"Independence Point, Ghangad & Tailbaila Base Trek"

  On 22^nd August Saturday morning at 7:00 AM we started our journey from Pune to Ekole base village of Ghangad fort. We were heading towards Ghangad fort through Tamhini Ghat route. One of our lead Sai Upalekar knows about the Independence Point near Andharban Trail Start point, so we requested to have look of that point. That was the awesome view of valley which is more than 2000 feet deep. After having some clicks there we started again & at around 8:30 AM, we reached the Ekole base village of Ghangad fort.

Photo Credit :Aniket Bidkar

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  There is not much documentation explored about history of the Ghangad fort. Earlier it was ruled by Koli Samant, then with Adilshah and later the Marathas.

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  Actually this fort is very small. Ghangad is situated on western side of Mulshi River, which is called as Korbarase Maval. One can reach the fort by a path from left of the fort. As you enter from the devastated structure of big entrance, you can see some remnants of old palaces along with some water cisterns which are now in very bad condition. You can see Sudhagad, Sarasgad and wall of Tailbaila from the fort, also Nandand Ghat, Savvashincha Ghat and Bhorpaychi Nal, which descend to Konkan. At the entrance of fort initially you will go through two pillars, almost at the end of existence.

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   At one point on the trek route there is hanuman temple. After entering in fort through those pillars we saw few caves. After seen those caves we went to explore right side of fort, there we saw tunnel formed by biggest rock fall on the fort ground. There we saw the Goddess Garjai temple in cave which is in very bad condition. From there with the help of rope already present there I only went ahead to see the cave having SHILA LEKH is very hard to access, need to walk along with the rock, by taking help of rope already present there, but very risky because one wrong step or misbalance will cost your life.

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  After that we went to explore left side of entrance, where one ladder is placed to go upside on fort, there we saw few water cisterns full of water & it was rainy season few steps after ladder are very slippery and dangerous, with the help of rope we crossed those steps as well and reached on top of fort. Another biggest pillar on fort was there, we had some clicks there & had site seen of forest around & beautiful waterfalls.

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Photo Credit : Prashant Gupta

Photo Credit : Prashant Gupta

 After exploring full fort we started descending & reached Ekole village at 1:00 PM, there we had lunch at village temple. Suddenly our leaders Kishor Wagh, Sai Upalekar & me decided to go at Tailbaila Wall base point, which is 8.3Km from Ekole village.

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  We reached Tailbaila village at 3:00 PM & without wasting much time we started our trek to Tailbaila wall base. Initially we crossed few farms then entered into forest & within an hour we reached the base point of wall. During the walk we had some group pictures & clicked wall pictures in different angles. Talking about Tailbaila is a magnanimous monolith, which resembles a cobra head. Located at a distance of about 94km from Pune, it is a bastion that is perfect for climbing enthusiasts and adventure seekers. The summit offers majestic views of the Konkan Valley which make all the effort seem worthwhile. After taking rest at base point temple & few views of surrounding, we started descending & reached base village at 6:00 PM & started back journey to Pune. During back journey we had crazy dance in bus & had tea break at food plaza on high way.

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  In this way we completed one more trek at 9:00 PM on 22^nd August 2015 & entered in our regular concrete forest with so many awesome memories & photographs with us.   

  

Approximate Distance from Pune

Approx. 90 Kms  [ Pune- Pirangut - Mulshi - Tamhini - Bhamburde- Ekole(Base village) ]

Distance will increase via Lonavala

 Note:

1. Photo Credit goes to Rahul Chandure, Aniket Bidkar & Prashant Gupta.
2. Such an amazing fort everyone should visit at least once in life.
3. Before going on trek do some research what to explore there.  

Please leave comments below for others if you have been to Independence Point, Ghangad & Tailbaila fort wall base point or you have any questions related to trek.

Enjoy!!!!

Thanks & Regards

Rahul Chandure