Type : Hill Fort Ratangad Trek
Grade : Medium
Height : 4255 ft (Approx)
Base Village : Ratanwadi
History
Ratan means Jewel in Hindi. This hill fort is indeed jewel in all the hill forts here in Sahyadri. It is located in the district of Ahmednagar and is located about 4255 feet above sea level. It lies in the Ajoba mountain range surrounded by great mountains of Kulang, Alang, Kalsubai, Katarabai, Ajoba and Ghanchakkar. Geographically Ratangad is at the banks of Bhandardara lake of Ahmednagar district. With views of lake and highest mountains in Sahyadris looks very much lost in time.
At the base of this fort is ancient Lord Shiva (Amurteshwar) temple. About 1000 years old temple of Lord Shiva, the Amruteshwar Temple at Ratanwadi, is an absolute paragon of high class architecture of our ancestors.
Ratangad has still the remains of fortress with bastions and stone walls. Cave on the top is cut from the rock face and can easily accomodate 25 people at a time. Water cisterns are usually filled with water throughout the year and trekkers use them as water source. Eastern side of the fort has some fortification left, one can see Rani mahal here. From the southern side on can see Katrabai and Ajoba fort very close. This side has also some fortification left, but most of it is damaged. Climbing up on the northern side, one can see natural orifice (hole in rock, locally called nedhe) in the rock face, mostly made by wind. This orifice is big enough to be seen from base of the fort and can accommodate about 6-7 people at a time. Strong winds can be experienced at this orifice. Climbing down the nedhe to the western end of the fort leads closest to the Khuta pinnacle via tryambak Darwaza.
Travel route
Nearest railway station is Igatpuri. From Igatpuri, one need to go to Shendhi village by bus. From Shendi to Bhandardara village, one can go by boat which will take around 30 minutes. From Bhandardara, one can walk for around 45min - 1 hour to reach base village, Ratanwadi.
Another way, is about 67 km from Sangamner city which is on NH-50 Pune to Nasik, nearest city and people use it for their routine work, This route is known as State highway Kolhar-Ghoti.
Trek to fort takes around four hours in worst case. Two caves present at the top. Small cave doesn't have any grill to close the opening of cave and it can accommodate around 5 people. Big cave have grill to close the cave in nights and it can accommodate 25 people. Night stay can be done. No fear of animals, except monkeys. Rain water (collected in the tank on hill) is good enough to have mouth-wash and refreshments in the morning.
My Journey
A group of 17 odd people started our journey from Dadar to Ratanwadi village by a private bus arranged by Trek mates. Oblivious to the happenings, I slept the whole journey which only disturbed by the breeze with marvelous melody at an rate of 30 - 40 kmph.
I was flabbergasted by the scene outside, complete contrast to Mumbai. Chilled breeze slowly glancing and clouds kissing the hills. I got down after wearing a wind cheater to sustain myself in the breeze. I immediately attracted by a 1000 year old Lord Shiva (Amurteshwar) temple and a stream flowing nearby. Roaming around the field along the stream made it more meaningful to spend some time there.
Ratanwadi village and the surroundings
After a short visit to the above said places, Journey started with a breakfast from one of the villagers hut. Few steps ahead got us to a small stream, and i crossed without drenching my the shoes, hereafter i set a goal of not drenching the shoes till i reach the fort. Weather was in my favor and there was rain but only thick fog blocking the view. Soon after i was interrupted by lot of small streams and i had no other way then to remove my shoes to cross it. After sometime i realized to carry on with my journey like that drenched myself thereby ignoring my goal. I also happened to see a waterfall flowing nearby
Though we won't encourage any addition at the last minute, due to some unavoidable circumstance, we somehow accommodated one last person to our group, who seemed experienced in activities like climbing, crossing without any difficulty. A Dog followed us throughout the trek and accompanied us and not caused any disturbances. After climbing for 2 hour, we reached a plain and people started to show their photographic talent. 30 minutes afterwards, we were challenged by a couple of ladders, standing tall, with streams flowing over and above it, making it slippery. Rain with thick fog joined the bandwagon and increased the difficulty level.
The Fort
The cave acts as a resting place for night trekkers and accommodate max 30 members. We started our journey to the fort right after the lunch session, sharing food and snacks among us in the cave. By this time, the wind started, rain and fog accompanied as usual. We moved with the wind and walked our way, sometimes the current was heavy and i hold something for support. We had a chance to visit the other route to ratangad, which is very step and must not be attempted during rainy season, as there is no grip, slippery and no support.
We infront of cave & the fort
We climbed further more, till a point which looked like an hole carved in the middle of the mountain, acted as an entry path for the current wind to express its happiness. The current pressure is very high at this point and difficult for one to stand in front of it, the wind must be flowing at more than 50 kmph speed. We decided to cross the hole and planned to descend down to see the remaining part of the fort. Some people backed off due to the difficulty involved and planned to join us by another route . I climbed down successfully submitting myself to the Nature.
Waterfall
While climbing, we had a chance to look at a beautiful waterfall and decided to taste the shrill sound and water while descending. To our unfortunate no one seems to know the path to it, which made us to drop the plan. Somehow we managed to find a small water fall and spent some time there, playing, jumping and wetting ourselves. It took us just 2 hrs to reach the base. Poha and tea were prepared and kept ready for us at the village. I went to the water stream and freshened myself, changed the clothes before having the light snack. Finally settled down at the vehicle to Mumbai.
This trek is totally unexpected experience and the Nature god offered more than we deserved. It was one of my best trek i have experienced so far, but i still regret not traveling by a public transport as i always believe it would be more adventurous. This is one of the must visit fort in Mumbai, and also a nice trekking place.
Amurteshwar temple acts an entry to the indefinite beauty associated with the trek. Do visit to know more :)
1 comment:
Hi
Nice layout of the Trek blog, the pictures are well taken and informative sp the ladder. Pl keep it up.
Raju.
P.S. We are planning to go there on the 5th of Feb 2010.
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