Kothaligad Trek - A Paradise Experience

Date: 16th July 2017

Height: 3100 ft.

Grade: Medium

Nearest Railway Station: Karjat

Base Village: Peth Village

Trek Organizers: AO Trekkers

Details and History:

Kothaligad Fort is also known as Peth Fort because of its base village Peth. It is a small fort situated to the East of Karjat near Karjat-Murbad road in Maharashtra. As per locals, it’s not a proper fort but it is a watchtower. It helps to keep an eye on the surrounding region and also prevent the enemy attacks. Kothaligad Fort is part of the Sahyadri Hill range. It is situated at 3100 ft. above from sea level.

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ordered his warriors ‘Abdul Kadar’ and ‘Ali Biradarkani’ in November 1684 to capture the forts belonging to Sambhaji’s empire. Abdul Kadar had a fair idea of the importance of possession of this fort. Control over this fort means control over the Kokan region. He made a concrete plan to conquer the fort. In his efforts, he went to the surrounding region and kept people thereof as his servants to get inside information from them. As he became aware that arms and weapons were traded here, his group of 300 gunmen reached the base in November 1684. The Marathas forced most of them back, but some still managed to reach the ‘Magarkot Dwar’ and started shouting ‘open the door’.

The Marathas inside the fort opened the door on the assumption that these shouting Mughals were ‘own men’ who came for collecting the weapons for war. The Mughals immediately rushed in and the battle started. They win the battle with the help of ‘Mankoji Pandhere’.

The next day, the Marathas surrounded the fort. Abdul Kadar’s position became critical. The ammunition in the fort was destroyed and used in the battle. Although the Mughals were occupying the fort, they were helpless as the Marathas looted ammunition and food sent to them at their base camp, on its way. About 10-12 days later, Abdul Aziz Khan sent his son Abdul Khan to help Abdul Kadar. But Maratha Sardar Naroji Tryambak was hiding in the valley to prevent him to approach the fort. When another war broke, the Marathas lost and Naroji was killed. Ehmat Khan capitulated Naroji and hung his head right in the middle of the road. Now, the Mughals had total control over the fort. The Golden keys of the main door of the fort were sent to Aurangzeb as a symbol of victory. After confirming the victory, he rewarded Abdul Khan. The Mughals renamed the fort as ‘Miftahulfateh’, meaning victory key.

The Marathas continued their efforts to conquer the fort. In December 1684, the Marathas tried to stop Mughals moving towards the fort. Seven thousand Marathas constituted a strong battalion and fought with Mahamat Khan. But success was far away. In April 1685, 700 Marathas attacked again. About 200 of them climbed the fort with the help of rope ladders. The battle started between two parties and a lot of blood shaded. The goddess of victory again favored the Mughals and the Marathas lost the battle. In 1716, this cave was captured by the British.

After 130 years in November 1817, Bapurao, a Maratha Sardar with Bajirao Peshwa II fought with the British and won the fort. The fort was recaptured by the British on 30 December 1817, by Captain Brooks. The British had the fort till 1862 as an outpost for vigilance on the surrounding valley and the hills all around it. ( Reference - Wikipedia & Trekshitiz.com)

Experience:

Monsoon of 2017 was exciting for me! Monsoon is a season of rain and trek. Rain and Trek is the best combination ever. In July 2017 I first experienced an awesome form of nature. Perhaps this was the month I started doing treks which I dream of since teenage. Me and my friend registered for this trek event with one of the good trek organizers of Mumbai - AO trekkers. So their itinerary was;

• Report to National Park, Borivali

• Private Bus to Base Village Peth

• Breakfast on the way

• Ascend Kothaligad Fort

• Explore

• Descend to Base Village - Peth

• Evening Snacks

• Leave for Mumbai

One night before, I packed a bag of all the necessary things. As it was a one-day trek, We were informed that there won't be any Lunch facility and everyone had to carry their own food. I didn't want to bother anyone so I decided that I will take Omelette and Maggie for lunch. That whole night, I was not able to sleep at all because of excitement.

