Mruggad Fort Trek

 

The Shape of the fort is like a peacock hence it would be name as Mrug (Peacock) gad (fort)

We the Trekking Paltan group visited the fort on July 3rd 2022

The fort is about 120 km from Pune. Bheliv is the name of the base village of the fort. The fort is seen from the Lion/Tiger Point Lonavla which is on the Amby valley road. 

Khandala -Khopoli - Imagica - Umbare -Durshet - Padghawali - left turn for Jabhulpada road - along the the river Amba - Mangaon bk - Bheliv 

Amba river

Parking at Bheliv village

Trekking start from this temple.

The total time required to get to the top of the forts is 40 to 50 mins.

The forts is small. There is a water tank, a goddess statue and a cave there on the top.

Try to move forward towards the end of the fort. 

after initial walk of 10 min, jungle patch starts 

Once you reach on open sky you will see a narrow pass

on the top of the pass, the main fort is on the left side and a cave is on the right side

The Steps in the rock takes you to the top

The spectacular view of Lonavla and lion point

Goddess statue

Water tank

Rahul Jadhao, Sainath Jagdale, Shreerang Gorse, Pradeep Patil, Parshuram Bhangre, Anjali & Amol Gore, Sharad Potkule, Kumar Khunte

Seating- Dnyaneshwar Aarne and Akshay Kahde

Return journey

Nandgiri (Kalyangad) Fort Trek 2021

Kalyangad/ Nandgiri Fort Trek  

Kalyangad fort trek is a small trek near Satara. Good for kids and family. It is also known as Nandgiri fort. The main attraction is dark cave of Maharaj Nandgiri. Carry torch to see the cave properly.  There is a Samadhi of Kalyanswami on the fort. 

Trekking Paltan Pune : from left Sandeep Chaudhari, Akshay Sapkal, Amol Gore, Dnyaneshwar Aarne and Dr. Suresh Isave Date -07.03.2021

How to Reach : It is about 120 km and approx. 3 hours journey from Pune city. The fort is rightly located on Google Map. 

Pune-Satara highway- Shirwal- Surur - Joshi Vihir -Bhuinj - take left from highway - take Karkhana        (factory) road - Shivthar- Jarandeshwar Chauk - take left - go straight - cross river bridge -Dhumal wadi is the base village. 

Parking : Parking is Free in the open space. 

Food and Water : No Food and water available on the trek. So carry food with you. 

About the Trek : Minimum 5 hours sufficient for the parking to fort return. There are two routes for the trek. See the video for the trek. you can take a motorable road. The road condition was not good when we visited. We did hike to get on the fort. It took 40 mins to reach on the top. 30/40 min are enough to explore the fort. 

Trek route 

Parking in  open space

Trek starts with steps behind the houses in the village. 

Simple trek

Caves

There are historical caves on the trail before reach on the fort. 

Maha Darawaja (Main Entrance)

After Maha Darwaja you can see a small temple for Lord Shiva at the left side. 

These steps are taking you in to the iconic caves of lord Nandgiri 

at the entrance of the Nandgiri Maharaj caves

Inside the Caves

There is dark around. Carry a torch to see the cave. The cave is full of cold water. The height of the cave is uneven so be careful about head. Bend down and walk carefully. There are sharp edges rocks around. Even there are sharps stones in the water too and because it is a holy place you need to take out your footwear outside, these stones may hurt you. 

Video - inside Caves

There is temple at the end of the cave.

After the caves go the right side, there are some temples and monuments on the top. take a round. It will take about 30-40 min. 

It was upsetting to see the ashes on the fort which was the consequences of fire burnt by some people.  

The Ashes 

Be Aware. Make Aware

View form the fort

Lunch of Trekking Paltan 

Best season to visit the fort is Monsoon and winter. In summer there could be lot of heat.