Lohagad Fort -- A Hike amidst dazzling wild flowers

It was almost the mid of October and three weeks had quietly passed after my trek to Korigad. Hiking in sweltering heat of October is quite exhausting and challenging. Humidity along with heat dehydrates you instantly and make the hiking more arduous. So good plan is to hike in the region with less humidity and start your hike early in the morning before heat takes a toll on your body. This was one of the reasons of selecting Lohagad. Besides, Lohagad is so crowded with the undisciplined tourists in the rainy season that I somehow shudder to visit it in rains to witness the filth, the litter, the noise that these unruly tourists make on this beautiful fort. So all in all, hiking on Lohagad in October made a lot of sense to me and I zeroed on it.

Next part was to invite friends who are most likely to join.

"Sandeepak Phadke" whom I met on a trek to Visapur just two months back, shares the same passion of hiking , never asks too many questions regarding place to hike, mode of transportation and meeting place. We already have done treks to Visapur, Sudhagad, Sankshi, Korigad together within such a small span of time. Really a great trek-mate to have!

I contacted him on whatsapp:
Me: “Hey Saneedpak, Its been a while since we last trekked (we had trekked together 3 weeks back to Korigad). Let us visit Lohagad this Saturday. You have to say ‘yes’, there is no other option.” :D

Sandeepak: “Jau re" (we will go)

Me: “Currently, we are only two. If possible, invite your friends and I will also invite mine”

Sandeepak: “Ok”

See, no questions; only positive responses. 

Another friend, "Roshan Dusane" who was my classmate and roommate during my engineering days was my dear friend at one point. Though we have remained friends in the theoretical sense, we hardly met during the last few years as our paths diverged wildly. Recently, he got inspired by reading my blogs and decided to join me for the trek to Rajmachi from Kondivade route, a steep hike. As he had put on a lot of weight on the wrong parts of his body, I had advised him not to do his first trek to Rajmachi. But he was adamant and by his sheer will power, he successfully completed the trek. As a result, he was at home for three days with sore legs. Anyways, I have taken a pledge to bring back my friend to the best of fitness and despite having his worst experience on his first trek, I made another attempt to persuade him for another trek.

Me: “Hi Roshan, planned a trek to Lohagad; interested?”

No reply.

Next, day:

Me:” Hi”

No reply till afternoon.

Suddenly, during afternoon Roshan’s message pops up.

“Sorry, I just noticed your message. I am interested and will bring along my friend as well”.

I called him up and after finding out that he had to be back by 4 PM, I decided to cancel the initial plan of traveling by local train and asked Roshan to bring his car to save the time. So all was set and I informed Sandeepak about change in the original plan.

All the trek-mates gathered outside my society around 6 AM. Roshan brought along his friend "Pankaj Jambhale" who was going to hike for the first time. Pankaj drove his brand new Verna car and we took the old highway and soon reached to Bhaje village and parked the car in the parking space specifically reserved for tourists.

We breakfasted at a small food joint named “Panchaganga” and started our walk towards Lohagad around 8 AM. It was a lovely morning and villagers were just starting their daily routine; a farmer was feeding his cows; women were washing the clothes in the water coming down from the waterfall. Though it was almost mid of October, it seemed to have rained the previous night and the path was muddy with puddles of water on the dirt road.

Lohagad base is around 5 Kms from Bhaje village and you need to walk on a gradual ascent. This is one of the most pleasurable walks you will ever have with lush green surroundings.

Small hut along the way with part of Lohagad (Vinchu-Kata machi) seen in the remote background:

We stopped at a small hut to have lemon water and proceeded further. Soon we reached to Gaimukh Khind. From here, you need to take right to go to Lohagad and left to go to Visapur.

Gaimukh Khind with Lohagad on right and Visapur on left

Entire Lohagad as seen before reaching to Gaikmukh Khind

We took the right turn from Gaimukh Khind and proceeded towards Lohagadvadi. Looking back, Visapur was looking splendid. I had visited Visapur recently and was completely awed by the beauty of it.

Soon, we reached to Lohagadwadi, the base village of Lohagad. After bowing our heads in front of statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the village, we started ascending Lohagad.

Lohagad, at an height of 1052 m, divides the basins of Indrayani and Pavna and is situated on a side ranges of Sahydari. This fort is said to be more than 2000 years old. It was ruled by many dynasties right from Satavahans, Chalukyas, Nizamshahi, Mughals to the Great Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. More on the history can be found out here.

Map of Lohagad (Courtesy: Trekshitiz)

The fort has 5 successive entrances or Darwajas, Ganesh Darwaja, Maha Darwaja,Nana Darvaja, Trimbakeshwar Darvaja and Hanuman Darwaja. All the doors are still quite strong and are located on the serpentine ascent of the fort. The hanuman darwaja is the oldest of the quartet. The remaining three doors were built by Nana Phadnavis, the erstwhile chief minister of the Peshwas (Sawai Madhavrao).

