Mangad fort is situated in Borwadi in Mangaon taluka in Raigad district in Maharashtra

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Mangad fort is situated in Borwadi in Mangaon taluka in Raigad district in Maharashtra. The base village for the fort is Mashidwadi.

Bastions at the entrance of Mangad Fort

The directions to this fort are tagged on google maps. There are signboards on the road to, so you sure that you don't go off track.

We parked the car near Mashidwadi. Mashidwadi is a small village comprising of around 20 to 30 houses. It is also the base village to Mangad fort.

By the time we reached Mashidwadi village, it had already started raining. The time was now 3:30  PM on watch. We didn't get any rain cover, but that didn't stop us from visiting the fort premises.

Temple of Goddess Vinzai

There are signboards on the way, but we still managed to get lost uphill and were travelling in the wrong direction uphill, finally 

Dominic took a de tour and met a villager and then we traveled via the stone boulders to reach the Temple of Goddess Vinzai. The villager had informed us to keep the gate of the temple closed else the monkey's go enter the temple premises.

From the temple one has to travel via the stone cut rocks , walk on a tall grass patch and again on stone cut rocks to reach the Main Entrance of the fort.

View from atop Mangad Fort

As it was raining, the stone was wet and had turned slippery due to which we were not able to get a good grip on the rocks, there was also moss growing on the rocks which was making the journey difficult.

Dominic went uphill, he then motivated Manohar and Me to join him, we finally gave in and managed to climb the fort.

The fortification near the main entrance is intact. There is map of the fort here.

Sculpture of Maruti atop Mangad Fort

A orange painted sculpture of Maruti (Hindu God) is present here. There are a couple of water tanks (water is not portable) and a cave on the fort premises. The cave can be used for lodging purposes.

The thick vegetation atop the fort premises and the rains made travel difficult for us. We then made our way and reached the orange colored flag posted on the fort premises. The view from here of the neighboring forts and valleys is just amazing. I am just hoping that my phone doesn't get too wet in the rain and stop working. Still managed to get a couple of shots.

Cave and water cistern atop Mangad Fort

Map of Mangad fort, on the fort premises

Ideal time to climb up the fort is around 45 minutes, 20 minutes to see the fort and another 30 minutes to return to base.

Tall grass near a water cistern atop Mangad Fort

By the time we reached the base the time was around 6 PM.

Saffron flag atop Mangad Fort

We had one more fort to conquer, the Surgad fort near Pali, but we decided to skip that fort as we were running short of time, we then decided to head back to Mumbai.

On the outskirts of Mashidwadi village we noticed the remains of the Mahadev Mandir, the podium of the temple is made of black stone. Nothing much remains except for the statue of Nandi.

Remains of Mahadev Mandir

Statue of Nandi at Mahadev Mandir

Out of all the fort we saw today, Avchitgad and Talagad was the best as it had a lot of ruins atop of it, Birwadi fort just had the Main Entrance which was intact, felt sad as we couldn't explore Ghosalgad in entirety, Kude Caves no doubt were a good and clean set of caves, the actual adventure part was when we climbed the Mangad fort. 

The entire journey  starting and ending at Ghatkopar Station, inclusive of food, stay and travel cost us just Rs.2155 each. 

Pataleshwar caves near Jungli Maharaj Temple on Jungli Maharaj Road in Pune in Maharashtra

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Wai (to read about it click on Wai) was one of our best road trips, and it was time that we head out for yet another memorable road trip. I asked Manohar if he could take time out from his busy schedule so that we could plan yet another trip. To which he readily agreed.

Pataleshwar caves

We planned to cover Pataleshwar Cave in Pune, Paladeo Temple located in the middle of River Bhima, Kugaon Killa, Akluj Fort, Piliv Fort, Dhotri Fort, Solapur Fort, Siddheshwar Temple and Lake and finally Naldurg Fort in Osmanabad in 3 to 4 days time. We were hoping to save on time as we were traveling by car. 

Statue of Nandi at Pataleshwar caves

As decided we met at Ghatkopar Railway station at 5:45 AM. As it was just the two of us, we headed off the Mumbai Pune Expressway to Pune. As the roads were empty, and due to Manohar driving skills we reached Pune at around 8:15 AM. From Ghatkopar Railway station to here it is roughly around 152 KM.  

At 8:15 AM we were greeted by the office going crowd. It was the rush hour. Thanks to the GPS and the one way roads, we were driving in circles. We finally asked a couple of locals who  informed us to take the right turns to reach the Pataleshwar Caves. 

Statue of Nandi at Pataleshwar caves

Pataleshwar Caves is tagged on Google Maps, but the one way roads in Pune adds to the misery. 

Pataleshwar Caves is located in the premises of the Jungli Maharaj Temple. There are two ways to enter the caves. One is from the temple and the other is from the road (Jungli Maharaj Road). We skipped the temple and headed to the caves directly. 

