Kenjalgad, Raireshwar and Rohida

Choosing a right trek during summer time is really important to make it joyful and enjoyable. It’s always good to start early morning so that we spend less time in the afternoon. Or one can do a night trek if route is simple. I did night trek to Torna on last weekend with my son-Sumedh, my friend-Santosh and his son- Shreyas.

This time I was looking for small treks around Pune so that it can be done in single day. Moreover I was not keen to do repeat trek, so decided to visit Raireshwar Plateau- which is 65 kms from Pune on South side. ‘Santosh Kulkarni’ was as usual ready; checked with ‘Mukund Pate’ whether he would like to join. He said Yes and he got ‘Richard Lobo’(with whom he met during last trek) with him. So we four were finalized.

I came to know that there are couple of smaller forts around Raireshwar. Collected some info from books/blogs and decided to do Kenjalgad, Rohida and Raireshwar together. Plan was to complete Rohida first and then move to Raireshwar and Kenjalgad later. But since its summer time, we thought of doing farthest and difficult one in morning time and then while returning complete the nearest one. Kenjalgad seemed comparatively difficult (but its not) and far from Pune than other two places so chose to complete it first over the night and then move to easier one later.

Our planned route was:

Pune- Bhor- Ambawade- Korle- Kenjalmachi- Raireshwar- Ambawade- Bhor- Rohida- Bhor- Pune

Day 1: Apr 22, 2016:

With all the preparations done and full of excitement we all gathered at Katraj at 10 pm. We four started by my car towards NH4 via Katraj Ghat. After crossing Nasrapur, there is a village called Kapurhol. One need to take right turn immediately after crossing Kapurhol to reach Bhor by shorter route. Road is in good condition and within 1 hour we reached Bhor town. Somehow we took internal road by mistake and reached the Shivaji statue which is on Mahad road. From Shivaji Statue, left road goes to Rohida which we had to take on next day. Drove for 4-5 kms straight on Mahad Road and took left turn to Ambavade village from Ambeghar.

After crossing Ambavade village, Korle is within 1 hour drive. Korle is base village for both the treks. Ghat route starts from here and Kenjalmachi lights were visible on left side and right side huge plateau of Raireshwar was visible. Road till this point is tar road. From Korle village the road is rough and dusty for next 3-4 kms. The drive became slow and the ride was bumpy, the narrow roads and night time was making the ride even more adventurous. Raireshwar plateau was looking amazing in dark. After some time, Y junction came and we took left turn for Kenjalmachi. Right side goes to Raireshwar. Kenjalmachi is hardly 1 km from this point.

It was late by the time we reached Kenjalmachi. Clock showed 1 am. We knew that there is a temple and that is only option for night stay. There is no shelter available on Kenjalgad. We parked our car in front of the temple and were happy to see such a nice place to stay overnight. Temple is newly constructed. Surrounding was very clean and maintained. But the temple door was locked and we were disappointed. However Santosh found out that there is a way to reach top by a staircase from behind and we went upstairs. It was very chilled and we were expecting same weather. We had carried winter gear with us. It was a beautiful night sky. It was a totally clear and a full moon night. The stars were twinkling very bright but still the sight did not interest anyone and everyone wanted to have an early night. Without wasting time we moved inside our sleeping bags and slept. Temple and school are choices available to stay at Kenjalmachi. We felt Temple is safe bet. So if planned accordingly some luggage can be left here. Also here you can leave your vehicles safely.

Day 2: Apr 23, 2016:

It was an early morning start. Richard got up earlier than us and he finished his morning rituals. He woke us up. It was still dark and cool. We packed our bags and started to climb. There are 4-5 huts at Kenjalmachi. People were still asleep and dogs started barking. One old man showed us a way which goes to the fort. Route is very simple and straight; except few places where it slippery. After crossing the good yet messy and chaotic paths we reached fort steps. We took bit difficult route than simple one. Mukund was cursing me for this as it was too slippery. Steps are carved out from the mountain and they are very wide. Was wondering whether these steps have been constructed recently or earlier?

Steps near main entrance of Kenjalgad

Morning time was very refreshing. Climate was perfect to enter the fort and we were excited to see the surrounding view. There is nothing much to see except few remainders on the fort. It has good plateau though from where we get nice view of surrounding valleys. To the east we can see “Pnadavgad, Dhom Dam”, to the South “Kamalgad and Panchagani plateau”, to the North “Purandar” and to the west “ Raireshwar Plateau” . We explored the fort and took few sunrise pictures and had breakfast together.

Sunrise from Kenjalgad

Our breakfast menu was Eggs, Shev shiwada, Thepla and Shengdana Ladu.

Me, Santosh and Mukund- Richard was photographer

Met one pujari who came to do morning puja at the old “Kenjalai Devi” temple which is on the fort. I asked him about the history and whether he knows the reasons of bad situation of the fort. He was unaware and was not interested to explain. We started descending from easy route and within 15-20 mins we reached the base.

Kenjalai Devi Temple @ Kenjalmachi

As per plan, drove to the base of the Raireshwar which is very near and took hardly 15 mins to reach. We parked our car on the main road itself and started walking towards the plateau.

