Kalavantin Durg (21st December, 2008)

Kalavantin Durg is a pinnacle which lies adjacent to the famous Prabal fort, near Chowk, off the Mumbai-Goa highway. The V-shaped notch between the triangular Kalavantin durg and the adjacent massive Prabal plateau, along with the saddle shaped top of Irshalgad are easily identifiable from the highway. It was used as a watch tower to keep a vigil on the adjoining forts and the surrounding area.


Height: 2300 feet

Range: Matheran/Karjat Range

District: Raigad

Grade: Medium

Way to Reach: Reach Panvel by local train/ST bus. From Panvel ST stand, you can get ST buses to the base village of Thakurwadi. The first ST bus is at 7 am.
If you miss the ST, one can get 10-seater autos (Tam-tam) from near the ST stand. You will have to negotiate the rates for the same. They usually charge around Rs.200 for 10 people.

As you are reaching the village, look out for Zoya health retreat on your left. There will be a left turn in front of the retreat. The road ahead goes to the Thakurvadi cillage, take the left turn till you arrive at the gate of a private property. Autos are not allowed beyond this point.

The Climb: From the resort, the tar road climbs up gradually. After walking for almost 10-15 minutes on it, and after crossing a small bridge over a nala that is broken, one hits the proper trekking trail. This route climbs up gradually for about half an hour. At one point, where the route turns to the left, there is a small narrow path that climbs along the ridge from the right. This route climbs continuously, and is steep, full of scree... but is pretty safe. This route may turn slippery in the monsoon. Both these routes meet at a flat plain, where there is a small pinnacle sort of a collection of rocks.


The a furthre gradual climb of about half an hour takes you to the base plateau. The village of Machi Prabal is located on this plateau. From here, the route bifurcates. The right one goes to Prabalgad from besides a well, and the left one goes to Kalavantin Durg. The route to Kalavantin climbs up from the village, the path being full of loose rocks, and reaches the col in another half an hour. From here, there are rock cut steep steps all the way to the top. The climb over this portion can get quite in the monsoon, as the steps can get slippery and the wind can be pretty strong in the col.

At the end, the path is made of loose soil, and again, can be quite tricky and thrilling in the monsoon. Then you reach the rock patch of about 10 feet high. There are proper holds available, and climbing it is not an issue.

The Route Map

Climbing time: Thakurwadi to Machi Prabal ---> 1- 1.5 hours
Machi Prabal to the top ---> 1 hour

Total Climbing time: 2-2.5 hours

Fascinating spots: Undoubtedly, the rock cut steps and the final rock patch.

Forts visible from the top: Badlapur hill, Haji Malang, Navra-Navri, Mhasmal, Chanderi, Nakhind, Peb

Kelve-Teen, Prabal and Karnala

The Gadeshwar lake and the dam located at the base of Chander-Mhasmal-Peb-Nakhind can also be seen. The plateau of Matheran and the col between Peb and Matheran can also be located.

View of Kalavantin Durg from Prabalgad
(Photograph: Kiran Belose & www.marathikatta.com)

Accomodation: Since its a One-day trek, accomodation/over night stay won't be needed. But If required, the villages at the Machi-Prabal village can provide space outside their homes in the courtyard for an overnight stay.

Food and Water: Carry your own foodstuff. Water not available on the top. The well at Machi prabal village is the source of drinking water. The villagers can also cook food for the trekkers if requested.

The trek to Kalavantin Durg can also be couple with the trek to Prabal as a one day trek. Also, one can also do a 2-3 day trek of Kalavantin-Prabal-Matheran. From Machi-Prabal village, one can get to Varosa village on the other side, in about 2-2.5 hours. From here, one can climb up Matheran via the ladder-route, or the One-tree hill route.

Kalavantin Durg - A beginning of the Winter trekking season!

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Participants : Sudhir (Leader) , Karthik, Ashutosh and other members of theYoungsterz.

A hiatus of almost 3 long months and my feet were really itching for some action. I had been quite busy, joined a job... then left it... busy with my applications... etc etc. All I could manage was a couple of long distance cycling trips, but I was looking forward for some trekking. December was nearing to an end, and I needed some warm up for my Dalhousie trek, and along came the trek to Kalavantin durg. I had missed this trek earlier this year in the monsoon.. but I was really fascinated by the pics, that I couldn't resist from joining the Youngsterz for this trek.

