Raigad

This was my second trek to Raigad. The first time I went to raigad was last year for the anniversary of coronation ceremony of the great Maratha emperor Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja. This time too I went there for the same occasion.

This time I was being accompanied by my two brothers Ninad and Shivendu. My college friend Akshay was also with me. We were to reach Dadar at 9am. This was a sponsered tour. We were to meet our organizers at 'Krishna Kunj'-residence of the politico who was sponsoring us. We left our house at 6:15am sharp. After boarding our trains me, Shivendu and Ninad spent our time chatting. Soon we reached Dadar. Once we reached Dadar I called my friend Tej-who was going to escort us to Krishna Kunj. We were to meet him and Akshay at the Plaza Theatre bus stop. We met Akshay over there. He was well before time. We waited there for a couple of minutes and Tej came over too. After exchanging hi's and hello's and introduction with Shivendu and Ninad. We started off for Krishna Kunj. Once we reached there we were surprised to see no one over there. We called our organizer Raju dada (Mr. Rajendra Sawant). He told us that they would be arriving in an hour or half. So we decide to spend the time in some garden nearby. In the garden we had some snacks that we carried with us. Viewed sea front and the Bandra Worli sea link. After spending and hour in the garden we headed back to Krishna Kunj. But again the same scenario awaited us. The place was completely empty. We again called Raju dada. He told us that the meeting point would be 'Rajgad'-office of the same politico. So went there. There was a small temple of Swami Samartha in the vicinity. Tej and Ninad went there. Some time had passed and there was no sign of anyone there. Clock said it was passed ten now. We had started to get bored. Shivendu was exasperated to wait for so long. Now everyone was getting irritated and had started voicing their discontent. Soon we got a call from Raju Dada that they had started off from wadala. Now we got excited that they would be reaching in 15-20 minutes, Maximum half an hour. Now everyone was looking for two red Qualis vehicles which were to take us to raigad. But when an hour passed and no one arrived we again called Raju dada as to know what had kept them busy for so long. He told us that a procession was organized by the political party and they were a part of it. As it was moving very slowly they were late. We were confused as to what was going on. Everyone had a opinion of their own. Amidst this we saw a truck coming. It carried a bronze statue of Shivaji Maharaja and some people dressed in old fashioned way surrounding a man dressed as Shivaji Maharaja. Soon arrived the Qualis vehicles which were to take us to raigad. In half an hour we were in the vehicles and on our way but at snail’s pace. Our vehicles were following the truck that had come. Now we were headed to Wadala. It took us almost an hour and half to reach Wadala which is normally a 20minutes journey.

Once in Wadala, the procession stopped and all the members of the procession went to have tea at a nearby stall. Time was passing and we were getting bored and irritated. We had the packed lunch that we were carrying with us. Now Shivendu and Akshay went to search if they could find some cold drinks. When they returned Shivendu was irritated and decided to leave. I tried to reason with him but to no avail. Ninad had gone to get some chocolates when Shivendu left. When he returned he was shocked to see Shivendu gone. He called him and tried to persuade him. But by now Shivendu had already boarded the train. I was missing him and could not help it. But he was gone and was not to return for the trek. My oldest ally for trekking was lost.

In about 15minutes we left Wadala for Raigad. We galloped our way throughout. I was wishing that if Shivendu would have waited for another 15minutes he would not have missed this opportunity. But he was gone and it was no good crying over spilled milk. In an hour we reached Pen. In Pen, we had our lunch. As it was afternoon and we had to travel a long distance we decided to have less food. After having lunch we waited for others to return. Meanwhile we clicked some pictures and adored the pinnacle of Karnala fort that was visible to us from here. In another 10minutes everyone was back and we left Pen.

The driver of our vehicle seemed to be an experienced guy and the way he was driving was just magnificent. He was driving at almost a constant speed of 90km/hr. It was breathtaking. Soon the other Qualis carrying half of our group also joined the party. Overtaking at its horrific best and sharp turning had us oohing and ahhing. It was very much like a roller coaster ride. To add to it, some good music was being played on the music system in the vehicle. We chatted for some time and then fell asleep. When we woke up we were around 10km away from Raigad. We cloud see the huge fort at the horizon to which we were fast approaching. In another half an hour through village roads we were at the foot of Raigad. The clocked showed us 7pm. The sun had set just a few minutes before. The daylight was still good and we three were all set to take the fort at this time through a rough patch and not by the usual steps. At first we had had some resistance from other group members but our zeal was not to be dampened. We stayed adamant and they gave in. At quarter past seven we started our climb.

The dark of night was growing upon us. Me and Akshay were leading the group and opening the route. Ninad and Raju dada were behind us. They were making sure that people behind were being on track. A mistake at this time of night would be the last thing we could ask for. If we would lose our way it was sure that we would not get to the top anyways. Raigad is a giant fort and there are many ways we could get lost. But we held our nerve. Soon the darkness descended on us. The only light we had with us was moonlight. By now we had climbed half of the fort. But still the other half was remaining. We could see the lights in the villages at the foothills.The sight was beautiful. This trek unknowingly became my second night trek. The speed of the group was now slackened a bit. But no one was ready to give in. We still fought on. Amidst this Ninad’s phone rang. It was Shivendu on line. I talked to him and told him what he was missing. I was missing his company too. Till date I had done a couple of treks with him and he was always the one who stood with me. In this trek I was missing him very badly now. I asked him give my parents a call that I was fine and my phone battery was nearing end and I had switched it off. I felt bad for him missing the trek. But it was of no use now. I continued my trek. Soon at some distance we could see the railings of the steps. Everyone in my group was of the opinion that this much was enough. Considering the fact that there were small kids and ladies in our group we gave in this time.

