My Trekking Experiences

Bhimgiri Fort

2010-05-10T06:01:00.000-07:00

This is a hill fortress, located at 18 km to south of bhimasankar. There are two ways to reach at Bhimgiri.

The road from Rajgurunagar to Bhimgiri via wada, the regular ST buses available for wada from Rajgurunagar. The road to Bhimgiri is passed trough chaskaman dam. The fort Bhimgiri is situated in beautiful Bhima Vallly. If you visited in the rainy season, it’s seems to like visited God’s own country, the road towards bhimgiri follow along with Chaskaman back water.

If you decided to reach bhimgiri by Manchar, you can. The Route Manchar, Ghodegaon, Shinoli and then Kondawale a small hamlet before 14 km from Bhimashankar. From Kohdawale you have to take left towards small town Nigdale. The road condition is not good, if you drive on bike must care, spcially around ghat section before Nigdale. Once you cross village Nigdale you will meet a Cole where a small temple of Jaanubai is situated. the place is know as Shirgaon, From here you will meet the Main road RajguruNagar – Bhmgiri.

Bhimgiri is a small Hill, surrounded by dense forest. The small hamlet Bhimgiri is located to south of the fort, you have to start your trek from here. A 45 min simple trek ends at the middle of hill, where you can find group of caves. The shivlinga and Nagnath sculpture was a pandav age, even you can found potable water tanks in the near by caves.

From Bhimgiri Fort

Even you can proceed further towards summit of the fort along with very narrow cattle path, which leads north side to fort. There are four water tanks and destroyed traces of fortification you can found on the top of the fort. Once you will reach at summit, you can able to view beautiful valley and surrounding. If one will decided to approach Bhimashankar from this route you can, the route is 5 km away from here.

For Complet Image station of Bhimgiri Fort Please Visit Here: Bhimgiri Fort

Fort Vajragad

2009-10-14T01:56:00.000-07:00

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Today, the Fort Vajragad has nothing to offer except few basic ROCK-CLIMBING learning skills. The fort is very close to the Fort Purandar. Fort Vajragad is also known as "Rudramal". When Mughals, under the leadership of Mirzaraje Jaysingh, attacked the kingdom of Chatrapati Shijavji Maharaj, their army surrounded the Purandar fort along with the Fort Vajragad.

It was the Fort Vajragad which fell to Dilekhan's army and thus making it more easier for the Mughals to launch severe attack on Purandar fort. The location of both these forts i.e. Fort Purandar and Fort Vajragad is such that, if anyone of these fort fell to enemy's hand, the other fort will fell automatically.After the Treaty of Purandar, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj handed 23 forts to Mughals. Vajragad was one of them. The main entrance i.e. Maha Darwaja of this fort is still in good condition and shows the strength of the fort.

From Vajragad Aka Rudramal

How to reach Vajragad from Purandar?
When you enter Purandar via Bini-darwaja, proceed towards the statue of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. One pathway will go towards your left hand side when you are facing the statue. Take that pathway and proceed on the same. The fort Vajragad is at your right side. The pathway do not have directions/signs to take turn towards the fort. You have to take a right turn which slightly shows a minor incline and from the bushes you have to find out the way to the main door. From the Statue of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, it will take around 30-45 mins to reach to the main door of Vajragad(if you are not lost).

How to reach?
Own Vehicle:
1. From Pune Satara Road via Katraj GhatYou can visit this fort by taking Pune Satara road. Take a left turn at KETKAVLE. Again take the road going towards the left side where the right side road will take you to the Balaji Temple. This road will take you to Narayanpur. At Narayanpur, you visit the Shri Gurudev Datta Temple and the Mahadeo temple. This Mahadeo temple was built in Yadava's dynasty.Keep going ahead of Narayanpur, you will find a road going towards your right. Take this road and this road will take you directly to the foothills of the fort.

