It’s 25th of January of 2020. With the sky dimly lit, the Sun has made its intentions quite clear to rise anytime now. The morning chill is yet to disappear. Along with the fellow trekkers I set my foot in Ratanwadi, a small village on the banks of Pravara River at the far end of Bhandardara dam. The base village providing an easy access to Ratangad Fort is busy with trekkers all year round. Surrounded by Ratangad and the Ghanchakkar range on one side and the Kalsubai range on the other with a road leading to the famous Sandhan Valley, this remote village takes you close to the nature. You can feel and absorb a still and tranquil noon by just sitting in the shadow of a tree besides the rough road on the mountain slope. The silence in the air echoes in the mind.
As you enter the village, an old architectural marvel of Amruteshwar – a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva greets you. This is one of the many rock cut wonders in the remote parts of the Sahyadris that fascinates the traveller. Some sculptures, though in a damaged state, on the temple walls resemble the ones on the Sun temple at Konark and the Khajuraho temple. The stone carved water tank with sculptures of gods and goddesses outside the temple equally excite and prompt us to peep into the archeological history of India.
After having some food at the junction, we take a route towards Kumshet. The walkway suddenly becomes narrow with plants of the height of a man on both the sides. Making way through these dense plants becomes a challenge in itself. Though I sweat climbing up and down with the sun shining straight over my head, the shadow of the plants we walk through offers the solace. All through the way, we come across some beautiful pink coloured tiny wild flowers with pointed thorns on them in abundance. Probably, it’s their way of telling the world –“don’t mess up with our beauty.”
We cross the waterfalls which are dried up by now. It would not be possible to trek this way in the monsoon as it would be too risky to pass through these rocks which would be slippery then, with water gushing down the mountain. September would be the ideal month though. With a huge rock cliff on my right, we encounter steep climb and reach Katrabai Pass in a while. As we stand in the Pass we could see both the sides of the valley. Alang, Kulang, Madan and Kalsubai on the horizon, and Ghanchakkar and Katrabai very close to us. With almost no big trees here, the grass has turned from green to yellow.
We offer prayers at the small temple in the Pass and begin the last leg of our trek today. A sharp descent is waiting for us. Far away at the foothills we could see Kumshet, a village where we would spend a night. But it’s a long way to go. With a couple of gorges and a waterfall with some water still flowing through it, we climb down the steep slope to reach Kumshet, a quiet and a picturesque villages. The fields we pass through are dry and the farmers perform some off season work. They look at us curiously, though trekkers are not new to them. This entire valley, with lot of forts and passes and mountains around, is a paradise for the trekkers who keep coming here throughout the year.
With no mobile network to distract attention, I chat with the villagers as I sip a hot cup of tea under the colourful sky and watch the sun go down the mountain. The cool breeze starts blowing steadily. I see a few birds fly hurriedly towards their nests. Few village kids busy playing the local games have decided to call it a day. As the time passes, the mountains surrounding the village suddenly look mysterious. The rough village road has lost in darkness …. feels like a dream ….. right ? Well, you need to be one of the selected few to be part of this canvass.
After having supper, I stroll on the dark village road with my friends for some time and set my bed on ground under the open sky in the front yard of a small roof-thatched village house. The Great Bear has risen as it darkens and so has the Canis Major & Minor. I pull the blanket and go to sleep under the starry sky.
I rise up while it’s still dark. The constellation of Scorpion has replaced the Great Bear while I see the Southern Cross along with the fellow stars down South. Those who pitched the tents the previous night are still busy snoring.
The trek begins after the breakfast early morning. We head eastwards and in a short while reach a spot from where we get a grand bird’s eye view of the Mula River basin. What a wonder. We take a few twists and turns and climb down in the river basin. We cross the river to reach the other bank. The mountain slopes here are rich with vegetation and are blanketed with several shades of green. Reflection of the clear blue sky and the greenery around in the still waters of the river soothe the mind. I spend some time sitting silent on the bank of the river.
A small walk ahead takes us to a settlement of 8 to 10 houses in the middle of the basin. When in school, the history books had taught me that in Stone Age the mankind settled near the sources of water. The pictures in those books have come alive in front of me. This surely is one of the remotest settlements I have ever visited in this part of the world. They live so close to nature. They are, without doubt, the most blessed souls on this planet. Unfortunately, they are unaware of the blessings showered on them. As we trek ahead, I decide to return to this place and spend a night or two with the village folk. I have spent many such nights in valleys and villages, but this one would be a special for sure.
We cross the river once again. The ups and downs through woods and rocky mountain slopes bring us to Pachnai, a village at the base of Harischandragad. The dog who trekked with us from Ratanwadi for almost 30 kilometers decided not to join us on the way forward. He would travel back home with some villagers for whom this trek is a daily commute.
Out of the six different routes leading to this fort, the route from Pachnai is the shortest and the easiest one. The fort famous for its ancient Shiva temple and Kokan Kada – a huge C shaped cliff overlooking Thane District is a must go place. The records suggest that Sage Changdev meditated here a few hundred years back. We go around the fort and start our descent.
We trek down to Khireshwar, a small village in Pune District.
Two days and 40 kilometers - a travel through the jungles and slopes, mountain tops and valleys, ups and downs, rocks and thorns, shrubs and flowers, villages and tiny hamlets, rivers and plains, forts and ancient temples, listening to bird calls and breathing the aroma of wild flowers, traversing the water bodies, equally enjoying the sunshine and the moonlight, being part of nature watching sunrise and nightfall and much more…. A life enriching experience…. till I set out for another in days to come.
- Nishad Umranikar
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