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| The twin forts of Rajmachi - Manranjan (left) and Shrivardhan (right) |
Hello F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
It’s already monsoon this
year. How could I not blog (read brag) about my trek? This time, the date along wiht the destination was decided by the group leaders (Shriket and Jitendra)
swiftly. No discussions, no suggestions and believe me that was the best part
of it. 11th and 12th of July 2015 were the dates planned to tick off Rajmachi from our list of “To Do” destinations. The mail
trails started with the usual dos and don’ts, carry and carry not's. But
the main schedule was kept a secret. Most of the recipients were not aware of
what exactly lied ahead in their basket. We love keeping our faith in our team
lead and rightly so, Shriket deserves our trust. :)
Day 1 (11th July 2015) - Saturday
Day 1 (11th July 2015) - Saturday
The countdown
started almost a week before the trek on our WhatsApp group and the excitement grew day by day. Finally the day arrived. 8 out of the 11
trekkers were starting from Mumbai. They had gathered around 5:15 am at Dadar
station to board the Indrayani Express. Shriket with his better half Trupti,
Jitendra, Namrata, Yogini, Dipti with her bitter half (pun intended) and my
buddy Aniket and Manisha were the 8 Mumbaikars. This
year too, we had a new member, Manisha added to the AaaOoo group. Aniket,
although wasn’t a new member to the group, but was prepping for his first trek.
Buying a pair of sports shoes (almost after 10 years) was just a starter. Myself,
Swapnil with his better half Arya, were boarding the Lonavla local departing
6:30 am from Pune. Both groups were destined to reach Lonavla around 8 am. Our time
coordination was perfect and consistent throughout the trek, as we reached Lonavla
station almost minutes apart. 
It was time to
shuffle our bags and adjust the food material so that we have minimum carriage in
hand. Most of the items were shifted to the backpacks. DSLRs made their way
out of the bags. The professionals were at work again (both in front and behind
the camera). We had chai and misal paav breakfast just outside the station and
started walking towards our destination. Just after a few minutes of walk, our
most expected host welcomed us. We greeted him back with our rain cheaters and
umbrellas, gushing out of our bags. We thought our host, the rain would accompany us
throughout the trek. But he had other plans. Guests at Arnab Goswami’s
show probably get more frequency to speak as compared to the rain showers we
had in our two days trek. Considering July, we really had high expectations out
of it. The max we could get was a cloudy sky. 
From the station,
we headed in the direction of Tungarli. Localites guided us around. But to
know that you are on the right track, you pass under the express highway, taking
a diversion going towards the Upper deck resort (signage of the resort is clear
at the junction). The road starts ascending. The more you climb, the 
more
beautiful it gets. You realize what’s in the plate for you ahead. You overlook
the beautiful valley of Lonavla and Khandala on your left with some row houses
popping out of the valley. Our DSLR again started capturing our different poses
from a tripod this time. Photography was just an excuse. We wanted to take a
break from our first ascend we had that day. After many such clicks, we moved
forward walking over the Tungarli dam 
walls. The water levels were very low. The dam looked more like a small pond. Further, we were greeted with small
school going kids from Thakurwadi village. We shared some of our snacks with
them and they were 
more than happy to oblige. Soon we saw the Upper Deck resort main
gate on our left. The road started becoming tougher. Signs of cement and tar
had already started diminishing. In front of us was a mixture of
mud and pebbles, clearing marking our way through the greenery around. The
combination of good weather, cool breeze, awesome scenery and good company made us loose the tab of time. It was almost 3 hours since we had started
walking from the station. But still we had not reached our planned spot. As per our over
enthusiastic plans, we were supposed to reach the base (Udhewadi) around 1 pm. In reality (a cruel term used to define the
breaking point of dreams), at noon, we were not even half way to our destination. We were hungry and found a place to settle down for our lunch cum snacks. The top chefs of the group started making sandwiches for all of
us. We had our first break of the day. Along with sandwiches, boiled eggs,
snickers, Glucon D and perfectly made lime water made way into our tummies. A
simple snack can feel like a five star treat. It’s just the place, the
weather and hunger that matters. We finished as quickly as we can, took some
clicks and started moving
forward. 