Pataleshwar caves

A little bit of history. The Pataleshwar Caves aka Leni are also called as Panchaleshvara or Bamburde Caves. The caves were built in the Rashtrakuta Period. Dating back to the 8th century. The temple is  made of basalt rock. Currently it is surrounded by lush green trees and a white colored building.  

As we entered the cave premises we saw a statue of Nandi. A little ahead is a circular shaped caves. It is supported by pillars. Inside it is another statue of Nandi which is worshiped by people. The face of Nandi  is towards the entrance of the Caves. 

Carvings on the walls of Pataleshwar caves

Another Caves is located on the side, though a small one, but nothing much to see in it. 

Inside the main Caves is a temple dedicated to Shiva. The pillars of the cave cum temple are in symmetry. It reminded me of the caves in Jogeshwari near Mahakali Caves in Mumbai. (to read click on Jogeshwari and Mahakali, highlighted in red) At both the extreme ends are huge carvings on the walls. 

Pataleshwar caves

There is a brass temple just near the Door to the (Linga) Shiva temple.   

There was hardly anyone in the caves premises.

Pataleshwar caves

I immediately started my photography sessions to capture details of the caves. It took us just 15 minutes to explore the caves in entirety.

Pataleshwar caves

It  was time for breakfast, outside the Jungli Maharaj Temple premises are located a couple of roadside eateries, we headed there to  have breakfast in the form of masala dosa and vada sambar, a common breakfast dish for the two of us. 

Pataleshwar caves

Our next pit stop is Palasdeo Temple in River Bhima.

Banganga near Nandi Gaygotha near Nimboli Hot Water springs, Bhiwandi Taluka, Thane District in Maharashtra

Monday, October 3, 2016

Banganga Cold Water Spring is located near the villages of Nandi and Gaygotha which are a couple of KM away from Nimboli village near Nimboli Hot Water springs, Bhiwandi Taluka, Thane District in Maharashtra.

Banganga near Nandi Gaygotha villages

After visiting the Ganeshpuri Hot Water Spring, we headed over to Banganga. The roads are in very bad shape, it will surely test the suspension of your car and bike. Again car and bike is the only way of reaching it as there is no ST bus that ply on this road, but share rickshaw is available, reason I am saying this, is because I saw a share rickshaw. not sure of the origination or destination point of it.

After driving at a snail's speed, crossing the Nandi and Gaygotha village we finally saw a signboard on the left hand side of the road, leading to Banganga.

View of the waterbody along with the Banganga near Nandi Gaygotha

I have been to Banganga tank near Walkeshwar in Mumbai, though that experience was not good as the place had weird stink. But things have improvement there of lately, as confirmed by my friend.

Legend states that Banganga means, that a arrow was shot in the ground and water from the Ganga got accumulated there.

Signboard to watchout for

We finally reached Banganga. It is a well like structure. Though I could see bubbles in the water, the ladies washing clothes near it confirmed that the water is cold. It is a cold water spring. The ladies used the water to wash clothes. Meaning, water is not fit for consumption purposes. There is also a water body near the spring premises. cattle come here to bathe in the water. But I should say that the view is scenic here.

The villagers in Gaygotha informed that there is a hot water spring in the village of Pimplas in Wada and that this road led to it, but the road is in very bad shape and that it will take around 2 hours to reach. We the gave up on Pimplas and headed over to the Mumbai Ahmedabad Highway as we had to visit Varai Sativali Hot Water Springs. 

Ganeshpuri Hot Water Springs near Nimboli Hot Water Springs, Bhiwandi Taluka, Thane district in Maharashtra

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Ganeshpuri Hot Water Springs are located a couple of KM away from Nimboli Village near the Nimboli Hot Water Springs, Bhiwandi Taluka, Thane district in Maharashtra.

Ganeshpuri Hot Water Springs

After visiting the Nimboli Hot Water Springs, we sat in the car, asked the locals for directions and started driving. The road develops a T shape here, take left for Ganeshpuri Hot Water Springs and right for Banganga Cold Water Springs. Nimboli village is on he way to Ganeshpuri Hot Water Springs.

After crossing the bridge, we reached Ganeshpuri. There are so many peoples here. The list of temples goes on and on. We parked the car at the car park at a cost of Rs.10 and then headed to the Pujya Baba Holy Hot Water Springs. Again there is no pool here, but the water flows continuously. The flow of the water was not as strong as the one at Unhale Hot Water Springs in Rajapur on NH66.

There are changing rooms available for both men and women near the spring premises. Photography (film and video) is banned, but that didn't stop me from clicking  photos, there is no moral policing here.

Pujya Baba Holy Hot Water Springs

We then inquired with the locals again for directions to Banganga, located near Nandi and Gaygotha villages. The locals informed us that it is not a hot water spring but a cold one. Irrespective we still wanted to visit it.