Harishchandragad

History: A hundred year old Shivlinga is there. an ancient temple, caves are the attractions.

Height: 4510 ft.

Best Season: Any

Base Village: Khubi Phata

Minimum Duration: 1. 5 days.

Reaching there: Train to Kalyan, Take any Malshej ghat route bus and get down at Khubi phata. walk along the water reservoir(about 4 km) and you reach the base.

Difficulty: Simple to slightly difficult in monsoons.

Shelter: number of caves on the top.

Our Experience:

We were five people - Me, Satyaki, Shazia, Sunketh and Dhananjay. We started at around six in the morning and thought we could come back the same day. We had breakfast at Kalyan. The travel from Kalyan to Khubi phata is a long long bus ride. thats what takes most of your time. We reached at around eleven and we started walking. soon we reached the small pass and had some food. then we started climbing the rockypatch. the walk along the edge of the mountain is very enjoyable. After we reached the top, we kept walking for hours and hours. The temple and the caves are quite a distance from the edge. We wanted to get there before sunset and so we kept walking. it was just dark when we got there. We somehow gathered some wood as it was getting cold and the night was expected to be colder. all the caves were occupied and soon we found ourselves with no option but to sleep in the small dhabas of the villagers. Somehow we found ourselves alive and cold in the morning. A villager showed us a shortcut through the base of the Taramati peak which saved us a good hour atleast. Soon we were climbing down and found ourselves sweating again after the cold cold night.