Kanakeshwar - near Alibag is a nice place and famous for cool climate and especially because of old temple of Lord Shiva. The temple is situated on a small hill and the nearby village is ' Mapgaon ' which is almost 12 kms. from Alibag. The hill is almost 1200 feet high and one has to climb 700 - 750 steps to reach the temple.
In the mid of the hill one can see 'Nagobacha Tappa' ( a Place of Snakes ) and famous step ' Devachi Payari ' . There is one popular story about this step that it was named because it is said that God itself stepped here after the construction of the temple and the steps. The temple of Kanakeshwar is very beautiful, it is a ' Hoysal ' style structure built in 1764 . A water tank - popular known as 'Pushkarni' - has water almost through out the year.The hill and the surroundings are pretty good to visit. One can feel the hilly region and the forest on the hill. The other places to see near Kanakeshwar are ' Maruti Temple ', ' Gaymandi ' ( Sculpture of Cow ) ,' Temple of Devi Putrabai ' , ' Gaymukh ' and ' the platue of Vyaghreshwar ' ( A small temple of Lord Shiva ) etc.
Truly , Kanakeshwar is a place to feel the jungle and silence of the jungle and hills. If you want to see the beauty of Arabian sea and fort of Khandevi as well as the entire hilly region, then Kanakeshwar is the place to visit and rest for 2-3 days.