My travelogues: waterfalls

Showing posts with label waterfalls. Show all posts

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Korigad - A walk in the clouds!!

Other forts and trekking destinations

Other weekend getaways

Korigad

The trekkers

This was the first time I was to be on a trek with unknown people, a new group called Trekshitiz (http://trekshitiz.com/). So I chose a relatively easier one and Anand was good enough to join me. Trekshitiz is a trekkers group from Dombivali who are avid trekkers and organize treks for fellow travelers. They have also taken up a new project to conserve, clean and restore the Sudhagad fort. Great work guys!!

We were told to gather at 5:45 am at Dombivali. However, the bus finally left at around 6:30 am. Andy had a hard time and spent unnecessary money reaching from Borivali and finally took a rickshaw to Ghatkopar and then a train to Dombivali. He could have taken the normal route had he known the flexibility of timings. There were a total of 45 people on the bus to Lonavala and everybody had a merry time singing songs, pulling each others legs, tying friendship bands and gazing at the scenery outside.

As we neared Lonavala, a misty octopus started stretching his tentacles all over. The trees were engulfed as they swayed to breathe from its hold, the mountains were covered, the roads disappeared and you could practically see nothing beyond a few metres. The bus driver did a great job driving in such conditions. I had never seen so much of fog or mist before, it just refused to go!! We reached our destination, Peth Shahpur which was the base village for the trek and had breakfast of idli chatni and tea, and the introduction and instruction session was kicked off by our trek leader for the day, Swati. It was good to get acquainted with people from different walks of life. There were 2 kids in the group too!

The Korigad trek is a very simple one, the easiest trek I have experienced till now. The initial 15-20 minutes is through a forest and you get to see the peak of the fort on your right while you walk. Criss-crossing bamboo trees, falling on each other as if in love, little streams formed by the rain water, the sloshing mud and the runway clouds high up above capture your attention. In the middle of the forest, suddenly, out of nowhere appear steps which lead to the fort. Halfway across the steps, you come to an open space with a cave on the right side, a Hanumanji temple and beautiful landscape to your left. A little ahead is another small cave and then comes the Darwaza to the fort. There are around 5 ‘Tofs’ on the fort, the biggest one called Lakshmi Tof and 2 temples, one of them being of Goddess Koraidevi. As we started the parikrama of the fort along its edges, we could hardly see the valley below; in fact everything was covered by the clouds. A mere 4-5 seconds disappearance of the sheet of clouds exposed the beautiful surrounding of the Amby valley and the entire landscape. Am sure on a less cloudy day, the scenery would be worth gazing at for hours and hours. There are 2 good enough lakes and some people were having a gala time in them. In the blinding mist, the sound of the waves formed by the lake seem like you are near to an ocean and since on the other side, all you can see is white foam, it literally gives you a feeling that you are walking the length of a bridge on a wide ocean. We had fun at a waterfall from a cave like formation and Andy started shivering like a leaf after getting drenched in the waterfall. It was fun walking the entire circumference of the fort. The wind whipped us with all its might and wouldn’t stop and made it difficult to balance and take your next stride. The mighty force of the wind reminded me of the Paranthampura or Eagle Rock mountain of Kerala near Thekkady where a light weighted person can literally be carried off his legs by the powerful wind.

And then it was lunch time. Like nomads, we had our lunch near one of the temples and lakes, without shelter in the pouring rain and the blowing wind. It was fun and a different experience!

Post lunch we started our descent and were down in no time. The group wanted to take their next halt at Tiger hills in Lonavala. The mist just refused to lift and the place was crowded and buzzing with activity as weekenders had come in flocks to enjoy the rains and waterfalls.

We finally reached back to Dombivali station at around 9:30 pm. A day well spent!!

History of the Fort

This fort was incorporated into his kingdom by Chhatrapati Shivaji along with the forts of Lohagad, Visapur, Tung and Tikona in 1657. On March 11, 1818, Col. Prother tried to take over this fort but even after a prolonged siege could not make any headway. Finally on 14 March, by igniting the stored ammunition by means of a loose cannon ball he succeeded and this fort went to the British (Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korigad)

Bambooozled!!

Andy and the rest of the group

Celebrating the glory!!

Steps to the top, Hanuman Mandir and Taake

Cave and Taake

On cloud nine!!

Canon

The floating clouds

The peak of Korigad covered by clouds

Kadam kadam badhaye jaa...

