""बाजीप्रभु देशपांडे यांच्या शौर्याने पावन झालेली खिंड म्हणजे पावनखिंड""


This historic trek was on my mind since a year.Having visited panhala fort in diwali the guide had showed the trek route starting from pusati buruj.I told my uncle we have to do this.Then came january 09.The day was tuesday the 13th.My uncle called me up.He said mahalakshmi express tickets are in my hand,pack your bag and get ready,we are doing "that" trek.My joy knew no bounds.It was like dream come true.The trek for which i waited like hell finally was going to happen.We were 8 people in all.My uncle suresh,his friend jayesh,his 2 nieces dharini and darshika,uncle's one more friend sandhya and her nephew vedant,gaurav and me.
Meeting point was dadar station.Surprisingly each and every person came on time :P
The train finally arrived on platform.And now it was time to experience his highness Mr.Laloo Prasad Yadav's railway management.Berth no.43 was allocated to 3 persons at the same time!!!!! and all confirmed tickets.TC as usual was nowhere to be seen.After trudging the entire train we caught hold of TC and forced him to solve this "jhol" first.Finally he solved the matter and we occupied our berths.Half of the people went to sleep.But we 3 nocturnals were passing time discussing treks,pc games etc etc.In that vedant and gaurav had purchased brand new WOODLAND shoes.They peeped every 1 minute to check whether their shoes were safe or not.Boss...bag gaya toh chalega woodland nahi jana chahyie...was their aim.

Day 1:
Kolhapur station arrived at 7AM next day.Getting out of sleep in chilling winters is a real pain trust me.We ventured out of station to find some eataries.Hotel gokul was one of the recommended.We had a quick bite of misal pav,upma and piping hot tea.After much needed breakfast we headed for mahalakshmi temple to seek blessings.We took a bus outside station.A person in that bus asked whether we were trekkers.He then started about his trekking experience and that too in "english".We were speaking in marathi and he was continuing in english.I hope "Mr.Raj Thackery" reads this blog.Reached mahalakshmi temple at 10AM,since it was early morning there was no rush in temple and we made it really quick and headed towards bus stand.
Buses and jeeps are readily available for panhala.Bus ticket and per head jeep fare are the same.So without waiting for bus we took a commander jeep.The only problem with jeep is that of space.People are literally stuffed inside.But thats fun after all :) counting the number of people inside.
We reached panhala fort at around 11.30AM.After a quick site seeing on panhala we headed towards pusati buruj and reached at 1.30PM.The route starts right from there.One can have a glimpse of huge and endless mhasai pathar from here.Its one of the largest plateau in sahyadris.A quick descent for about 30 minutes takes you to Turukwadi.Crows,rats and various other animals started their activities inside our tummies signalling for lunch break.Theplas,pickle,chikkis,biskut were gobbled up in no time.One has to ascend for about 30 mins to reach mhasai pathar.On the way we come across mahalunge village.After refilling water bottles we reached mhasai pathar.
First photo session started at the beginning of pathar.We 3 wanted our pics taken while in air.In that craze injuries popped out.Gaurav had scratches on his palm,my leg got a sprain.But those little injuries wont deter our spirits.Endless stretch of mhasai pathar lay in front of us.We started walking towards mhasai temple.

Theres a motorable dirt road on mhasai pathar which one has to follow.Strong cool breeze was flowing so the sun's heat had no effect.After walking for about one and half hours we reached mhasai temple at 4.30PM.Locals at temple suggested us to halt at kumbharwada as it was not possible to reach beyond that before dark.Without wasting time we descended mhasai pathar.Confusion about the way saw us ascending through thorny bushes.But finally we reached Kumbharwada our first halt.Dinner arrangements were made in one of the villager's house and we settled in school compound.Tea session,village site seeing,PJ sessions whiled our time.Dinner was ready and i dont have words to describe how tasty it was!!!!!Tired souls quickly disappeared below shawls,blankets and chadars.We had decided to start early at 7 next day so that we can cover most of the distance.A long day was awaiting us.