Ganesh Darvaja with carvings of Lord Ganesha on both the sides:

Shilalekh (inscription) on one of the stones after entering Ganesh Darwaja:

Cannons after entering Ganesh Darvaja

Photo Courtesy: Sandeepak Phadke

Maha Darvaja

The space between the second and the third door contains some cellars used as granaries

Nana Darvaja

Trimbakeshwar Darvaja

Hanuman Darvaja

Serpentine ascent looks awesome from the top.

Soon after entering Hanuman Darvaja, you enter the fort and come across a mosque like structure on the fort containing the tomb. 

After reaching on top of the fort, we met a guy named "Ajit Dixit" who had come alone from Mumbai to hike on Lohagad. I asked him to join us for further exploration and he instantly agreed.

Going further from the mosque, there is a Mahadev Temple.

Trimbak Talav next to the above temple

 Further along the fortification is a spacious rock cut cave named "Lakshmi Kothi". Nana Phadanvis  made use of this kothi to store treasure looted from Surat.

This is an ideal place for staying on the fort and can easily accommodate more than 50 people.

Water tank near the cave:

Polygonal lake with 16 sides built by Nana Phadanvis:

On the west side, there is a long and narrow wall-like fortified spur called Vinchukata (Scorpion’s tail) because of its shape. (Dimensions: 1500m long & 30m wide)

We couldn't resist clicking our pictures in front of this marvelous structure.

My photo clicked by Sandeepak Phadke

You need to negotiate a rock patch to go down to this part of the fort. If you are not comfortable with coming down from the rock patch, there is an alternate and simple route available which starts few meters before the rock patch.

Out of 5, only two of us (me and Sandeepak) negotiated this rock patch. Rest were not confident and we did not force them. They agreed to wait till we explore the area on Vinchu-Kata.

Rock Patch to descend on Vinchu-Kata

Water cistern on Vinchu-Kata

Tip of the Vinchu-Kata

View from tip of Vinchu-Kata

To ascend to the main part of the fort from Vinchu-Kata, we were thinking to climb the rock patch. But we spotted a simple route just beside the rock patch. To complete the exploration, we followed this route which joined just few meters away from the rock patch from where we had descended.

Plateau and small hills on Visapur top are clearly seen from the top of Lohagad. Also, on the right side of Visapur, you can clearly see the peak named "Bhatrashi". This is the beholding sight to watch particularly if you have wild flowers in the foreground.

In 1818, making use of its higher elevation and proximity to Lohagad,, the British troops set up their cannons on Visapur and bombarded Lohagad, forcing the Marathas to flee.

Highest point of Lohagad where there is a tomb like structure.

Expanse as seen from this highest point:

After exploring all the fort, we had a packed lunch lovingly prepared by our respective wives and descended back to the village. From here, we again had to walk back to the Bhaje village in the scorching heat.

We took few small breaks in the shadow to get some respite from the heat.

While returning back, we had an amazing view of Bhaje Caves from the distance. As we wanted to return back before 4PM, we did not visit it.

Some macro photography along the way:

Soon, we reached to Bhaje village and spotted few enthusiastic tourists who were trying to get drenched themselves under almost non-existent waterfall.

We dropped our new friend Ajit to Malavali railway station and headed towards Pune. We reached back to Pune before 4PM giving us the opportunity to spend a quiet evening with the family.

In hindsight, it was the best season to visit Lohagad with hardly any crowd. Sights of flowers in dazzling profusion carpeting the entire fort would linger in my mind for a long, long time. Wonderful architecture of the fort, stunning sights of Tung, Tikona and Visapur fort made this hike really memorable.

Tips for the hikers:

• This is a simple hike. If you walk from Malavali, it is a very scenic and pleasurable walk of around 6-7 Kms one way. 
• If you have time, you can also visit Bhaje Caves along the way or the nearby Karla caves.
• Visiting Visapur on the same day is possible but it would be hectic and has to be done in a lot of haste.
• You can get lunch at the base village, Lohagadvadi.
• Don’t miss visiting Vinchu-Kata machi. You can take a simple route if you don’t want to negotiate the rock patch.
• Don’t miss the stunning views of Visapur, Bhatrashi Peak on the east side and Tung, Tikona forts and Pavna dam on the South side.
• Beware of the monkeys on the fort. Don’t carry the plastic bags in your hands to avoid monkeys attacking you. 

Thank you for reading the blog!

Do visit my home page to easily navigate to my other blogs.

Happy trekking!

Appeal: No litter; no plastic; no wrappers; keep the mother nature clean!

Korigad Fort -- Hike on a rare sunny day in monsoon

It was pouring the whole mid-night; out of five trek-mates, two made themselves unavailable earlier night because of some urgent work leaving only three of us to trek. Intensity of the rain was so much at mid-night that I woke up from the sound sleep as rain was lashing on my bedroom windows and terrace roofs. Considering that we had to trek in Lonavala where rain would be much severe, a thought came to my mind to cancel the trek. Luckily, incessant rain stopped sometime early in the morning and weather became clear when I got up. Fortunately, my friends, Sandeepak Phadke and Hetal Shah woke up on time and came at my home around 6.45 AM.

