Memorable Winter Trek to HARISHCHANDRAGAD & KONKANKADA Camping

 

                                   

MEMORABLE TREK TO HARISHCHANDRAGAD AND KONKANKADA CAMPING   12-13 December 2020.

 Harishchandragad Fort is situated in the Junnar region near Malshej Ghat in Ahmednagar district. It is almost 200 kilometers away from both Mumbai and Pune cities of Maharashtra state, India. It takes 5 hours’ road journey from Mumbai. This area comes under the Kalsubai-Harishchandragad Wildlife sanctuary. Therefore, the area is rich in flora and fauna. The range offers various action pack adventure activities to trekkers and adventure lovers. The fort is extremely popular amongst trekkers and nature lovers. Though the trekkers hike the Harishchandragad and Konkankada in all the seasons but Monsoon and Winter seasons are the most preferred season. In monsoon, the whole region becomes lush green and lots of sparkling seasonal waterfalls can be seen in this area. The Konkakada offers an amazing view of the surrounding regions. Winter is a camping season. Trekkers and nature lovers trek as well as do night camping at Harischandragad and Konkankada area to get the lifetime experience of being in nature and cold winter.

 

 

TREK DETAILS:

1.        Height: 4671ft

1.        Region: Junnar

1.        Difficulty level:   

• Pachnai route: Easy

• Khireshwar route: Easy

• Nali Chi Vat  route: Difficult

1. Popular Activities: Rappelling,Rock Climbing,Valley crossing,Camping

1. Best time: Monsoon & Winter( September is an ideal season)

1. Base Village of Harishchandragad

• Pachnai & Khireshwar

• Belpada for Nali Chi Vat route

• Location: Malshej Ghat, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra

 How to Reach Harishchnadragad

Harishchandragad can be approached through 4-5 known routes but there are three most preferred or popular routes based on the trekker’s itinerary.

Way from Khireshwar

Khireshwar is the base camp for this route which is also known as Tolar khind, which demands good endurance but not technical. This route is one of the most preferred routes by trekkers even though it is a much longer route. The ST bus is available from Kalyan ST depot to Khubi phata, which is 6 km from Khireshwar the base village for the trek. ST going towards Alephata (via Malshej Ghat the bus stops a little away from Khubi Phata at a distance of 5 km away from the base village. You have to walk till the Khireshwar. If you are taking a private vehicle then you can drive directly to the base village. The route from Khireshwar to Harishchandragad offers pleasant nature trail except for the Tolar Khind patch which is a rocky patch and it is very slippery during the monsoon and very risky to travel without the proper guide and group to support you. I would suggest the hikers take the Pachnai route in monsoon. Especially if you are a beginner or doing a solo trek.

 Way from Pachnai

This route is considered as the easiest route amongst all other routes, Pachnai village, you can reach by buses or private vehicles. Buses coming from Rajur, Akole, or from Kotul. From Kotul the distance is 25 km with buses going every hour towards Pachnai & Kothale. From Kothale, Pachnai is 5 km away, you can reach there by local transport. But issue with the frequency. One good idea is if you are a group of 5 or 7 hikers, hire a jeep from Kasara for both the ways. They will take you directly to the Harishchandragad on time.  If you are coming by private vehicle. It may take 5 hours of the long journey and the last one-hour drive will be a bumpy ride because of the rough road. Make sure that you have an extra tyre attached to your car or jeep.   

From Pachnai to Harishchandragad is around 2 hours if you take a few pauses in between.

 The way from Nalichi Vaat – Walhiware village is a base village. Very remote village 10 km inside from main Malshej ghat road. Nalichi Vaat (it means a passage through a gorge) is a path that lies to the extreme right of the mountain. It is the most difficult path to the top. Popular among climbers and experienced trekkers, Nalichi Vaat involves a near 80-degree climb, involving steep rock patches. The trail begins on a stream bed filled with large man-sized rocks and eventually leads to the foot of the gorge(Nali). This route is only for experienced trekkers and climbers. It requires a good fitness level and climbing experience.

Pachnai Village

My Journey to Harishchandra and Konkankada camping

Winter is a good season for night treks and camping at Sahyadri ranges. I am a part of many trek organizer WhatsApp groups. So they keep posting their upcoming events. That’s how I got to know that Treks and Trail are coming up with the Harishchandragad trek and Kokankada night camping. I like the plan and immediately registered it and reserved a seat for myself. Though I have already hiked the Harishchandragad and Kokankada in Monsoon. I like the idea of camping at Kokankada. The organizer had chosen the Pachnai route as they got mixed groups. Few of them are beginners.

So our plan was to hike up to Harishchandragad and camp at Kokankada.

Neil and Param was our trek leader and who is going to lead this trek. Both were qualified and experienced trekkers.

I boarded my bus from Teenhath Naka,  Thane and we started our journey on time.

There were 14 hikers and a good mix of gender as well as age-wise. Most of them were experienced hikers except for two young boys.

We all proceed towards our destination and after two hours, we took a break for our breakfast. The routes were a bit confusing and come across many villages on the way. We took Igatpuri, Kalsubai, Bhandara and Rajur route.

