Ramdara Temple Hill Trek – Short monsoon trip from Pune
Ramdara Temple near Lon Kalbhor is a small yet famous temple. My first visit to this temple was many years ago. Since it is quite close to Magarpatta, we go there often, in all seasons. The reflection of the temple on the lake is a very soothing sight.
Though we had been there many times, we had never trekked to the hilltop behind the temple. Last monsoon (2023), as part of our “quick trips on weekday mornings”, we drove over to the temple and did the trek. This post is about the trek. It is a very easy trek and it should not take more than 2 hrs to and fro, from the temple (including dozens of photo breaks!)
The route to Ramdara (from Magarpatta) is very straightforward. Google maps will take you directly to the temple gate. A short drive on Solapur Highway and then a right near Loni will take you to Ramdara road directly.
The above photo is from a bridge you would cross on Ramdara road. The temple is near the 2 small orange towers. From there you climb towards the small Shiv temple on the right and then turn to the left the climb on the ridge reaching all the way to the top of the hill. The below is the aerial view of the same route.
The temple gates open only at 7 AM. If you are reaching after 7 am, then you enter the temple premises, exit it at the back gate and reach a point where you turn left and start your trek. If you reach before 7 am, park your vehicle at the parking lot (showing in map below) and go around the temple at the back to directly reach the starting point of the trek.
On the way to the temple, be on the lookout for farmers on the fields. This is a great opportunity to get fresh vegetables at a fraction of the price of the regular market. And, if you are from Magarpatta, you would jump in joy at this difference!
We went on a cloudy/windy day where it kept drizzling from time to time. This made it wonderful. Heavy rains might make the trail slippery as it is all loose soil/rocks. We took close to 2 hrs for the round trip (trek from the temple) as most of the time was spent on photos/just sitting and admiring the views!
The trek is overall on the easier side. There are few patches where you can climb over the rocks. All these sections had easier bypass routes by the side, but we chose to climb over the rocks 🙂
We also found 2 eggs on the ground. They were almost fully red in colour. Few kids who were also on the hill took these eggs, created a nice shelter under a tree and moved them there (away from the open space).
You get great views of the city from near the top. The cloud made it extra scenic. If you are from Magarpatta/Amanora, you will recognise the Amanora skyline in the last pic below.
On the way back, do no forget to stop at Kiga Ice Cream. They have got ice cream thalis (Yes, thalis) – 6-7 scoops of different flavours of ice creams (very unique flavours) and the entire thali ranges fro 220 to 350 rupees. An excellent place to stop if you are with a gang. After 11 am, they also serve sandwiches and other snacks.
I will end this post with a time lapse of clouds moving across the ridge, was a beautiful sight to watch!
