Bherand Naal and Shevtya Ghat

                                                                            Jai Shri Ram

"As we started ascending Bherand Naal, the hostile terrain started having its effect on us. Our mind started playing games with us as the climb became steeper, the boulders bigger and the scorching heat of the western Sun beating down harder. Our throats were parched and the climb seemed never ending. The gorge tried to stop our ascent with its full might serving a concoction of challenges like thorny bushes, challenging boulder laden routes, a rock patch at the fag end, extreme ascent at an angle of 70%-75% with scree and loose soil and exit almost blocked"

The above challenges are typical features of ascending a less frequented and difficult level gorge cum ghat route. The Bherand Naal ascent was proving to be much tougher than we had initially thought.

During the times of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, this part of the Sahyadri's better known as Jawli was at the heart of the fight for Swaraj. The geographical landscape, the impregnable and tall forts in the area like Kokan Diva, Raigad, Rajgad, Torna, Kavlya the various forested ghat routes that connect the Deccan plateau to the Raigad valley made this the epi-center of Hindavi Swarajya. Samarth Ramdas also resided in the nearby Shivthar-ghal cave and thus the area was buzzing with  activity during those times.

The starting point for the Shevtya Ghat-Bherand Naal trek is the village of Bhordi. This is a small Hamlet near Kelad and Velhe about 63 kms from Pune.

We started quite late from Pune and after picking up my fellow trek mates we reached Bhordi late in the night at 1 am.The village was in deep sleep and seemed mysterious as fog and mist gave way to a few flickering lights of the Maruti temple and nearby houses.

Fortunately the temple door was open and thus we quickly settled down in the temple.I was carrying my new tent this time. Me and Chinmay were glad to sleep inside the tent as the same provided us much required warmth.Being Jan mid, it was peak winter and cold winds started blowing just before dawn.

Despite the cold we all slept well.We were up at 6 am.The temple is situated opposite the house belonging to Nathu Shilimkar, who coincidentally was also our guide for the trek.

Nathu Mama was kind enough to give us some warm water for freshening up. We had break fast of Pohe and Tea and also took some beautiful morning pictures of the village and its idyllic settings.

The Bhordi village is nestled in the midst of thick and tall Bamboo plantations and is very picturesque. We were fortunate to sight the Paradise Fly catcher right inside the village. The bird is quite elusive and this early morning sighting brightened our mood.

There was an initial discussion of descending by Bherand Naal and ascending by Shevtya Ghat. However i I shot this suggestion down as one always needs to ascend the steeper and more difficult route and descend the easier and more gradual route as a basic rule for ghat route treks. Thus descending by Shevtya Ghat and ascending Bherand Naal was the right thing to do from a technical point of view.

We started our trek at around 8.30 am and after passing some fields on the outskirts of the village, we started ascending towards the Shevtya Ghat top. The route initially led us to a col or Khind. We could see Torna and Rajgad behind us. We descended and ascended small hills enroute before reaching a water hole named Hindola an hour after we had started from Bhordi. The water hole was formed by a natural stream and was brimming with pure water. We drank to our hearts content and also filled up our water bottles.

From here the route climbed steeply towards the hamlet of Gugulshi, This is basically a very remote hamlet situated up in the mountains surrounding Bhordi village but no longer inhabited. The denizens of this hamlet have shifted to Bhordi and some to Shevte in the konkan. The earlier generations had the tenacity to live in these remote hamlets. They not only had quite a bit of livestock but also did terrace farming consisting mainly of rice and finger millet. However the younger generation have shifted to cities and towns for better employment opportunities and do not have the strength nor the patience of the older generation to tend to their farms and manage livestocks.

Due to this generational transition, these once lively and beautiful hamlets are now weather beaten and slowly moving towards extinction due to neglect and desertion by their residents.

While until few years back any passer by would have been greeted by a glass of fresh butter milk and Pithla Bhakri by a caring villager, all we saw was abandoned houses and a lone cow which had chosen to stay back in this hamlet. Interestingly the cow has survived for the past 2 years in this hamlet in the middle of thick forest all alone and unharmed. This itself is very unique and almost a miracle as this area has leopards and the same got proven as we saw its dropping further ahead.

After Gugulshi the route climbs through thick forest up a steep mountain and emerges on the top of the ghat matha or Deccan plateau. En route we were fortunate to witness the blooming of the beautiful karvi flowers.

We reached Shevtya Ghat top in exactly 2 hours after leaving Bhordi. Just before the route climbs to the start of Shevtya ghat we passed a very deep and steep gorge to our left. Nathu Mama promptly pointed towards it and exclaimed, this is Bherand Naal.........! The Naal descended at a steep angle into the Konkan plains and the entrance was blocked by thick Karvi plants and thorns!

We were stunned to see the gorge and instantly knew that our return journey while ascending this gorge is going to be challenging and exciting for sure.

Shevtya Ghat 

 

Village on Ghat top: Bhordi  

Decent: 500 meters from bhordi to Shevte, but one has to also ascend and descend several smaller mountains before reaching Shevte ghat top. 

Base village in Konkan; Shevte

Grade: Easy to Medium.

Endurance: Easy to Medium.

Time Taken to descend: 1hour 30 mins. 

Water source: Not available en route.

