Raigad-fort

After a long time, I am back with my second published travelogue, this time after my visit to a place which has its great importance in Indian history from way back in 1600's till date specially to every maharastrian. The fort which silently boasts for its secured location, was the capital of one of great king- yes you guessed it and its right- Raigad fort.We started our journey at 0600 even when it was still dark, from ghatkopar via NH17. We had a smooth drive except 2 speed breakers hurting 2 of us on their top of heads.

Filled with jokes, UNO cards, snacks, songs, dialogues, we reached the foot of the Fort by 10.30am.
We took the ropeway due to lack of time and stamina which took us to the top of the fort in just 5 minutes which the other way would take us nearly 3 hours or more. By 11.30 we reached the top of the fort. Ganesh's aka "jaykant's" love for his native land  grew up to such an extend that he started standing up,waving hands, putting his head out from the ropeway.

Meena Darwaja

From the upper ropeway station., we reached the Meena Darwaja- the door for the royal ladies of that time. After getting inside from here, on the left was 6 Queens Palaces adjacent to each other. To the right was ministers room of which only little part was remaining.

Ruins of the twin towers

We then moved ahead to the ruins of the two towers which was originally of 7 floored out of which only 2 floors are remaining. One tower was used to hoist the flag of the ruling king & the second was used by the king to have a look over the entire territory in the evenings.


From here, we moved ahead to Shivaji's Palace and his Throne. This place where more than 6000 people used to gather here to speak to their king was created in such a intelligent way that if anyone sitting anywhere inside the durbar speaks or even makes a slightest of noise, the King could hear that sitting on this Throne. This was proved by one of the group's guide when he spoke really slow standing near the gate & we all standing near the throne.  Awesome Architecture.

Market place

Walking ahead, we reached the Holi cha mal where a statue of shivaji is kept facing the market place.

Jagdishwar temple from a distance

Guide explaning at Shivaji's samadhi

Then we headed towards the Jagdishwar temple. from a distance it will look like a mosque. This is because, ever if moguls attack raigad, they should feel that it inhabits their own people (muslims) and not any others. Also the door to that temple is not of much height. We learned that the reason behind it was the moguls of that time were tall with equivalent  weight should find it difficult to enter inside the temple.
Near to the temple was samadhi of Shivaji maharaj.  Next to Shivaji's Samadhi, stands the samadhi of his faithful dog waghya who committed suicide on  learning the news of his masters death. We returned back walking towards the Tak-mak tok point. It was at this place the death punishment during that time was executed by tying hands and legs of the person and throwing him down from this place. At the tak mak tok, there were people from yastwanroa university who were doing rappling. They used to go till 1700 feet down where there is a pleatue and again climb up. Jitendra our organiser, accounts manager, treasurer was always ready with his envelope of money and a pen to pen down the expenses.

Then we started our journey - trekking back. On the way we saw the Ganga sagar talav- the main water source for the soldiers of the time. Then was the main gate of the fort named MahaDarwaja

Mahadarwaja

A awesome story about a lady named Hirkani was heard who showed Shivaji that the so called extremely protected fort raigad had loop holes in protection. As per the rules at 6 pm trumpets are sounded and all gates of the fort will be closed. No one can enter or leave the fort after closing of gates. She was held up inside the fort and had to reach back home as her 2 weeks old son was alone at home. She found her way through the rocky terrain which was then developed into a Burj and named Hirkani Buruj. As we were descending down the fort, our much energetic, enthusatic Ganesh had drained himself of stmaina.

The elegance, beauty of the fort will not be forgotten even if most of it goes under ruins- such was the construction of that time. We descended down the 820 meters fort in about hour and a half. Had it not been the Britishers destroyed the fort, we could have got a more better glimpse of such a beautiful fort. 

The trip to akola started on 7th july evening at 8.00 from Dadar Terminus. We four myself, Jitendra, Ganesh & Shailesh started our journey by Amravati Exp. After boarding our S7 coach, there were a lot of hustle & bustle for seats because of wait listed & general tickets travelers asking for place adjustments till further stations. We had our Dinner - Chappatis &  Bhajji made by Ganesh's  Mom... Awesome delicious. We had a quiet sleep as we had a night watchman vth us (Jitu).. who rarely sleeps in travelling.

Train was hour and half late & we got off at Shegaon station at about 7.15 am. Rain was drizzling & we had 2 wear our rainy outfits.

We then proceeded for a lodge where we can freshen up & keep our luggage's safely. We got a good place at a very cheap rate of 125 for a day with good facilities for freshening up. We had a heavy breakfast with poha, upma, tea, biscuts. The tea we got throughout our trip was very awesome.