We didn’t realise that we were actually very close to the Horse shoe waterfall. It’s the famous waterfall one can see from the train, while passing Khandala ghat. We were at the top position, where the fall actually starts. Thus we did not have the pleasure to be beneath it. This is also the point from where you get the first view of the great Rajmachi fort (Shrivardhan especially).
We saw rappelling ropes tied on the
edge of the valley. 
May be a destination for professional rapplers. The view is deceptive. It misleads you to believe that your
destination is just in front of you, may be just a few kilometers ahead. But then it was time to remember our popular marathi saying “jasa dista tasa
nasta .. mhanun jag fasta” meaning it is not always the way it looks. We just came across the
bridge, which has been built recently, over the stream forming the waterfall. Earlier one had to go through the strong current, especially during heavy rains
to trek to Rajmachi. The stall or tapri just next to the bridge, quenched our thirst
for tea, even though we had just finished our lunch. The cameras were still
hungry for more clicks and we fed its appetite. We started moving
slowly on our way. As an AaaOoo ritual, we give a special treatment to the new joiners of the trek. This time it was Aniket's turn. He got his share in the puddle. Most of
us joined his welcome party. We had already walked around 8 kms and our legs
had started showing the “I can’t do this” signs. I unfortunately had cramped my
left leg and it started giving me trouble. Such fun with
the water and the energetic company around, were the only things that kept me
going. Till now it was almost a straight road. Further you come across a bigger stream. There is no bridge over the stream but the
water wasn’t deeper than our knees. At this point you take a sharp left. The road gets tougher from here. It’s not only the gentle slopes going up and down that feed on your energy, but also the
slippery muddy patches that just pounds on your stamina. 
The route is a perfect ‘U’
that takes U to ‘U’dhewadi and the experience is ‘U’ncanny. Almost at the end
of this U, we reached a spot, where you see the Horse Shoe waterfall with the
deep 
valley on your left and Shrivardhan 
on your right. From this point you
feel that the top is just two floors away from you. But what you can’t see is
the real mountain, which is beyond this small rocky patch. We took another break
here. Namrata had planned a small birthday party for Yogini (our professional
photographer). It was not her birthday that day, but the group had
missed coming together on her actual birthday a few weeks ago. So Shriket wanted to
celebrate it on this spot overlooking the great waterfalls. The usual cake
cutting and embarrassment program was taken care by all by singing her the
birthday song aloud and giving her Santa cap. This time the honors were
limited, as was the size of the waterfall. Usually they both overflow. ;) Hot tea
and poha from the adjoining tapri was the treat. Finally we gathered our
remaining strength to move forward. The
‘U’ doesn’t leave yo’U’ here. The route again takes a small U turn in the
opposite direction to reach Udhewadi. This time it’s wasn’t more than 15
minutes to reach the village. Finally we were glad to meet the village at 5
p.m.(almost 4 hours late than our plan).
Udhewadi is a
hamlet of 20 small houses surrounded by the two mountains. The roofs are
mostly made of asbestos sheets. Roads made of polished rocks. MTDC is coming up with its own accommodation, but not yet functional. We couldn’t get their contact details as no one was
around. Rajmachi is basically a combination of two forts, Manranjan (also called Manoranjan)
and Shrivardhan forts, both located on two opposite hills. Udhewadi is blessed
to be in between the two mountains in a small valley. The village is still not yet
connected with electricity. But they have solar energy poles installed at few
places, which provides light to the whole village. It’s pretty dark in the
house in the evening. They save the light only for dinner time. Shriket had booked one of such cottage for all
of us (name and contact at the end of the blog). 
We had asked the person to be ready with lunch for
us 11 musketeers, considering our original plan to reach the place in afternoon. And sure he was. We had started
walking around 9:30 a.m. and reached around 5:00 p.m. We were (more profoundly I
was) exhausted and thought of calling it a day. No more movement for my legs,
have lunch cum dinner, play some ‘no movement involved’ indoor games and sleep.
