Monsoon splendor – Trek to Tringalwadi fort in Igatpuri range

Monsoon treks are trekkers delight and it is this time of the year when Sahyadri Mountains are at their beautiful best. Though rains have been predicted to be less this year due to EL- NINO effect. It has been enough to spread the green carpet on the mountain ranges. After my last week warm up trail in Tungar hills I was getting ready for the start of my trekking season. It was at this time, I got message from ex- TMI leaders Sai & Jaal that they have formed their own group Tattva Adventures and planning their first event under the banner to Tringalwadi fort in Igatpuri range. It's a offbeat location and I was in for this one without much thought.

About Tringalwadi fort: Situated at the height of 3238 ft in Igatpuri range. The fort does not have any fort walls existing except unique entrance door and natural fortification. Forts origins are obscure and not much is documented about the history of the place except that it was among the fort which was ceded by Shahji Raje to the Mughals after battle of Mahuli and it is one of sixteen fortified places which was surrendered to British on fall of Trimbak in 1818. But it’s generally believed to be constructed in 10^th century. There is small cave at the base of the fort dedicated to first Jain Tirthankara – Adinathji but cave is also called Pandav leni. Top of the fort has a plateau covered with lush green grass, remnants of a building and Hanuman temple.

My Visit: Our meeting place was at Kasara station so all landed at Kasara by same local train around 9.30 pm. We were gang of 24 people which included youngest trekkers 6yrs old Reeva and Shreya. I was glad to see some old faces like Parag & Reeva, Mehul, Shreekumar who had come with his family and of course Tattva Bhai’s Sai & Jaal. Our Tum-tum’s had arrived before us and were waiting to take us to base village. Getting adjusted in two tum-tum we started our journey with bumpy ride, a gross reminder of pathetic state of our roads during monsoon season but it was only for few minutes as soon we were cruising on the highway road. Our first stopover was at highway dhabba for morning breakfast as everyone had left home early and breakfast was very much needed to boost the energy before the trek. I had left my house at 6 am without any breakfast and my tummy had caved in like our roads cave in to form huge potholes. A hot chai with piping hot vada pav on rainy Sunday is all that one can ask for. Breakfast was much needed booster. Before leaving the place to grace the occasion of Tattva’s first event and also Mehul’s birthday, Jaal had arranged for two cakes to celebrate,It was time for cake cutting and wishing Mehul & Tattva many years of happy trekking !!

Rains had been on / off since morning but climate was pleasant and perfect day for the trek. And equally welcoming was Kasara ghat which had turned into a green zone. Passing through the ghat road we stopped at Igatpuri phata to pick up two girls,Mayuri and her friend who had missed predecided local train for Kasara and had boarded some express train for Igatpuri. They didn't want to miss the trek by any chance. Trekking spirit was at it’s all time high just like our stock exchange sensex and nifty’s.  Picking them up we started our journey again. To reach the base village we took a left turn from the highway just opposite Shagun resort and before Ghoti Toll plaza. The small road passes through few small villages and farms of Nachni and paddy fields. 

All the hills that we passed looked like forts and each mountain peak was hidden in rain clouds. The base village is approx 5-6 kms from the main highway and the small road ends at Tringalwadi. Finally after a ride of around 40 minutes we reached the village of Tringalwadi which had few houses. Paddy fields adorned the entire neighbourhood.Mountain fort looked inviting and was covered with lush green forest.

A quick introduction round and we were walking among the paddy fields. A local village boy was taken as our guide and was leading the group.

The climb as informed by our leader was not more than 2 hours and we had all the time in the world. It was perfect place for photography and we made the most of it by clicking on everything that looked interesting. Local villagers were working in fields in full swing. It was sowing time for them. It was amazing to notice that the surrounding area of this fort was fully cultivated during the Monsoon season and one has to voyage few kilometres to reach to the base of the fort.

