Raireshwar - Kenjalgad

Raireshwar

The other day, while running on the Tekdi, I bumped into a friend of mine - who owns a trekking club, and takes commercial treks all year round.

We got talking, and I asked him for a quick 2-day trek, which was close to Pune, and didn’t involve much climbing - in short - was moderate for the kids. And, he suggested Raireshwar and Kenjalgad, a twin-fort combination near Bhor, which is close to Pune.

I had taken Yuvaan on Saur Tal Trek in the Dhauladhar ranges of the Himalaya in May. During that trek, we met a family who was equally passionate about trekking, and we discussed a few places where we could go and hike together, when we return to Pune.

Their names were Harshad, Pallavi and Gautam Karve. We did contact each other a couple of times during the monsoons, when people throng the Sahyadri for monsoon treks and the hills are all green and pretty. But, the plan could never get materialized, and it wasn’t before October that we could plan something. So, here we were - all packed in Harshad’s car, heading towards Bhor and further to Ambavne which is close to the base village.

Raireshwar holds importance in the history of Maratha empire, as it is in a temple on this fort that Shivaji Maharaj took an oath to establish his kingdom.

The temple dates back a couple of hundred years, and Shivaji had gotten a priest from Karnataka, by the name of Shiva Jangam, who monitored the oath taking by Shivaji Maharaj. And, it was interesting when we got to know that all 45 families on top of Raireshwar are Jangams now.

It was 8 am, when Harshad and Pallavi picked me and Yuvaan up from our home. We proceeded towards the highway, when Yuvaan felt nauseated, for some reason. Last night, he had eaten a TON of paani-puris on my cousin’s birthday, and it was probably those things that might have created chaos in his stomach. So, it wasn’t long before he threw up, and that is when he started feeling comfortable and at home. Otherwise, he wasn’t his regular self in the car, which was a little unsettling for me.

We reached the base village, and asked the people whether there is any arrangement to stay on the fort. Or else, we had taken tents along with us. Usually, when people trek on such forts (which has been happening since last couple of decades, way before arrival of tents), people used to sleep in caves, temples, or out in the open. But, we had kids, and we had gotten spoilt with the choices life offered us now. So, as suggested by the village folks that we could stay in the temple of Raireshwar, or in an open shed, which was built for the same purpose, we kept our tents in the car, and started hiking up.

Right from the start, Yuvaan was damn pissed off on the fact that the trail was almost like a highway - a route on which a 4x4 would go. He is always interested in trails which are small, which have some exposure and there is some element of thrill in it. All along the route, Yuvaan was grumpy, pretending to be panting continuously, to portray that the trail was boring that he is getting tired walking.

Harshad and Pallavi both knew that his capacity to walk is tremendous, and he is just throwing tantrums. The trail wound through mountains, and we took short breaks near a couple of streams, where we had our snacks and drank some water. After having snacks and water, we realized that the kids had gotten energized, and had enhanced their pace. We realized that it was probably a lack of food that had caused the kids to be lethargic. Plus, of course, Yuvaan was pissed at the trail being too wide. After a few more switchbacks, we could see a car parked in a pass, which connects one mountain range to the other. This side was the Bhor side, and once we drive over the pass, we go towards Wai and Mahabaleshwar. So, the people who knew this route are used to taking this to go to the hill stations of Mahabaleshwar and Pachgani. We all guessed that we are going to have to walk on paved road (which was going to piss off not only Yuvaan, but all of us), but that was the only way to go to Raireshwar. So, we took a break before the tiring walk on the paved road, and had our lunch. Around 10 minutes of walk on paved road, we headed towards the famous iron staicase, which is installed on a rock patch which would have been difficult to negotiate. In such famous places, such installations are done for visitors / trekkers.

Once we went up from the staircase, we were on the fort. Another half an hour of walk on paved trail, and we were at the Raireshwar temple, where the famous oath was taken. We freshened up, and paid our tribute to the shivlinga inside the temple. It has a picture of Shivaji Maharaj taking his oath. When we asked the priest about staying inside the temple, he was hesitant, and told us that the village folks don’t like it. Now, with no tents, we didn’t have a choice but to stay at one of the villager’s home; otherwise we would have pitched our tents in the open shed where we relaxed after the trek. We prepared our meal, tea as well as an afternoon snack, which everybody relished. Pallavi liked the stow quite a lot, and almost decided that they are going to have one for themselves. The total area of Raireshwar, according to the locals over there is close to 27,000 hectare, and it takes around 3-4 days to roam around the entire plateau! Out of the total land, around 3500 hectare belonged to locals who stay there, and the rest was under the forest department.

The sun was setting, and we could witness the chill in the air. Both the kids were layered up, and I went with the kids for the Maha-Aarti, which is held every Monday.

The prasad was rice, which was very soft and easy to chew on. We all had the prasad, along with our Khichadi, which we had taken along. Once we were ready to move, we called one of the locals, to ask for directions to his house on the fort, as it was impossible for us to find it, considering the trail crossed a stream, with trees around it. Also, when we thought of staying in the tent in the open shed, we would have faced problems, as it had huge halogen lamps, which were on solar energy, and they used to stay on for the entire night. So, sleeping in full light would have been difficult. So, we made it to the village, and slept the night at one of the local’s home.

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