This year summer has been too hot as per expectations but thanks to the last years good mosoon at least this year , we dont have to go through the water shortage issue and the water tanker system.
The way you look at it makes all the difference ,you can say
We have been making plans to go to Raigad fort for long but we were
waiting for the right
time and what better than mosoon but at the same time we have to look
that too much
rain doesn’t spoil the beautiful scenery which we wanted to see .
So i decided to go in the month of august when
shayadri moutains are covered by
natural green carpet of grass and small breezes of rain are also
there to enjoy.
we were a gang of four and decided to meet at chandni chowk at 6am but
as usual sunil came late
and we started at 7.30am,in the meantime me and jaideep had gulped tea
and vada pav.
we started our bikes towards Paud .filled the tanks in pirangut
petrol pump and after buying some snacks
again moved ahead quickly as raigad fort is around 131 km from pune
and we have to come back same day .
this being the first trek of jaideep he was totally gone crazy by the
views of mountains near mulshi dam itself
,i reminded them of long journey ahead but these guys were too busy in
clicking pics .
and then after then when you move towards Tahmini ghat region which is
like heaven for riders and newly
laid road added to the experience.Then as it happens we halted again
again and again to click gorgeous
pics in beautiful weather .
there was no rain till now .Tahmini ghat has a police check post so
guys bring your documents but store them properly.
coming out of twist and turns of ghat you see a newly coming posco
steel plant from top hope it doesnt harm the
environment here .we took the midc road and moved towards Nizampur .
for people coming on bikes you can take left from Nizampur and can go
raigad fort directly( there are enough sign boards to guide )
but for 4 wheelers its a big no. they have to go to Mahad and then
come to fort which adds around 40 km in comparision to this short cut
After nizampur you will feel like you are some another world small
villages small bridges and greenry adds to the beauty of this route
One can only hope it stays this way only .road condition is good with
few rocky patches in between .by now rain had started pouring down
the only way which can stop these guys from clicking enough pics too
full memory .
after munching chips and biscuits we towards the last 10 km towards
Panchad .If coming this way you will see jijamata samadhi mother
ofshivaji maharaj mother.it was made after her death in 1674 the place
is well maintained and one should definetly visit this place take
blessing of the great mother who sculpted shivaji maharaj.
we reached the base of fort around 1.30 pm .
The raigad fort has the ropeway facility also so those who want to
save time can take the ride.
We parked our bikes , had some hot vada pav there and started climbing
the 1737 steps on by one in the name of jai bhani jai shivaji
rain has increased by now , just what tilu(sunil) wanted.
we were ahead of sunil(jagdale) and jaideep that lead we maintained
till end . It took us roughly 2 hrs to reach the top .The steps are
big in size
not made for those with weak knees..ha
once at top you come to see why the great shivaji choose this fort to
be his capital .
this is a huge fort and if british in 1818 wouldt have
looted and destroyed
it ,it would have been a master piece of architecture .
the geogrphical location of this fort makes it almost impossible to attack .
takmak tok(execution point) a big attaraction.
the market is still in good condition ,it was made is such a fashion
that buyers can purchase still riding there horses.
the three watch towers in front of artifical gangasagar lake are
really beautiful, .
we bowed to shivaji maharaj samdhi(tomb), next to him is a statue of
famous dog Vaghya .
as the story goes the loyal dog gave his life by jumping in fire after
shivaji maharaj death.
Jagdishwar temple,Khubladha Buruj, Nane Darwaja, Hatti Talav (Elephant
Lake), Gangasagar are the famous attractions of the fort
but what moved me was the Darbar(court .)The king’s public court
(Durbar) has a replica of the original throne that faces the main
doorway
called the Nagarkhana Darwaja. This enclosure had been acoustically
designed to aid hearing from the doorway to the throne.
