DurgBhandar Trek, Nashik : Part 2

We had just finished our Bhramgiri Trek (You can click on this link to read), the source of Godavari river. We rested a bit,snatching few moments for early morning breakfast which extended from chapatis to pickle and nimbu pani and tea.It was now time to move towards our next destination, DurgBandar Fort. We left the temple premise and started walking along the railing towards the Shiv Jatta Mandir.

 The colossal plateau offers some of the most amazing views

each scene unfolded just like a picture book in front of us.

The undulating mountains left me speechless.

But just like a true traveler I cannot afford to fall in love with the place, got to move on..... Kyo ki  Nazaaro ke liye rukh gaya toh Manzil bura maan jayegi. 

Enroute to Bandardurg we first come across the Shiv Jatta Mandir. Its a small temple on the opposite corner of the Bhramgiri Temple.

Shiv Jatta Temple in other corner

Outside view of Shiv Jatta Mandir

Inside view of Shiv Jatta Mandir

 Now there is a folklore associated with this temple. It is believed that after the sin of Gau hatya (Killing Of the cow) was committed by Rishi Gautami he was advised to pray to Lord Shiva who will absolve him from his sins by releasing the river Ganga so as to wash away his sins, pleased with the penance Lord Shiva gave river Ganga to him, however Ganga was very attached to Lord Shiva so she refused to let go his hairs where she resided.Lord Shiva was infuriated and he started his Tandav Nritya and dashed his jata(Hairs) on the stone,frightened by this the Ganga appeared there.(Source of the story Internet)

Another thing that I noticed were these small stones kept one over the other, The locals told me that people do this so that there wishes are granted.I remembered seeing this at Bhimashankar Temple and yes even at few of the Himalayan treks that I did.Its all matter of Faith....Jider baat Vishwaas ki hoti hai.... toh koi logic nahi chalega

Peculiar Stone stacking ...its all about Prayers and wishes

Next to the Shiv Jatta Temple is a small water cistern or well, I was told that it has a potable water, Seeing the water I wont take the chances but on lighter note I would say as Indians we can drink any kind of water and nothing can happen to us.(Disclaimer: Don't take this observation of mine too seriously 😃) 

Water well next to Shiv Jatta Temple

 It was now time to move on from here to our next thrilling experience, hence we started to walk between the Shiv Jatta Mandir and the water well as seen in above picture, but towards the back side of the temple  to our next destination, that's Durg Bhandar.

View from backside of the Shiv Jatta Mandir

The walk from here was through dense vegetation with the valley on our left side our walk was through thick vegetation as we had gone after the rainy season.

Walking through the thick vegetation though irritating and dangerous  due to danger of snakes giving a sweet little peck on our feet 😅 ) but felt interesting due to the presence of lovely yellow flowers all around us.

and picturesque surroundings and the inviting looks of the dome shaped  Bhandardurg ahead.
 .

That's the place where we want to go....Bhandardurg
Here I come

this walk through the vegetation lasted for hardly a 10 minutes and we come across a small water cistern and little further walk as we start to really feel the presence of being near our destination and we see the dome shape of the Bhandardurg ahead 

Sanjog here trying to capture the
Dome shaped mountain of Bhandardurg.

Our trek is like walking on top of the mountain till we reach the stone steps.The picture below will help you understand our trek.

This walk abruptly comes to an end near a narrow passage with stones steps going down  20-30 steps and giving almost mystical experience as you descend to the bottom.

Mouth of the stone steps going down.

Narrow stone stairs 

Climbing down these narrow stairs were making me feel very claustrophobic, I actually hate close spaces but thankfully I was immersed in the eerie feeling of the place that I didn't realised when I had reached the bottom of this stairs but before I could let out  sigh of relief I saw this small hole like stone doorway through which I had to crawl to get out of this place. Hey Ram! ab yeh kya naya stunt ! 

