Type: Hill Fort
Height: 4500 Feet above MSL (Approx)
Grade: Medium (5.5 hrs trek)
Region: Malshej
Base Village: Khireshwar
Harishchandragad: The fort is quite ancient, considered to be from the Medieval period. The Great sage Changdev (one who created the epic Tatvasaar), used to meditate on Taramati/Rohidas in 14th century. The caves are also from the same period.
Taramati: This is the topmost point on the fort. From here we can have a glimpse of the whole range of Naneghat and the forts near Murbad.
Konkan Kada: The most interesting point on this fort is this cliff, which has always fascinated many people from many years. The cliff faces west and looks down upon the Konkan with a breathtaking view of the surrounding region and sunset. This cliff is not just vertical; it is an overhang, almost like a cobra's hood.
Kedareshwar: The cave of Kedareshwar has a big Shivlinga, which is totally surrounded by water.
JourneyHistory
The fort is quite ancient. Remnants of Microlithic man have been discovered here. The various Puranas (ancient scriptures) like Matsyapurana, Agnipurana and Skandapurana include many references about Harishchandragad. Its origin is said to have been in 6th century, during the rule of Kalchuri dynasty. The citadel was built during this era. The various caves probably have been carved out in the 11th century. In these caves are idols of Lord Vishnu. Though the cliffs are named Taramati and Rohidas, they are not related to Ayodhya. Great sage Changdev (one who created the epic “Tatvasaar”), used to meditate here in 14th century. The caves are from the same period. The various constructions on the fort and those existing the surrounding region point to the existence of diverse cultures here. The carvings on the temples of Nageshwar (in Khireshwar village), in the Harishchandreshwar temple and in the cave of Kedareshwar indicate that the fort belongs to the medieval period, since it is related to Shaiva, Shakta or Naath. Later the fort was under the control of Moguls. The Marathas captured it in 1747.
Read more (Part I)...
Read more (Part II)...
It all started at Kalyan on one fine day August 7th, where a bunch of trek freeks or evangelist (call by any name) started their journey to Second Heaven. Out of massive 100 registration, 65 made it, a bigger lot from Mumbai and a smaller lot from Pune. Journey started by a local ST bus to Khubi Phata. Adventure started at bus depot itself, due to mistake in booking tickets. Seems for 11 pm bus it was mistakenly booked at 11 am bus. No one noticed till last minute. Seemingly in a weird way the ticket also didn't metioned it, just 11 printed in the ticker.. Weirdos.
Everyone didn't get the seat due to this panga, I somehow managed to get a seat and also slept till Khubi phata which is around 2 hrs travel from Kalyan. I was made to wait near the bus stand till everyone arrived, from Mumbai as well as from Pune. All reached nearly an hour, the time clocked 2 am.
Destination Khireshwar Village
Though it is dark, I can see a few white clouds passing us. I felt the pinch of rainy clouds passing through me with few drizzling effects at random intervals. My first journey started in a mud road, along the side of the dam to the Khireshwar village, 6 km ahead of us. The road is filled with silence and lit by clouds. Though i don't have any torch i can easily see the road ahead of me. Walking along the side of the dam, peeping through the clouds and drenching in a rain was really a nice experience to start with.
After 30 odd minutes i reached the village, and to my surprise all the resting places are jam packed. Almost 6 trek groups came to harishchandragad for that week. I was redirected to a nearby school by our leaders as an halting point from the night.
Rush to the cave
The situation is demanding and crowded, so there is a need to arrange an accommodation for all of us. Our decision is to rush to the cave and occupy before anyone, Which means someone has to take the pain of trekking at night itself. A 5 member team is formed immediately and i was one among them. My journey to the cave started at 3 am early morning, infact at my sleep time, as i haven't sleep till then. Asusual the trek started with a quick introduction round. I am the only outlier who doesn't have any knowledge of Marathi at all. Except me everyone is mumbaite. So the leader advised everyone to speak in english, if not Hindi and definetly no Marathi.
Obviously One can't beat 5, so i couldn't control their urge to talk in marathi. Finally it ended up i being a listner to a discussion in marathi through out the journey. I am still hoping that i will get comfortable with Marathi soon.
Snake, waterfalls, rain, mist, fog, rocky patch become good friend of us. I crossed three rocky patches, before reaching the fort wall. At one such patch i saw the clouds circling the surrounded mountain as if they forget their way to move forward. Unfortunately i couldn't capture the moment as it was raining.. Damn!!!
Konkan Kada
I got up in the afternoon to see people preparing their mats around me and also heard the announcement to leave to konkan kada in 30 mins. I hurried and had a brief lunch, only biscuits this time. Konkan kada is not far off as i thought and i reached in just 20 mins. I couldn't see even a damn thing out there and also i coundn't felt the altitude. The mist was completely grey, covered the whole region, hardly i can peek to have a look at the valley. A small game started soon, everyone plunked any plant near to them and throw it in the valley. Bcause of the high upward pressure existed over there, we can see the plant flying like an helicopter.
To have a good view of the Konkan Kada, one should go during other season (i planned my second trip to Harishchandragad during spring). After spending some time there over there, clicking pics, dancing, playing etc.. i started my journey back towards the cave. The cave immediately filled with silence, as everyone started to have their evening nap, but few enthusiasts started anthakshri, at least this time HINDI songs, not marathi. I guess it lasted for more than 2 hrs (i slept throughout). By the time i got up, Dinner was ready to be served and everyone lined up.I had some chappathi, rice and chicken (which someone got from home). After some chitchat went back to sleep, and got up early morning.
Mandir
Since it was raining heavily, the planned visit Taramathi peak was dropped and we headed straightly to Jothir lingam. The temple had a small pond at such great heights. I joined others there and showed my swimming skills in the nearby pond, water being freezingly cold, but not bothered us. I jumped from the wall around 10 - 15 times, thereby hurting my back in the process. Rain started pouring heavily and made it enjoyable.
I had chance to visit the remaning places, which i missed earlier due to night trek. I joined a group of 5 people, clicking pics, playing in the waterfall and all other possible activities. A trek without these misc activities is half done ;)
At one point of time, i can see 10 waterfalls dripping down from the paradise.
Harischandragad, also known as second heaven is a must visit place any time of the year, be it a summer, winter or Spring. I had a nice time, except the language problem as most of the people speak marathi whereas i was left alone most of the time.
The rocky patch will be a little tricky to pass through that one should take care of. I'm sure that each season, Harishchandragad has some different experience to offer. Do find some time and visit this place, a must one for trekkers.
5 comments:
nice man...we are planning to go there weekend...did you guys climb the taramati peak/taramachi? when you guys went up, were there any locals on the fort?
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awesome dude thx for the information. v r plang to go this monsoon.
i want to go harishchandragad any local guide available or not
Hi there... 5 of us are planning to go to harishchandragad coming weekend.. I wanted to know whether 1 day trek is possible... leaving early evening on Friday and back to bby by late morning/noon on Sunday?
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