Mohandari

In the Saatmala hills of Maharashtra, there are a group of seven hills, with a moderately challenging hike ending in a big roundish cutout in the sheer rock face of the hill. The cutout is visible from long distances.

Also in these seven hills is a significant pilgrimage site of goddess situated in Saptashrungi.

It is nearly an hour and half drive from Nashik city to the start of the hike for Mohandari which starts in very tiny village of Mohandari. Starting at 5:30 AM we were on our way to the summit at 7:10 AM. A group of six, we included in our group a complete newbie for hiking, a very young colleague.

The start of the hike was very steep and the young colleague tired in a few minutes. We decided to accompany her back to the car to ensure safety while another half of us continued climbing.

The day was a little overcast, we could still see the hills in a distance, and seemed like we were surrounded by hills and all sides. The little temple in the picture above was where our car was.

After dropping her off, we resumed from the start of the hike, and soon reached a spot where we could progress no further. Retracing our steps, we found a place that allowed us to make progress, but it was made of shifting sand, dried grass and granite rock.

We saw a few cattle herders and asked them to be out guides but they refused. They gave use verbal directions which were not useful except for general directional orientation.

Sometimes following a small trail, sometimes scrambling and falling, we made it very close to the summit and saw our other colleagues in the distance.

We discovered the trail in the final stretch and reached the spot that beckons every hiker from many miles away. The locals had hung a Diwali lantern on top of it with a thin nylon rope that hung from all the way at the top of the rock.

With the small stair, each of us climbed to the base of the opening and sat on it sideways. The mountain face is about 3 feet wide at the opening.

The views of the surrounding area is spectacular from this vantage point and it is a quite windy spot. After spending 15 minutes and marveling at the scenery, we started on our return trip by taking a loop trail instead of out and back.

The sun started peeking out from the clouds and the rays looked magical.

Being so close to the pilgrimage site, we decided to visit the temple as well. It is situated at the top of one of the 7 peaks and has a funicular servicing it. We decided to use the 510 steps to ascend and it was very good exercise to get the heart rate up.

The line to reach the sanctum sanctorum was huge and we requested the guards for a special privilege to bypass the line. Happily, we could get a quick glimpse and picture. Another descent of the 510 steps and we were back on flat land. After a nice breakfast at the local food court, we were on our way and home by 1pm.