OMG ! Am I got to crawl through this....No way

yes that's what my first reaction was.. Omg! am I to crawl through this...No way 😰, someone from the gang tapped on my shoulder and said "buddy this is the only way! well, ab marta, kya na karta, so Chal pada" a little crawl and I come out on the other side in a bright sunlight.

Uff...out in the sunlight again

Standing here I could see long ridge on which I had to walk to reach the outer side.

Ready to walk on this ridge

Walking on the ridge is always a thrilling experience as you can feel the breeze and the thrill factor is always on top form.As soon as this ridge walk ends We see another small entry door , something similar that we left behind so crawling time again 😄😄

Crawl time again

Crawling through this small entry door we again reach the narrow passage of stone stairs. so this time we got to climb to reach the top. 

Climb thru the dark stairs

Coming out of this narrow stairway we reach the top of bhandardurg but still little walk through narrow stone cut rocks were awaiting us.

Narrow stone cut rocks

Walking through this narrow path was quite awesome because the view of the lake and the civilization below looked very beautiful from here 

Beautiful views

There is a small bastion , where we all assembled together and had mini breakfast break with a group selfie thrown in and some personal photo shoot.

Selfie Time

I was here....Moment !!! 

It was now time to go back and the return journey was quick albeit the monkey scare that we got on our way back to the base.It was a fun trek which can be easily done in a day.

 

Mirjan Fort

We had left early in the morning from Karwar and en-route just following the signboards we visited some amazing temples and beaches viz Gokarna Beach,Om beach etc.Coastal road journey was indeed proving to be amazing. Driving down this NH 17 I noticed many sign boards of Mirjan Fort so naturally I was keen to have a look at it too, but the only challenge was the race with the sun which was all set to go under so I knew I had to make it fast to reach this fort before its dark.So naturally you can understand my relief when I saw this Mirjan signboard.

Welcome sight of signboard of Mirjan Town.

If you are coming down from Karwar,this signboard appears on your left side and moving little ahead from here we took right turn,, leaving the NH17 towards the Mirjan Fort. Our car passed through the narrow village and in no time we were standing right in front of a majestic fort.
Indeed it was a sight to behold !!

A sight to behold !

This beautiful fort  lies amidst the idyllic surroundings of the banks of river Aghnashini. I am surprised to know that how come this elegant looking fort is so less visited spot. As it was evening time the atmosphere around the fort was very picturesque, However the overcast skies and the low light was making my job of capturing good pictures from my humble camera all the more very difficult.

History: 

Mirjan Fort has a long history behind it with innumerable versions.One version is that this fort was built by the queen Chennabhairadevi also fondly known as Pepper Queen or Raina da Pimenta. This title of Pepper Queen was bestowed upon her because in olden days Mirjan  of the longest was one of the coastal port which was serving as important trade centre for export pepper,cinnamon,turmeric ,musk etc. The reign of this queen was one of the longest of female domination in the annals Indian history (1552-1606).
Another version is that there existed a fort here but later it was rebuilt as it appears today by Sherif-ul-Mulkas as a first line of defence to protect Kumta town and Kumta Fort located in the south.


I was very eager to explore this legacy of the Pepper Queen as they say Agaaz aisa hai toh anjaam hoga Haseen...So along my daughter and my wife we entered the fort through this inviting stairs. 

Inviting stairs of the Mirjan Fort 

One of the most noticeable thing about this fort is how well kept it was,thanks to the ASI( Archaeological Survey of India) who are reconstructing and maintaining this Mirjan Fort.

I could feel the aroma of the Pepper queen as I walked through these  stone stairs and came to this door.

The fort is constructed with the Laterite stones, which are available. in plenty in the area. This black stone gives a distinct look to this Fort. 

Laterite stone wall of the fort

We entered through this door and came upon another doorway with the light filtering across giving the historical ambience to the atmosphere. 

Ray of light or History

Climbing through this stairs one realize that One is going to witness some amazing view or should I say a walk into the corridors of the history which will leave us all mesmerized.

