Kudpan-Bhimachi Kathi-Jagbudi Valley! Ghat Routes of a Bygone Era.

Jai Sriram 

Part 1: Trek route: Kudpan-Maharkhind-Vadgaon-Bhimachi Kathi base-Nigdya Ghat-Kudpan

I always have had a fascination for Kudpan village as its geographical location is quite complex and the surroundings densely forested and beautiful. Kudpan is a quaint hamlet situated at an altitude of 3000 feet from msl about 20 kms south of Pratapgad fort as the crow flies. There is no direct approach road as yet to Kudpan from Pratapgad. Just before the base of Pratapgad one needs to take a left from the main highway at Wada Kumbhroshi village. A beautiful forested road takes one to Paar village and from here the road further reaches Kondoshi village. This is where the road ends at present. From here one has to undertake a 2 hour trek before reaching Kudpan or alternatively descend to Paathar khind and take a bus to Kudpan. 

There is a regular ghat road from Poladpur in Konkan to Kudpan village on the top of the ghats. This is the main road which the Kudpan villagers use for contact with the outside world. But Kudpan is a good 27 kms from Poladpur up on the ghats and thus still retains its innocence and more importantly forest cover.

Another attraction for me on this trek was going to be the opportunity to see up close the awe-inspiring Bhimachi Kathi pinnacle. This is a large sized pinnacle attached to the Sahyadri crest line and aptly titled Bhimachi Kathi as only someone as gigantic and mythical as Bhima from Mahabharata could perhaps uproot and use this pinnacle as a stick or kathi!

The pinnacles in Sahyadri mountains have very interesting names given by locals. These names are based on either their shapes or in some cases the local deities. Some examples are Agni Baan sulka (looks like a rocket), Kalkaraai cha sulka (deriving its name from the goddess Kalkaraai and a village near the pinnacle with the same name), Wazir Pinnacle( derived from the Queen or Knight in chess), Vanar Lingi ( Lingi is derived from Shiv Ling) etc.

The Kudpan village is divided into three villages all spread about 4/5 kms from each other in stages as you ascend from Poladpur. We reached the 3rd part of the Kudpan settlements viz Kudpan Khurd village at 1.30 am in the night. Enroute we had Dinner at Tamhini and our customary late night tea break before Poladpur.

The village was fast asleep and uncharacteristically even the dogs were silent and no where to be seen. Generally when you approach a village in the Sahyadri’s, the dogs are on alert and start barking. However here they were conspicuous by their absence.We quickly found our way to the Bharadi Devi temple inside the village and settled outside in the open space for some sleep. It was quite cold and while others slept soundly I managed barely 2 hours of sleep. Just as I was getting into a deep slumber, Sanjay and Viju woke me up at 5 am as always.

We had a long day ahead of us. Our contact at Kudpan - Shelar Ajoba had arranged for our breakfast at a house just adjacent to the temple. The house belonged to Mr Ram Shelar. They were up early like most villagers in the Sahyadri’s. They warmly welcomed us, served us with hot tea and Pohe, much needed fuel before we embarked on our long trek for the day.

One of the villagers Shiva Dada was to accompany us as our guide for the day. As we spelt out our plan, the village elders all got interested as these were routes which they once regularly trodded on, but as age caught up and the road network improved, these routes became less frequented.

The Kudpan villagers are extremely caring and large hearted. We were to discover it through our stay at Kudpan. Shiva Dada our guide was a man in his late forties with good knowledge of the forests and trails around Kudpan. His in-laws stayed at Vadgaon and thus he regularly used the Mahar Khind route. He was a man with a positive attitude and some one who kept a watchful eye on all of us as we negotiated the dense forests enroute.

Our plan on Day 1 was to descend via Maharkhind to the village of Vadgoan in Konkan, then traverse through the Jagbudi river bed and ascend back to Kudpan budruk (Settlement no 2) via Nigdya ghat.

