Visit to Harishchandragad

In the year 2017, my brother and I first went for trekking to Harischandragad along with our group. The trek was amazing. We enjoyed it a lot. Although being our first trek this year, it was not that hectic as it was imagined by me at the base village Pachnai.

  Harischandragad is a fort in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. It has the elevation of 1,422m. The natural beauty, the steep ascend of the fort and deep valley on one side of the fort (Kokankada) makes it more superior.

View from Khireshwar

Needle hole at the top

More about Harishchandragad:

  According to the history, the fort is quite ancient. The various Puranas (ancient scriptures) like Matsyapurna, Agnipurana etc include many references regarding Harischandragad. This fort is of 6^th century built during the rule of dynasty of Kalachuri. There are many caves which are probably built in 11^th century. In these caves are the idols of Lord Vishnu. The peak of the fort is called Taramati. Harishchandreshwar temple and the caves of Kedareshwar indicates that the fort is of medieval period. The fort was first under the control of Moghuls which was then captured by Marathas in 1670.

There were fifteen of us and started from Pune at about 11:15 p.m on Friday. The journey was of five- six hours overnight, hence it was not possible for us to enjoy it. Everyone were sleeping in the bus until we stopped in a Dhaba for tea. We reached Pachnai at about 5 a.m. next day, where we were welcomed by fire flies flying here and there. Some of us were catching them just for fun. Since one complete hour was there for the trek to start we decided to rest for sometime.

We got ready, had our breakfast and then started with our trek at 7:30 a.m. 

Enroute to Harishchandragad via Pachnai

The route was simple but a little steep. We were accompanied by charming scenery. Slowly and steadily, as time passed, we reached the top of the mountain. While climbing up, we saw a green vine snake (harantol) which is a non-poisonous species. It started to hide himself when we were looking at it. In about an hour we reached at the top. There were clouds up on the top, flowing very fluently. There were many things worth seeing like Saptatirtha Pushkarni (lake), Harishchandreshwar temple, Kedareshwar cave, Kokan kada ( Kokan cliff), Taramati peak and caves on the top. There was a small hut in which we rested for sometime. It was 10:30a.m. by now. We had our tea and decided to climb the Taramati peak after that.

Taramati peak:

Taramati, also known as Taramanchi, is the highest point on the fort (1,429) m. From here, we can see the whole fort as well as the whole range of Naneghat and forts near Murbad. Leopards are found in the jungles beyond the peak. Many different forts like Ajoba, Kulang, Ratangad, and Kalsubai Peak, can be seen from here.

Climbing on the peak was quite a great fun. The lower part of the peak is full of dense jungle. The upper part of the peak is of rocks and is actually very easy to climb. There, by mistake, we climbed by a wrong way which turned to be adventurous. But the view we could see from above was such which made us keep on looking at it. On the top of the peak was a small Shiv linga (symbol of Lord Shiva). The wind was continuously flowing. After sometime, one of us realized that its 12:30p.m. by now and we must go down for lunch. We started climbing down. 
 

Photo in 2017

Photo in 2008

My parents had visited this fort in the year 2008 with the same group. I liked this fort so much that after returning home I asked my parents to show me the photos of the fort of that time. And this thing really surprised me. There is a big rock on the way. Beneath the rock is a palm tree. This palm tree is standing over there for 9 years and it was just as we had seen. Isn’t it surprising to see the same tree in the same place in the same condition in the photo which was taken 9 years ago? We came down within no time and was quite exhausting. We had our lunch. We had some rest when I saw a water tank like structure near the hut in which we were resting.

Shivlinga on top of Taramati peak

Taramati Peak

View from Taramati Peak

Saptatirtha Pushkarni:

Towards the east of the Harishchandreshwar temple is a well built lake named as Saptatirtha Pushkarni. There is a temple like construction on the banks of the lake in which was the idols of Lord Vishnu. Now, they are shifted in the caves nearby. The water was potable seven years back but now because of the garbage left over by visitors, the water is not suitable for swimming in it. The construction is worth seeing.

Saptatirtha Pushkarni

After having some rest we decided to pay visit to the Kedareshwar caves nearby.

Kedareshwar Caves:

This is a huge cave in which there is a big Shiva linga. It is surrounded by water from all four sides. The Shiva Linga is 5 feet tall and the water surrounding it is about waist-deep. But the water in the cave is ice-cold in all seasons. In monsoon, a huge stream flows across the cave which does not allow us to go in there. There are four pillars around the Shiva Linga which supports the cave, two of which were broken.

Kedareshwar cave

Sculpture inside Kedareshwar temple

We were amazed to see the cave. Within no time, everyone except a few started playing in the water of the cave. Yes, the water as I said was quite chilled. The cave has four door ways. If the outer part of the cave is kept clean, the place is beautiful otherwise. We spent a lot of time playing in the water. After sometime, we went back to the hut where we had kept our bags. The tea was waiting for us. Seriously, it was the first time when I drank a lot of tea. It was somewhat about 3:30.p.m. Now what to do? We all were very much excited about Kokan kada. Actually we had decided to start for Kokan Kada at 4:30 for the sunset but our excitement didn’t let us to. We quickly packed our bags and started walking. Kokan Kada is half hour away from the main fort area.

Kedareshwar Cave

Kokan Kada:

Kokan kada (kokan cliff) faces towards the west looking down upon the Kokan area. This cliff has a huge overhang. But despite of the overhang, many people till now have climbed it. Nalichi vaat is famous route to experience the challenge of Kokan Kada. Because of the overhang, the force of the wind coming upwards is such that a small light weighed object like caps, small sticks, bottles, handkerchief, etc when thrown into the force of the wind, flies up and falls back on the grounds of the Kokan kada. Sometimes, a circular rainbow can be seen if there’s a mist and if the sun is behind the person seeing it.

