Strewn with blue patches of the myriad lakes and dams amidst mystic green mountains, the Pawna lake stands out of the lot. Similarly, of several forts built by Shivaji, Lohgarh fort is most easily reachable till the base by car and the climb made easier by later made steps, though these are also worn out in three places and ascent here needs some caution.
It was a challenging climb up the mount where Shivaji's Lohgarh fort was located but was real fun in the company of groups of college students from nearabouts. Catching up on the latest music and technology while facing mild passing showers of the seasonal rains, the hike up, though steep, was smoothened by the breathtaking sights at each level, and of course continuous clicking!
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| Pawna Lake View while climbing up to Lohgarh Fort |
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| Lohgarh Fort and the Darwaza, as you climb |
Closer to the top and along the steps a few remaining canons
from those days have been set up for viewing, though with the climate of the region I would have preferred them to be carefully preserved in a museum. The fort at the top has a few interesting remnants of walls of those days, though the obvious sign of the Moghul override is clear in the prominent presence of the maqbara of an Ummr shiv, said a local elderly catching some breeze there.
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| Maqbara atop Shivaji's Lohgarh Fort |
The interesting remnants include three main darwaza (or doors), entrances to the fort at various levels, two of which are the Ganesh darwaza and Hanuman darwaza. Several strategically placed holes in the fort walls allow for a clear view of the entire stretch of ground that approaches all sides of the fort.
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| Canons, Lohgarh Fort |
The Pawna lake is not just huge but it gets overwhelmingly fantastic as you climb down to the base of the mount. The sheer pleasure continues as you drive your way down from the base to the lake level. (Refer to 'how to get there'). The sun weaved it's way through the clouds while the mountains smoked away peacefully on one side. As the sun lowered I caught a patch of Pawna Lake water in an unbelievably bright, absolutely unrealistic, aquamarine blue while the peak behind it was sunny and the neighbouring peak was dulled by clouds. And no! I rechecked, I didn't have my sunglasses on then!
Sighing and wishing to genie-it-into-a-bottle, a speed boat ride at Pawna lake and a peacock dance display at the private dock that runs the service, was an experience topping my holiday!
Good to know:
- Days of intermittent rains and before the rainy season sets in, the local auto/ taxi walas are the best judge of when and which peaks will be open for views. So don't go by the hotel list of tourist spots, as most of them are peaks!
- Boating is provided by MTDC at and by this one other private entity at Pawna Lake, as I pleasantly discovered. MTDC is hmm..well a government body, and so off and on, so call in the day before you go. The private provider at Pawna lake is definitely good, but Pawna Lake is deep and the waves become very high during rains and heavy winds, so you need to plan the trip for the sunny/light drizzle part of the day.
- Many hotels have the word "resort" attached to their names, though they are just hotels! So if you're looking for fun family time at a resort, don't go by the name or fancy pictures on online booking sites.
- On the old Mumbai-Pune highway, as you drive away from Lonavala/ Mumbai, at a 20 minutes' distance, crossing the Wax museum, Kinara Dhaba you meet a crossroad where you can see an archway on your left that says "Ekvira Devi temple". Take the right turn there and proceed to Pawna. If you're a history buff, you can catch the "Bhaja caves" Buddhist caves from 2nd BC, though it has a climb and you need to plan a good 2 hours for this location also in your day. This route leads you to the end of the Pawna Lake with the boating deck.
- The alternate way is to keep driving on the old Mumbai-Pune highway up to "Khamset", which takes about 25-30 minutes and you get a crossroad where you will a non-imposing building labelled "Khamset hospital" on your left, you take a right there, asking your way to "Bhedse" village, a good 14kms' drive on sections of bad roads, ghats, where you will see boards for Pawna Lake. Incidentally, on this route is yet another set of Buddhist caves called Bhedse caves. It's a smaller ascent up to these caves and takes lesser time than the Bhaja and the Karla caves. But this is less known and not frequented by tourists, so you may have to go it up alone. Nothing to fear at all if you're moderately fit and are carrying some drinking water. Very doable safely on your own.
