Malshej Ghat

Beauty of Malshej with Historical and Spiritual spots

Our Maharashtra state as I already mentioned in my Bhimashankar blog comprises of fabulous view of mountain range on Western Ghats. In this range there are no. of beautiful peaks which are covered under greenery having rejuvenating climate, twisty waterfalls, etc. One mountain from this Western Ghats range is Malshej Ghat. Malshej ghat is having its value for trekkers and adventure lovers. From Mumbai if one has to go to Indian Plateau then he has to pass from three National Highways i.e. Highway No. 4 via Khandala (bhor) ghat secondly, Highway No. 3 via Kasara ghat and Highway No. 222 via Malshej ghat. One can reach here from Pune or Kalyan or Nashik. Approximate distance from these 3 spots is around 100 kms. Other than the local and national birds one will able to view Flamingos in winter season. I have heard many things about Malshej Ghat from my friends and through television program of “BHATKANTI”. I was avid to see its beauty from last 4-5 years. Its altitude is around 3500 feet above the sea level. The best time to visit this place is monsoon and winter. There are certain attractive spots nearby Malshej like Shivenri Fort, where the great Maratha ruler Shivaji was born, Harishchandragadh, another point for trekkers, Ozar and Lenyadri, etc. 

So, finally, the time came to visit this so called beautiful place. It was 31-Jul-11, when I including my Syntel group had visit this spot. Exceedingly thankful to Shreya for organizing this outing as I was eagerly waiting for it. We had started the journey from Thakurli station in the morning 6.15 a.m. Our first site seeing was Shivneri Fort. From there we had planned to return back by roaming other sites like Ozar, Dam @ Pilpangaon and lastly, Malshej Ghat. It was one day trip. So, we were having very less time for visiting. Before visiting the historical place Shivneri, we have viewed the beauty of Malshej ghat. I felt that heaven has straight away come down on earth to experience its beauty. Everybody from us was enjoying that environment. 

We reach Shivneri fort @ 10.00 a.m. Shivneri fort is situated at Junnar. It is the birthplace of  Shivaji. I am quite poor in history. But as what history says that Shivaji’s father was concerned for the safety of his wife during her pregnancy as there was constant warfare going on. He therefore moved his family to Shivneri fort. As per the information Shivaji was born at the fort on 19 February 1630, and spent his childhood there. He got his name SHIVBA. Inside the fort there is a small temple of goddess Shivai Devi, after whom Shivaji was named. While moving toward the top of the fort you will come across various gates of different names. Going forward you will come across the places like Amberkhana, GANGA-JAMUNA Taki, Shivaji’s birth place, Badami Talav, Kade lot, etc. During the entire journey of Shivneri fort our punters were very busy with photo session. They were involved in it so intensely that they were not concern about timings. We manage to return to base @ 12.30. Everyone from us was hungry and thirsty. 

Further, we had planned to visit spiritual place of Ozar which is one from 8 places of Ashtavinayak. It is around 12 kms. from Shivneri. Moving towards Ozar, we saw another spot of Ashtavinayak i.e. Lenyadri. This temple is at the middle of that mountain which takes around 20-30 minutes. I was having keen interest to visit, but due to shortage of time we didn’t do so. After taking a darshan of Lord Ganesha, we had done a boating. We had enjoyed it by doing racing and colliding with each other.

After the boating, we had a lunch. We had a spicy Veg. Kolhapuri, Jeera Rice and Ice cream. Veg Kolhapuri was so spicy that 2-3 of our guys were not able to control. They had some cold drinks, etc. for removing that peppery taste from their mouth. Later, we move ahead towards a Dam @ Pimpalgaon. The dam was excessively big and was having beautiful scenery. Looking @ that dam, it was looking like a sea because it was so big dam. We spent very little time there as we had to move to Malshej ghat. 

We manage to reach @ Malshej ghat around 4.30. It is a spot for which I was avid to see it from last 4-5 years. Environment was very foggy as like what I have experienced @ Bhimashankar. Firstly, we approach to Suicide Point which just beside the tunnel. There was deep valley on both sides of that point. 2-3 of our guys were having acrophobia because of which they were avoiding to come ahead. But they tried it, reached @ the spot and have clicked some snaps as well. Further, we went under the waterfall to enjoy its gushing water. Water was very cold, but then later we enjoyed it. We stay there around 30 minutes, enjoyed each n every moment of it. We had taken some snaps to recollect our memories in future. Also, we had taken some mind blowing snaps like showing a pose as if we are drinking the water which is falling from the mountain. We move towards Mumbai around 6.00 p.m. and reach to Thakurli @ 9.30 p.m

Before ending I would like to say that overall it was great and unforgettable journey. Surely, I will visit this spot again in the mere future. Again, a special thanks to Shreya for organizing this outing. It was the 1^st time for her and she had managed it very well.