I woke up around 4.30 AM in the morning, got ready, and left home by 5.30 AM. Our journey started early in the morning. Around 6.30 AM we left Mumbai via private bus to Peth which is the base village. I was traveling with my friend and a bunch of other participants. It was raining heavily that day which made our journey more beautiful.

I met lots of new folks on the bus during this journey. Some of them were experienced trekkers and some were fresher like me. We made a group among ourselves and started playing Antakshari on the bus. We all were excited about this new experience. We. reached base village around 9.30 AM and had little breakfast and tea. Organizers assembled all of us in a circle and gave us information about place and fort. They also shared some tips about trekking which were helpful for someone like me.

We started ascending Kothaligad Fort around 10.30 AM. The route is full of rocks and climb is steep through the forest. After 20-25 minutes of walking, we reached a point where Kothaligad can be viewed. Organizers decided to take a small break at this point.

This point looks like Plateau. It was completely covered with small plants and trees. We rarely get a chance to see such greenery in a city like Mumbai. I was looking at the fort and within a few seconds, the whole fort got covered with clouds. Nature was playing Hide and Seek with us. It was one of the great views of nature I had ever seen. As it was our first break of my first trek I was busy capturing photos of different forms of nature. I also clicked selfies with newly met people. Organizers again assembled us in circles. We had a short introduction round. Most of the people were from Dahanukar and Sathaye college. It was like a trek cum reunion for us. We clicked group photo on that this point and started moving towards fort again.

The route was completely covered with trees. As it was the rainy season, the route was covered with fog. We were long away from our city life. While walking through the path, it was so silent I could hear sounds of different birds clearly. It was my first trek thus I was taking breaks every 10-15 minutes. Also during that break, I was taking photos of nature and selfies too. It was raining on & off.

A 9 hrs Job five days a week, makes me tired. What I have for myself is the weekend - Saturday and Sunday. It was a much-needed break for me from my day to day life. While walking through nature I could feel-good vibes. It seemed as if Nature is talking to me and healing me. It was taking away all my problems and giving me joy and happiness in return. After 2 hours of walk in close proximity to nature, I was feeling refreshed. I never felt so good since I started my job.

After 3 hrs of a hard walk. We reached the main entrance of the fort around 1.00 PM. There are two routes from the entrance. The left one leads to the temple and caves. The right side route leads to the cannon. All of sudden, it started raining heavily and was windy. We took the route to canon and had to wait there for some time. Due to wind raindrops felt alike Needles piercing our body. We were at more than 2800 feet above sea level. Even though rain was hurting I was enjoying it.

After some time, it stopped raining and we went to Caves. Caves are dated back to the 13th century. It is the biggest cave on the fort. There are other small caves above this main cave. The big cave can easily accommodate 35-40 people. After 2-3 hours of trekking, everyone was hungry. Organizers decided to take a lunch break, post-lunch we will proceed to Top of the fort. We finished our lunch.

After finishing lunch, we started climbing the toughest part of the entire trek. The pinnacle is carved from inside forming a staircase reaching the top. It is the most difficult patch of the trek. The carved pinnacle is the famous attraction point of the Kothaligad/Peth fort. The pinnacle was used as a watchtower by Marathas. The whole structure is carved out of a single rock. Steps carved are 1.5 to 2 feet high. After climbing initial steps one can notice two small caves. Climbing steps were the difficult and the best part of Trek. Due to the rainy season, steps were slippery. We climbed the steps and reached the top of the fort.

We were not able to see anything as everything was covered in fog. A few minutes later, the fog cleared out and we saw awesome scenery from the top. We spend 10-15 minutes on top of the fort. It was an awesome atmosphere. The fort is an example of amazing engineering. Watchtower satisfies its name because from that height it was easy to keep watch on surroundings.

Around 2:00 PM we started descending to Peth Village. Descending in the rainy season becomes more challenging so we had to be more careful. We reached the base village around 4.30 PM. We had evening snacks and left for Mumbai. It was one of the best days of my life. I can never forget that day. This day taught me whenever things are going bad with you, go straight to nature without any hesitation. Nature is medicine for all the kind of pain.

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