Dhodap

Fort: Dhodap
Height : 4750 ft (above MSL)
Region: Vani
Range: Satmala
Grade: Medium

Base Village: Hatti,Wadala.

Getting there: Pune – Nashik , from Nashik get onto Malegaon Highway – Pimpalgaon - On Malegaon Highway (after 48km) – Vadalibhoi village – Turn left for Dhodambe (8km) – cross Dhodambe – turn right for Hatti (2km).

How to go:

ST bus from Pune – Nashik, from Nashik catch a ST bus to Hatti village (very less frequency – guess 2 in a day) OR get down on the main highway and get jeeps to go towards Dhodambe, Hatti (I doubt there would be any as this is a remote area and own conveyance is best)

Distances of places from turn on Malegaon Highway: Saptashrungigad 44km, Vani – 25 km, Saputara – 60km

Hatti is the base village for Dhodap. It is a small village and one can get food cooked there too – but we had our own cooking stuff so it was not necessary.

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We started on Friday 26/10 from Pune (FC road) at around 11.45pm in the night. We were to travel through the night by bus. After a quick round of introductions – form filling (I had gone through Trek-Di adventures group – so had to fill form and all) we all settled down in the seats and feeling sleepy dozed off – The night was cold and the bus windows were too bad – they used to open on vibrations letting in the chill air and causing the whole bus to get cold inside :). Morning around 5.30am we reached Nashik – the highway is pretty OK but the bus was not OK. Around 7.15am we reached the base village Hatti – we could see Dhodap at a distance – the whole view of the fort is awesome with the pinnacle and the rock cut.

We made a quick breakfast of pohe and chai and started for the climb around – 8.15am. We had hired a local help for carrying the kitchen materials J. The way is pretty ok and climbs gradually via slippery rocks and scree. In about an hours time we reached a plateau. Here is where we saw the first darwaza of the fort. It is in good condition. Looking up it was still a long way to the fort – albeit it looks less. On the plateau we saw small huts (in the books they mention it as sonarwadi – where goldsmiths were living). We can see the ikhara pinnacle at a distance from here; it looks daunting and huge from here.

After the plateau we start climbing up again via bushes and rocks going up and towards the fort. After around 45 minutes we reached a steep rock patch and im wary of rock patches – especially steep ones but usually go up soon and don’t think much – this one was steep albeit cannot define steepness on rock patches and maybe different for different people J , this rock patch will be fun during monsoons – but I wont do it during that time.

Got up the rock patch in around 3-4 minutes (wow ,fast eh) and then up towards the ridge and the 2^nd darwaza of the fort – some remnants to be seen here and hanuman taaki – a big tank for water , the water was not potable here. Stood here for sometime as others were climbing up the rock patch slowly. The sun had finally come out in full force and I was beginning to feel the heat but most of the climb was over and it would be only a matter of 20 minutes to reach the fort. Finally when everyone had come we started again. After this plateau there is a gentle climb which leads to the final steps and the main door of the fort – the buruj and tatbandi can be seen from here and is in fairly good shape.

Before the main darwaza there are Persian (or maybe Urdu) inscriptions on the wall (as this fort was ruled by Nizam before). The main door is like a tunnel and at the other end there are some more steps to get at the top. There we could see some water tanks, remnants of construction and the huge pinnacle in front. The local who was leading us told us stories about a sadhu baba who climbed the pinnacle like he was climbing steps with a flag in one hand and pooja thali in the other. The pinnacle cannot be climbed without equipments and looks very huge.

From this point we go to the left side of the pinnacle and keep walking for 5-10 minutes and we reach the caves. The caves are really huge and we stayed in one of them. It was cosy in there and there was a devi mata mandir too here. Nearby there is a shivling too and a water tank. The water is potable here and is available in monsoon/winter and summer too. We refreshed ourselves with the cool water and it was heaven. We reached the top at around 11.15 am (a climb of 3 hours). Finally we started with making lunch – cutting vegetables – cooking dal-rice. We had a sumptuous meal of dal rice with vegetables and mind you the food was too good... it was a wholly satiating meal and we had a good time there. Finally everyone stretched a bit – some people went off to explore the fort and others were just relaxing.

I started exploring the fort and went to the rock wall. The wall width is about 3m and it is a plain walk. At one point I came across the gap which I had seen from below and it’s not a small gap it’s a huge 70 X 70 feet gap. A huge hole we can say although it looks like a small drop from below. People say that the Nizam had ordered this gap to be made so that no enemy could attack from the other side although climbing the other side of the wall is also a heavy risk. From here we can see the forts of rawla jawla , markandeya , saptashringigad and the vani hill.

Finally coming back I went to the back side of the pinnacle base and saw some half finished caves and came back to our cave place. It was tea time now and we had some refreshing tea and some Timepass discussions. Finally we went off once again to explore the fort on the entrance side – we found huge caves and more water inside them there. At this point Darshan a volunteer started climbing the pinnacle free-style and within minutes he was near the top – but retreated back as the top 10-15 feet was full scree and rock and there was no one to guide him up there so he came back. I looked in awe at this fellow who climbed the pinnacle free-style and that too so fast!

We came back from the adventure and it was sunset time so we went towards the rock wall side to the west. The view of the sunset is something one can never explain – its too good. A cold wind had started blowing all around and in a matter of minutes it was dark and we reached the cave. Time for dinner preparation – here we prepared dinner of rassa bhaji – all the while singing songs and doing faltu Timepass. The dinner was good and after that we went out to just do Timepass. Some people were on the phone as we had range of airtel and idea here on top too!

The moon had risen and as it was poornima 2 days back everything was lit in moon-light and looked great. We all sat outside and sang old kishore kumar songs and marathi songs esp. sandeep khare ones. It was cold outside and we were in our jackets. Sometime later when everyone was feeling sleepy we opened our sleeping bags and everybody started settling down.

Although it was cold outside the cave, the cave was warm enough to sleep in and was really cozy.

Morning we woke up around 6am and after all activities , went to the east side of the fort to view the sunrise.

Coming back we started making breakfast of chai and missal. After having breakfast and a round of checking all equipments and baggage we started again down this time. At the rock patch again tense moments were witnessed but this time I descended the patch without problems – one enthu group of people from Nashik were just coming up that time. Finally we descended down the path to the plateau and went to see the temples on the other side. There are 3 temples there, 1 of shiva, and 2 of Devi mata.

After some time we came back to the house on the plateau and rested for 10-15 minutes. Soon we found out that the people there in the house make khawa and sell, so we had some khawa and mind you it was mouth-watering and the taste was so nice after adding sugar, it melted in the mouth. Starting once again we descended the plateau and onto the final path to the village – the sun was beating down albeit it was only 11am and we slowly trudged back to the village. There after refreshing ourselves at the pipe we settled down in the bus once again and started for Pune at 12pm. Found out that there is a puncture and fixed it losing an hour in this process. Halted in between at a dhaba (the great Punjab dhaba) and had a good lunch.

Finally we reached around 9pm to Pune thanks to the habit of the driver in following slow trucks at 20kmph. We were very irritated with the driver but no one had the strength to talk to him.

The highlight of the trek was a 73 old person from Pune, Mr.Vinayak Dandekar who came with us on the trek. He has been trekking from around 35-40 years and has loads of experience in this field and also stories from his trek. He has been on Himalayan treks as well and last year he had been to Chota Kailash in the Himalayas. A truly great person. We (atleast I am) are nothing in front of him as even at his age he is the fittest person.