2. From Dive GhatYou can visit this fort by taking the Dive Ghat route as well. After crossing the Dive Ghat, you will come in the SASWAD village. After crossing the ST Stand in Saswad, you will find a road going towards your right hand side. This road will take you to Narayanpur. Before Narayanpur, you will find a signboard indicating road towards Purandar. This road is at your left hand side. This is the same road decsribed above.

S.T. bus to Saswad from Pune takes us to the foothills of Purandar fort. Pune-Narayanpur bus is also available to reach up to the base village, Narayanpur.Via SaswadS.T. bus to Bhor from Saswad will drop you at the bus-stop of 'Purandar Ghat matha' in Narayanpur village. A road on the left side along the two houses situated on mountain ahead leads to Bini Darwaja of Purandar which can be reached approximately in 45 minutes.

Fort Type: Hill Fort Fort Height: 4400 ft (approx) from min-sea level Base Village: Narayanpur

Check out the imagestation album here : Fort Vajragad

Fort Tung

2009-10-09T00:47:00.000-07:00

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This fort is also known as "KATHINGAD. As the name suggests, we may assume that the trek ofthis fort is very difficult, but in reality this is a very easy fort to trek. Due to its unique PEAK shape, you can easily spot this fort from a long distance as well. There is no significant history available about this fort. In 1657, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj captured this fort alognwith all other forts located in Maval region. Netaji Palkar was appointed to protect this region. In Purandar Treaty, this fort was surrendered to Aurangazeb. Marathas won the fort back in around 1670 after Aurangazeb borke the treaty.

From Tunga

Must See:
The top of the fort is very small, it takes only 1 hour to see it. Your way towards the fort goes along the temple of Hanuman. From here we can go further by steps. After few minutes we reach at yet another Hanuman Mandir. Next to this is the main entrance to the fort. At right side we see Ganesh Mandir. At the backside, we see water trench. From here we march towards citadel.We see temple of Tung Devi. Opposite to this temple we can spot a cave in the ground.

How to Reach?
All ways to the fort go from the base village Tungvadi. After 45 minutes we reach at the top. One hour is enough to see the fort.

From Pune via Chandani Chowk
Reach to Chandani Chowk. Proceed to Paud village. Take immediate right turn after Paud Bus Stand. Go along the route till you spot familier site of Tikona to your right and Tung to your left. Prior to Tikonapeth (please ask the villegers, I forgot the name of this village), take a left turn to reach Tungwadi. This route is very good after rainy season as the beauty of nature is in full swing this time.

From Lonavala
From Lonavala station catch a bus for Bhamburde or Ambavne. Get down at Ghusalkhamb. From here, after walking for 1 and 1/2 hours, we reach Tungvadi. Distance between Ghusalkhamb and Tungvadi is 8 km.

By Kamshet-Morve bus from Tikona Peth
One can also board Kamshet-Morve bus from Tikona Peth at 11 a.m. and get down at Tungvadi stop. After 45 minutes we reach Tungvadi.

From Tikona Peth
Many people plan trek of Tung & Tikona together. Trekkers preferably visit Tikona first. From Tikona Peth (village at base of Tikona) one should go towards Kale Colony. From Bramhnoli village we can reach Kevre gaon by launch. From here we reach Tungvadi within 20 minutes.

Fort Type: Hill Forts Fort Height: 3000 ft. District: Pune Base Village: Tungwadi

Check out the imagestation album here : Fort Tung

Chavand Fort

2009-09-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

Chavand fort belong to Satwahan era.

After the fall of Bahamani empire, the first Nizam Malik Ahmed captured this fort. Nizamshahi was founded by Malik Ahmed in 1485. Grandson of 7th Nizamshah Burhanshah the 2nd was imprisoned on this fort in 1594. In his attempt to save Nizamshah and thus to create his own empire, ShahajiRaje fought against Mughals and Bijapur Badshah. But he lost the battle and in the year 1636 he signed a treaty with Mughals in which this fort was handed over to Mughals.