What a relief while cooking this ‘khayali pulaav’. But Alas!!! Our group had
decided to push our limits to few (read a thousand) more steps. Logical
decision was to cover at least one of the two forts the same day, so that we
can do the other one in the morning and start our return journey in time. Manranjan
is comparatively shorter, so we decided to cover it the same day. We relaxed a
bit, had our lunch, some rice, bhakri, egg curry for non-vegetarians and kobi wadi the
most delicious item in our dish (Shriket’s mom had made the kobi vadi for us. The
woman of the house had just fried it for us). Our batteries were charged the
same way you charge your mobile battery (which is showing a 1% charge) for 10
minutes to make an emergency long call. We were told that it gets dark after 7:30
p.m. so we had our torches ready. We kept our heavy bags in our cottage,
changed a bit and started climbing again around 6 p.m. We pushed or may be
pulled ourselves up 
to the mountain. But it was easier than I thought. Somehow
my cramped leg was warmed up and I was feeling better climbing up. Also I had
changed over to a pair of chappals, which were a relief at that moment. We reached
the top very soon. It was around 6:45 p.m. and we had enjoyed our share of the
fort (not much of the fort is left, other than one or two outer walls called ‘tatbandi’). We
started descending without wasting much time. We reached back to our heaven by
7:30 p.m. and that too without using our torches. After a relaxed mode in a nearby restaurant sipping tea and remembering the day, we ended up in our dark quarters with the regular rituals of dumb sharads (thankful to our torches which got utilized here). Most of
us had dinner and few went to sleep directly. They had provided us with foam
sheets. We had carried our own bedsheets/comforters. All troopers adjusted or crunched parallel to
each other in that vharanda of the house and finally called it a day. Day 2 (12th July 2015) - Sunday
We had slept very early the earlier night (approx at 11 p.m.). This is too early compared to our other trek records. We usually go past 2 a.m. We wanted to wake up early only because we had to finish the morning rituals before any other group. Actually we weren't the only group staying in that cottage. There were another two groups of around 7-8 members each. They had accommodated each group in the different rooms they had. And above all they had only two toilets for all. So it was a typical Mumbai chawl scene in the morning. People waiting in a que for their turn. A typical funny scene happened when I was waiting with no one around me. The door was hard closed and I thought there was someone inside. Swapnil came to my rescue when he suggested to push it a little hard (the door I mean :P). There was no one inside. Couldn't stop laughing at myself. After such a rush hour, we had our breakfast. Packets of chiwda and bhakarwadi made their way out from our bags. We were also served kanda poha by the lady of the house. We decided to skip the bath as anyways it was of no use. It was raining outside as we started to climb Shrivardhan.
I assumed that a good sleep would fix my cramp, but it was even more painful in the morning. I was literally dragging myself with my right leg. But as we kept going, my leg warmed up and relieved me off my agony. It was still hurting but more bearable. We were having our regular stops for our photo session right from the first stair. The initial part of the hill has cement steps till you reach Kaal Bhairavi temple. This is exactly in between Manranjan and Shrivardhan. This place is one of the few attractions of the trek. But we were too busy outside clicking on some rocky structure. But then we had a target to complete so with a coconut breaking at the base (the temple is the actual 
base of the hill), we started moving further. The warm up of my leg had wearied out and thus I was back to phase I of my cramp. Here I decided not to wait for any photography and started moving a bit ahead of the group. I was the first one to reach the top. At one end, I couldn't enjoy the company of my group, but on the other, I was going to enjoy the view from top for the maximum possible time. The view was really worth that climb. Every other minute,
I could see the clouds coming below the fort and disappear suddenly, clearing the view as if you wipe off a dusty slate. You could see the rain from the clouds at a very far end. Another view was of the Manranjan fort with Udhewadi village at its base and the muddy path coming inside the village. 
