Day trek to Visapur fort

As monsoon was about to start, we decided to start some trekking activity. We planned Visapur trek on 1st June 2014. We were expecting light rain on that day but it turned out to be bright sunny day. This time we invited our friends and they joined us.

Trekkers for Visapur fort were me, my wife Renuka, our friends Himanshu - Ketaki, Abhijit – Manasi, Aniket – Gayatri and Sangram – Priyanka.



Visapur Fort (Taken during last monsoon from Lohagadwadi village)

About Visapur Fort and route:
              Fort is situated 52km from Pune in western India. It is at an elevation of 3,556 feet (1,084 m). It is built on the same plateau as Lohagad. Visapur Fort is larger and at a higher elevation than its twin fort- Lohagad. Trekker usually start there trek from Malavali railway station. It is just 9km away from station.
              Visapur region was built by Bahmani rules. It went into the hands of Mughals in the treaty of Mahuli, between Shahajiraje and Mughals. Seeing that the Mughals were not able to keep a control over the region, Shivaji Maharaj captured almost all the forts here till 1660. Historic evidence says that current fortification was built during 1713-1720 CE by Balaji Vishwanath. There are many places to see on fort. You can some Caves, old stone arch, and fort wall, cisterns of water, Old Grinder and lord Hunuman temples.
              There are 2 ways to start trek to Visapur fort, one is from Malavali station. After crossing the Express-Highway & reaching Bhaje village we get straight route to Lohagad - Visapur. Now tar road is newly constructed from Bhaje caves to Lohagad base village. After walking for 1.5 to 2 hours & turning to left from `Goumukh Khind` we will reach to Visapur base. After a 1 km walk from Goumukh Khind, you will find old hut. Take a left route and walk for 10 ft. for another small left turn which goes through dense forest to the top of fort.

Another route is from Patan village. After crossing the Express-Highway, take a left for Patan village. Once you reach at Patan, you can start hike for fort. Make sure that you will remain close to waterfall route. This route is bit confusing so better to hire local person from village. Their chargers are not fixed as such so whatever you will offer they accept it or better to decide amount before trek.


Trek Route to Visapur from Gomukh Khind

We decided to climb from Goumukh Khind and come down by second route.

01st June 2014: trek to Visapur (1.25 hr. of local train + 2-2.5 hr. total climb):
               We woke up by 4.30 AM and gather at Shivaji Nagar railway station by 5.40 AM. Everyone was on time and we caught 5.55 AM local train from Shivaji Nagar station for Malavali. We reached on Malavali railway station after around 70 min. Aniket – Gayatri, Sangram – Priyanka were new members in our group and till Malavali we became familiar with each other. Once we reached at Malavali, without wasting any time, we started our first warm up patch. After 1.5-2km walk we reached at Bhaje village. We had poha as breakfast and then our trek began. Few members from group were too new to trekking activity so we decided to take small break as per their stamina.               Weather was perfectly set for trekking conditions. Sun was busy in hide and seek game with clouds. After crossing Bhaje village, there are 2 routes, one leads to Bhaje caves and other is to Visapur fort. There was a route from Bhaje caves to Visapur but we were not aware so we took winding path for our trek. We crossed 2-3 waterfalls in route. As monsoon hadn’t started so there was no water flow in the waterfall. After crossing 2 bridges (small bridge to bypass waterfall), there was small route on left side which was a shortcut with sudden height gain. We took that path. It went through a dense small forest. We had to take stop once to refresh ourselves. After walking for some time we reached at `Goumukh Khind`. Wherever possible, we chose alternate path with height gain. When we reached at Goumukh Khind, weather changed its mood and Sun started dominating all over the sky.

Waterfall during trek route (Pic taken in last monsoon). Please take proper care in fall. Life and nature are beautiful so respect them.

Lohagad Fort (on the way to Goumukh Khind)

               We took left for Visapur fort. After a km walk, we had our second pit stop at hut which is at the base of Visapur fort. It was bright sunny day and only half of the trek route was covered by forest area. First part of trek route goes through dense forest whereas remaining route is from rocky patch. No one gave up and after climbing on last rocky stretch, we reached at top. Everybody did great job even though few of them were not an experience trekker.

Visapur fort view from Goumukh khind

My friend indicating trek route whereas other friend indicating trek route sign on rock. Pic taken from hut



Trek Route

               Once we reached at the top, we searched for place where we can settle down for lunch. Being girls in group gives you advantage on food department. Renuka and her friends had bought enough food for lunch. We had some sandwiches and other dry stuff.

Rest after climb

              Before I write further, I would like to share some history about Visapur fort. The forts of Lohgad and Visapur have played an important role in guarding the trade routes and Bhaje and Bedse caves. Lohgad was witness of many significant historical events but unlike that, much less history is known about Visapur fort. As I said earlier, Visapur region was built by Bahmani rules then by Mughals and Shivaji raje. Shivaji Maharaj lost this fort in the treaty of Purandar in 1665. But after few years it is conquered again. On 4th march 1818 Colonel Prother captured Visapur, and the next day Lohgad fell into his hands. Making use of its higher elevation and proximity to Lohagad, the British troops set up their cannons on Visapur and bombarded Lohagad, forcing the Marathas to flee. Thus, in 1818, Lohagad-Visapur was taken over by the British in 1818 AD and placed under the command of a Colonel Prother.


Fort Lohagad and Fort Tung (R to L)



Fort Tikona and Fort Tung (L to R)

               After so called Lunch, we took some rest then explored fortification on fort. You can see ruined stone-built house known as Peshwa’s palace, old grinder, water tanks (known as Taake in Marathi), fort’s wall which is 3 ft thick and strong, secret entrance and carving of Hunuman (Lord Maruti) idol which consider as deity of Visapur fort. It was sunny day hence unable to cover all places within 1.5 hours but entire fort can be seen in 2 to 2.5 hours time.


Water tanks ( paanya che Taake)

Small Cannon on fort



Fort Wall

Large Cannon on Fort

Visapur Fort wall



escape route or secret route

              For our descend we decided to explore Patan route. Route is little bit difficult as there are many paths which may lead to some other place. It’s better to keep waterfall route parallel to your path. For monsoon season, better to avoid entraining into waterfall as water flow can drag you away. In the beginning of route, we passed by one lord Hanuman’s temple known as Chapetdan Maruti. It named because of Lord Hanuman's pose to slap the devil that is at his feet. There are small caves and drinking water source. You can spot same idol on Tikona fort.

Chapatdan Maruti

              We reached Patan village at 3.45 PM. We got Auto in the village for Malavali station. We missed our 3.50 PM local for Pune. We rested for an hour on station and board local train by 5.30 PM. We reached at Pune station safely ending pleasurable trek.

Things to carry for trek:

• A water bottle to carry at least 2 liters of water
• Some dry food, in case you didn’t find any suitable food stall
• Windcheater / jacket / Barsati during monsoon trek.
• Do carry instant energizers like Glucon-D or Tang.
• A towel or napkin and 2-3 old newspapers
• Small first aid kit
• Camera to capture best nature movement
• Better avoid wearing Gold and other ornaments. No need to carry heavy cash.

Our Expenses:

• Local train ticket: INR 30/- per person (Pune-Malavali return journey)
• Breakfast at Bhaje village: INR 30/- per person (Poha INR 20, Misal INR 25 and Tea INR 6/-)
• No Expenses on Lunch as we were caring food from home.
• Auto from Patan to Malavali station: INR 100/- for 4-5 people.
• Parking chargers at Shivaji Nagar railway station: INR 20/- per 3 hours.

 

Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy traveling.

Pritesh Kulkarni

Pune