We have also come across Kulangwadi on the way which is a base village for AMK trek and many other villages. There was no network at some point and the last leg of the journey was quite bumpy ride. 

Quick lunch and briefing session

We reached Pachnai around 2 pm as per the scheduled time and we had our quick lunch here. To our surprise, the village was hustling and bustling with trekkers. There were already many groups who have arrived before us. We had to stand in a queue to get our food. We proceed on our journey after the quick lunch and the briefing session.

The nature of the trail is almost all ascending. However, this route is considered the easiest route as compared to other routes and villagers also take this route to visit Harishchandragad Temple for darshan.  

Harishchandragad Entry Gate

As we walked towards the main entry gate. The trail slowly took us towards the ascending. After ascending for half an hour, we reached a flat land where we took a few minutes break and waited for others to join us. From there climb becomes steeper but there are iron railings for support which makes our climb much easier.

Good spot to catch up your breath

Railing support while ascending

As we ascend higher, the better view we get which is the best part of ascending any hill. Finally, after steep ascending for almost half an hour, we had to walk across the hill and caves. It’s a good spot to catch up with your breath. 

Good place for a water break and enjoy the view

 In monsoon, there is the waterfall from the top which gives you a good shower. From there the trail was almost straight up to the bridge. In monsoon,

Bridge

 we can see the powerful stream running through it and the area becomes a bit slippery. After crossing the bridge there is a Limbu paani stall by villagers and it is a good spot to hydrate ourselves. 

Last Limbu Pani stall and your final ascending

From there we had to ascend again for the last leg of our journey.  

Final ascend

Plateau before Harischandragad

We reached a plateau after a 20 minutes of ascending and we can get the first view of surrounding hills and Harishchandragad. We reached the Harishchandragad and wait for others to join. Lots of new shacks have come up in the area. The place has become more commercialized now.

Shacks at Harishchandragad 

 I could see the area in different shades as I visited this area in Monsoon two years back. 

Towards Konkankada

We moved straight to Konkankada which is twenty minutes’ walk from Harishchandragad. It was getting dark now. We quickly proceeded further towards the Kokankada. The route is pretty simple. First short descending and then straight route.

Konkankada

 Finally, we reached Konkankada. It was dusk time and the place was crowded already. Many people have already arrived here for camping. We just had a quick view of Konkankada before it gets too dark.  

Bonfire  

Our trek leader has to arrange a tent. So they went off to meet Bhaskar (The tent provider) We had a cup of tea and some dry snacks near one of the local stalls at Konkankada. It was getting colder and feels good. Our trek leader took time to come back to us, meanwhile, we decided to go towards the hillside and collect some wood for the bonfire to keep ourselves warm from the cold. Camping without a bonfire is incomplete. Unfortunately, people have already collected most of the woods and there were hardly any left for us. Somehow we managed to collect a few dry kinds of wood and some grass. We also removed some branches from the trees. I noticed that many plastic cups and

thalis were thronging the forest area which is worrisome and irresponsible behavior. We are polluting such a pristine place. As per our plan, we set a nice bonfire and had good fun. Listen to some melodies songs played from a Bluetooth speaker. We had a good interaction with each other. We just got to know that there some confusion booking a tent so our leader was struggling to get a tent for us. Finally, they managed to get a tent from other localities. 

   My tent and my tent partner Rohan

     Camping at Kokankada

We quickly pitched our tent. The good places were all occupied. So we just had to settle near the main road. We shared one tent for three people and allotted one tent for each couple. Next was dinner. We had to wait for our turn for dinner. There was only one stall who is providing food for all the trekkers. I was pretty hungry and the food was simple thali but it was good and tasty.  After dinner, we walk around and join some other bonfire group and enjoyed the chill wind.  The temperature drops down in the night and we went inside our tent to end our day.

The famous Kokankada cliff view

Early morning, we woke up at 6.30 and freshen up and packed our bags, and kept outside the tent. We were supposed to be ready by 7am. I rushed towards the Konkankada cliff to capture some early morning views. I took some pictures and videos. Then we walk ahead towards the other end to see how it looks from the other angle to see the depth of the cliff. The Konkankada was overhang C shaped cliff.  It offers an amazing view of the Konkan region. In Monsoon, the valley becomes full of clouds and when you see from the cliff, you may get a feeling of as if you are gliding on the clouds. The cliff has been climbed by many climbers.

We roamed around the Kokankada for some time and finally, our guide called us to start our return journey. We went back to Harishchandragad and had our breakfast.

After breakfast, we went ahead to explore Harishchandragad.

Breakfast time: Famous Maharashtrian breakfast: Pohe

Things to see at Harishchandragad:

Harishchandragad is one of the historic places as there were lots of evidence around. There are many caves and ancient remnants of 6^th century can be seen around. Harishchandragad has been referred to in many ancient scriptures like Matsyapurana, Agnipurana, etc. The legend says that the great sage Changdev used to meditate here in the 14th century. Later the fort was under the control of Moguls. The Marathas captured it in 1747.