Posing in the mist

Majestic

The lake on Korigad - looking like the Lonar crater

Laxmi Tof

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Konkan Yatra Day 6 - Shri Kshetra Marleshwar - to the land of Lord Shiva

Shri Kshetra Marleshwar

It’s not surprising that Lord Shiva chooses the mountains as his abode. The mountains verily resemble him –

Peaceful and powerful!!

Raw and beautiful!!

Simple yet engrossing!!

Demanding awe and respect!!

Always composed but a single glimpse of its wrath is feared!

HAR HAR MAHADEV!!

The moment you are at Marleshwar, it seems to be a place where Lord Shiva must have put his most adept and trustworthy architects, artists and sculptors to work, to custom built a home with simplicity and natural beauty as its core elements. And the architects, it seems didn’t disappoint Him! The sculptors sculpted the mightiest of mountains unshaken by any thing, the designers and artists put their hearts into their draughtsmanship and the end result was a rendezvous with beauty - numerous waterfalls trickling down from the huge mountains wherever the eye could see, not few, not a dozen, only more, the power of the gurgling streams, the floating clouds caressing the peaks, the mist engulfing the onlooker, the caves acting as a hidden treasure, creative brush strokes of green; it was all there!!

It seems Lord Shiva loved it and simply appeared!!

Marleshwar induces a greed in you that will never be satisfied. Anywhere and everywhere you look, your jaws drop in awe at this beautifully created Gods gift. It is a scene you rarely see elsewhere. Waterfalls in dozens, mountains touching the sky – your head feels giddy with happiness that you made it here and you keep looking. It was raining, hence clicked very few photographs.

          We had to change 3 buses from Ganpatipule to reach Shri Kshetra Marleshwar, each bus taking about an hour. From Ganpatipule, we caught a bus to Nivale, from Nivale to Devrukh, where we dumped our bags at a friends place and then the final stretch from Devrukh to Marleshwar.
          A special mention needs to be made of the ST (State Transport) buses and its drivers. They are simply amazing! The buses look rustic and comfort is a distant dream, but the buses are as sturdy as rhinos and the drivers as efficient and talented as there can ever be!! Ghats are an everyday affair and synonymous with breathing on the Konkan stretch and the way these stalwarts steer and navigate their buses reminds you of a child playing with his toy car. The buses are almost always on time and go to the most remote places.
          The bus to Marleshwar brings you to the entrance of the way to the temple. From here you need to climb the steps for about 20 - 30 minutes to reach the temple which is in a cave. It is a Swayambhu temple of Lord Shiva. The temple is also famous for another reason – snakes crawl in the caves and are a common sight as told to us by the priest, though we didn’t sight any. The snakes till date have not bitten anybody. We took care to not take any red flowers this time. On weekends and Mondays, there are very long queues of devotees. On Makarsankranti and MahaShivratri, the queue of devotees and parked vehicles goes down till Maral village almost 4 kms down. The steps are lined with shops all along. At the entrance, just before the steps, we had bhajiyas before going to the temple and a nice hot and simple thaali on our way back.

Local Folklore:

The guy from the hotel where we had lunch told us an interesting thing. He said that nobody visits the temple after Makarsankranti. Makarsankranti marks the marriage date of Lord Maleshwar and Goddess Girijadevi and a huge jatra takes place in the temple and the nearby village. On the 16^th of January, nobody should knowingly stay near the temple premises. He said, once a drunkard lay asleep here on this day. The next day he was found dragged, bruised and covered with blood and in a terrified state in the nearby village and he could not recollect who did this to him. Another instance of a group was told by this old man to us. This group did not know about this fact and since it got late, decided to stay near the steps to the temple. What they experienced that night gave them shivers. They heard deafening and frightening sounds, light flashes all over, whirlwinds, unnatural clattering and shrieking. The old man says they survived only because they weren’t aware!! If you are here, hear the story from him.

The next day we spent fishing and hunting and just lazing around at a friends village at Tamhane, which is between Devrukh and Sangameshwar before catching the train at Sangameshwar station to return back to the concrete jungles of Mumbai!

Waterfalls surrounding the mountains of Marleshwar

Tukus' fields and house in Tamhane

Bakery at Tukus' house

Bhatti or Oven for making paavs

Ekach lavya

Something fishy!!

The bait

Planet of the apes!!