After the Kalsubai hike, we were thinking of hiking to Harishchandragad via the Khireshwar route. But for the last few days, Kasturi and I have been down with the flu and couldn’t make this trip happen. So I am taking a trip down memory lane and posting a report of the same hike I did back in 2016 with a few other friends.
Khireshwar
There are multiple routes to go up Harischandragad. The India Hikes team has done an excellent job of documenting all the information relating to these options.
On Nov 12, 2016, along with Milind, Satish, Manju, Nitin, Gowri and Abhay, I left Pune around 6:30 am. Kundan was coming from Nashik, and we met him at Alephata. From there, it was another hour’s drive to Khireshwar village. Finally, we parked our two cars at a villager’s place and made our way to the forest. It was around 11 am.
Khireshwar to Harishchandragad
The initial section of the hike is through the forest and provides some respite from the sun. Then, about an hour into the hike, we took our first break.
It took us another thirty minutes to reach the start of Tolar Khind (mountain pass), and we took our second break. The next section of the hike was relatively steeper and had some exposed areas. The views got better as we went higher up.
Photo by Nitin
Soon we arrived at the plateau. From here, it was a relatively flat hike to Harischandragad and then to Konkan Kada.
Further ahead, we arrived at a junction, and after asking around, we took the trail to the right. Back then, I didn’t know the route to the left would have taken us to Balekilla (higher/upper fort). Otherwise, we would have at least considered this option.
After hiking for more than four hours, we arrived at an area where the villagers had built shacks that provided food and overnight accommodation to the trekkers. We picked one of them and made arrangements for our stay.
Konkan Kada
After a good long break at the hut, we made our way to Konkan Kada (cliff). It was less than a km hike to one of the most famous lookouts in the Sahyadri mountain range.
The view was a bit hazy but still impressive. I had heard about rock climbing in Konkan Kada. Still, I didn’t realize the scale and challenges of climbing this overhanging cliff. The video below captures the spirit of climbing and what it takes to do a big wall climb in the Sahyadris.
Closer to sunset, Konkan Kada was getting busy. So, I hiked along the cliff following the upper section of Nalichi Vaat (The Gorge Path) – one of the challenging trails that comes up to Harischandragad.
Soon, I saw some villagers helping a person who was lying on the ground unconscious. Few others were assisting other hikers who could barely walk. Apparently, there was a honeybee attack caused by cigarette smoke. Hikers were trapped on the steep and narrow terrain, and many of them had multiple honey bee stings.
As the news of this incident reached Konkan Kada, Kundan, Milind and Satish came down the trail looking for me. The villagers continued to assist the hikers, who were in shock but seemed to be stable. As it got dark, we made our way back to our hut. It was Milind’s birthday, so we had a small surprise for him.
Harishchandragad Temples
The next day, I got up around six am and explored the area around the hut. The first visit was to Harishchandreshwar Temple, a monolithic structure – carved from a single rock.
There are several caves and cisterns inside the temple complex.
Next, we visited the Kedareshwar cave, where a Shivling is surrounded by water. It is definitely one of the unique Shiva temples I have seen.
This wiki page has some great information about the history of Harischandragad, its temples and other sites.
Descent
After breakfast, we started our hike down. It was another clear sunny day, and it took us just under four hours to get back to Khireshwar.
In total, the hike was under 13 km out and back with about 650 m vertical. The trek, no doubt, was beautiful, but the best part was doing it with Kundan, Milind and Satish. It had been 12 years since we had made a trip together. Also, the Harishchandragad Trek led to our Kheerganga Trek in Himachal Pradesh in 2017.
Resources:
Trail Guide: India Hikes | Maharashtra Forts Explore | Pune Trekkers
Weather: Yr.No | India Meteorological Department
Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not Affiliate Links.
Did you enjoy reading this post? Please subscribe to get weekly updates. Please share your feedback in the comments section below. Thank you!
