Kelve beach on the Western Railway is famous among Mumbaikars. Get off at Kelve station and reach Kelve village by 6 seater rickshaw. Kelve Custom Kot-1 is on the right-hand side of the Dandakhadi road leading from Kelve Shitladevi temple to the market. Adjacent to this fort is the Hanuman Temple and a 100-year-old Marathi school in Kelva. This Kot is a pentagonal shaped bastion mainly made for surveillance purposes. Since the name of Kelve Custom Kot is not known in history, this kot is known as Custom Kot-1 as it is named after the customs office next to it and there is another parallel kot adjacent to it. Once located in the bay, the bastion’s geographical location has been completely shifted onto the land. There are no ramparts or similar structures around this bastion which means that it must have been used to monitor the creek traffic and as a toll booth. ... You have to use a ladder to climb the bastion and this ladder is available in the house next to the fort. There is an arch-shaped window facing north to enter the bastion using a ladder. As you climb the bastion, you see the remains of a square-shaped office. The location of Kelve Custom Fort, i.e. this bastion is at the mouth of Dandakhadi. The height of the bastion is above 22 feet & the wall on it 5 feet high. In the center of the remnants of the office on the bastion is a quadrangle structure, and the carvings on the walls and the painting are in good condition. The fort, originally built by the Portuguese in the 16th century, seems to have been used for the toll collection office. After the conquest of the Mahim fort in the Vasai campaign of 1739, on 10th January 1739, the Kelve fort area came under the control of the Marathas. The fort is small and can be seen in 10 minutes. The people who are coming here with an expectation to see a fort are likely to be upset, but those who want to see the Portuguese outpost on the ancient maritime trade route and its geographical importance visit this place. Under the guidance of Dr. Shridatta Raut, the conservation work of this fort is being done by ‘Kille Vasai Mohim’.
© Suresh Nimbalkar