Anand Sagar Entrance

Then we started out first day to the Anand sagar Garden which is built on 350 acres of land situated in Buldhana district. We got a free drop till the garden by a bus & reached there by 11.00 am . Initially we thought we can cover up the garden in about an hour or two & look out for few nearby forts but eventually we dint get time to complete the entire garden in one full day. A well maintained garden with about 3000 workers working around looking after the garden in a well disciplined manner. The entrance gate to the garden was a huge one, well built with carvings, structures of elephant on both sides. The structure of elephant was carved out of one stone.

After entering there were  various types of fountains greeting the visitors to the garden. Then our photographer  got few good snaps to remember throughout his lifetime. Then we proceeded to the aquarium which was completely build by permanent Plaster of Paris (POP) & has a feeling as if we are inside a cave. Shailesh finished his urge for fish here in the aquarium by staring at one fish for 20 minites & we had to wait half an hour for him (Aquarium hardly took us 10 mins).

From aquarium we moved ahead to the next place. Got to see fearless squirrels who come near our feet. There were many structures of birds, wild animals, flowers built in everywhere the garden.

Musical Fountain open Auditorium

The next site we saw was a open auditorium in a complete 'C' shape. The seats are cushioned grass. Musical Fountain is the daily attraction of this place. We could not see the musical event as it was @ 6.40. Jitu captured a awesome pic of Ganesh while he was busy with his usual business of PJ's and dramas.

Hanging bridge

Then we moved to a island park. The bridge connecting the island was a hanging bridge. It literally moves up & down. Initially we felt is it falling down or what?, after a moment realized that it is hung on ropes- but strong enough. The other end of the bridge is a park usually place for relaxing. We had a snack & took rest on the green fresh grass.


After a break we were informed about the meditation center inside the garden. we reached there after a nice half an hour walk from the park.The two basic rules that we were informed to see this site- Keep silence, switch off ur mobile(which cost us).

View from top of meditation center

The view of the area from the top of this site was awesome. All four sides had some specialty with respect to the beauty of nature. Since we believe in the fact that "Rules are mend to be broken" we had the opportunity to leave this place at very fast pace.

Then came our last spot for the day- The Toy Train Ride. The train gave us a feeling as if we are in the 1960's era because of the musical effect of the train. It had useless announcements about the statues of animals placed along the sides of the track. The announcements were very helpful for a blind to get a feeling as if he is actually having a jungle ride. The thing that caught our attention was a 1.5 - 2 year old girl who was dancing a balle balle style (with her one hand up) on the musical tunes played inside the train. She was shy when she noticed that we were watching her.

As we were running out of time, we left the park half way back to the place to get our luggage's and continue our journey to our shelters- which was Shailesh's home. After a tiresome three and half hour journey we reach home at about 8.45 pm. With the help of moon light and minimal street lights we were able to reach home safe and sound. Shailesh's mom had prepared mouth watering dinner- infact all meals by her were mouth watering. This was first time I had experienced to have a traditional maharastrian food in a typical maharstraian style.
The only thing we need after the delicious food was a place to lie down. Just 5 mins on the bed & i could feel pin drop silence. Not because of discipline,but all had slept so fast.
It was a bright sunny morning & all were up from bed by 6.30 am ready for the second day journey to Chikaldara. We had our breakfast of cake & tea and we were ready for the 80km drive from home. Chikaldara is a hill station in Amravati district situated at an altitude of 1,118 m and has the added distinction of being the only coffee-growing area in Maharashtra. Chikhaldara is full of deep valleys, and these valleys are full of velvet mist and majestic trees.

We set out our journey by 8.30 am on two 2 wheelers- one bajaj Cup & one Mahindra Rodeo. We had our fuel tanks filled, air pressures properly checked before the long ride. As our vehicles raced, cameras were out to catch the scenic beauty around. The pillion's duty was to capture the catchy things seen around. As we had a SLR with us, the images are all seen as taken from a still position. We took about 30-40 halts before reached our destination. We had to ride a 20 km winding stretch of ghats which was indeed risky and adventurous.

 There were all awesome scenery throughout the ride. The breaks were automatically applied after every 100 - 200 meters. The locals over there used to watch us as if we were some foreigners on that place. But, all were very helpful.
Jitu's passion for photography was satisfied. He was always looking for some "mast" & "Sahi"  pics to capture.

Ganesh our hero, was also busy in sitting on back of Cup with both legs up, even if the vehicle was OFF. Shailesh ka haal - only God Knows.

After about 4 hours ride, by 12.30, we reached the first spot- The Wind mill spot. There were 2 wind mills which was used to generate electricity.

The landscape view near this spot was again too good to say. To the left there was a huge tree. Watching the tree, few of us remembered our ancestors & were successful on their job. Also met a 13- 14 year old boy selling jambul. he was also feeding his buffaloes & cows. Felt happy to hear that he goes to school.