DAY 2:
But like i said before "Getting out of sleep in chilling winters is a real pain"...we found it difficult to even get up at 7......forget about starting at 7."Somehow" we managed to wake up.Thanks to maharashtra government(gaon tithe toilet scheme),now most of the villages have proper toilets built.People dont have to search for "places" to "sit".Kind villagers provided tea and didnt charge a bit for all the arrangements!!!!No force in the world made them accept the money.

Falling 2 hours behind schedule we started at 9AM.We had to walk,walk and only walk that day.Crossing wadis after wadis we reached mandlaiwadi at about 11.30.Lunch arrangement was made by one of the kind villager.Rice and vaal curry.But in that we wasted almost 2 hours.Unavoidable though.Lunch came late and we saw ourselves moving out at 1.45PM.
Again after crossing karpewadi(2PM),ambewadi(3.30PM),kalakwadi(4PM),malewadi(5PM) we reached patewadi at 6PM.Since further trudge was not possible we decided to stay at patewadi.Food arrangements were made at a local house tandul bhakri,cabbage,daal and rice.Again extremely tasty food.Though this time they accepted the money(200 bucks 8 people).School provided place to sleep and much more tired legs quickly dozed off in no time.Tomorow was the last day and we had to reach pavankhind and then vishalgad at any cost.

Day 3:
Old habits die hard.As usual public woke up late and after a tea session left at 8.30AM.Today's target was to reach pavankhind(by walking only :P) and then take a public transport till vishalgad.We crossed dhangarwadi and reached mhasavde at 10.15PM.A quick 15min break and the group marched towards pandherpani.
After crossing mhasavde tar road starts.From this point pandherpani is approx 2kms.Entire route till vishalgad is now on tar road.Jeeps can be hired right upto pavankhind and vishalgad which are on the way.But we had decided to walk atleast till pavankhind.Walking on road is real pain.Even 2kms seem like 20kms.Somehow we reached pandherpani at 11.45AM...the only boring trudge in entire trek.
From pandherpani there's a diversion to right.Pavankhind is 6kms from here and vishalgad 18kms.Public transport is available from here.Continuing along the road we reached the diversion.Pavankhind is 800metres from this point.The feeling that pavankhind is nearby literally made me run.Tired and paining legs suddenly sprang to life.Each and every bit of tiredness vanished.Paying obeisance to the memorial of bajiprabhi deshpande we got down in the khind.Ladders are built to get down.
AND THEN........
People gazed at that narrow khind remembering history.This was the place where a great warrior and his soldiers defended swarajya,defended shivaji.Those warriors gave their life just to ensure shivaji maharaj was safe.Brains stopped working thinking how can soldiers fight in that extremely narrow pass.Practically it seemed impossible.But those were true MARATHA soldiers,those were true maratha MAVALAS.
We left pavankhind and headed back to catch public transport to reach vishalgad.Actually we wanted to go through pavankhind but difficult because there was no route.Bus was scheduled at 3.30 near that diversion.Before that we got a jeep.Looking at the cramped space inside we asked the driver if we can sit on top.YES was the reply.Without wasting even a fraction of a second we jumped on top.The entire 14km route till vishalgad is very much scenic(if u sit on top).Theres nothing much on top of vishalgad except few temples and samadhi of bajiprabhu deshpande.BUT.....its difficult to spend more than 5 minutes on top of vishalgad.Such is the plight.Filth,garbage,open drainage is everywhere......
Leaving vishalgad we booked a jeep for Rs.400 till malkapur.Bus is also available at 4.45Pm.From malkapur buses are available till kolhapur.Since we went to satara from kolhapur we had not booked tickets for mumbai.
So with this our historic trek ended.

NOTE:
1)Villagers provide food if group members are limited
2)Try to start as early as possible to cover maximum distance
3)Bus fares and jeep per seat fares are almost same
4)Children ask for sweets.So carry choclates with you :P
5)Take necessary warm clothing as its extremely cold during nights(december-january period)
6)No need to hire a guide from panhala.Entire route is well marked with arrows every 2 minutes.Difficult to get lost.