Night Lohagad Trek

As monsoon begins, many trekkers booked their calendar for treks nearby Pune and Mumbai. I’m also interested to start some trekking activity this monsoon. On late Friday evening, we (My Iasys Friends & I) decided to go for a trek on Saturday. This time we decided to complete the trek with the help of public transport.  Trekkers for Lohagad were me and my iasys friends.

 

About Lohagad fort and trek:

              Fort is situated 52km from Pune in western India. It is at an elevation of 3,450 feet (1,052 m).Lohagad village is the base village for the fort. Now Lohagadwadi village is easily accessible by road. Trekker usually start there trek from Malavali railway station. It is just 9km away from station. 

             Lohagad has a long history with several dynasties occupying it at different periods of time. Some historical records say, Satavahanas, Chalukyas are the first one to reach on this place. Shivaji Maharaj captured this fort in 1648, but he was forced to surrender it to the Mughals in 1665 by the Treaty of Purandar. Shivaji Maharaj recaptured it in 1670 and used it for keeping his treasury. This fort was used to keep the loot from Surat. Later in Peshwa time Nana Phadanwis used this fort for living for some time.

            There are many places to see on fort. First entrance door is known as Ganesh darwaja (Lord Ganesh entrance gate). Other entrance gates in sequence are Narayan darwaja, Hanuman Darwaja and last entrance gate is known as Maha-Darwaja. Highlight of fort is Vinchukata (Scorpion's tail) which reminds us of 'SanjeevniMachi 'of Rajgad. It is 1500m long & 30m wide part of the mountain, separated from the main part. Viewing from the fort this portion looks like scorpion’s sting and hence it is called 'Vinchu Kata'. This 'Vinchu Kata' was used for keeping a watch on the nearby area.

 
There are 2 ways to start trek to Lohagad fort, one is from Malavali station. After crossing the Express-Highway & reaching Bhaje village we get straight route to Lohagad. After walking for 1.5 to 2 hours & turning to right from `Goumukh Khind` we will reach to Lohagad. Turning to left we reach to Visapur fort. Another route is from Pawna side which I’m not aware of it.

 On a very short notice, we decided and planned to do the Lohagad trek on Saturday. We  caught 6.30 am local train from Pune station for Malavali. I was expecting a rush in local but very few seats where occupied by travelers. We reached on Malavali railway station after around 70 min. Without wasting any time, we started our first trek patch. After 1.5-2km walk we reached at Bhaje village. We had some breakfast and then our trek began.