The fort Chavand is famous for its 7 water tanks. These tanks are aligned to each other. The names of these tanks are:

1. Brahmi,
2. Maheshwari,
3. Kaumari,
4. Vaishanvi,
5. Varahi,
6. Indyayani,
7. Chamunda.

On the North side of the fort, we can see man-made caves. It is said that a secret passage exists here which opens outside of the fort. This was believed to be a secret escape door. Towards the south side of the fort, we can see beautiful view of Kukadi river.

The Kukadi rivers originates from the Kukadeshwar which is located near the fort. The Kukadeshawar is a famous pilgrimage center. Some fortification can be seen towards the western side of the fort. The temple of Goddess Chamunda is located on the topmost part of the fort.Kukadeshwar and Lenyadri are two other places one must visit when this fort is visited.From this fort, one can see fantastic view of mountain Shambhu and Jeevdhan on the west, Shivneri on the east, route of Naneghat along the fortand Fort Hadsar on the north side. This gives us an idea of the importance geographical position of this fort during history.

Must See
1. Saptamatrika (7 cisterns)
2. Man-made caves
3. Temple of Goddess Chamunda

How to reachOne should reach village Chavandwadi via Junnar. A way to the top of the fort goes along the village school. Within 45 minutes you will reach to the entrance door and from here follow the footsteps.

Fort Name: Fort Chavand Fort Height: 3000 Ft (from min sea level) Grade: Medium
Base Village: Chavandwadi Time to reach from Base Village: 45 mins

Check out the image station album here : Malhargad Aka Soneri

Kille Malhargad Aka Soneri

2009-09-07T02:41:00.000-07:00

This was the last fort that Maratha's built and also supposed to be the last built fort in Maharashtra. This fort was built by a Peshwa Sardar called "Panse". Panse was cheif-in-charge of TOF-KHANA of Peshwa. Thorle Madhavrao has visited this fort. Panse also has a palace in the village Sonori. This village is at the foothills of this fort. There is a saying that a Tunnel from this palace which takes us to the Fort. But I have not seen any evidance of this yet. It may exists though. As we all know that a tunnel exists in Pune's Shaniwarwada that opens on Parwati.

This fort is also known as SONORI FORT as the Sonori village is the base village of this fort. The main aim of building this fort was to keep a check on Dive Ghat.

There is also a saying about why the name is MALHAR-GAD. When Panse started the construction of this fort, the workers said they see blood coming out of the soil. So to stop this, Panse prayed the GOD MALHAR also known as KHANDOBA of Jejuri. Jejuri is near by this fort.Jejuri is a holy place where KHANDOBA is worshiped. Khandoba is an incarnation of Lord Shiva. And Panse said that if the blood stopes, he will name the fort after Khandoba. After his prayer the blood stopped and Panse named the fort as MALHAR-GAD.

Must See
This fort is very small fort and can be completely seen in around 45 minutes. The walls of this fort are not as huge as we are used to see when we visit Rajgad, Torna and Raigad!!!

After entering through the door on eastern side and then taking left, we can see some partial leftovers of the fort. A dry well can also be seen. As you go further, you can see a pond.

The water in the pond is not drinkable. Yet another well is located at the top of the fort on the way to a bastion, which is also dry. There are two entrances near this bastion. One below it is blocked and one on the right side is open. The road, which comes from Zendewadi base village, meets at this door.

You can see two temples one temple which is larger than the other is of Lord Mahadev and the smaller is of Lord Malhar.

You can see palace of Panse in Sonori village. The palace has got 6 bastions and temple of Lord Ganesha and temple of Lord Laxmi-Nayaran.

How to reach?
There are two ways to reach to fort Malhargad

1. From Sonori
This village is situated at a distance of 6 k.m. from Sasvad. Daily three buses depart for Sonori from Sasvad. Malhargad can be seen from this village. One can climb up the fort along the ridge of the hill, and moving along the side of the Tower, we reach at the entrance door of the fort.