Though Kudpan khurd village is on the sahyadri ghat matha or the deccan plateau, its location is quite unique. It is situated in a basin and the village is surrounded or ring fenced by tall mountains. Thus we first had to ascend about 1100 feet before we could reach the Maharkhind col. We could see leopard pug marks along the trail in the soft mud. This was one of the reasons perhaps why the dogs had maintained a low profile the previous night. As per Shiva Dada, the leopard was routinely surveying the village and had also picked up a few calves in the past couple of months. 

There is a road getting constructed which will connect Kudpan to Kondoshi and onwards to Mahableshwar. The Kudpan villagers were upbeat that due to this road, the land prices around Kudpan could go up. We tried explaining to Shiva Dada and other villagers that the village land was their most precious asset and that they should come what may not trade it. It was their anscestral legacy and they should strive together to retain their land holdings for eternity. We explained to them about the tragedy that has befallen other villagers in the sahyadri's, where by they are not allowed to even pass through their own lands once sold and sometimes even end up becoming watchmen and security guards in their erstwhile lands.

Shiva Dada warmed up to us post this discussion. Just before reaching the edge of the ghats we ascended a mountain and checked out a carved water cistern hidden in the forest on the mountain top, locally known as 'Pandav Take'. This water cistern was quite large and while it was dry, it meant that this route was probably guarded in the olden times. The water cistern even had carved steps to descend inside. The location of the water cistern so close to the Mahar Khind col meant that there must be soldiers posted on the top off this mountain adjacent to Maharkhind to guard this trade route connecting the Konkan to Pratapgad / Mahabaleshwar.

The villagers later also spoke about some structural remains of an old wada or buildling like structure on the upper part of the Mountain which they said would have to be dug up and cleared as they are currently completely hidden and buried under forest cover.

We descended back from the mountain and quickly reached the opening of Maharkhind route at 9.25 am. We were now at an elevation of approx 3800 feet. The initial 45 minutes of descent from Mahar Hind was thickly forested, quite steep and the soil was loose and there was scree. This made our progress slow as we had to be careful. The route has beautiful forest cover for almost the entire part till it opens up at Vadgaon and we came across some rare fruits like Bhalvand ( photo below) and trees on the way. 

We met one of the villagers ascending from Vadgoan all alone with his pack of dogs. The villager was in his mid forties and looked dressed like a city dweller. We learnt from Shiva dada that he had come back for good from Mumbai and was now settled in Kudpan. He had restarted farming in his father’s farm. It was indeed brave of him to ascend Maharkhind all alone especially with a leopard around. I personally felt quite nice about the fact that middle aged folks were returning back to their native villages. This is a trend which has been recent but definitely a positive development. Quite a few families known to me have reverse migrated from Mumbai back to their native villages in Konkan and re-established their traditional agri businesses. Some have started horticulture and floriculture farms, some have got into dairy business etc. For our culture to survive and our villages to thrive we need at least a portion of the next generation to stay in villages. 

After the initial tricky and steep descent, the gradient became friendlier. However the route was a long one and it took us two and a half hours to reach the village of Vadgaon. We reached the precincts of the Ivrai Devi temple in Vadgoan at 12 noon. We had started from Vadgaon at 7.45 am and thus had been trekking for 4 hours since morning. The temple surroundings were clean and there were two huge trees which provided shade from the sun. We decided to have our lunch at the temple as it also had clean drinking water which was being pumped from the river bed next to it. The Jagbudi river flows through Vadgaon village and even in January had ample water in it. After lunch we rested for about 15 minutes and let our bodies cool down a bit. 

