no agricultural activity in recent years.
Below a villager is mending paddy field bund (dike) to control the water in the khazan before the monsoon season
Khazans are reclaimed land from the river which have bunds and sluice gate. Sluice gate control the water flow and maintain the salinity of the farm lands.
Similarly soil bunds walls regulate the river water in the flooded paddy fields
Lastly but not least take a ride to the end to the old ferry point and admire the peaceful settings of Zuari river. Watch fish eagles in their natural habitat and the ferry crossing to Shiroda reminiscent of a bygone era