Valley view from Kokan kada

The path way towards Kokan kada really increases the suspense. First, we started with a dense forest. We were walking and walking and walking till we reached a plain area. We could feel the plains are getting over after sometime. It was really a different feeling. We could feel the depth of the valley, we could feel the cold winds blowing upwards. We saw many people standing on the edges of Kokan Kada. Our pathway ended after sometime and in front of us was a stunning view. We were just startled to see the depth. The curve of the rocky cliff surrounded by the mountains all over, the flow of the wind in front of us, the clouds flowing on the top and the sun waiting for himself to set, certainly hard to explain this scene in few words. It was really mesmerizing. I forgot everything and just kept on looking at the creativity of the nature. 

Panoramic View of Kokankada

We found a new game as mentioned above. The force of the wind was so much that every light- weighed object used to fly up and fall down. We were throwing small pieces of bark, small sticks, bottles, grass. It was great fun. We were playing, recording. But we found it to be dangerous too. The place is really good for relaxing. We were waiting for the sunset but there were too many clouds. Meanwhile many people had gathered around for the moment and everyone over there were completely moved by the view. We were going to spend the night in tents on the Kokan kada. But I was little astonished as I came to know that everyone present over there were going to live there for that night. 

 

The time passed on and finally we could see the sun setting but for a very few minutes because of the clouds. We were now strolling here and there doing a lot of timepass. We had our tents on. There were many tents of many groups on the plains of Kokan kada. We prepared bhel. I really enjoyed staying there. After 7, it was cold and there was a lot of mist all over. The mist after sometime became so dense that we were not able to see things before us. We started gathering some wood for fire camping. There were many people, many tents. Every group was from different place like Thane, Nashik, etc. 

We had our dinner. The hut in which we had our dinner was a little away from the tent site. We had to walk a little. But after dinner, where were the tents? Of course, we had lost our tent place because of the mist. Somehow, we managed to find them. We enjoyed the camp fire. The day was very exciting and full of fun.

 We had four tents. So we were then divided into four according to the convenience. The flow of the wind increased so much that at mid-night, all the tents started shaking horribly. Some of them got dismantled because of the force of the wind. That night was a memorable one.

Misty Morning

 The next day, when I woke up at six, I was astonished to find that the density of the mist had increased. But according to the plan, it was not possible for us to experience the beauty of Kokan kada in the morning. Well, we got ready, had our breakfast and started with our return journey. I was really feeling very sad to leave the place. Every trekker must visit this place. Before leaving, we visited the Harishchandreshwar temple.

Harishchandreshwar Temple:

 This temple is a beautiful example of fine artwork and sculptures. It is 16 m High from the base. There are many caves and water tanks around the temple. This temple resembles the temples found in the North. The temple is built with well- finished stones arranged one on top of the other. There are three main caves besides the temple. There are entrances from all the four sides of the temple.’

Harishchandreshwar Temple

Harishchandreshwar temple outside

The temple was really very nice. We filled some water from the water tank and then left the place. We were going to climb down in the village of Khireshwar this time. The mist decreased as the sun started becoming bright. This route was a little adventurous. There were rock patches, jungle to pass through and more to walk. We drank some lime juice in between. After the rock patch, we came in the Tolar khind (mountain pass). There we were resting, when a giant squirrel came across. Even there were many langoors sitting on the trees. To our surprise, we were accompanied by three dogs who were really very excited and were trying to chase the langoors. The langoors were climbing higher and higher up the tree. One of them went too close to the giant squirrel who was quietly eating something. As the langoors saw us passing through their area, they started screaming, making noise and shouting. 

Giant Squirrel seen in Tolar Khind

We reached the village after about two hours from Tolar Khind. There were many trees of Karvanda, mangoes, etc. We enjoyed eating them a lot. After a ten minutes walk, we reached the hotel. We all were really very hungry. We ate food as if we were eating food for the first time, completely enjoying it. I was looking at the fort again and again wishing to climb up again. After lunch, we then went to the back waters of Pimpal Joga dam. There we all played in the water. At the same time, we all were sad that the two day trek finally came to an end. But every moment has to come to an end to experience a new one. Playing some or the other mischief, singing, dancing, happily we came back to Pune till 7.

Refreshments

The trek came to an end. I liked this trek because of its beauty, popularity and ease of climbing it. But one thing which I didn’t like and which really made me feel angry on is that a lot of thermocol and plastic items were used on the top of the fort and was not disposed in a proper manner. There was too much litter there on the Kokan kada which was somehow poking its nose in the scenic beauty of the nature. Is it really necessary to use things which are really harmful to nature? Why can’t the trekkers visiting the fort bring their own bowls and dishes? Is it so hard and heavy to carry these things with us? Why don’t the local people take any action on this issue? How can one be so rude or careless or how can one even feel to make such a magnificent place dirty? We use things which are really very secure and convenient for us but at the same time we are destroying the nature which is a ‘blessing’ for us.

Okay, sometimes, it’s not possible to carry such things at some places. I think, if this is the case, the villagers must find out a way to dispose these materials. They must try their best to keep their place clean and safe. Not only them, but everyone of us obviously. I think, if each and every trekker decides to keep each and every fort clean then definitely the litter rate can lower down. Just think, if a foreigner visits such places on some information and witnesses such a scene, what will he think? Will he come at that place again? I think, we all must think about it and think upon some preventive measures on it.

My visit to the fort was truly memorable and if given an opportunity, I will look forward to visit it again.

Photo credits:

Chetan wagh

Pratik purandare

Anish pathak

Sushant Agashe