2. From Zendewadi
There is an off-shoot route to Zendewadi village, after Dive ghat along the Pune-Sasvad route. The Zendewadi village is at a. distance of about 2 k.m. from this off-shoot. Plantation of Zendu can be seen. After passing this village we have to reach a cleft, upto which Malhargad is not visible. A well fortified Malhargad can be reached from this cleft in half-an-hours time.

Drinking water and accommodation

Only 5-6 people can just be accommodated in the temple of Lord Mahadeva on the citadel. Also one can reside in the local schools at Sonori or Zendewadi.But one has to carry ample water and food with him/her.

Type: Hill Forts District: Pune Height: 3100 Ft. Grade: Easy

Time to reach-
From Sonori Village - 45 mins
From Zendewadi - 1 hour

Check out the imagestation album here : Malhargad Aka Soneri

Narayangad

2009-07-25T03:38:00.000-07:00

There is a hill fort called Narayangad near Narayangoan. This fort is around 10 km from Narayangaon. The fort is easy to climb. From Narayangaon catch a State Transport bus to Khodadgaon(Khodad). Get down at Malyacha Mala about 8 km from Narayangaon.

Start walking towards Gadachiwadi.Even you can approach fort on your own vechile, Reach a place called 14(chawda number) till the Champagne factory, took immediate left towards narayangad via rough road, which leads towards base of the narayanfort.

The fort has Hastamata temple and some water tanks such as Narayan Taka, Chambhar Taka & Saat Taka.

Narayangaon is a town in the Pune district of Maharashtra state, India.

The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (khodad) site lies 10 kilometres to the west.
The area around the town is rapidly gaining reputation as one of the leading wine-producing areas in India.

For Narayangad pictures please click here: Narayangad Pictures

Hadsar Fort

2009-07-25T03:05:00.000-07:00

How to reach Hadsar:

There are two major ways to reach fort Hadsar:One of them is the royal entrance whereas the other one is made by the villagers by carving steps in the rock. Both these ways start from the village of Hadsar. From Junnar any bus going towards Nimgiri, Rajur or Kewada takes us to Hadsar within about 45 minutes.

There is a well on the way when one starts up the hill from village Hadsar. Walk for a short while towards left on the plateau and a pass between two hillocks can be seen after traversing for about 15 minutes. Moving straight ahead in the direction of this pass brings us to the bastion within about half an hour. A simple climb on the rock will take us to the fort's entrance. Two water cisterns dug in to the rock can be seen on the way.

To take the other route, instead of moving in the direction of the pass one has to circumvent the hill from left and reach the other side of the hill. About 150 steps from this point will take us to the main entrance in the pass. This being the royal approach is the simpler way. About an hour's time is enough to reach the fort from here.

About Hadsar:
The Sahyadri range has plethora of forts. Likewise, Taluka Junnar, belonging to the Pune districts is decorated with a good number. Hadsar is a beautiful fort located in this region. Starting from Naneghat, one can combine Jeevdhan, Shivneri, Lenyadri, Hadsar and Harishchandragad into a six-day trek.

Fort Hadsar, also known as Parvatgad, was constructed in the Satvaahan era and was quite inhabited during that period. It is located on the outskirts of Nagar (Ahmednagar) in order to protect the trade route passing through Naneghat. Documentary evidence shows that fort Hadsar was included in the treaty made by Shahaji Raje with the Mughals in 1637. In 1818 the British forces conquered Junnar and the forts in the region. Like in case of other forts, the approach-ways of fort Hadsar were destroyed at that time as well.

Sightseeing Hadsar:

The entrance gates on fort Hadsar are good examples of the medieval architecture. Twin doors in the tunnel-like entrance way, steps carved out of the rock and "Gomukhi" construction of the gate are worth seeing. Passing through the main entrance, the path gets divided into two. One of these leads to the top of a hillock whereas the other one leads to the second gate. Immediately after passing through the second gate one can see a water cistern, with good potable water.