Post lunch and a much needed break, we started our journey back towards Kudpan through another route called the Nigdya ghat. This was the regular Vadgaon- Kudpan trail. The trail started just outside the temple on the left hand side. We descended into the river bed and initially progressed keeping the river to our left through a trail going into the valley towards the main mountain. Climate change has impacted the inner trails and routes of the Sahyadri's and low lying erstwhile trails have been washed away due to swelling rivers and water currents. Shiva Dada was thus finding it dificult to locate the trail which would have taken us on the spur of the mountain to our left and then onward to the main mountain of Kudpan. The only option now was to traverse through the dry boulder strewn river bed. This made our progress that much difficult as there was hardly any shade. However just when we were getting a bit exhausted, we were greeted by a pristine aquamarine waterfall in the river bed. The sight of the blueish green pure water freshened us up completely. We drank at least a litre of water each and also poured some water on our heads to cool down our body temperatures. We were however careful enough to not step into the water so as to maintain its purity and cleanliness. The water hole was absolutely stunning and we all spent some time enjoying the serenity of the spot.

After this short break, we crossed the river and kept on walking towards the sahyadri main range in order to find a trail which would take us to the top of the ghats. We had been hiking through the boulders for about 2 hours when we finally spotted the Bhimachi kathi pinnacle which was a sign that our ascent was soon going to start. Shiva Dada started leading us deeper and after about 2 hours from Vadgaon we started our ascent of Nigdya ghat. Just before the base of Bhimachi kathi, one has to leave the river bed and start climbing along a steep ridge connecting the plains to the main range. The route has dense forest cover and the trail was barely visible. But Shiva dada was now confident that we had found the correct trail and we made rapid progress. After a steady climb through a small gorge, we turned slightly right and then resumed the steep climb up the ridge. The route then opened up around a traverse which took us into a gorge. The traverse has some exposure, the soil is a bit loose and has to be negotiated carefully. From here in another 15 minutes we ascended to the top of the ghat matha at exactly around 4.35 pm. It had taken us exactly an hour to ascend the Nigdya ghat route, an ascend of about 500 meters from the base near Bhimachi Kathi. The total ascent was about 650 meters or 2000 feet. Though the ascent was much smaller than some of the other ghat routes, the trail was complex and terrain difficult. 

 

Thus despite being a moderate ascent the route tested us. Thus from an endurance and difficulty perspective, Mahar khind as well Nigdya ghat are medium grade and need good experience of trekking as well as decent stamina and endurance. Once on top we got a fantastic unclose view of the Bhimachi Kathi pinnacle, the origin of the Jagbudi river, the river valley deep down in Konkan and the magnificent sahyadri range encompassing the river. We also got awesome views of Mahipatgad and Sumargad on the western horizon.

We all spent some memorable time basking in the golden light and reflecting on our hike for the day.

We soon reached Kudpan Khurd village. On reaching the village we visited Shelar Ajoba. He is the sarpanch of the village and also a descendent of Shelar mama, the great Maratha warrior who gallantly fought alongside Subhedar Tanaji Malusare in the battle of Sinhagad. Shelar Ajoba showcased his treasure in front of us. Precious and age old weapons like swords, Katyar etc which his ancestors like Shelar Mama and other brave Marathas had successfully used to fight a powerful adversary had been carefully preserved. We felt immense pride meeting this strong and handsome man. Even though in his late 70's he is well built, sports a warrior like moustache and has a warm personality.

      

Post dinner we all settled down in the village school as it was quite cold outside. As i reminisced about the day, the images of the near impenetrable evergreen forests around Mahar khind, the beautiful and scenic village of Vadgaon, the familiar sound of the green barbet heard only in the deep woods, the gigantic Bhimachi kathi pinnacle, the challenging climb of Nigdya ghat, the views of the Jagbudi river valley from the Kudpan view point flashed through my memory and I fell fast asleep in absolute satisfaction!

Day one had exceeded our expectations and we now looked forward to the challenges of Day two. 

Kindly note that I will post Part 2 of my blog shortly which will cover our trek from Kudpan to Kondoshi, descend to Kineshwar- ascend of the historic Paar ghat- and trek back to Kondoshi and Kudpan.

Hope you enjoyed reading the first part!

Trek Team: Tushar Kothawade, Prashant Kothawade, Sanjay Shelke, Vijay Gurjar, Vishal Raghuwanshi and Amit Marathe

Pic credit: Amit, Tushar, Prashant, Vishal, Sanjay.

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 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.

 God bless and take care.