After a disastrous Saturday night, which was spent painfully, being awake in spite of watching a soporific movie "Lamhe", hoping it would put me to sleep, but to no avail.. 5.45 am meeting point at Kurla on a cool Sunday morning was a torture, but I had no option but to sacrifice on my sleep... The earlier evening was quite pleasant, with light drizzle here and there springing up a surprise, and I hoped for a rainy trek.. I was surprised to see Ashutosh and Karthik standing under the indicator.. These guys were with me on my previous trek to Bhimashankar, and like me, they didn't go for any climbs after that trek. We caught the 5:58 local to Panvel, and after half-dozing around and commenting on the hilarious posters pasted in the train, we reached Panvel. After a light breakfast of Kanda poha and tea, we walked to the auto stand, where we caught a share-10 seater tamtam to Thakurwadi village, some 17 kms away. We had a large group of around 23 trekkers, and we were joined by another group of 7, who were also going to Kalavantin Durg. They turned out to be NCC cadets, and Sudhir's seniors.

After the introductions and instructions, we started our trek at around 10 am.. There were 3 doctors, including myself. One was a lady doc practising as a GP, other was a pathologist from GSMC. It was a gloomy morning, clouds obscured the sun and the azure sky, which was visible when the clouds had parted for a few minutes... The tar road slowly turned into a curvy muddy trail which then began climbing gradually. After an easy walk, Sudhir asked us whether we wanted to take a little tougher route or the easy route, and everyone enthusiastically and unanimously opted for the former.... Soon everyone was huffing anf puffing up the steep ridge... which then led to a flat ground, having a small pinnacle-like arrangement of rocks.. Everyone wanted to climb up that pinnacle and pose for the photographs.. It is a pretty popular site for photography I guess, as I had seen many photographs taken there when I had searched for Kalavantin on google... Anyways, I was enjoying the surrounding view... Could see the entire Matheran range till Haji Malang... I even spotted the Gadeshwar lake, where Nishant and I had gone cycling and camping in October... It was quite a bad weather for photography as the sky wasn't clear and the light was pretty bad. After about half an hour of rest, we resumed our walk. We soon reached the plateau, and then the village of Machi Prabal, from where the routes to Kalavantin and Prabal bifurcate. After talking to a local teen, I got to know that it is a small village of about 24 huts. There was no school in the village, and a Balwadi (Nursery) was opened only recently. The village kids usually went to the nearby good school at a village near Panvel, and stayed in hostels. After a photographys session and refilling the bottles with well water, we proceeded on the final part.

The route further towards the col was quite rocky. It was pretty windy near the col, and I only imagined how strong the winds would be in the monsoon. I remembered the Chanderi trek, where I nearly lost my spects due to the strong wind. The really exciting part of the trek was just about to start... as I gazed above, I saw the steps, neatly cut into the rock face of the mountain. Looking at the height of every step, I wondered what the height of the soldiers in that era would be... Since there were a couple of first timers and many non regulars int he group, we climbed at a slow pace till we reached near the rock patch. The rock patch was about 10 feet high. Sudhir and others helped everybody, one by one to the top, where the other group whom we had met earlier were already present. Then up came the bags one by one, and we formed a circle, and had a feast. It was literally a feast, as I had never seen such a variety of foodstuff in any trek I could remember... right from plain fruits like bananas and oranges, to biscuits, chaklis, chivada, bread and butter, theplas, chapatis, sabji, fried rice, khakris, and yeah.. even Mutton balls... it had everything... and yeah, as an uncle from the group righly commented after the lunch, "If anyone has brought any ice cream, please take it out...." ... and yeah, that was the only thing missing... I didn't have much other than 2 bananas, some chaklis, biscuits and a couple of theplas, as I avoid eating much on treks (Thats a different thing that i hog like a dog from a famine struck village after I reach home)...