We left Pune in my car as per the earlier plan. I had taken guidance regarding direction of Korigad, trekking route and places to eat in advance from my friend Onkar Oak who is a living encyclopedia of all the Sahyadri related information. Weather was fantastic; traffic was sparse and we soon reached to Lonavala around 8.15AM. We had a breakfast of Idli-vada sambar followed by tea at “Annapurna” restaurant and proceeded towards the Korigad. 

Korigad, at an height of 929m above sea level, is situated about 20km away from Lonavala on the way to Aamby valley. Drive from Lonavala to Korigad was quite heavenly with road engulfed in the clouds and wild flowers spread across the vast expanse. We just reveled at the majestic sights and awesome weather. After reaching to base village named Peth Shahapur, we confirmed the direction of our trek from the local villagers and these villagers also showed us the place to park the car. There is a well in the village from where you need to go to left and follow the dirt path. 

Make sure that you keep peak of the fort on your right side as you trek.

After a while, we came across alternate route right to the normal route which was going through the thicket. The route was looking very inviting and I went inside to check it out. I further went inside for 5 minutes and after spotting litter like water bottle and biscuit wrappers left over by some of earlier trekkers (?), I called out to my friends to join me on the same route.

We walked almost 10-15 minutes further and this route finally joined somewhere in the middle of well laid steps of Korigad.

After climbing few steps, you come across a small water tank carved inside the rock and a tiny Ganesh Temple.

Ganesh Idol inside the temple:

Slope of the fort was covered with the green grass and flowers and it was a soothing sight for the eyes.

Soon, you come across Ganesh Darvaja, the main entrance of the fort.

Main attractions of the fort:

There is a large plateau on the fort; fortification of the fort is still intact and you can have a walk of about 2km around its entire circumference. There are two lakes in the middle of the fort and temples of Korai Devi, Lord Ganesha and Lord Shiva. Several ruins of older structures within the fort still exist. It has six cannons - the largest of which called the Laxmi Toph is located near the Korai Devi temple. You can get beautiful views of Ambey Valley from the top. Also, on the clear day Nagphani Point, Tung, Tikona, Matheran, Prabalgad, Karnala and Manikgad ranges can be seen.

Temples on the fort:

Mahadev Temple:

Korai Devi Temple: This temple was in ruins few years back; but thanks to emergence of Sahara Lake City next to Korigad, restoration of the fort was done and temples were re-built. Not all the forts are as lucky as Korigad!

Korai Devi Temple from the back:

Korai Devi Temple from the front:

 Korai Devi Idol (almost 4 ft tall)

Ganesh Temple:

Ganesh Idol along with other two idols:

Water lakes on the fort:

There are two water lakes on the fort adjacent to each other.
Water looked clean and I got the opportunity to capture some splendid reflections.

Cows were standing as if they knew that they were being photographed. Apparently, these cows were in the water for all the time during our 2-3 hours stay on the fort and they never came out.

Fortification of the fort is still intact.

You can walk on the perimeter of most of the fort and it is certainly one of the most pleasurable walks you will ever have.

Caves on the Northern side of the fort:

There are many cannons on the fort. Largest one of them is named as "Lakshmi Toaf".

Other cannons:

On the Southern side, you have another entrance to the fort named "Amabavane Darvaja". Route from this gate goes down to the village named Ambavane. You can also trek from this base village and it takes around an hour to reach to the fort from this base village.

Many of the Bastions of the fort are still intact.

Beautiful landscapes as seen from the fort:

After exploring each and every corner of the fort, we decided to climb down. Descending was quite easy and we reached to the base within 15 minutes.

We quenched our thirst after coming down as we had exhausted our water supply almost an hour back. Apparently, I was the only one carrying water and it was not sufficient for three of us. As we were hungry, we soon headed towards Lovavala. We just hoped that it would rain while we go to Lonavala to bring some relief from the heat; but it didn’t. We soon reached to Lonavala; had a  heavy lunch at Ramkrishna restaurant and departed towards Pune and reached to Pune around 4 PM.

Verdant landscapes, blossoming wild flowers of myriad colors, amazing turquoise sky with white clouds, panoramic views from the top and ample time and opportunities for photography made this trek quite a special one.

Tips for the trekkers:

• This is quite a simple trek.
• No food facility on fort. Carry your own lunch in case you plan to have it on the fort. Ideal option would be to plan this trek in such a way that you can come to Lonavala for the lunch.
• If you have a time and stamina, you can combine trek to Ghangad along this one. Or else you can combine this trek with visit to ancient Karla caves.
• You can stay inside the temple in case you want to stay on the fort at night.

Do visit my home page to easily navigate to my other blogs.

Happy trekking!

Appeal: No litter; no plastic; no wrappers; keep the mountains clean!