I could see tiny motorcyclist going through the 
twisty ways. The third view was of the valley and the Horse shoe waterfall. There was not a single moment when I could see all three views at the same time. One or the other view was always covered with fog. It was cold, breezy with a little warmth of your body heat because of the climb. Such moments and the feelings can not be explained 
in words. You have to be there to experience it. Soon Aniket and Dipti joined me at the top with the group following sooner. They had their share of fun with different poses and jumps for the shutterbugs. We all took a picture with the flag pole which marks the top most point of Rajmachi. We celebrated our victory. We further went to another side of the fort. From this point, the Horse shoe waterfall and the valley was more visible. It was in front of you as if an artist has finished painting his master piece on the canvas. It was so still, with just the water dropping consistently. That flow was the only thing making the scene alive. This part of the fort witnessed many clicks and mischief on our part of the group. Lots of jumps, few slips and a knee injury became speed breakers for our descend. My buddy Aniket injured his knee badly during one of the stairs. More than the scratches he got his knee hit hard on the rock edge. But being a strong willed person, he did not let any of this effect our speed or any of the members. We continued our way down. The way down is easy in general. Only a few careful steps and soon we were at our cottage by around 12 noon. 
We had already packed our bags in the morning before leaving for the fort. So after a little rest and getting fresh, we decide to move on for our return journey. Before moving ahead we decided to have lunch in the village itself, but not where we had stayed the other night.
We went a little off direction to one of a small shady restaurant (if you can call it that). The owner of this place was a young extrovert chap, with whom we had a long chat about the place, the problems they face and the upcoming events in the village. Just like other trekkers or tourist, the villagers are too bothered by people who drink and misbehave with the fort. They are usually the noisy ones, who make a mess with broken glass bottles. We came to know that they have already approached the Forest and Environmental department, which has been working on it since last two years without any visible outcome. Such trekkers are not only insulting the fort but also discouraging family tourists towards the place. The villagers are short in numbers and thus feel unsecured to implement the 'no liquor' policy on their own. I am not against drinking but surely against the mess people create after getting drunk. There is a entry tax at the start of the village (by Forest department though). They charge 10 Rs a person and additional for bike/vehicle depending upon its type. Hope they utilize this money towards such efforts effectively. After a hearty lunch, some delicious theplas from Yogini and life saving nimbu paani from the tapri/restaurant, we were back on our way at around 1:15 p.m. The return path via Karjat was comparatively shorter but difficult. Difficult because there is a chance of venturing in wrong directions. One can end up in Bhimashankar or end up revolving around the forest by a single wrong turn. The villagers and the near by police stations send search teams in these cases. But its easy for them to search for you during night time. However odd this sounds, but our torch lights gives the search parties the right directions. So make sure you carry strong torch lights in case you want to venture on this route ;) :P. I don't mean to scare you off but prevention is better than cure. There are small sign boards along the way but are very easy to miss out. We tried looking for local guide, who can show us our way, but there was no one available. So we took some strong tips and directions from this young chap. One important hint he gave us was to approach in the direction of the river, which can be seen from up the hill and from a long way. The village at the base, Khandpe is on the other side of the river. Its comparatively easier to go from Udhewadi to Karjat via this route than vice versa.
This time it was a deep descend of around 5-6 kilometers and the rains had said goodbye to us. The whole route was slippery and muddy.
The sun was shining brighter than ever and the slippery rocks were testing our stamina. It made me forget my cramp totally as my total concentration was on balance. This time the weight of my bag was pulling me down. There are three hills on top of each other. After each hill down, there is a small plain field, which makes u feel like you have completed your trek. But then when you go a little ahead, you can see that you are still a long way to go. We had finished our first hill and there was our life saver. A nimbu pani stall. We had two glasses each, took some rest and continued. The second hill is a little tougher than the first one. The slopes are more steep and the rocks more slippery. Each hill is almost an hour's time. We made it to the second field where we just hugged the grass on the ground. The sun was right in front of us shinning and smiling. We relaxed here a bit more and started for our third hill down. The third one took us approx 45 minutes and we almost reached the base where we came across the Kondhana caves.These are actually Buddhist Caves which date back to 200 BC.
These caves, though in ruins at present, are
symbols of the Greatness of our forefathers. They were carved without
any modern technology, only by using chisels and hammers. And while
carving the rocks, not a single wrong strike of chisel was
pardonable because there was no scope for correction or replacement as in
the case of modern construction. There was a very small waterfall but enough to drench us wet. We tried finishing our snacks at this point. Only a few had the guts to climb for the caves. Yogini, Trupti, Namrata, Shriket Jitu, our new member Manisha made to the caves. Manisha although on her first offical trek, was faster and more energetic than most of us. Others utilized the time to stay in the water near the fall. It was almost 4:30 p.m. 