Passing through numerous paddy fields we reached the base of the fort where there is a small Jain cave dedicated to first Jain Tirthankar – Adinathji.  The cave is also called  Pandav Leni for Pandavas seemed to have stayed here.The cave was not in good shape with water sipping in some place from ceiling but the entrance had some carvings and decorations which were more or less intact. Inside the cave there were four pillars out of which only one was standing while remaining three had been broken. The inner chamber wall has carved idol of Adinathji in meditation Mudra which also is badly broken. One interesting thing is found in cave ceiling. There is a narrow hole which goes till the top of the fort. This is known as Chorwaat and must have been used as a secret way to come out of the fort in times of emergency. But inside the cave was too dark and wet due to water percolating from the ceiling. The cave lied in complete neglect and it's the same story of poor state of most of our ancient heritage structures. Something really needs to be done to preserve them, develop such places as tourist destination.

Moving on we started our ascend from left of the cave and soon were standing on the ridge of the mountain. The village from where we climbed looked so picturesque. We could now see the backwaters of Tringalwadi lake.

The path to the fort is well defined and no way one can get lost even if one wants to. It's a small climb to the fort and soon we came across few steps carved in the rocks which was leading to the top of plateau. The plateau was covered with tall grass, We took a right and followed the path in middle of green carpet of grass.  

On a short distance lies a small temple which is dedicated to Lord Hanuman. There is water cistern near the temple which is only source of water on the top but not sure if the water was potable. There is a small clear ground in front of temple which served as lunch point. The temple is on the edge and view of neighbouring mountains and region was mesmerizing.

We had some rest at this point and needless to say did loads of photography. We then decided to reach the topmost point of the fort which is again a walk on a narrow ridge just behind the temple. The topmost peak seemed like elephant head. The wind was blowing at full force and it was difficult to even stand properly. Being in an elevated position, the picturesque scenery of the whole locality, especially the view of the peaks from here was incomparable.

From the top most point we descended a little and then took a right turn and followed a path which was clearly on the edge of the mountain. This path lead us to hidden darwaza or a door of the fort.  This was another entrance to the fort from the valley below. Few slippery steps of climbing down and we were at another entrance to the fort. The carved idol of Hanuman adorn the walls of the entrance. Locals do worship here as the idol was smeared with orange sindoor with small diya lay near the footsteps of the idol.

Just opposite the carved idol of Hanuman is series of steps to come to the fort from the valley. Each step would have been of 2-3 ft. It was slippery and we decided not to climb down from here but take the same route we took to climb up. Though our group had a photo session on the steps and even climbed down some steps to get a glimpse of the valley below.

Moving back from here we now had to descend a path which was steep and full of scree. One slip here and person would go tumbling down on the plateau. It was difficult to get a grip so some of group members made a human chain to descend while I decided not to take any risk and did my descend by sitting and slipping slowly. I do my way !!!!

As we reached the plateau again there was remnants of structure which looked like a “wada”. This is one of the few structures on the top. We had done a full circle of the fort and were now back on the steps from where we had climbed to the fort. We started our descend back and within no time were back at the Jain cave. One can easily do the entire trek in 3 hrs.Our trek was coming to an end . We walked back to base village passing through the paddy fields where our tum-tum was ready to take us back to Kasara station. We had plans to catch local train from Kasara at 6.18pm and had some time in our hand which allowed us the leisure of having another evening breakfast at highway dhabba.

The successful first event by Tattva had come to an end after our visit to offbeat location of Tringalwadi fort. It's a beautiful trekking destination and worth a visit especially in monsoons. This fort visit can be combined with similar smaller forts in the region like Kavnai fort or Budhya or many other smaller destination in Igatpuri range.

How to visit : There are two ways to reach the fort. One can get down at Igatpuri station and walk towards Vipassana meditation center. Pass through Wagh Khind and traverse couple of villages to reach Tringalwadi village.

2nd route is the one we took. From Kasara take a  tum-tum to base village passing through Nasik highway and taking a left turn just opposite Shagun resort and restaurant which is main landmark. There is also a sign board indicating "Rainforest" housing which is 2.5 kms from the highway and continue on the same road for another 1.5 kms ahead to reach Tringalwadi village.