Walking towards the elevated area in front of the cistern leads us to three huge stores carved in the rock butting the cliff. However, these are not suitable for camping. The rock also carries images of lord Ganesh. Towards right of this place is a big pond and Mahadeo temple with a large-sized Nandi. The main hall of the temple has six corners, three of which carry the idols of Lord Ganesh, Garud (Eagle) and Lord Hanuman respectively. Adjacent to the temple lays a strong bastion.

There is a pond just in front of the temple, which gets completely filled during the monsoon season. A stonewalled well-like construction can be seen at the center of the pond.

If we descend from the right of the bastion-wall, a cistern now filled up with sand can be seen. Proceeding little ahead leads us to a carved-out cave in the rock. This is however, the spot for reconnaissance.

A splendid view of the Manikdoh dam and its surroundings is offered to us from this place. The whole range of Chavand, Naneghat, Shivneri, Bhairavgad and Jeevdhan is visible from here.

For More Hadsar Fort Picture please click here: Hadsar Fort

Manmodi group of caves : Junnar

2009-07-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Junnar (19°10’ N; 73°53’ E), Taluka Junnar, district Pune is located at a distance of 96 km from Pune and on the southern bank of river Kukdi. Another river namely Mina flows 5 km towards the east. The location of Junnar is also ideal, for, it is in the transitional zone between the Sahyadris and the broad plains to the east. It is encircled by a series of hills, on all sides, namely Sivanei and Tulja hills on the west; the Sulaiman on the north and east; and Manmodi on the south.

Junnar has the largest number of excavations numbering over 200 independent excavations and spread over the four hills. All the excavations belong to the Hinayana phase and are datable from mid 3rd century B.C. to late 3rd century A.D. The presence of largest number of rock cut excavations, a large number of inscriptions enabling a paleographical study makes Junnar a prominent site for the study of rock cut architecture. Here there are 24 inscriptions, which provide useful paleographical data for the relative dating of the caves. The donors include members of the royal family as well as commoners, which also includes Yavanas (Greeks). One particular inscription from the Manmodi group mentions the name of a minister of Maharathi Nahapana (c. A.D. 119-124).

Manmodi group of caves located on the Manmodi hill situated to the south-southwest of the town. The monastic complex was known as Gidha-vihara (Gridhra-vihara) and the hill as Manamukuda in ancient inscriptions. The cave group consists of nearly 40 individual excavations excluding the cisterns. They are located in three distinct groups known as:

(i) Bhimasankar group, southeast of Manmodi hill, in which one cave has the donor inscription of Ayama, the minister of King Nahapana dated in the year 46 (A.D. 124).

(ii) Amba-Ambika group, to the north of Bhimasankar, known such due to the carving of figures of Tirthankaras and Ambika, the latter Sasanadevi of 23rd Jaina Tirthankara, Neminatha.

(iii) Bhutalinga group, nearly 200 m west of the Amba-Ambalika group.

For Picture Please Visit Here: Manmodi Caves

Torana Aka Prachandagad

2009-02-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

Fort: Torana Aka Prachandagad
Difficulty Level: Medium
District : Pune
How to Reach: Sahyaadri / Torna

Rainy season on it's Ending, with the rains hiding just around the corner, is it possible to resist the temptation to go on a trek??? I don’t think so …

I was little busy with my new Job, since long time (almost 30 day I was not went for trek. Can’t control Temptation, made a plan for coming weekend, though DJ was not available for this time, I ask vin about trek and his get ready almost on one leg.