Soon we were on steps and I was feeling content. Again me, Akshay and Ninad were leading the group. We were singing Marathi songs on our way. We were pulling each other’s leg meanwhile. Ninad is very much afraid of dogs and we could see a couple of dogs in our way up. He also agreed and quoted that he won’t fear a tiger but would surely fear a dog ! After about half an hour we reached the main entrance called ‘Maha Darwaja’. It’s a magnificent work of architecture. The door is huge and boisterous. Even after 350 years of its construction it still stands tall. We halted there and waited for our complete group to assemble. When they returned most of them were completely exhausted. So they decided to sit there and Raju dada went ahead to make sure of the dinner arrangements on the fort.

After another fifteen minutes, we headed towards our residency for the night. On the way we were caught up in rain. It was not in full force but the drizzle too could make us quite uncomfortable. We waited under a small makeshift roof. When the rain receded we continued again. In about ten minutes we reached the top of the fort. This part is called ‘Holicha Mal’. On the left side there was ‘bajarpeth’. This was the market place in historic times. We met Raju dada in ‘bajarpeth’. He had a small girl with him. That girl took us all to her house. We were to rest for the night in this house.

The house was very small. We kept our bags in the house and sat in the courtyard facing the house. After chatting for some time we were called for dinner. Dinner was at its modest best. We were served a couple of ‘bhakris’ and ‘dal bhath’ (rice). We had it quickly. After all of group assembled in the courtyard. Akshay sang a couple of songs for us. Then we decided to retire for the night. Soon everyone was in the house in their beds. I, Akshay, Ninad and Vijay dada decided that we would sleep in the courtyard itself. We arranged all our bedding and we were about to sleep when rain started. We hurriedly removed our beds and headed inside the house. In the house there was no space remaining for us. The woman in the house suggested that we could sleep in cowshed! It was the most ridiculous idea ever. But at that time it seemed to be the only feasible solution. We inspected the cowshed. It was clean and cozy. They sweeped the floor for us and soon we arranged our bedding there. But still the fun continued. The jester again was Ninad. He feared that the calves tied nearby would eat his toes ! On hearing this everyone was in splits. Throughout the night he kept complaining that some insects were crawling on his body. He would awaken Akshay-who was sleeping besides him-and ask him to see if anything was on his mattress. I slept cozily and enjoyed it a lot.

The day began at 4:30 in the morning. After completing our morning chores we had our breakfast. ‘Poha’ was served for breakfast. It was very dry and won’t go down our throats. Somehow we managed it and left for the coronation ceremony. The coronation ceremony takes place in the ‘Raj Darbar’ king’s court. Some rituals were going on when we arrived. So we decided to tour the fort meanwhile. We saw the remains of King’s room, Queen’s palace, jail, goldsmiths place, ministers places etc. We had able guidance of Raju dada in our tour. He told us about the history of fort and many other things. After spending an hour we returned to the ‘Raj Darbar’. The rituals had ended and we went near the throne to pay our homage. We stood there for some time and then returned.

Till now only half the fort was seen. We now proceded towards ‘Wagh Darwaja’. Its a hidden door leading out of the fort but it is very dangerous to climb out of. It was the door through which Rajaram Maharaja-grandchild of Shivaji Maharaja escaped when the fort was given away to the mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It was like a picture frame. A hill stands in front of the door as a huge boulder. After spending few minutes there we went to see the temple of ‘jagdeshwar’. It is the deity Shivaji Maharaja prayed to. The tomb of Shivaji Maharaja also resides nearby. We paid our homage there and decided to go back down.

While climbing down, me and Ninad held the lead. Raju dada and Akshay backed us and brought along the remaining group. This time we decided to climb down the difficult way. The way was adventurous enough but safe too. Slowly and steadily we were climbing down. The way was nice and the scenic beauty of the Sahyadri range was marvelous. It appeared as a wave after wave of mountains. We could also see numerous hill forts. We halted for some time to have dry food. After halting for about half an hour we continued again. Soon we could see the ‘Nane Darwaja’. This was the door we were supposed to climb out of. When we thought that we were heading in right direction but we were not. We came to know that we had moved on and the door was behind. We decided to take the immediate route climbing down to the door. Soon we were near the door. Stopping for breath near the door we proceeded again towards our vehicles to head back home.

On the way, we stopped by at a village called Pachad were tomb of Jijamata-Mother of Shivaji Maharaja-is situated. We had our lunch there and returned home. We could see the fort still but it was soon passing the horizon and we were nurturing the dreams of coming back again next year.                                                             

 

PS:- The earlier post had a lot of mistakes in it and I appologize for that.