SAHAYDRI
SANGH TREK TO HARIHAR GAD
Harihar Fort is built on a triangular prism of rock. Its
three faces and two edges are absolutely vertical (90 degrees). The third edge
towards the west is inclined at an angle of 75 degrees. A one metre wide rocky
staircase with niches in it is carved out for ascending & descending the
fort.
There is a temple with Shivling & a large cave with no
idol in it. The view from top is very exciting. One can see Vaghera in the
north, Tringalwadi, Kanvai and Upper Vaitarna lake in the south, Brahma, Kapda
and Brahmagiri in the east, and Fani, Basgad and Utwad in the west.
Vaitarna is the main river in this region. But due to the one
– sided slope of Sahyadri, the water flows away from this region. There is an
absolute shortage of water from January to March in this region.
The actual top of the fort can be accessed with a bit of easy
rock-climbing without equipment.
There are 117 steps in all. After you climb the
first rocky staircase (main entrance) we walk through below a overhang with a
sheer drop on the other side facing Brahma hill.. Simply superb. Again one has
to climb a set of steep stairs (with niches), then pass thru a staircase inside
the rock and then reach the top of the fort. The view from the top is
excellent.
Memorable : - As after long time we went to trek with Sachin
chavan, umesh mane, saurabh shivalkar, Nilesh Shinde, Mangesh Keny and his
friend, Rajesh Rahatwal, kumar khot, Prakash Prajapati, Vishal mhaske and
myself Bhushan Indulkar. Special Thanks to Sachin chavan, for traveling all the
way from Latur to Mumbai for this trek…. Jay Shivray.