Well and the rampants of the Fort.

There are two wells on the fort,this been one of them.And the other well is on the extreme left corner of the fort. 

Second well

These wells were constructed within the fort so as to conserve the water. There are steps which lead to these wells.( for a moment I had this crazy thought that may be the rulers in earlier days may be  having some secret path through these water wells.) 

Step well

Other than these wells the fort has escape routes too for quick gateway in case when enemies attack. Isn't it interesting. 

However these escape routes in current times are closed by the fort authorities.

Escape routes are closed 

There are actually four entrances to this fort and the entire fort is surrounded by a moat which during olden days must be filled with water and if my imagination is not going wild there must be crocodiles swimming in that moat.

Outer walls with the moat

The Fort has a beautiful Watchtower cum Flag hoisting tower. 

Watchtower cum Flag hoisting tower

Right opposite this watchtower one can have amazing view of the first deck of the fort.

Amazing views of the fort

Even after the renovation done by the ASI there are still many ruins within the fort 

Ruins of the fort

But then ruins too have their own beauty especially when the sun is setting , the whole thing gets this gleam of golden veil.

Ruins in golden setting sun

Some more ruins

and there is so much to see and time not being on our side my daughter and me was running like crazy to cover each nook and corner of the fort clicking away to glory. 

My daughter clicking away

While exploring the fort we came across a banyan tree with lots of  stone idols strewn all around the tree base. 

Excavated relics under the tree

I was given to understand that few of the relics were excavated and few were like local deity idols . Honestly I would prefer to find more satisfactory answer to these idols. As there was no one on the fort so I had no way of knowing the truth, Perhaps I'll visit once again someday.

Local Deity or something else

Actually this fort is divided into two parts one is top deck which we just explored and then there is one large courtyard on lower deck. 

Two levels of the fort.

Another picture of two levels

 The photograph above will give you a better idea of the two levels of the fort. I walked down from here and entered another gigantic courtyard.

Gigantic courtyard

This courtyard seems to have a viewing gallery as can be seen on the left of the picture and right across at the end is a platform structure. 

Prayer podium 

This Platform structure could be a prayer Podium or assembly stage( Guessing games never end.History always have many unanswered questions).

Searching for some unanswered question 

In fading light me and my daughter were running back to get out of the fort as we could hear caretaker blowing whistle to remind that its a closing time, but we been incorrigible brats wanted to ensure that we don't miss anything we took our time to check out the gates at the lower level and this is what we found.

Glimpse of the pillar from the door

This fort lies in an 11.8 acre land and my breathlessness was telling me its true because the place was like never ending kind. My daughter kept pulling me saying "Dad not let us retreat as it is getting late". I said "Sweety just one last pic, let me see what lies on the back side of the fort", so I climbed the rampant wall and took the picture.

View on the back side of Mirjan Fort

I was still feeling unsatisfied because I still wanted to see some more but then all good things must come to an end so both of us started to go back as my wife and our host was waiting in the car for us. As we reached the entrance door we were shocked to no end because the front door was locked !!

Me explaining to my host my situation as to
 how I am trapped !!

I called my wife to see if she can catch hold of the caretaker who has locked the door, In the meanwhile I ran up and luckily saw the caretaker walking away we both shouted and waved at him Good for us he heard our cries and turned back and opened the door. I must say close encounter.Phew !! My daughter had good time to play act her fear on finding that we were locked.The first thing she did was to ask the caretaker to take her photo as locked prisoner. I think this craziness is all in genes.

Trapped

It was finally time to say goodbye to Mirjan Fort with a promise that soon I will be revisiting this wonderful Fort again. 


Best time to visit is during Monsoon, as the place will explode in colour of green for you.

How to reach: 
Nearest rail station is Kumta Railway station.
From there one can take any bus which go to Gokarna beach and enroute get down at Mirjan village stop and from there a walkable distance of 1.5 kms to the fort.