Sindhudurg Fort: Lessons to Learn

Sindhudurg Fort is a historical fort on the shore of Malvan town, situated on a small island called Khurte island in the Arabian Sea. Built by Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century with the ideology to protect the borders and rising foreign influence.

Read more about my travel experience here.

Visiting Sindhudurg Fort was an impromptu trip and one of the most memorable ones too. While I was thinking of a case study for sustainable practices this one came to my mind. In an era of evolving technology, we have really evolved in our competencies as well however, I feel that our ancestors had better foresight and perspective on many things.

Here are my learnings from my visit to this magnificent fortress.

Engineer’s Delight

The fort is completely designed considering the landscape. Built with huge stone walls this fort gives the desired protection it was conceived for by protecting the inmates from the environment and giving a clear view of any foreign presence. Divided into 4 large quadrants the shape of the fort is based on the geography of the land. The stones protect the fort from huge waves/tides. The fort is still intact after so many years only teaches us that if we study the environment and geography and create structures it will not only be strong but also the wear and tear to the structure is manageable. Considering it’s an island amidst the Arabian sea this is a considerable feat to achieve where our new structures fail in a few years.

Barring cannon holes, nothing much could be deciphered for an outsider about this structure. Internally, it had all the amenities for the inmates. Temples, places to stay and toilets at regular distances are some of the basics that were been catered to. Secret routes were built for the continuous supply of food and materials considering any enemy attacks. One such example is the well-created well inside the Shivji temple which no one would think of as a secret route.

I feel proper planning and management of resources can avoid a lot of damage we do to the environment. Also, local resources are better suited to the geographies so we should consider using them instead of importing or using multiple products which won’t withstand the climate conditions of the place.

Self-sustaining Structure

Wells were designed across the fort for water supply. These wells were designed in such a way that outwardly they had a step pattern which looked great from an architectural point of view at the same time it was a well-thought way of rainwater harvesting to maintain a year-long supply of water for all the inmates living on the fort.

Even in today’s times where we face the challenge of water supply we hardly do rainwater harvesting, isn’t it impressive considering those times.

Structural Maintenance

Since the fort is built with local resources keeping in mind the geography and climate the structural integrity has been maintained. We get a glimpse of the era gone by as we pass through the fort. The inhabitants are the ones who have been staying on the fort for generations so they consider its maintenance in high respect.

Today, also when you visit the place you need to pay a fee and get a jute bag which you compulsorily need to carry to dispose of your stuff during your visit to the fort. You cant litter your waste or harm the structure in any way. It’s a protected monument and the inhabitants ensure that their beloved fort isn’t ruined by tourists.

In today’s time, we educated class sometimes can’t take care of our garbage. Look at some of our parks and public areas you will see spit marks and plastic bottles lying around. Don’t you think we have a lesson to learn from them?

Living a sustainable life is a holistic approach, we need to think of how our actions affect our surroundings. We often blame lack of education or awareness for our actions; however, our ancestors teach us that they were way ahead in their thinking process within the resources they had.

What stops us?

‘This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter“. My endeavour while writing for this cause is for more people to support an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.

************************************************************************************
Image: Self Shot Images

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.
************************************************************************************