We took some snaps here and started our descent for Shevte village. The Shevte ghat route is still frequented by villagers and relatively gentle on the feet. 

The route is skill fully crafted on a sloping ridge which gently descends towards the Konkan plains. We descended the ghat in about 1 hour 30 minutes at a comfortable pace and reached Shevte village at 12 noon.

We took a 15 minutes break here and then decided to have lunch at the base of Bherand Naal so we could reach the top well before sun set.

Bherand Naal 

 

Base Village in Konkan: Shevte and Nanemachi  

Ascent: 500 meters plus one has to negotiate a couple of smaller mountains post reaching the top.

Village on top of Deccan Plateau:Bhordi

Grade: Difficult.

Endurance: Difficult.

Time Taken to ascend: 3 hours. 

Water source: Scarce and mostly not available en route.

The route to Bherand Naal starts right at the start of Shevte village and one basically has to keep going towards the valley keeping the main Shevtya ghat ridge to one's left. The route goes through thick forests  and is in use as the route further leads to Nanemachi village.

We reached the Bherand Naal base at 1.30 pm. The sun was beating down and considering the ascent we all were careful enough to have a light lunch so that we have just enough energy to negotiate the 3 hour climb but don't over eat. It is very important not to gorge on food before an ascent especially in the afternoon. Ascending a mountain becomes much more difficult as every step becomes laborious on a full stomach.

We started the Bherand Naal ascent at around 2 pm. The initial route goes through the middle of the gorge and is boulder strewn. After about an hour, myself ,Chinmay and Vijay got a bit diverted from the main route as Shilimkar Mama ascended from the right of the gorge while Tushar and Dadu correctly ascended from the centre. Our route soon reached a dead end and we had a tough time coming back to the centre of the Naal as we attempted to course correct by paralelly moving towards the centre.

From here Dadu, myself and Tushar got separated from Vijay and Chinmay.There was thick forest and shrubs here and Shilimkar Mama was hacking down trees along the way so Vijay and Chinmay could follow us through the thickets.

However Chinmay was really struggling due to intense heat. Vijay like he always does kept Chinmay company and motivated him to continue. We were elated to find some water after we had climbed about half way up the gorge. But the water hole had scarce water and it was not very clean as it probably was being frequented by wild animals. 

After this water hole we were greeted with thorny bushes which made our ascent very difficult. There was no other way around them. However we kept climbing with determination albeit with some bruises and thorns pricking us all over.

At around 4.15 pm we reached the rock patch which comes after one has ascended about 80% of the route. The rock patch is not very difficult and one by one we all negotiated it. The only tricky part was to get the dog accompanying us over the patch. Milind Dadu literally picked the dog up and helped him on his way.

We knew that the final top part of the gorge was thickly covered by trees and bushes. However our final ascent became even more difficult due to the very steep gradient of the climb and also we struggled to maintain our footing as the soil and gravel was very unstable. To overcome this issue we now started directly placing our feet on the base of the karvi plant and hopped on from one plant to another. The end part of the ascent really tested our patience and we finally reached the top of Bherand Naal at 5 pm.

We were still a good two hours away from Bhordi village and thus after a short break resumed our return journey to Bhordi. Enroute for the first time an exhausted Vijay took a 5 minute nap. He was quite tired as shepherding Chinmay through the gorge had sapped him of energy.

We finally reached Bhordi village at around 7 pm. We had taken about 10 hours to complete the trek. We freshened up and Mami promptly served us with some much needed hot tea. It was a very satisfying days hike for us as we descended via one of the oldest ghat routes of Shevtya and ascended via the tough and impregnable Bherand gorge.

I kept wondering as to how did the gorge get the name "Bherand or was it Bherunda?" One thought that came to mind was that probably the gorge got its name from the ancient half man/half bird creature called Ganda-Bherunda. The gorge does look like an eagle with its wings spread when seen from the Konkan plains. The Ganda-Bherunda is one of the most important symbols of not just ancient India.It was also found across Europe and central Asia. It was the royal emblem of the Vijay nagar dynasty and often symbolised the sovereignty of one empire over other kingdoms and smaller vassals. The same was depicted by the bird holding elephants in its beaks and claws.

The above thought took us back in the annals of time and me and Chinmay in fact felt that this could be one of the possible reasons behind this unique name to this gorge.

 Trek Team: Tushar Kothawade, Vijay Gurjar, Milind Kulkarni urf Dadu, Chinmay Kirtane and Amit Marathe.

Pic credit:Amit Marathe

Some important points to be noted:

1). Please ensure that you exercise regularly before you take up this or any other arduous trek.
2). Please do not litter and carry all your waste back with you after the trek.
3). Stay close with the group and do not wander alone in the forest.
4). At all times carry at least 3 litres of water per day. Very important to stay hydrated.
5). Respect the guides you hire and make them a part of your trekking team, share your food with them and do not give your sacks to them to carry.
6). Try and gather information about the geography and historical importance of the places you visit.
7). Please respect the time given to your fellow trek mates and always be on time 

P. S : Also contribute to the villagers in whichever form, cash or kind so that you become a part of their ecosystem. A simple act of giving basic medicine/first aid kits to the village police patil or Sarpanch can go a long way in establishing a bond with these simple and kind hearted folks of our mother land.

Take care and God bless.