Until a week ago before actually going to these three forts, we were debating on options for our Trek plan on 28-29 Oct 2017. Options were Mangi-Tungi, Nhavigad, Chaulher, Pimpla, Bhilai, Premgiri, Rajdher, Indrai. After the required discussion, ifs and buts, we decided going to Chaulher, Pimpla, Bhilai, Premgiri. But two of our trekking friends Praveen Potdar and Sarvesh Tawade, who had earlier visited these forts, suggested that Bhilai fort is just a mountain and not much to see on the top after two hours of exhausting hike. We decided to cut Bhilai from our plan. For getting details on the route, I called Onkar Oak, who is an avid trekker and regularly writes travelogue in newspaper. Onkar said if you are leaving Bhilai, just because there is nothing to see on top, then Premgiri is also of same category. So, as per his suggestion, we decided to explore Dundha Fort and Mahadev Shilp Mandir in Deolane. The strange thing about going to trek is you plan too much and when you are actually on trek, all plans go for a toss. This is how our itinerary looked like on Friday 27th Oct 2017:-
Instead of leaving at 4 AM on 28th Nov, we left Thane at 5 AM (kyunki India mein koi time pe nahi nikalta). With my experience of our group and timing adjustments, I had already considered buffers in the departure and arrival timings. In the dark of morning, we 7 trekkers (4 guys and 3 girls) started our journey to Baglan region in Nashik by Maruti Ertiga. As we were reaching near Kasara Ghat, Sun god threw bright rays to paint the sky golden. We could feel the cold air and lukewarm sunrays hitting us at same time, to give a soothing effect. Before hitting Kasara Ghat, we had a Pee cum Potty cum Breakfast stop at Baba Da Dhaba. This Dhaba serves Hot Idlis, Medu Wada and Misal Pav from early morning. The best thing I like about this Dhaba is the way they serve Tea in glass cups,very rare we find in restaurants in Mumbai. Baba Da Dhaba location coordinates 19.6746402,73.4991751
By doing output and input exercise at Dhaba, we were back on Nashik Highway cruising at decent speed. As soon as you reach near Igatpuri, a group of forts welcome you on right side, Alang-Madan-Kulang-Kalsubai-Mordhan, standing high and handsome. On left Kavnai fort doesn't leave your sight till you pass Ghoti junction. Further Dangya Pinnacle pops up like an inverted nail. It feels as if you have entered into an empire of forts and pinnacles. Group was as usual chirpy throughout the journey, pulling each other leg and bursting very very bad PJs.
Moving on same highway you cross Nashik - Ozhar, again you see range of forts standing on left side, Saptashrungi, Rawlya, Jawlya, Markandeya, Dhodap, Kanchan Manchan, Koldher-Rajdher-Indrai and on the far north you can see Chandwad Fort. Just before Chandwad, you take a left towards Deola and your vehicle goes between Koldher and Kanchan-Manchan Forts. The whole ghat road is very picturesque, making you feel small in front of giant mountains. After reaching Deola, we made our first mistake of entirely relying on google maps to reach Wadi Chaulher. For reaching Chaulher Fort base village, Wadi Chaulher, you need to take route of Deola-Satana-Tilwan-Wadi Chaulher. Instead we took, Deola-Kalwan-Bhadwan-Visapur, as a consequence we reached a kuccha road on south side of Wadi Chaulher and in between stood mighty Chaulher fort mountain. Enroute, we asked villagers in Bhadwan about the route to Wadi - Chaulher. First of all, they were entirely clueless about existence of a village like Wadi Chaulher. Then they started to ask from where we are and if ladies are there in your group, then you shall not go in that region, as there are adivasi villages in the area. In two mins, the crowd grew from 2 to 15 people, they suggested to go from Chacher village, which we have never heard from the blogs and experiences of trekkers. I asked Avinash to press the pedal and take the vehicle as per google maps suggested. Further at Visapur also same response from the villagers, even though wadi chaulher was showing only 2 kms on GMaps. We continued on Gmaps route and reach kutcha road. Don't know when Google maps will become intelligent enough to show bad road and good road conditions in remote places. Below is the image of the route we took vs the route we shall have taken:-
