My travelogues: Camping at Naneghat

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Camping at Naneghat

The forts of Jivdhan and Naneghat (15th & 16th Dec 2012)

This blog is dedicated to Thomas Hiram Holding, the founder of camping, who wrote the first Campers Handbook in 1908. His knowledge of camping came from childhood experiences when he crossed the American prairies with his parents in 1853.

The idea of getting up on a cold winter morning, with the wind ruffling your hair and your sleepy eyes opening to the wondrous delight of the sun rising, with no man made structures around, no crowd, the idea of breathing the clean crisp air is always alluring. To lie down on the dry grass with your hands folded under your head, gazing at the myriad stars, the planets and the constellations galore, with only the sound of the wind and a wood fire burning by your side gives a kind of peace in your heart you find difficult to fathom. Camping was on my mind for quite some time now but never materialized. The Rajasthan desert safari got cancelled, a camping expedition to Tungnath in Uttaranchal got cancelled, but this time around the pegs were to be driven in to the ground, the fluttering of the tent walls were to be felt from within and without, the life of a nomad was to be lived!

Sharp 6 o’clock, my trek mates told me; so I was there at Dombivali sharp at 6, sleepless, yet excited; but my blunt friends turned up at 7 am and Udays’ suryoday happened at 7:30 and that is when we 6 embarked on our journey in a small omni van with all our bags, with our tents, with our sleeping bags, with a gas cylinder, with some ‘somras’, with lots of uncooked ‘shahi chakna’ and with an air of enthusiasm.

As we left Kalyan, a dense fog started spreading its tentacles all over and we were practically engulfed in it. Vehicles and people started appearing out of nowhere and we managed to fight the white monster as we safely reached Murbad and stopped for some refreshments.

Where's the road

As we drove along the Malshej Ghat, one of the most scenic locations of Maharashtra, the huge peaks of Harishchandragad enthralled us with its magnificence. Every stretch is a photographer’s delight with small lakes and beautiful landscapes and the splendor of the mountains. We crammed our necks left and right to catch a glimpse of the much acclaimed Konkan Kada, but managed to see only a part of it. It reminded me of when it all began with my first trek of the mighty Harishchandragad. We next halted at the Malshej Ghat temple of Lord Hanuman and Shani Dev. In the monsoons this place is a picnicker’s delight with numerous waterfalls. The MTDC resort, sitting pretty in such a wonderful location is on my list for a family outing.

View from the Malshej Ghat

After crossing Malshej Ghat, you need to take a right turn. The stretch from here (almost 40 – 45 kms) till Naneghat is narrow, filled with potholes and is in a pretty bad shape and a very bumpy ride. We crossed the Manikdoh dam and took a right from the village of Nimgiri after crossing Rajur. Saw something dedicated to leopards on the way (need to check what this is!).

After about an hour of this bumpy ride in the middle of the huge mountains, you get glimpses of the Jivdhan fort and its pinnacle and the small pyramidal structure of Naneghat. Naneghat is in the Junnar area of Pune and the other forts in the vicinity are Shivneri, Chavand and Harishchandragad. We parked our vehicle a little away from Naneghat and the base of Jivdhan, at Santoshs house which offers food, has clean toilets and also accommodation in the verandah outside his house.

We wasted no time as it was already late and with the hot sun smiling on us, we finally started our trek at 1:00 pm (horrible!! – Udayraj tujhe dekhte hain aaj!). As you walk towards Naneghat, Jivdhan is to your left and then you take a left walking in the middle of fields as you reach some thatched huts. One can clearly hear the sound of the flowing current from the overhead wires – an electric feeling; but it’s surprising that there was no electricity in the nearby villages! You need to walk a little ahead from here and then take a right as you realize you are walking at the edge of the mountain. The valley below and the edge of the rocky mountains are a delight for the eyes! There was nobody in sight and we were lost. We couldn’t figure out the way until some villagers appeared out of nowhere carrying wood on their heads. Asking them revealed the path which otherwise is near impossible to find out. The initial stretch of the trek is through a dense jungle and completely uphill and within a few minutes you will be left gasping for breath. The other drawback of this trek is that you will find it difficult to walk straight and will be left stooping mostly with branches getting in your way. Beware of insects and snakes as you are likely to encounter them.

Towards Jivdhan

After about an hour of this arduous jungle trek, we decided to break for lunch. As we were having the delicious ‘theplas’ with sauce, we realized that it was already 2:30 pm and by the time we would reach the pinnacle (Vandarlingi) and roam the fort, it would already be dark and would be difficult to find the way back. This is a difficult trek and there are stories of trekkers getting lost on this trek. So, like ‘achha bachhas’, we decided to head back, have a cup of tea and watch the sunset at Naneghat. Don’t read – a part of the reality is that we were super tired and drained due to the hot sun since, like jerks; we had started the trek at 1 pm!! Uday, where are you?

