The village of Velneshwar, situated north of the Shastri River, has its own peaceful, coconut-fringed beach, where one can relax in tranquility. The village comes alive each year during the Maha Shivaratri fair, when pilgrims in large numbers visit the Old Shiva Temple. According to folklore, a fisherman had found a statue in his net, which he had promptly thrown back into the sea. He again found the statue back in his net. Angered by this, he banged the statue on a stone, but the statue started bleeding. The fisherman placed the statue in a small temple, which grew into the Velneshwar Shiva Temple. About 26 km from Ganapatipule lies the district headquarters town of
Ratnagiri. This region has a long, illustrious past and is even mentioned in Indian mythology. Malgund, a small village 1 km away from Ganpatipule, is known as the birthplace of the Marathi poet
Keshavasuta, born in 1866. He is regarded as a poet who heralded the dawn of modern Marathi poetry. There is a monument at Malgund dedicated to his work, and a museum where one can find information on most modern-day poets of the Marathi language. Resting on a cliff, at the entrance of the Sangameshwar river, just 20 km from Ganapatipule, is
Jaigad Fort. This 16th-century fort offers a view of the sea and Konkan village life. A 15 km back road connects Ganpatipule to Jaigad via Malgund. Besides its natural environment, Pawas is well known for the Ashram of
Swami Swaroopanand, a spiritual leader who influenced an entire generation of Maharashtrians. The distance from Ratnagiri to Pawas is approximately 20 km. The lighthouse has extensive views, around 6–7 km from Jaigad Fort. It was completed in 1932 and is still operational and serving on the coast. Around 13.7 km north on the route to Jaigad Fort from Ganpatipule Ganesh temple is the newly built Jai Vinayak temple. The temple has pagoda-style architecture. The temple was built in 2003 by the
JSW group when they launched their thermal power project at Jaigad. ==Transportation==