We parked our vehicle at an unknown location and decided to directly get to the longer arm of the mountain on northwest side. We were pretty sure that the arm will take us to the door of the fort, but we were wrong again. We hiked the first ascend, which was full of scree, after reaching the plateau, we realised that there was big rock wall standing on the top of the arm, which was difficult to climb. Chaulher was laughing at us sitting on top, it started testing our endurance. Further on north side, we could see a ancient structure and a small water tank besides it. From that structure the northern arm of Chaulher fort started. We decided to traverse the mountain to reach there, it was a long walk but the constant breeze in the air helped to keep our bodies cool. As we reached the structure, we found a well trodden path making a traverse again and reaching to the center of the fort wall, where we could see the fort doors. This route was whole of thorns, bushes and all types of insects. Now we could see a clear and well trodden path coming from a village underneath the mountain, which was coming on the north eastern arm of the mountain with proper railings right to the top. Still we were not able to identify the Wadi Chaulher village. Let it be, we decided to move in the directions of fort door. It took us close to 2 hours to reach the fort door, by the route we took. Please find the google earth image below:-
Door has 3 forts for entry, excellent military strategy in case of attack on the fort. These doors are living example of brilliant architects who use to design impregnable forts. After going through the last door, you move up from the right side to the top of last door. From top, as you see down in the valley to the left of first door, you can find a beautiful hidden water tank with pure water. But the approach to that water tank we couldn't find, or one would need a rope to reach there from the first door. Further we moved towards left of the Citadel or BalleKilla, there is Hanuman idol and Chauranginath temple. Moving ahead to the temple, you can find water tanks on left Machi of the fort, water tanks are full of green moss. We came back to the last door and decided to explore the right side of citadel, as we couldn't find a way to the top from left side. There are three big tanks on the route, we tried to drink water from the first tank but it didn't taste good, water in rest two tanks was deep inside and no approach to go down. After you move ahead 30-40 steps from the last tank, you find steps cut in rock approaching towards the top of the fort. You will find a main door to the citadel and then two doors to the main structure on the citadel. As it was post monsoon season, grass was tall and thick, chaulher fort top was full of tall grass and thick bushes. Just 20 ft ahead, I saw a thin and long snake crawl into the bushes. Therefore, without wasting time we got down from the main citadel and made our way back through the 3 doors. Our descend started the same route as we came, because there was no option but to go back towards our car.
View of Chaulher Fort from the place we parked our Car
Walking the Long Long Long Traverse
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First Door of Chaulher Fort
Fort Doors of Chaulher
Beautiful water tank hidden just above the first door |
Steps going to the citadel
Fort Door and Remants on the Citadel
Water Tank on the plateau below the fort mountain
Slowly and steadily we descended the fort. I had the pleasure of taking dip in the small water tank enroute where village young boys were enjoying. I asked them name of the village by showing direction, they said 'Wadi Chaulher'. Atlast our suspense of location of Wadi Chaulher was broken. At that moment I decided to write this blog and guide future trekkers to the right direction. Wadi Chaulher is the base village from which trek is easy, you need to reach Satana-Tilwan-Wadi Chaulher, don't wander off like us. Negotiating scree patches, we descended to our car, had lunch besides road under a tree. Our next destination was calling, Dundha fort. It was already 4 PM, we were well behind our schedule, you can see the itinerary on the top.
Moving our vehicle in twists and turns, ups and downs we crossed Satana. Internal roads in Nashik are considerably good, even though it was post monsoon season. We first decided to explore Mahadev Shilp Mandir as our plan was to stay at base of Dundha fort, so even though we were late to reach base, we could explore the fort in morning. But the further story is very interesting. After Satana, taking help of GMaps, we reached Deolane around 4.45 PM and asked two bike-borne guys directions to Mahadev Shilp Mandir. They asked us to follow and in 5 mins through small but lively Deolane village, we reached Mahadev Shilp Temple (20.632571, 74.306736). The first view of Temple was amazing, though small, it resembled Mahadev Temple in Ambernath and Sinnar. Lot of fine carvings on the stone temple, seems to be made from a single rock. Some of the carvings resembled to carvings at Khajuraho, giving proof that India taught the world ways to make love. Inside the main foyer of the temple, Shiv Ling was residing silently. Beside the door of the foyer, there are idols of goddess carved in stone on both sides. People of Deolane have given paint to the top conical structures of the temple, due to which the temple has lost its natural touch, but appreciate their efforts to keep the temple standing and surroundings clean.