Saptatirtha Pushkarni

Saptatirtha lake

Towards the east of the temple is a beautiful built lake called “Saptatirtha”. On its bank are many tiny temple-like constructions in which there are idols of Lord Vishnu in every temple. It seems that these idols have been shifted in the caves near the temple of Harishchandreshwar. At present, the lake is not a good shape as it is spoiled by irresponsible trekkers and visitors. In Monsoon, when the lake becomes full, trekkers swim in the lake. Now I can see that the water in the lake has become contaminated and become fully green.

Caves on Harishchandragad

Cave

There are many caves spread out all over the fort. Many of these are situated at the foothills of Taramati peak and are the place of accommodation. A few are near the temple, whereas some are near the citadel and some far away in the forests. A 30 feet (9.1 m) deep natural cave is on the north-western side of the fort, to the right of Kokankada. Many other caves are still said to remain undiscovered. These caves are used by the trekkers in monsoon season.

Temple of Harishchandreshwar

Ganesh idol at Harshichndragad temple

Harishchandreshwar Temple

This temple is the main attraction and the visible evidence of a marvelous fine art of carving sculptures out of stones that prevailed in ancient India. It is said that the whole temple has been carved out of one huge rock. The top of the temple resembles construction with the North-Indian temples. A similar temple is situated in Buddha-Gaya. The temple has entrances from all four sides. On the left side of the entrance is a Devnagari inscription, which is about saint Changdev.

Rock cut cistern inside the temple 

Shiva linga in the main hall

Rock cut cistern inside the temple

 There are few caves and water tanks around the temple. It is believed that the origin of the river Mangal Ganga is from one of the tanks. Here we can see many tombs, in which a typical construction is seen. These are built by well-finished arranging stones one on top of the other. There are three main caves near the temple. The cisterns near the temple provide drinking water. The local priest offers daily prayers to this temple.

 

Kedareshwar Cave

Kedareshwar Cave

Towards the right side of Harishchandreshwar temple, there is a huge cave of Kedareshwar and there is a big Shiva Linga, which is completely surrounded by water. Its height from the base is five feet, and the water is waist-deep. The water is very cold and remains all four seasons. I have noticed that there are sculptures carved out in the cave. In the monsoon, it is difficult to reach this cave, as a huge stream flows across the way. There were four pillars built around the Shiva Linga to support the cave. But only one pillar is left.

Shiva linga inside the cave surrounded by water

The interesting thing about this cave is that water seeps into these caves from the four walls on an everyday basis. It is said that the water continues to seep in during all the seasons of the year. During the rainy season, the water level in the cave becomes almost waist-high.

Rock-cut cistern near the temple area

Mysterious underground cold water( for drinking)

Taramati peak

It is also known as Taramanchi. This is the topmost point on the Harischandragad fort (1429 meters). It is considered the second-highest peak in Maharashtra.   The peak offers a glimpse of the whole range of Naneghat and the forts near Murbad. From Taramati point, we can have a glimpse of forts till Siddhagad near Bhimashankar in the south and Napta twin peaks, Ghodishep (865 meters), Ajoba (1375 meters), Kulang fort (1471 meters) in the north near the Kasara region. These all depend on the clarity of the weather. Trekkers climb this peak early morning to witness the sunrise.

We explored the Harishchandragad for almost one hour and took a group picture and then we started our return journey. Within one hour we reached the base village and the plan is to have lunch at Pachanai but many group members refused to have simple lunch at the village. They want to have lunch at some good Dhaba on the way. Our trek leader has fulfilled our wish. We reached Mumbai around 9.15 PM.

Your journey becomes more memorable when you have a good partner. Fortunately trek mates were all very good and warm people. I really enjoyed interacting with all of them. I do hope that I will meet some of them in some other trekking event. 

TIPS

• Wearing comfortable Hiking SHOE is a must. 
• Cap, UV sunglasses, sunscreen lotion are a must to protect your skin and eyes from the direct sun if you are traveling post-monsoon or in winter.
• A good rain jacket is a must to protect yourself and your backpack if you are visiting Harishchandragad in the monsoon.
• Carry at least 2-liter water bottles and some ready to eat snacks
• Leave the trail, not the trash. Bring your trash back to the city and dispose of it in a dustbin
• Be sensitive towards villagers when you are interacting with them. Make sure that you are not going to hurt their sentiments.
• Respect the culture and beliefs of the local people.Thats their identity.
• Be mindful when you are visiting the Harishchanddreshwar temple and Kedareshwar cave. These are very sacred places and It is our History. 
• Do not attempt the Nali Chi Vat route if you are a casual hiker or beginner unless you are fit and guided by the trekking leader or experienced hikers. 
• The best time to visit Harishchandragad is Monsoon and Winter. September month is the ideal time to visit. 
• If you are a group, I would recommend book a direct JEEP from Kasara to Pachnai. This will save your time and energy.
• Contact Bhaskar Mob:8308081939 & Prakash  Mob: 7350826486 for camping at Konkankada and Harishchandragad. They both will arrange the tent as well as the food.