As we dozed while waiting for our tea at the thatched house where we had parked our vehicle, everyone’s’ ears stood like an alert dogs’; the scope of an oasis cam to life in the arid desert! A bus full of ladies! Can you imagine? Can you imagine Rohits’ plight?

Thinking of it as a dream, we dozed back and after having tea, we started towards the peak of Naneghat.

Beautiful view of Naneghat!!

Climbing the peak of Naneghat is a 10-15 minutes affair, but the view from this altitude is amazing. The hay hued landscape stretching for miles and miles gives you the pleasing feeling of being so far away from civilization. In fact, walking towards Naneghat from the house, towards the left, we saw an amazing and breathtaking scene. The sun was just about to set and turning a vermilion red. Like a hidden treasure, through the valley, the reddish rays of the sun were penetrating a heart shaped lake – a sight not to be easily forgotten, to be cherished! We spent some time at the summit taking the scenery in and clicking pictures against the setting sun before heading back for the feat of the day. Nagesh, the ‘kadi pehelwaan’ all of a sudden thought he was the Lord Hanuman and tried to eat the sun!!

There is a Ganesh idol in a cave at the base of Naneghat. Above the temple, to the right are small tanks of water and some cave like structures. From the base, a path leads to the actual trekking path of Naneghat, from where people come trekking to Naneghat from somewhere near Malshej, approximately a 2 hr trek. There are 2 big caves which can easily accommodate more than 10 people each and beside one of the bigger caves, there are 5 small cisterns, though they don’t have potable water. A railing is erected at the edge of the water cisterns, advisably so; else it would be a very dangerous affair. The wind here is very strong and as you climb the rocky steps, you need to be careful. The trek to Naneghat is more or less through these winding rocky steps (noted as one of the next treks).

The accomodation

We had 2 tents and under the expert guidance of Vineet, they were erected in no time. The tents were enough to accommodate 5 people each. Then came the next task of cooking and since we had enough time on our hands (we were going to have dinner after 12, since no non-veg on Saturdays), we went at a leisurely pace. Siddhesh, Uday and Rohit got down to making the tandoor and we got down to cooking and cutting inside the tent. We had a lavish menu of Veg Biryani, Butter Chicken, Chicken Kebabs, veg tandoori of onions, potatoes and capsicums and a dressing of salad, thanks to Vineet again. We also had a lecture by Vineet Baba/Kaka on why we should not follow the English timing of considering 12 am as day end among other discussions on whether drinking is a sin or not etc.etc.

While we were cooking, till 12 am, the group of girls and boys were pouring their lungs out and singing the highest chords. We were thankful that they left after having their meals and enjoying their ‘antakshari’.

Then, in the silence of the night, we played ghazals (farmayish of Rohit from the ‘Ha gadh majha aahe’ fame) on the car audio while we had our dinner. The chicken had gone bad, so we enjoyed our biryani. Having your tent pitched under a symphony of stars, humming to Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali and songs from Umrao Jaan – what a feeling!! It was such a clear sky, every star twinkled brightly as if recently washed and kept for display and their little lights magnifying the darkness.

We slept at around 3 am and were awake by 7 am as we needed to unwind quickly and head home. At around 5, I was awoken by something beating on the tent walls. I was horrified and though that it was an animal. However, it turned out to be only the wind!! We went to the cisterns early morning to wash our utensils so that we could quickly cook our breakfast of Maggi and tea and head home. Washing utensils proved to be a big task and finally after having breakfast and packing our tents, we drove back. I had my first experience of driving an Omni all the way to Dombivali from Malshej Ghat for the first time (no power steering)!! Forgot to mention, we saw an almost 6 feet long snake while returning!!

A great experience!! Adieu until the next trip!

A little history

Jivdhan
The fort stands 1145 meters above sea level. The British captured this fort in 1818 and destroyed all its approaches. This is one of the forts known as Famous 5, the others being Chavand, Hadsar, Shivneri and Naneghat. Read more on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jivdhan

Naneghat
This is a mountain pass used as a toll collection plaza extensively used as a trade route between Kalyan and Junnar. The inscriptions in the caves indicate that they are the work of Satavahana rulers. It is believed that a powerful woman ruler Naganika, the wife of Satakarni (180–170 BCE) of the Satavahana family commissioned the cave, the statues and the inscriptions. Inscriptions in the cave mention her and her family members. Vedic Gods like Yama (Hinduism) Indra, Chandra and Surya are mentioned here. The mention of Samkarsana and Vasudeva indicate the prevalence of Bhagavata form of Hinduism in the Satavahana dynasty (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naneghat).

Photos of the trek