Mahadev Shilp Mandir, Deolane
Mahadev Shilp Mandir, Deolane
Mahadev Shilp Mandir, Deolane
Left Deolane around 5.15 PM, Sun god was feeling sleepy and going down at faster rate. We had to rush, but finding Dundha fort was a big challenge. We continued according to GMaps and again found ourselves on kutcha road. Again the same response by villagers, they didn't knew about a fort called Dundha but only new about village called Dundhe. We came back on the main road and reached Dundhe village(20.641090, 74.348816). Two people got down from the car, Prashant and Smita, to ask for directions to Dundha fort. Smita came with the right information but Prashant came with a strange one. The shopkeeper in Dundhe village told him that there are 4 tigers on the Dundha fort mountain and you shall avoid going there. Those tigers sometime come down to the base, sometime they are sitting in the temple and adjacent rooms. We were looking at each other face, the shopkeeper told us to take permission of the Baba taking care of the Dundheshwar Maharaj Mandir and then only hike the mountain as it is very dangerous. When we reach Dundheshwar Maharaj Mandir (20.619532, 74.344728) around 5.45 PM, Baba told us that they are not tigers but 4 leopard cubs (Biblyaa) on the mountain who are hardly One year old. And they don't disturb or attack anyone. Baba told us that without any fear you can go uphill, explore the fort and return as per your wish, there is no danger on the fort. Villagers are purposefully spreading such rumours. Meanwhile, we also asked Baba if we can stay in the temple premises for night. To which he said, you are most welcome, also you can cook food in my kitchen for the night. We started to climb the mountain, as it was getting dark, we took torches. Approach starts just behind the temple and in 15-20 mins, we were on the top of fort. Dundha fort mountain is full of heavy greenery and all types of huge trees, unlike other forts in Nashik, where you seldom find any big tree. We explored the Mahadev Mandir and potable water tanks besides them. Some miscreants had thrown plastic bags in the water tank. Dev Taaka, Bhim Taaka are name of the water tanks on the fort top built in rock. As we walked towards right side of the Mahadev temple, in 300 mtrs we come across a huge rock, from their the view of the surroundings was amazing. Our group spent around 30 mins sitting on the rock and enjoying the view as sun god went down to sleep completely. In dark, we made our way through bushes to the Mahadev Temple. Enroute we made jokes about what we will do if Leopard comes in our way. But, there was no sighting of leopard till we got down to the Dundeshwar Maharaj Mandir.
Left is the Dundha Fort Mountain
Dundheshwar Maharaj Mandir
Info on the fort at Base of Dundha Fort
Shiv Temple on Top of Dundha fort
Beautiful Shivling inside the Temple on Dundha Fort
Baba in the mandir was kind enough to not only share his kitchen but also provide ingredients to make rice and tur dal aamti. Baba's house was just besides the mandir, but it was not like any ashram made of leaves or sticks, it was a proper RCC bungalow (G+1) with Dish TV. After Dinner, we said goodbye to the day in a big hall newly constructed in front of the temple.
Sunday morning was pleasant and the surroundings of Dundeshwar Mandir were looking beautiful in daylight. By 8 PM we completed our output exercise and rushed to Satana for input exercise. Satana was just waking up when we reached there at 8.30 PM. Pimpla fort was a good 40 kms from Satana, so we decided to have breakfast to our heart's content. Near to Satana ST stand there are multiple hotels were you can have a good breakfast in affordable prices. Our next destination was Malgaon, which is one of the three base villages of Pimpla Fort. We decided to reach 'Dangsaundane' and ask exact directions to Malgaon, as we had wandered off due to excess usage of GMaps the previous day. In rural areas, there is difference between how you read a place name and how it is pronounced locally. When we reach Dangsaundane, we were asking 'मळगांव', but there were empty expressions on the face of villagers, as if we asked about 'California'. By showing them google maps and the direction we intend to go, they finally said you are suppose to go to 'मळगा'. So, this is how they pronounced Malgaon. And ofcourse they didn't knew about Pimpla fort, no need to explain why.