Then came the best part... Karthik and I found a really sweet spot, and slept, God knows for how long... I was awoken by a rude slap of the rope by Karthik... It was time to leave...
Getting down was always going to be a tricky business... It took almost half an hour for everyone to get down the rock patch.. and as we carefully made our way down the steps to the village, I bade Kalavantin adios!! The rest of the descent was quite easy, and we lolled along to the base village of Thakurwadi by 330 pm. After having some much needed shot of hot tea, we scrambled into the St bus at 4.15 pm and slept all the way to Panvel.


Return journeys after a trek never appealed much to me, but then I was happy that this time we were on our return journey earlier than I had expected, and my batteries still had some power in them to carry on for a couple of hours... Panvel-->Dadar-->Malad journey was such a pain in the you-know-where!! But thankfully I got the 6.35 pm Borivali fast leaving from Dadar... Aaaah!! Lord really had some mercy on me...

All set for the Dalhousie trek from Dec 29-Jan3, and then a visit to Dharamshala and Mcleodganj now.. Just heard in the news that it has snowed in the north... Just can't wait to get going!! :)

Link to the Photo Album:

Kalavantin Durg (21st December, 2008)

Cycling -- Titwala, Ganesh temple (29th November, 2008)

--- COMING SOON ---

Cycling -- Gadeshwar Lake, Panvel (18-19th October, 2008)

--- COMING SOON ---

Cycling -- Gorai-Manori-Marve (11th October, 2008)

--- COMING SOON ---

Bhimashankar - Ganesh Ghat (27-28th September, 2008)

---COMING SOON---

Avchitgad (6th September, 2008)

Sitting among the hills of the southern Konkan, near the town of Roha, are some little known or forgotten forts. Amongst these are Avchitgad, Tagad and Ghosalgad. Avchitgad is located near Roha and is a good place for a one day trek. The thick forest cover is quite refreshing.

Height: ~1000 feet

Range: Roha (South Konkan)

District: Raigad

Grade: Easy

Ways to Reach: Reach the town of Roha, a few kilometres from Nagothane on the Mumbai-Goa highway. Regular St services are run between Mumbai and Roha.

From Roha, Avchitgad can be climbed from the base villages of Medhe or Pengalsai. Medhe is about 7 kms from Roha, and can be reached by Roha-Nagothane ST. Pengalsai village is about 5 kms from Roha.

From Pengalsai: From the Roha ST stand, start walking towards Nagothane. Then take the right, the road leads to a bridge over the Kundalika river, before arriving at the base village. From here, one reaches the top within one and a half hour.

From Medhe: Reach Medhe village by Roha- Nagothane ST. Or else, one can get off at Medhe if you are coming from Mumbai by a direct Roha ST bus. After crossing the village, we come across a temple of Lord Vitthal, and further ahead, the narrow path leads to the top in about one hour. In between, this path meets the one coming from Pengalsai in the col.

The route is very easy to climb, but its quite easy to get lost due to thick vegetation.

Climbing time: 1 1/2 hours from Pengalsai or Medhe village.

Fascinating spots: Avchitgad has 2 main bastions. One to the south has inscriptions on it. The main entrance to the fort is still intact. It is situated next to the rock - cut carving of a horse. The route further ahead leads to Large tank, with steps leading downwards. Its more like a small lake, but the water here is not potable. Futher, there is a small temple of Lord Shiva. From behind the temple, the route climbs down to many small water tanks. The water in some is potable. You can see a small idol of Bhanani devi here, as well as a small one of Pengalsai devi.
Two canons sit atop the fort. From the south eastern side of the fort, there is a view of the river Kundalika and the Rohaghat area. To the west, you get a view of the creek at Salav.
The enitre path to the top of the fort is through thick green vegetation. The trees found here are Australian Acacia, teak, mango and jamoon. Several varieties of birds and animals like boars, monkeys, foxes, hares and even an occassional leopard have been seen here.

Every Sankrant, villagers from th surrounding villages gather enthusiastically on the top of the hill fort for their annual fair.
The small ganapati temple near Pengalsai village, and the waterfall at Medhe village is worth seeing.

Forts visible from the top: Telbaila, Sarasgad, Sudhagad, Dhanagad, Korigad, Raigad.

Accomodation facility: One can find many hotels and Government guest house at Roha. There is no place to stay on the top.

