Harishchandragad Fort Trek : Trek Maharashtra

About Harishchandra Gad:

Harishchandragad Fort is located about 200 kilometres away from both Mumbai and Pune cities of Maharashtra state, India. It is situated in the Junnar region near Malshej Ghat in Ahmednagar district. The area comes under Kalsubai-Harishchandragad Wildlife sanctuary. The fort is extremely popular amongst trekkers and nature lovers. Trek to Harishchandragad Fort is considered to be the best possible moderate level trek in Sahyadri Mountains of Maharashtra.

U can arrive at top of this fort by 3 different ways as follows

1)Nalichi vaat-Its very unsafe and troublesome one.I will suggest this way just for experienced trekker.It has 3 stages or phases and also 80 degree climb.

2)Pachnai root-Its very simple root and should be possible by unpracticed travelers moreover.

3)Khireshwar root-Its medium troublesome root.

History Of Harishchandragad :

Harishchandragad is one of the extremely old hillforts of Mahrashtra. It has a mention in the blessed writings of India including the Matsyapurana, Skandapurana and Agnipurana. The hillfort is from the 6th century though the caves were made in the 11th century.

It is additionally said that the extraordinary sage who created the epic tatvasaar, Hrushi Changdev meditated here for 1400 years in the 14th century.

Murtis of Lord Vishnu which are Carved in the 11th century are found in the Caves adjacent to the temple of Harishchandreshwar.

The carvings inside the Harishchandreshwar temple and in Kedareshwar cave signify that this place is worshiped in the middle age.

Then Later the fort was under the control of Moguls in 16 century for upto 17 to 18 th century.then marathas captured this fort from Mughal in 1747.

Our Trek Experience :

            We started our trek from panchai village. It takes approximately 2 hours to reach at the top to the temple.

            The starting of the trek was easy with mostly flat and few easy slopes.we can see white coloured arrows marked on the rocks to guide the way to the top. We slowly moved from one hill to the other. In the way we saw some spectacular and amazing views as we moved forword.

                 

            Climbing for almost a hour we reach to the difficult path. This path was cut into an almost vertical rock face. This was the most dangerous part of our trek to harishchandra fort. We have to walk all the way kneeling through this cliff, Any wroung step would be dangers to life.

            After crossing the cliff climb becomes very steep and we need to take help of stairs which are created there for safety purpose. We crossed several tiny waterfalls, dense forest and flowing streams while hiking the remaining trail. It also started drizzling at one point and the whole valley was covered in clouds. We stood in awe as nature unravelled right in front of our eyes.

            On reaching the top, the area was completely flat with great views and middle age constructions. Harishchandreshwar Mandir which is a temple from the 6th century. Most of the statues are eroded to just stones of indistinguishable shapes and the original shivalingam has eroded down to nothing but people still pray to it. There was a sunken room ( Kedareshwar Cave ) that contained spring water that comes down from the mountains and we filled our bottles there as we were all out of water by that time. The water tasted really sweet. Beside the main temple is an even older temple with a huge shivalingam surrounded by a large pool of water.

            After Seeing the beauty of temples, caves and surrounding we moved to our next point which is kokankada. From here, you can have a breathtaking view of the surroundings& the setting sun. It is said that a rainbow as a circle can be seen from here. We setup our camps their and stayed their for a night. The night was also wonderful clear sky and beautiful surroundings will take your breath.

            Early morning we continued  our trek towards the taramati shikhar This is the highest peak on fort from here we can see the nearest places like naneghat, kalsubai, nadsar, bhairavgad, Chavand fort and alang madan kulang.

How to reach Harishchandra gad:

As I mentioned before there are three base villages to start your trek for harishchandra gad. Nalchi, Pachnai And khireshwar village. This are nearest places to start your trek. And by suggestion the one who is trekking for the first time you should try pachnai base village it is the easiest way to climb the fort.

There is no direct flight to harishchandra gad or base villages. You have to take bus, train or private vehicles from pune or Mumbai.

By Rail:

The closest station to Harishchandragad is Igatpuri. from here, you have to take  bus or taxi to reach the base village - Khireshwar, Paachnai or Nalichi Wat.

For private vehicle:

From Pune:

Pune - Nasik Phata - Narayangaon - Junnar - Otur - Brahmanwada - Kotul - Vihir - Pachnai

From Mumbai:

Mumbai – Igatpuri – Ghoti – Bari – Rajur – Paachnai/ Nalichi Wat

Best Time to Visit :

The best time to visit harishchandra gad is monsoon, Because nature is at its best at this time. Rain, light clouds, fog, flowers and greenery.

the best places I have ever been to, it has an amazing climbing experience, and there are more than one ways to climb the fort so it depends which one you take. It has the most amazing view from "kokan kada". where you can see the entire valley with the wind blowing all over. I seriously cannot explain it here, but I highly recomend you to visit this place atleast once, after that I wont need to tell, you will visit on your own.