A secondary entrance, called the Mena Darwaja, was supposedly the
private entrance of the royal ladies of the fort,it leads to
the queen’s quarters. The erstwhile main entrance to the fort is the
imposing Maha Darwaja. The convoy of the king and the king
himself used the Palkhi Darwaja. To the right of Palkhi Darwaja, is a
row of three dark and deep chambers.
Historians believe that these were the granaries .
after spending around 2-3 hrs we started to say good bye to this great fort .
this time sunil took the charge of leading from the front and was just
jumping the stairs and was ought of our sight in few minutes
we decided to enjoy the waterfall which was coming from the waters
from the fort .
water was very cold but we throughly enjoyed it.
at 6 pm in clock we kicked and came back to pune driving no stop around 10 pm
it was one the best treks we had gone to.
one should definetly not miss this fort if in pune .
also who want a take a glimpse of great maratha history.
signing off
anil
This winter we decided to do kalsubai trek,which was in pipeline for long.
Also I have a personal ambition to reach the highest point in Maharashtra.
We were a group of four . This was the first time that we chose to go any trek via car .off course it was comfortable but driving bike through mountains is a feeling in itself .
Journey started at 4.30 am from pune
The first stop came early thanks to the appetite of Tilu. It was 5.15 in clock a small shop roadside was serving misal pav and hot tea .The taste was good ,we finished it quickly because we didn’t want to miss on sunrise .
We stopped in manchar to buy maggi ,biscuits and chips for refreshments later in the trek . The ride after that was from the twist and turns of shayadri mountains which any trekker would cherish .
We reached to the base village of kalsubai peak called bari.we parked vehicle at school and by getting some directions by the help of villagers started our trek .The is well marked so no need to hire any guide .
It was 10 am by now and we started to climb keeping in mind the fact that the top is at 1646m .The forest is not dense ,we made 2x2group are marched ahead fast one and slow one …:-)
In between there are lots of opportunities to click some good pictures and we made full use of our 13 mp cameras .we missed selfie stick this time during last trek at raigad fort we used it to the fullest
.
In between we spoke to some villagers who were coming from top and according to them it was a2.30 hr trek in winter but in summer it will be 3.30 hr .These villagers go to worship goddess kalsubai at the temple which is at tip of peak .
After some time we reached the first staircases ,the rocky patches are difficult and that’s why iron staircases are installed at different locations where it is difficult to climb for
people .
This Makes it a cakewalk for trekkers like us who have gone to the toughest treks in Maharashtra at least .Then one after another clicking pics climbing ,taking 10 min breaks we reached to the final railings. I opted to climb it with Tilu but both group reached top at same time .
The feeling was awesome to climb the highest peak in Maharashtra and finally we nailed it.
The as usually clicks and some more clicks .You can see the backwaters of Bhandardara dam from here
It was 12.30 in clock we had a lot of time to Cook Maggie which we had brought. After taking Darshan of goddess we started to descend and refreshed ourselves with some lemonade made by locals .we searched for a good place to put fire and we got a perfect one .
Sunil took charge of putting the fire in place ,I collected woods and paper while Tilu was the chef today . He has taken the job to seriously from utensils to bowls to forks to lighter he has brought everything..
We enjoyed the food and then back to downwards with energy .
we reached to the last stage with some small injuries and hiccups .we still had lot of time and I had planned to go bhandara dam and Amruteshwar temle .
But an un wanted call and then all my plans and whole fun of trekking was gone …top secret
Then we drove back to pune non stop 4 hrs driving everybody took power naps except me ..this was the first time today when my legs stared paining ..
We were back at 8.30 sharp in pune ..with dreams of going back some day to sandhan valley ,arther lake,ratangad fort ….signing off
Anil
Info for trekkers
1)It is located 145km from pune so start early if planning one day trip
2) Save maps offline as there is hardly any network ( take left turn from narayangaon on Nashik highway)
3) Take ample water with you ,though packaged water is available in village but quality is compromised.
4) good foot gear is necessary as muddy patch is quite slippery .
trektotop 