The fort that called out to me was Torna.. supposed to be one of the most difficult forts to conquer….(I had very bad experience on the first trek in the month of june, due to bad weather I was unable to reach at the top. That was the first time in my life, I was return from the trek without touching the summit and this things crunch my mind day by day.) and the one that Shivaji conquered right in the beginning of his career. Situated at approx 65kms from pune, the trek to torna is easily a one day trip..

our day started in the morn at 7 am.. After about a 2 hr on the road, we reached the village at the foot of the fort, called velhe, at abt 9:30ish… after a hearty bfast and chai at the restaurant in the village, we set out for the fort at arnd 10:30 am. Right from the beginning the fort showed us why is it a difficult fort to conquer… most of the faces are really steep, even the route we took was considerably steep for the foothills of a mountain..

The climate was just rite for a trek… no sun.. Loads of cloud cover.. and the possibility of a shower.. Real soon… see for urself..

The climb to the top takes about 3-4 hrs at an average-to-slow speed.. with the tonnes of pit-stops we took enroots.. it took us more.. :)

About 3/4th of the way up.. Came this plateau.. With really strong cross winds.. and loads of cloud..and rain…. :D from then on, we climbed up in clouds. Crouching down when the winds got really strong..

The top of the mountain was completely in clouds… the fort does have loads of points to see.. this fort is considered important strategically because is can see 6 or 8 other forts o a clear day.. but the dense clouds prevented us from seeing.

For More Pics of Torna

Rajgad

2009-02-07T22:39:00.000-08:00

Fort: RajGad
Difficulty Level: Medium
District : Pune
How to Reach: Sahyaadri / Rajgad

Every trek of mine was planed as well as pre decided organized trip, since long time I think about Rajgad trek, but few reason I was just washed out my trek plan for Rajgad. This time I was very determined and focused to trek on Rajgad. Just casually remind DJ about week end plan, as usual he was just say don’t worry mate I will be their on time.

<- Padmavati Macchi) Me Satya, Sagar, Bala (my cusion Bro) & DJ gather Swarget Bus staion around 8:40 am. We just missed Velha bus by few min and as per ST Scheduled next bus was available by 9:30 pm. The swarget bus stand flooded with ppl, some how we were mange to grab seat and headed towards Margasne. We reached Margasne by 12 pm, from their one local jeep fetch us to the base of Rajgad - Gunjavane (which is 8 Km from magasni). We reached Gunjavane at about 12:30 . If you want to take the Chor darwaja, you have to go to Gunjavane or else you can go to Vajeghar and climb by the Pali darwaja.

For our surprise ( Suvela Macchi - >) the volunteer of Abhinav Nirman Prathisthan (www.abhinavnirmaan.com) checking each trekker very strictly. If they found (wine, Tobacco content material, non veg food etc.) they were kicked on concern person’s asss .. Their Work is really appreciated. I was proud on them and ask about membership for volunteer and other activity they carried.

We start our trek by 1 pm, the sun is roaring very strongly though this was just last week of Jan we was felt the heat it was so hot. The surrounding of Gunjavane is really amazing, after climbing few steps we felt hungriness, it was our first official break.

We made it to the top in another hour or so. The experience of trekking on Rajgad was awesome; the fort was crowed due to adjutant weekend holidays. (24, 25, 26 jan). Every after few moments we heard the roaring sound of joyful Trekkers. The atmosphere feels with Joy Eagerness, Courage, Determination & appreciation and respect with salute to great king Shivaji.

The experience ( Balle Killa - > to trek the Balle killa was awesome, this is really tough rock patch, just remind me the Bhimashankar’s Shidde Ghat trek. The Rock patch with slant edges make it very hard. Trekker should specifically take care while climb down. On the top of Balle killa we can point out easily the surrounded fort like Torna, Sinhagad, Raigad, etc.

We started getting down at about 5.30 from Chor darwaja. We reached at the bottom by 7 Pm, where we come to know that the last local jeep was left just 10 min before, and which was last source to reach Margasnee. Some how I Manage to convince other local jeep wala (after all I m marketing guy yaar). He dropped us on margasnee and from there we was pick other jeep to katraj.

The Memories of Rajgad Trek till fresh as fresh as like flowers.

For More Picture of Rajgad : Click Here