My colleagues wanted to go for a trek, the nearest and easiest place to trek was Lohagad -the Iron Fort. I'd been to that place earlier, (believe me that was the most thrilling experience, we had gone there, in the evening, wearing slippers/ floaters, without any bags or torch, and had almost lost our way in darkness), hence I suggested that place. Last time I'd planned Khandala Ghat hiking in rain..and a bath in waterfall, which some of them had missed, so every one was excited and there were few new members too.
Lohagad and Visapur Forts are situated on a hill near Malavali, 52 km away from Pune. A kilometre long ridge separates the two forts. These forts are regarded to be ideal for trekking and can be toured in a day. Lohagad is 3400 feet high and is not much spread and can be easily seen in few hours. There are 4 doors to Lohagad from the nearby village -Lohgadwadi, they are 'Ganesh Darwaja' , 'Narayan Darwaja' , 'Hanuman Darwaja' and 'Maha Darwaja'. Some sculptures can also be seen on Maha Darwaja. The famous spot on Lohagad is 'Vinchu Kata' - a range of hills that looks like Scorpion's tail. An amazing view of Pawana Dam is also visible from Lohagad. The wealth from Surat was brought here under the leadership of Netaji Palkar and kept here for some period. Visapur fort, which is 3,500 feet in height, is situated between Lohagad and Bedse Caves. A huge cannon of 10 feet in length is the main attraction of Visapur, as it has an impression of royal crown.
Saturday is work off for us, and hence Saturday (6-Sept-2008) was decided as the trek day. I packed food for the trek and left home by 7:00 a.m to catch 8:00 a.m local train. Santosh, Nilesh, Vicky, Ashish and I were supposed to board the train from Pune Station, and Ajit was to board the train from Dapodi. Santosh and I were waiting for others to come to Pune station, however they were late. From the foot over bridge we could see them entering the station and the train exiting the station. The next train to Malavali was at 10:00 a.m, hence the plan was changed a bit. We boarded the 9:00 a.m, Talegaon local train, Ajit boarded it from Dapodi. It was one hour for the next train from Talegaon to Malavali so we decided to have breakfast in Talegaon. We found a small restaurant near Talegaon station (I forgot the name) which offered only four items on menu, Vada pav, Bhaji pav, misal and tea. Some of us had misal and others had vada pav. As compared to the size and interiors of the restaurant the taste was so good that Nilesh and Vicky had one more vadapav.
We boarded the train and reached Malavali by 11:15 a.m. The group wanted to see the bhaje caves, as they were uncertain when they'll return there again in their life. Bhaje and Lohagad in a day, at 11:30 a.m, is quite tiring, but we decided to go to the caves. Ashish got to ride a bicycle of one of the local boys who were returning from school. We reached Bhaje caves after paying the entry fee.
The 18 Bhaje caves are supposed to have been built for Buddhist nuns. Excavated in the 2nd century BC. The pillars are sloping but the stilted vault is a fine piece of work. The last cave to the south has some fine sculpture, including a prince seated on an elephant (Supposed to be Indra on his Iravat), a prince in a chariot (supposed to be Sun) and three armed figures (I doubt them to be Indra and Sun, because why would a Buddhist cave have Hindu sculpture). The dancing couple is a justly famous piece of sculpture. Cave no 12 is a chaitya hall, the finest of the cave complex. Cave no 1 is the dwelling house for the master architect, 10 are viharas and remaining 7 caves contain inscriptions about the donors. There are also 2 water tanks that have sweet and cold water through out the year.
There after we descended the hill from the waterfall near Bhaje caves. On the way we changed to comfortable clothes for trekking, and started the trek towards Lohagad fort. There is a crushed stone road leading to the base village Lohagadwadi or Lohadi. However there are many pathways that run in between the twisting and turning road. We preferred to climb thr
ough the pathways, mainly created by small streams. This gives a good trekking experience rather than just walking on the road. There were some waterfalls on the way and others wanted to have a bath. I refused the idea and took them through the plant studded pathway. There was a place where we had to continue the trek by crawling through a patch of thorny trees.Vicky got exhausted on the way and wanted to rest. He asked us to continue ahead, but we stopped with him. After some biscuits and tang he regained his strength. He wondered how we'll reach the fort (which looked very far from the road) in half an hour. We took the stone road in order to save Vicky from the tiresome trek. We reached the foothill of the fort, where we were welcomed by a stone horse and a beautiful tree. When Vicky saw the fort he was very excited. As Nilesh, Vicky and Ashish had not got their lunch we ordered the food (Pithla Bhakri) from one of the village restaurants (they are just a shaded place on extension of the house, with chairs and
table). We rested there till the food was packed, and later started to climb the fort. We had to pass through four big gateways to reach the top of the fort. There are a lot of monkeys on the fort, beware of them. They snatch food bags from people, hence its advisable to keep your food material in sack bags and carry a stick with you.We had our lunch, in the cave, on the fort. There is an old man who stays in the cave, he drove away the monkeys who were trying to enter the cave, while we had our lunch. There is a small canon outside this cave. From there we started our journey towards Vinchu kata, the name is given because it looks like a scorpion's tail. There is a tank on the way, and a ramshackle house.
The roof had tumbled down, only the log structure could be seen, the walls seem to have borne lot of wear and tear. We reached the point from where Vinchu kata can be clearly seen. As Nilesh was wearing sandals and the path was slippery I refused to take them to Vinchu kata. We sat there for some time enjoying the scenic beauty of Pawna lake. We saw a dark cloud coming towards us and vinchu kata. Within few min it enveloped the entire area. It was most amazing thing we saw that day, we sitting in the rain cloud. We returned from that point after some time. We took the other route from lake, which leads to a temple and dargah on the fort. There is a canon in front of the dargah. From there we returned through the four magnificent gates. There are some worn out steps in between that are covered with moss in rainy season. If we are not careful and slip, we might end up at the foot of fort. We came down very carefully from those steps, specially Nilesh had to be very careful, as he was wearing sandals, I kept on bombarding him to be careful in that patch.We reached down the fort little bit tired but very happy on completion of the trek. Though the trek was not completely over the major part of it was over. We descended the hill through pathways rather than the road. In this process Ajit lagged behind and lost his way. I took all of them to a waterfall, where we realized Ajit is not with us. He called me on my cell phone and I gave him directions. By the time he joined us we were already under the waterfall enjoying the cold force of it.
Everyone was refreshed after the bath. This was the reason that I did not take them to the waterfall in afternoon. (They realized it after the bath.) We started our return journey to Malavali station. I told them it'll take hardly 15 min to reach the station and we should walk fast so we can reach before it gets dark. Ajit wondered how we can reach in 15 min if we need to climb back to Bhaje caves and then to malavali station. I explained him we don't need to go to the caves we just need to follow the road. He was so happy after knowing this, that he kissed my hands. We boarded the train after an enjoyable trek, with a promise from me, to go for a another such wonderful trek.
