Ratangad Trek

Being away from home and staying in a hotel in Mumbai, I had limited choice for Onam celebration, which fell on a Sunday !  The  only option we had in Mumbai was to reserve for 'Onam Sadya' arranged by  the hotels. I was planning to do something different which relaxed my mind and made my day memorable. I came to know of the  monsoon trek to Ratangad arranged by one of the groups and they named it as Flower trek because during monsoon, the fort and its surroundings will  be covered with yellow Sonki Flowers. When I checked in the internet, I saw pictures of Ratangad fort and its surroundings filled with yellow floweres which filled me with anxiety . Without any second thought I reserved my seat. As per our itinerary, our meeting point was at Pritam Hotel, Dadar (East) at 11 pm on 6th  September, Saturday night.

We reached Ratanwadi (the village at footstep of Ratangad) early morning at around 5 am. We took rest till 6 am. After freshening up, all of us had poha and tea from a village house. Then we visited  Amruteshwar temple, which is considered to be over 1,200 year old. History says that  the temple was constructed in the 9th century AD by the rulers of the Shilahara dynasty. The king of Jhang had built 12 temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and Amruteshwar Temple is said to be one of the 12 temples constructed by him.

When we entered the temple through the rear entrance, I could see  a sculpture of a Nandi placed in the compund facing sanctum. The temple has been constructed in Hemadpanthi architectural style with beautiful rock carvings on the main shrine. There is a mantapa with 12 pillars. And I noticed the ceiling, walls and the pillars, all are decorated with art forms, such as Gandharvas, Ganikas, Dancers with poses, snakes , flowers etc.  After descending few slippery steps, from where I stood, I could see Shivalinga that is half submerged in water. There are two sabha mandapas and garbhagriha is situated in between these sabha mandaps.  I felt happy that I could visit this ancient  Siva temple in my journey.

Amruteshwar temple, Ratanwadi

Adjoining the temple is the Jal-Kund (Water Tank) with steps of  black stone from all four sides and carvings in between various idols. The tank with its green colored water looked beautiful. After paying our respects to the Lord, we began walking in the direction of the hill.

THE TREK

Ratangad Fort is known to be more than 20 centuries old . It was initially ruled by the Mughals, was conquered by Shivaji Maharaj who loved it like a jewel.  The trail takes you through the vast expanse  of paddy fields, endless lush green grasslands and streams.

We walked  across the village along the paddy fields. There is a local dam and it was filled with water. We went parallel to the dam and it was overflowing. Ratangad is said to be the origin of Pravara/Amrutvahini river. The Bhandardara dam is constructed on this river. The route to Ratangad runs parallel and sometimes across the river Pravara. We went inside the water and clicked some pictures.

We walked through the deep forest enjoying the scenic beauty of nature and we could hear the sound of rushing water at a distance. We saw many waterfalls, small and big, during our hike.  Many times, I tried to get as close to the falls as I could, by climbing up the rocks which made it  a little challenging  as I tried not to fall in.

Soon we reached  a diversion, leading to our first plateau. There was a board-mark on a pole which directed us that the trail towards left would take us to Harishchandragad and the one to the right is towards Ratangad.

The Fort at the top is at a height of about 4500ft and the trek takes around 2hrs to reach to the top. After crossing 3-4 streams and an almost 2 hour trek up the hill, we were standing in the clouds. I was silently enjoying the beautiful scenery and silence of the forest.

It boasts of clear views of the Kalasubai peak and the Kokan-Kada (where the Sahyadris descend steeply into Konkan), thus becoming a trekker’s and photographer’s delight.

Soon we reached the first ladder. As per the photo I saw in the internet, this area was supposed to be filled with yellow Sonki Flowers. But due to  change in climate , the flowers were yet to bloom in full swing. Suddenly a fine mist surrouded us accompaned by a wind and we could not see anything around us.

After crossing the first ladder immediately there is the second ladder. We took extra caution as the path  become  slippery and visibility also reduced.  I packed my camera inside the bag as there was no chance of taking photos.

After crossing the ladder, we reached Ganesh  Darwaza which is the entrance  to  the fort. Right of the entrace there is   small  ladder and after that few steps which leads us to the top of the fort. On the top, we saw Ratnai Devi Mandir and then the caves.  Soon we entered the east south direction of the fort from the  Hanuman Darwaza. Then we reached  the plateau of Ratangad fort. On the right, there is a circular bastion. There is a small water cistern behind the bastion.

We continued our walk and  reached the Kokan side of the fort. On the way to Nedhe, there comes a small entrance of the fort  known as Chor Darwaza.  Moving further from the Chor Darwaza on the way we encountered a few  water tanks.

Finally reached the Nedhe or "needle hole"  which means a natural hole,  one of the main attraction in the fort. This is basically a Needle eye created by high speed winds. There is a very narrow route on the left of the nedhe, which  takes one to Trimbak Darwaza. Trimbak Darwaza is the third entrance of the Ratangad fort. One can reach Samrad village from Trimbak Darwaza.

After exploring the fort, we started our descend. Descending was quite easy. After crossing the forest, we reached the base village. When we reached  the village, lunch was awaiting  us. So, we freshened up quickly and wrapped ourselves in warm clothes. At the begining of the trek, we were strangers. But everyone was friends with each other by the time we reached back to the base village.

After a sumptious lunch,  we began our return journey to Mumbai. Return journey was filled with many 'wow' moments. I was sitting almost in the  front side of the bus. Antakshari  and singing songs  continued in the bus.  I craned my neck out of  the window to enjoy the scenary.  I could see peeks covered by fog and  gigantic waterfalls on the way.  All along, there was either heavy rain or drizling.

Overall, the trek was fun and memorable. But I was little sad as I could not take any photos from the top. I would definetely visit again to take more photos and with a clear view.