Raireshwar Fort Trek – a wholesome monsoon experience
A great location, a scenic drive, an easy climb, awesome views, significant history and topped up with great local Maharashtrian food make the Raireshwar Fort visit an amazing monsoon day trip.
Until about a few years ago, you had to park on the road going towards Wai (between Kenjalgad and Raireshwar). Now, they have made a motorable stretch towards the fort and the parking is done a little closer. It is only a 200 m stretch, so doesn’t take away much from the trekking distance. Once you park, it is a short, but interesting climb to the top of the plateau. This road was made because there is a proper village on top of the plateau and the people make the trip up and down on a daily basis. So, even though the reduction is small, it makes a big difference for the villagers.
The route from Pune (Magarpatta City) is not complicated. Should take around 2.5 – 3 hrs to reach the base. I prefer taking the Saswad route through Narayanpur, then hit the Bangalore highway, turn left, within a km turn right into Bhor. You will cross the famous “Necklace Point”. Do try to make a stop there, the view of the river making a U-Turn is worth a stop.
Go in the direction of Varandha Ghat. At a village called Ambeghar, you will see a small hanging bridge (biscuit break!). After this village, you will break away from the Varandha road and start going towards Raireshwar. This stretch is BEAUTIFUL.
The village roads are narrow, but in a pretty good condition. The last 30 mins of the travel before Raireshwar is amazing. Hills on all sides with yellow flowers in the middle (depending on season). August and later will get you lot of flowers. A steep climb with lot of u-turns would take you to the fort parking. Watch out a bit on these u-turns as the road condition usually gets worse during the monsoon. They don’t usually repair them until the monsoon gets over. But, any car can easily make the way to the top.
The climb is pretty easy. It takes around 30-45 mins with lot of photo stops on the way. And, you WILL take lot of photo stops as the view all over is amazing! If you are doing this during peak monsoons, you will see beautiful layers of clouds all over. If it is towards the later half (Sep), the place is covered with wild flowers. In fact, this is a very good alternative to the now-crowded-commercialized Kaas Plateau.
The highlight of the climb are the series of short metal stairs referred to as “Ladder of Heaven” on google maps! They are put up at sections which otherwise would have required tricky ascent of the cliffs. But the cool thing (not so cool for some 🙂 ) is that there are sections of the ladder where the side railings are missing. This makes the climb a bit thrilling. But, nothing to worry about, these ladders though shaky have always felt perfectly safe.
Take it slow on the ladders and don’t forget to look back when you are climbing up/down. You can get some very nice photos 🙂
The ladder stretch is practically one-way, so if there is a crowd, you need to be patient!
The Raireshwar plateau is huge. So, what do you do when you reach the top? Take more photos obviously! The village folks have made a walking trail (stone path) which will take you around the plateau. The path will lead you near to the village temple. This is probably the most significant aspect of Raireshwar.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj took the oath of ‘Swarajya’ at this temple at the age of 16 along with his friends. He decided to act against the foreign invasive dynasties and establish a kingdom for the Marathas. This act at this temple was technically the foundation of the successful Maratha Kingdom. For the Marathas (and in Maharashtra), this temple is highly revered. One of the most important historical milestones for this area.
Read up on the significance of this temple before you go to the fort. That will help you appreciate its importance even more.
By the time you walk and reach the temple, you should have already been approached by locals asking you for having lunch at their place. Lot of locals provide tasty homemade Maharashtrian food at their simple homes. We accepted the offer of one such person and he also became our guide for the day. He took us to the temple, offered us some very tasty Chaas. We were there mid-Sep, so the sun was out a bit.
He then took us on a 40 min trail to see the “Seven Coloured Soil”. I would advise to skip this. The walk was amazing. Walking through monsoon slush is a very satisfying feeling. The walk took us through fields of flowers. But the seven coloured soil was bit of a disappointment. It was a small area and the locals had collected the coloured soils on a plate for us to see, that’s it.
There were symptoms of the soil having different colours, but nothing to wow about.
We were told that the locals are trying to maintain this place such that the colours are visible all-year round.
But, ask your guide to take you to different viewpoints or the cave. Walking on the plateau amidst the fields should not be missed. The small hills over the plateau offer great views. I also heard that the plateau has another way down with a longer stretch of ladders. Will probably visit this the next time i am at Raireshwar. The plateau is so huge that there are even 8 hr treks organised on the plateau which take you to the very western edge.
We started collecting flowers of all the types we could see. It was a nice flower bouquet! We did ask our guide before picking every flower!
After that we went to his house for lunch. Simple, excellent, hot food. Pithla Bhakris, thecha, rice and Dal. Amazing. Around 180rs a plate. Our guide was Srikant Jangam – 92201 52743. If you are a big group, you can call ahead so that they can keep the food prepared for you. Almost all the locals on Raireshwars had the surname Jangam. They all were proud of their link to Chatrapati Shivaji and had lot of stories to tell.
The climb down is simple (More photos). There are two options for travelling back to Pune. One is the returning the same way, through Bhor. The other option is climb down the other side, towards Dhom dam backwaters. The advantage of this side is that you can visit Menavli Ghat (Wai), the site of many Bollywood Movie Shootings, have early dinner at Mapro Wai. If you are not in the mood for cheese, i would recommend Gandharv Pure Veg Restaurant on the same road a a km before Mapro.
I have been to this fort 2 times and have been on the road (through the base) multiple times. This is a great option for a monsoon visit and can be included on the monsoon calendar every year. If you have not visited it yet, plan it for the coming monsoon!