We left the place for the next spot. The next spot we reached was "Bhim Kund spot". It had a 3500 feet waterfall. It had some history of Bhim killing kheechaka rakshas here & took bath @ this place.
The attraction at this place was one dog & one monkey. Both trying to attack each other, but both were afraid of each other. we had a entertaining 10 min view to their game.
We went to the origin of waterfall, spend few minutes wetting our hands & legs.
By the time we ended up enjoying the waterfall, my battery of camera started draining. We had our lunch from a dhaba which was pretty cheap as compared to rates at other hill stations. We then drove to the panchbol point (5 echoed point). it says, if you make a sound, you can hear it back 5 times, out of which 4 is clear & the fifth is less audible. We got 2 see lot of monkeys here. One baby monkey was the attraction there. She was playing with a napkin, hiding face as if she is ashamed of watching us.

Gavilgad fort Main Entrance

We left the place for Gavilgad fort, which has a big role in Indian History. its a large Fort with a perimeter of about 18 kms.The 300 year old fort of Gavilgad has beautifully carved images. This fort was built in 12th and 13th century by the Gavils, and was later occupied by the Gonds. Elephants, bulls, tigers, lions and Hindi, Urdu and Arabic scripts comprise the carvings on the walls of the fort. We had planned to finish this fort in about an hour but later understood that even one day is less for this fort. In about 2 and half hour of trekking, we could finish only half of the outer walls of the fort.

Image taken from a hidden look-out

When we decided to stop the trekking & get back to our vehicles, the bigger surprise came - "The Actual Fort"- which was seen from a long distance. Initially we were happy seeing the fort thinking it as the main structure, later understood that the main Mahal was way inside & we were sure that we cannot reach there & get back as it was already 4.30pm. We were informed that there are 12 gates to this fort,but we managed to see only 4.

The Actual Mahal

One Shepherd informed us that there is a cannon (bombing equipment) kept on top of the fort, but his advise was- you cannot get there because of time constraint to get back before dark. But since our excitement to watch the equipment was too high, we set out for it. On our way we saw 2 ponds, were fishing was going on, few old structures. I was tired after reached certain height when Shailesh took up the job of Columbus, & set out in search of equipment. Finally he managed to find it & we were called. Felt great after watching the full metal thing, still intact pointing to some village.

Canon @ the top most position

Shailesh's grandmother informed us that the shells fired from that equipment damaged one complete dargah @ Achalpur, which is about 30km from that place. Awesome equipment. Because, Ganesh tried to fit himself in the shoes of our ancestors, he had a 3/4th which had very less portion left to tear. Gracefully there were very less tourist in the evening.
We returned back to our vehicles & started our return journey. As it was getting dark, we rushed soon, as we dont wanted to drive in the winding ghats, in the night. Our next stop was @ paratwada for fueling ,30 km from chikaldara. In the petrol pump, we were able to see a Violent, aggressive Shailesh, who is normally calm & quiet- fighting with the petrol pump helper guy trying to fool him by not resetting the pump counter. The guy was embarrassed in front of many drivers & also the owner of the pump.
After a tea our night driving started. Bajaj Cup had a head-light like a Zero bulb with no tail light. The roads were pitch dark with no street lights. We managed driving with powerful lights of Rodeo, and reach home by 9 pm.

Beauty of nature captured by Jitu

Again a bright sunny sunday morning. No one was up till 8 in morning. As planned we set out for watching the village. Saw farm fields, ploughing, people busy on fields. After roaming for a couple of hours, we set for a Dam project in Shahanur about 15 kms from Anjangaon- where were stayed. Drive was awesome as usual. It was the first time I visited a Dam. On the way I drove the bajaj cup. It was after 5 years that I ride a scooter. But, managed it quite well.

We had to walk a long distance as vehicles were not allowed near the Dam. here I got a beautiful pic of 2 friends.  On the way a common  dialogue was delivered by our permanent pillion-"Tum nahi samjogee mera Dard"

The Dam had 4 doors. Water was too less. so we could see the entire Dam project. It was scorching heat all over. We dint feel much difficulty there, but once we were back in Mumbai, all of us developed rashes on our faces & foreheads. By 1.30 we left the place for home, reached home by 2.15.

4 Doors of the Dam

 Lunch was ready. We had puran poli with Ghee (A new dish 4 me), rotis, bhajji, rice, curd, in short a complete maharastrian thali. After the heavy lunch all started searching for a place to sleep.


I was the lucky to capture our "Rajni" watching his movie Robot.

Rajni watching Robot

By 4.45 we left home for Akola station. It was a 2 and half hour distance by Bus, & inside bus we caught up few good snaps of sunset. I was feeling as if my Canon ixus130 is a small baby in front of Jitu's Nikon L120.
We reached Akola station by 7.15, and spend about 2 hours in station waiting for our train.
On our return journey also, we came across few "creatures" who believe Indian Railway is their inherited property, but fortunately no such "creatures" hijacked our birth. Got down at Thane station by 6.15 am.

The trip will be a great memory throughout our life. People who love nature's beauty, riding bikes, a little adventurous will truly love this place & will be a fan of this. The only sad about the trip was we had less time & more places to cover.