Mangi Tungi

In Taharabad city, which is in the district of Nashik in Maharashtra, lie the ancient temples carved by monks of the Jain religion. Nashik city is about 140km away from Taharabad and we decided to do a half-day trip including the hike to the two peaks, Mangi and Tungi near Taharabad. This is also a 'Siddha Kshetra', meaning a gateway to Nirvana in the Jain religious beliefs. Many sculptures of Tirthankaras in Padmasana, the lotus position is seen in this place.

Starting at 4:30AM, we got on the big national highway and made rapid progress. I was starting to believe that the projected 2.5-hour time to reach the start of the hike was incorrect and we could reach it in an hour and a half. But my hopes were dashed as soon as we took a short tea break at the junction leading to a smaller road to Taharabad.

The road was unpaved, under construction, and had potholes, heaps of dirt stacked at short intervals, and it was very dark.

With all our bones shaking, we trudged along for over half an hour and were relieved to finally get on a paved road. The dawn light was a big help too.

There are many plateaus visible along the way showcasing the varied landscape of Maharashtra.

After another hour or so, we could see a glimpse of the two peaks.

From a bend in the road, we could see the approach steps to the peak.

Finally, we were at the starting point exactly in 2.5 hours as projected. The next few hours were expected to be a hard climb and descent, with about 3,500 steps each way.

This Jain holy site is believed to be the site where 990,000,000 sages achieved Nirvana.

The start of the climb seemed to portray a very green and gentle climb, achievable at an easy pace.

From some spots, we could see the daunting level of climb still to be finished. The steps were well constructed and had an even rise.

After walking a bit, we came to some caves with Buddha carvings.

In the adjoining caves, there were many more sculptures of Buddha.

The sunrise was imminent, and the sky was getting to be rosy pink. The Tungi peak was visible which is at 4,366 ft (1,331 m) and we had begun our hike at just over 2,500 feet.

Many peaks of the Selbari Range were visible all around us.

A recent installation of the 108 feet Rishabdev Bhagwan sculpture at Mangi Tungi is visible from a far distance.

The sunrise was mesmerizing as it was partially occluded by the clouds.

We kept on pushing even though some stretches of the climb had continuous set of stairs.

The Rishabdev statue became clearer as we progressed.

Soon we could see a big group of monkey family with many young ones jumping around. We were cautioned to carry long sticks to keep the monkeys away.

The route we had just completed was visible behind us and it made us feel a bit accomplished.

We could see many carvings of Digambara statues carved on the vertical face of the mountains.

Some elaborate temples along the way had bigger carvings inside the sanctum sanctorum.

The text on top of the carvings says 'Digambar Jain' carvings.

Reaching the Mangi peak, you can take off your footwear and walk the perimeter of the mountain which has the carvings above and a set of temples with many of the Buddha statues. The carving below has an inscription stating 90 crores (10 million is 1 crore) of Digambara Jain sages got Moksha (Nirvana) at this site.

Many more statues were seen on the mountain face, overall, these totaled 1,008.

From a vantage point, I could see a great view of the Tungi peak and the long climb to reach it.

The peak can be reached via a path which is flat for the most part and paved with colored tile.

After a while, you can see the steep part of the climb followed by a little descent and finally the last part of the climb to Tungi peak.

Looking backward, you can see the Mangi peak and the other mountains in the local mountain range.

The last few steps of the Tungi approach are steep, but manageable.

The knife's edge on most peaks in the region are seen below and look very pretty.

The Tungi peak can be traversed around its perimeter and also contains many caves with Jain statues.

The last part of the expedition today includes a walk back to the area which has the entrance to the huge Rishabnath statue.

To reach the statue from the path, you need to climb this structure which is like a 12-story building. It does have a (non-working) lift.

Finally, you reach the huge and beautiful statue. There are a few large beehives hanging from different areas of the statue, notably from the left-hand thumb.

The return trip to the starting point is very quick, especially since you can skip the steps and finish them in 20 minutes. The overall hike was 5 miles and took about two and a half hours excluding picture taking time. The overall trip including driving was 9 hours including an hour of waiting and an hour of having a meal at a roadside eatery termed as a "dhaba".