So, there are three approach to Pimpla Fort, One from Sawarpada, second from Vathode and Third from Malgaon. First of all you shall know that local people call the fort mountain as 'Kandala' or 'कंडाला' . The approach from Sawarpada is regularly used by trekkers, but it is lengthy and to come to the base of the mountain, it takes 2 hours and further 1 hour. Almost same thing from Vathode village. Best is you start from Malgaon village, which is situated just under the eastern arm of the fort. We reached Malgaon around 10.30 PM. Malgaon village is not less than the picturesque villages you see in bollywood films. With mountains surroundings from all sides except from the east, the village is gorgeous with agriculture booming in the valley. Villagers were busy with harvesting season and didn't have much time to see who have arrived in the village. We asked for a guide, who could take us to the mountain top, so we could avoid wasting time. But everyone was busy and reluctant at same time.Even though Pimpla fort peak was visible from the village, we were not sure if we would find the right route. A farmer with his two bullocks was kind enough to guide us to the start of the trail, also showed us the direction we shall follow on the mountain to reach Kandala fort. We parked our car near a villager's house. Moving through fields of Bajri, Corn, Rice, Nagli, we reached a trail going upwards in the direction of fort. A prominent trail starts from the road opposite to the earthern dam of Malgaon village. Google coordinates of starting point are 20.634878, 73.934737.
You don't leave the well trodden trail till you
reach the second plateau, in between you go through Nachni (Ragi/Nagli) fields. Further the trail was lost in tall and thick grass,
we were on our own again. But as we had proper sense of direction, thanks to the farmer, we continued on the path entirely covered by grass. In approx 1 hr 15 mins, we were near the northern face of the Kandala fort. We could see the big cave, but the cynosure of Kandala fort is Nedha (hole in the fort wall), we were not able to locate yet. We hiked upto the three water tanks which were on left side of the cave, again the water didn't seem to be potable. Cave on the fort was also Nedha initially, but was closed on one side due to fallen rocks. Cave is big enough to accommodate 20 people, but the head space is very less, if somebody doesn't take care, he/she is ought to get injured. We had a good photography session in the cave. To locate Nedha, we opened information of the fort saved in our phone. We came to know that Nedha is just 30-40 steps ahead of cave in eastern direction. We rush to the spot and were awed by the natural wonder. It was a good 70-80 feet wide, 10-15 feet height hole in the mountain of Kandala fort. On the other side, it seemed like entry window to the planet earth. Again click click click, our photos and poses were not stopping. Just besides the Nedha, the mountain is divided into two parts, from there by easy rock climbing you can reach the left top, which has water tanks and amazing view of the surroundings. On the right top, there is not much to see, you can just go to the end and come back. Panaromic view of Baglan and rural Nashik is amazing from the fort. On northern side, towards Mah-Guj border, you can see the whole range of Salher-Salota-Mulher-Mora-Hargad. Just left to the Salher fort, there is Takara pinnacle looking dangerous but determined. On Southern side, you can see Dhodap and nearby forts. It was a clear day, we could see clearly till 70-80 kms in all directions.
Pimpla (Kandala) Fort from base village Malgaon
Path Lost in Grass
Entry to Planet Earth
Nedha on the fort
Pimpla/Kandala Fort
Malgaon earthern dam
Panorama view from Pimpla fort top
Spending a good one hour on the fort, we started to descend from the same path. We lost the way one time, but were on the right trail in few minutes. View of Malgaon earthern dam was amazing, it was inviting us to take a dip and then continue journey back to Mumbai. But we were running out of time, as there was around 6 hours of journey back home. We returned near our Car around 2 PM, ate all the fruits we had and via Kalwan-Deola-Chandwad, we reached Mumbai highway. We would have avoided 20 kms if we went via Vani, but as Avinash said the road condition is bad, we decided to move via Deola. By taking two small breaks, we reached Thane around 8.30 PM and there were goodbyes and promises to meet again. We were half n hour early than what I planned in the itinerary, Bravo, Kudos !! Lot of thanks to our group Mahesh Gavasane, Smita Gavasane, Avinash Jadhav, Samidha Jadhav, Prashant Salunke, Arpita Gavankar & Anurag Chivilkar.
Gadhegals and Veerghals Enroute during Trek