Food and Drinking water: Carry your own food. A couple of tanks behind the Shiv temple on the south-western side have potable water.

Mahuli (13th July, 2008)

Height: 2815 feet

Range: Shahapur

District: Thane

Grade: Easy

As we drive on the Mumbai-Nashik highway, as we approach Shahapur-Asangaon, we can see the long range of pinnacles on the left. This range consists of 3 forts, Palasgad, Mahuli and Bhandargad, and other pinnacles. Mahuli is a very famous spot for trekking and waterfall rapelling during the monsoon.

History: In 1485, Leek Ahmed, the Nizamshah conquered Mahuli fort along with other forts in the Konkan area. In 1636, in the efforts to save Nizamshahi, Shahaji Raje took shelter at Mahuli fort along with his wife and Shivaji. The Moghuls attacked the fort under the leadership of Khan Jamaan. Shahaji fought hard, but in vain.
Later, in 1658, Shivaji won back the fort from the Moghuls, but in 1666 returned it to them under the Treaty of Purander. Since it was considered as 3 seperate forts (Palasgad, Bhandargad and Mahuli), Shivaji saved his 2 forts as he was supposed to surrender 23 of his forts under that treaty.
In 1670, Shivaji led a surprise attack on the fort in the middle of the night with 1500 soldiers, but the alertness of the Rajput Killedaar Manohardas Gaud foiled Shivaji's plans and 1000 maratha soldiers got killed. Manohardas understood that Shivaji will once again attack the fort. He left his post and Allaviddi Beg became the new Killedaar. On 16 June, 1670 Shivaji and his soldiers charged and attacked the fort and conquered it.
In 1818, The fort passed over from the Marathas to the Britishers.


Ways to reach: Reach Asangaon railway station on the Kasara line of Central Railway. From the station, start walking towards the Mumbai-Nashik Highway. After walking for about 10 mins, we come across a petrol pump on the left. One can have light snacks in the restaurant here. A further 5 mins walk, and a path enters towards the village and the famous Manas Temple of the Jains. From here, Mahuli village is at a distance of approximately 4 kms.

The Climb: Reach the Mahadeo Temple near Mahuli village. From behind the Mahadeo temple, the route begins. Avoid a bifurcation just ahead of the temple that goes to the left and gets you to a Ganesh temple. Take the narrow straight route off the main road, which after 15 mins comes across a big stream. We have to cross this stream. The road to the left that goes along the stream leads you to the waterfall. After you cross the stream, the path turns left and then gradually climbs up to a plateau in an hour. Then it runs along the ridge and reaches the massif. A further climb of an Hour takes you to the iron ladder, about 10 feet high. Climb the ladder and you reach the top. A further walk of half an hour takes you to the ruins and further ahead, the cave.

Climbing time: 3 hours from the Mahadeo temple.
Takes about 1 and a half hour (max) to reach Mahuli village from Asangaon station.

Fascinating Spots: After climbing the 10 feet Iron ladder to reach the top, we come across a couple of water cisterns. Further ahead, the route bifurcates. Right one goes towards Palasgad and the left route goes towards Bhandargad. On the way to Bhandargad, we pass through a forest and come across the ruins of a palace and a lake. Further ahead, we reach Jamun Bag, and this leads to a ridge, which leads to Bhandargad. On the right, about 500 feet below is the Kalyan Darwaza. One can ascend through Kalyan Darwaza by Rock climbing. It is possible to climb down and up the ridge to Bhandargad, from where the Pinnacles of Bhatoba, Navra and Navri make a fascinating view.

Forts Visible from the top: To the East - Ajoba
To the South east - Harishchandragad, Bhairavgad, Naneghat, Jeevdhan, Gorakhgad, Siddhagad, Bhimashankar
To the South - Matheran
To the South west - Mallangad
To the West - Vajreshwari and Tungareshwar
To the North West - Kohoj
To the North - Tansa lake
To the North East - Alang, Kulang, Madangad, Ratangad

Accomodation: The gatehouses on top of Mahuli can accomodate a few people. However it is advisable to complete the trek in one day.

Food and Water: Carry your own food. A couple of cisterns near the bifurcation are sources of clear water.