The young chap from the lunch place had told us that the trains towards Mumbai were closed due to mega block and were supposed to open around 6:30 p.m. But for Punekars, we planned to catch the 6 p.m. Pragati express from Karjat. Thus we started moving ahead to the Khandpe village while the rest of the group (all Mumbaikars) were busy enjoying the cave sight. This is the base of hill.
I thought thats it. We have done it. No more walk now. But it was the most painful moment out of the whole trek, when the person from the chai tapri told us that you can catch a 6 seater rickshaw from Kondivade village, which is still a 20 minutes walk from that place. These last 20 minutes were the most agonizing for me. Till the time we reached the place, where I could see a rickshaw standing (finally a relief), the rest of the group had catched up with us. It was 5:40 p.m. We were told that the rickshaws take approx 30 per head. But taking advantage of our situation was very natural for the rickshaw people there. Firstly they argued that they won't accommodate more than 8 members in one rickshaw and the total rickshaw will cost us 500. They underestimated us. Our team leads were again upfront negotiating after such a bodily mess we were going through. Hats off guys!!! Finally one guy agreed to take us all to Karjat station in his tum tum for just 600 bucks. We started around 5:55 p.m reaching station exactly at 6:30 p.m. As I had mentioned earlier, our timings were consistently perfect. We got the tickets in time to catch our respective trains. Mumbaikars got a 6:40 local and the Punekars got the 6:35 Sinhagad express. We departed with a mixed feeling as usual. Joy of having completed such a lengthy but mesmerizing trek and the sad feeling of departing from such a good company. We were all in our abodes around 9:30 p.m. Two days, starting from the Lonvala station till we reached Kondivade, we walked approximately 40 kms including the two forts. Such experiences help us understand our capacity and teach us that we can do a lot beyond it. Some times its your will power, which helps you to go beyond. In my case it was a matter of "you got no choice" :) :P :D
For detailed pics of the trek, see the link below
https://goo.gl/photos/pwhtiQjRxiCZ3p389
Rajmachi fort was built by the Satavahana dynasty. The strategic location of the forts made it a defensive fortress to look out on the Bhor ghats. Being a significant route towards Mumbai, it gets mentioned in history as a route for traders. Shivaji Maharaj had won over this fort from Adil Sha in 1657. in 1704 AD, the fort was attacked and captured by Mughals but not for over a year. 
The Marathas won it over again in 1705. Other than the two forts (Manranjan and Shirvardhan), there are some 'must see' points during your visit to Rajmachi. We couldn't go see the lake and the temple, but surely would love to visit the next time. Don't miss them if you are planning a trek to Rajmachi. The lake is at the base of the forts. It is a 15 mins walk from Udhewadi village but in the opposite direction of the forts. It is a man made pond and was built approx 200 years back. You should also visit the ancient Mahadev temple (famously know as Bhairavnath temple). The same was built in
stone in Hemadpanti style. The temple is located exactly next to the lake. These are worth visiting on Rajmchi trek.Contact person for stay at Udhewadi
Laxman Umbre - 098-814-23529/ 099-225-31495
Another option
Santosh Umbre - 094-230-22686/ 092-716-28873
Rajmachi Rural Aid and Development
As a way of thanks for this wonderful experience, we decided to do a tiny payback to the fort and the helpful villagers by donating an amount approximately equal to our total trek cost. We found that the following NGO is effective and working since its formation in 1976. They provide medical help, education and economic development to the region. The villagers speak good about them. We got feed backs from the people we were in contact with at Rajmachi. I request all the trekkers who have been there and inhaled the fragrance and the spirit of the place to come forward and help with generous heart.
For information on the Rajmachi Rural Aid and Development Programme, visit.
http://visitrajmachi.
Contact person: Mukund Gondhalekar (rajamachi@gmail.com)
For donations: You can deposit your amount in the following account.
Bank : Bank of Maharashtra, Mumbai Central Branch
Name of Account Holder : Mukund Gondhalekar
S. B. Account No. 20035860547
IFSC No. MAHB0000048
Maps of forts
Regards
Amol Potdar
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