RATNAGIRI......रत्नागिरी

Ratnāgiri (Marathi: रत्‍नागिरी) is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast inRatnagiri District^[1] in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra

The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east. Heavy rainfall results in highly eroded landscape in the coastal region, but fertile alluvial valleys in the region produce abundant rice, coconuts, cashew nuts, and fruits, "Hāpus" (Alphonso) mangoes being one of the main fruits. Fishing is an important industry in Ratnagiri.

Chitpavan is a major branch originally from Ratnagiri district. Guhagar is their origin and Vyadeshwar is clan god of many of them.

A few illustrious Indians, including "Lokmānya Tilak" (or Bal Gangadhar Tilak), a prime leader in the nation's freedom movement in the British Rajdays; Bharat Ratna "Maharshi" Dhondo Keshav Karve, a social reformer and educationist; and Wrangler Paranjpe i.e. Wrangler Raghunath Purushottam Paranjpe, a mathematician and educationist, were born in Ratnagiri or its vicinity.

Ratnagiri has also been featured in Amitav Ghosh's novel, The Glass Palace. The Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project is located in the district.

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  History[edit]
• In 1731, Ratnagiri came under the control of Satara kings; subsequently, the British gained control in 1818.
  Earlier, one of the Bijapur rulers Potu Sri Chenna Reddy had built a fort on a headland near the harbour of Ratnagiri, and Maratha king Shivaji had strengthened it in 1670.
  Ratnagiri has a palace, where the last king of Burma (Myanmar), Thibaw, and, later, "Veer" V. D. Savarkar, a freedom fighter in the British Raj days, had been confined by the ruling British.
  According to a legend, after their twelve-year exile, Pandavas of the Mahabharata epic had settled for a while in the vicinity of Ratnagiri during their pilgrimage in the thirteenth year, and the then king of the region, Veeravrat Rāy, had subsequently fought on their side against Kauravas during the Mahabharata war at Kuruskshetra.