Kenjalgad view from Raireshwar Plateau

We saw tiling work was going on from Ladder to Raireshwar Temple. There is a steel ladder which has been fixed to avoid the difficult rocky patch. Took 10 mins to reach plateau. The surrounding view was awesome. The route towards Raireshwar Temple is well trodden and its been marked. Didn’t face any difficulty to reach temple. Raireshwar Temple is very old and feeling was great to be at the place where Shivaji Maharaj took oath of “Swarajya”. Took Darshan of the Shivling. Mukund took oath here to complete 40 treks this year :)

Shiv Temple where Shivaji Maharaj took the Oath

There is a kund near the temple. The water was very cold and pristine; filled up the bottles from the kund and started returning to the ladder.

Water Kund @ Raireshwar Temple

Descended plateau quickly. Time was 11 am . Now we felt hungry and planned to have lunch at Bhor while going to Rohida. Mukund suggested that we should visit the Samadhi of Jiva Mahale which is in Ambawade village. Also there is old Nageshwar Temple and Suspension bridge.


We parked our car near Nageshwar Temple and visited all these places. Jiva Mahale Samadhi is not maintained very well. We paid our respect and returned to see the suspension bridge. Nageshwar temple is very old and surrounding is very quiet. Saw huge and tall trees around the temple.

Nageshwar Temple @ Ambawade

One of the villager told that they never faced any water shortage as I could see the river was flowing with water and there were big wells as well which could supply water to all villagers.. Suspension bridge was engineering marvel. We could recollect it to London Bridge as it was built during British Raj time.

Steel Suspension Bridge. Localites said it used to be wooden one earlier.

Our trek group

It was bright and sunny now and were feeling hot. AC was ON in the car and started towards Bhor. Santosh and Richard couldn’t control the sleep. Within 30-40 mins we reached Shivaji Statue at Bhor. Took right turn and started searching the good Hotel. There are no good choices available even though this road is busy. Same road goes to Madhardevi and always busy with devotees. We decided to have a lunch at one the Dhaba and had lunch. Lunch was good. We thanked the owner and decided to move on.

After having heavy lunch, group was in great mood to have a nap under one of the tree beside the road. We were actually ahead in terms of the schedule. Somehow convinced that we will take small break at Bajarwadi. Reached Bajarwadi and drove till base of the Rohida Fort. There is a school and it has parking space and shelter to take a small nap.

It was 3 pm. Though it was bright and sunny; It was not that much hot; it was tempered by cool breeze. We decided to ascend and spend more time on fort than sitting here and taking rest.

School at the base of Rohida Fort. Richard, Mukund and Santosh can be seen taking rest.

It took 1 hour to reach the top as climbing after having lunch was difficult. Otherwise its simple climb and can be ascended within 30-40 mins.

Rohida Fort from the base

Reached the first door of the fort.The new door has been fixed and its polished.

First Darwaja of Rohida Fort. Door is polished and looks complete new.

Surprised and happy to see the good work being carried out by "Shri Shivdurg Savardhan, Pune". They are doing excellent job. So many restoration works are happening like fortification, marking, cleanup, water tank covering.

History of Rohida Fort- Banner setup by Shri Shivdurg Savardhan

We met one of the villager- Chandrakant, who is doing restoration work. He came with us to explore the fort and gave good info about the fort and restoration work being carried out. It was very easy to visualize the earlier situation and present situation. There are total 8 buruj (bastions) and 14 water tanks. We visited each buruj and saw the water tanks.

One of the water tanks on Rohida Fort. Actually these were excavated for rocks to build the fortification and later used as water tanks.

Though its summer time most of the tanks have water and couple of water tanks are having clean and chilled drinking water. We filled up our bottles and explored all sides of fort.

It was nice evening time and we decided instead of waiting for sunset we would descend as it was very windy. I read in other blogs that its always windy while ascending and descending. The force of the wind has to be seen to be believed. I mean the force and the noise was so much that I could not even hear the person standing next to me talk. We even sat down at few places as wind blow was too hard. We imagined how it would be during rainy season and that too in night trek.

Within half an hour we came to school where we parked our car. We changed our clothes got freshen up and packed our bags. Climate was very nice since it was evening time. We halted at “ Kailas Bhel” for a tea. I always find this place is must stop to have snacks and tea. Tea tastes awesome here. We fresh again and shortly we reached our destination i.e. Katraj. We parted our ways from here and reached home by 8 pm.

Yet another beautiful trek and full of satisfaction. Met new trek mate (Richard) for the first time. He is very quiet and good human being. As usual, Santosh and Mukund are jolly and cheerful which make our treks enjoyable.

Important Points;

• Route goes through multiple small villages and wadi’s. Its not remote place. 
• Food can be arranged from Korle or Ambawade village. 
• Water is available on Raireshwar and Rohida. No water is available on Kenjalgad. 
• No shelter on Kenjalgad. Accommodation and food can be arranged on Raireshwar by calling below number- 
• Shelter is available on Rohida. 
• Keep some time handy to explore Rohida fort. Its in good shape. 
• From Korle; Kenjalgad and Raireshwar can be trekked separately or together. Cover any place first and then proceed to second place 

Thanks for reading the blog.

Take only memories; leave only foot prints. Keep trekking. Do care of mother nature and avoid litter.