Lohagad Darshan

Look at this guy. Does he in any way look impulsive and itchy to you? Trust me he is. I met abhijit in college. Carefreely dressed, twisted smile on his face, he looked like those naughty kids in the comic books. We discovered we both shared a passion for trekking. While abhijit had alteady done some training in rock climbing, I was the daydreamer type. We formed a trekking group very soon and thus started our escapades of sahyadri.

He visited me a couple of days back after a gap of almost six years. He was staying at my place for appearing in an exam. Even after such a long gap, he didn’t fail to suggest a trek at the first opportunity. So off we went to lohagad. Thanks a lot for the trip abhi, may you remain like this for ever.

The weather was perfect. We left the village at the foot hill at about 0730hrs. The plan was to first visit the Bhaja caves and then head for lohagad.

Built in the middle of nowhere, now there’s a small village just at the base of the Bhaja caves. ASI has tried to maintain the place but has done a shoddy job. The notice at the gate told people to buy tickets, but no one was present to sell it. We jumped over the wire fence. I could not find any information of the caves displayed around. A search on the net tells me the Bhaja caves are supposed to have been built for Buddhist nuns. Excavated in the 2nd century BC. There’s a large meditation hall called the chaitya. Surrounding the chaitya is the vihara or the monastery consisting of many small rooms where the monks lived.The last cave to the south has some fine sculpture, including a prince seated on an elephant, a prince in a chariot and three armed figures. The caves supposedly belong to the maurya period.

There are number of stupas made at one particular place, lying in various stages of damage, evolving into different things. didn't realise while taking the snap, this one looks like ummm...

This is the view from one of the rooms where the monks stayed. Imagine dense forest instead of cultivated fields, streams flowing by, birds singing and the rising sun glowing on your face. A heavenly retreat.

This is the best carved of the caves with beautiful dancing figures and look what ASI has done to it. It has converted it into a storehouse. What a shame!

Visit to the caves over, we headed for lohagad। There’s a proper track going till the fort. But walking on it will be no fun. So we followed this jungle track, which has not been used since god knows when.

The first view of the fort is very imposing. One of the very few forts still intact.

This is the only information which you get. Too bad if you can’t read marathi. So much for tourist friendly maharashtra.

A prominent ledge juts out of the main hill. Its called ‘vinchukaata’ which means scorpion sting in marathi. One can see many water storage tanks along the ledge. There are more than 15 to 20 water tanks and a huge one centrally located. This is said to be the work of nana fadanis, who knew the importance of water too well.







A view from the top of the fort, this is the maharashtra I love. It’s land full of character, enticing you into it’s fold.