Khoj- The search at Kohoj
(A Travelogue of PFTC’s trekking-cum-climbing expedition to Kohoj Fort & Nagnath Pinnacle –Dec 19 - 20, 2015)
About Kohoj - Type: Hill Fort
Range: Palghar
District: Palghar
Taluka: Wada
Height (Kohoj): 3200 ft and (Nagnath Pinnacle): 120 ft
Grade: Easy
Members Attended (6): Tanaji Landge, Kiran Patre, Jayraj Joshi, Subhash Patel, Megha Joshi, Jagruti Jain.
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Kohoj Fort & Nagnath Lingi - Pinncle view from Pazar Lake
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Definitely, this came in quick succession to November’s
Mahalakshmi Pinnacle. However, Kohoj Killa and Nagnath Lingi too were on
our season’s list. Accordingly, Path Finders launched the expedition
from Vasai on 19th night (Saturday) around 9.30 pm and drove by a
private vehicle🚗 on NH-8 only to halt at Manor’s Mastan Naka for tea ☕while
waiting for Kiran Patre and Subhash Patel who were to join us at Ten
Naka. The duo had commenced their bus journey from Borivali at 8.30 pm
and they met us at the junction at 11:00 pm. Parting with the National
Highway, we journeyed for 12 kms on the Manor-Wada road to reach
Vaghote, the base village for Kohoj at 12:15 am.
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PFTC Team from Left : Megha,Tanaji(Co-Leader),Jayraj (Leader),Kiran & Subhash & Photographer Jagruti not in pic.@ Base village Vaghote on Manor - Wada Road. |
Kohoj Killa, lies in the Wada taluka of Palghar district
(Mah.) and extends in the East-West direction. Taking cues from the well
dug cisterns; this 800 years old hill fort is believed to belong to the
Bhoj period. It was seized by the Portuguese from the ruler of Gujarat,
then conquered by the Marathas. It also finds a mention in the Treaty
of Purandar (1665) and is one of the 22 forts surrendered to the
Mughals. The Peshawas re-captured it in 1737. However, it remained in
the British hands until independence.
There are multiple approaches to the Kohoj Fort and Nagnath Pinnacle:
1. VIA NANE GAON
Reach Palghar via Western Railway.Board Nanegaon bound ST from Palghar. Trekking for 2 hours will lead to a water tank marked as no. 11. A climb-down for half an hour towards the right, will lead to the base of the Nagnath Pinnacle.
2. VIA VAGHOTE VILLAGE.Alternative approach is available via Vaghote village. Reach Palghar via Western Railway.
A drive (on NH-8) from Palghar to Manor-Ten Naka on the Manor-Wada Road
will lead to Vaghote Village. Beginning from Vaghote, you come across a
small pond on the left, while the fort and pinnacle stands to your
right. Walking the same trail will lead to Paazar Lake. Walk the length
of the dam’s wall. This trail when extended upto the ridge of the
mountain meets the path approached via Nane gaon.
Our team had decided to approach via Vaghote. We parked the car at the base village. Around 1.00 am, we began heading east in the direction of the hill fort.The
plan was to trek up to the base of the Pinnacle in the half-moon lit
sky, then rest for a couple of hours and gear up for climbing just as
the sun shows
up. However, destiny detained us at Shelte village that night. Night
trails being perplexed, we decided to discontinue until the dawn.
It was 2.30 am then. Surroundings were calm. There were a few huts- some made of bamboo and
some of bricks but all cemented with love; there was a school with a
classroom and an office, the classroom’s half–open window exposed its
furniture-less state, there was a blackboard with the date and
“suvichar” written on it. A handpump was located at near distance and a
few low altitutde electricity poles took care of all the lighting in the
village. That’s an idyllic Shelte village in my state and I am sure its
similar elsewhere too.
A
localite came to our help as we enquired the approach to the fort. He
was willing to be our guide but only after the sun rises. After making
plans for the morning, we rolled out our bedding in the school veranda
and attempted to sleep. Initial 10 minutes were uncomfortable, but once
our body temperatures warmed our bedding, we directly woke up at 5:00
am. (Exception: Megha Joshi- She couldn’t get any sleep.)
5:00 am in winter means it was still dark. It was cold as
well. Kiran Patre collected tiny dry twigs and lit a small campfire
where we all warmed ourselves. The same campfire was turned into a stove
by Subhash Patel who dedicatedly made ginger tea for us. It was super
delicious,I must say.The sun rose. It was 6:10 am. We helped ourselves
with tea and biscuits and quickly packed up for the journey ahead.
Tanaji
Landge, Kiran Patre and Jayraj Joshi enquired with the localites once
again. The jungle being dense we were searching for a guide. After much
persuasion, Atul and his friends agreed to guide us through the jungle
as they unanimously decided to boycott the luring Sunday cricket.
Atul,our guide was a young chap from Shelte village and we were more
than delighted to know that he was pursuing studies in Agriculture at a college in Vangaon. (No wonder, Life holds immense learning in trivial facts you come across.)
By
6:30 am, we began trekking to the fort. As we proceeded, we found the
last night’s missing trail. We regretted not having followed our
intuition trail, thinking - by this time; we would have reached the base
of the pinnacle.
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| Pazar lake |
However, there was not a tinge of regret left, when we reached the Pazaar Lake.
You
may be in a hurry to reach the destination, for that you cannot bypass
the journey. Similarly, you cannot skip the pristine beauty of this
immense lake named Pazaar.
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| Entire Kohoj finds its reflection in the still waters of the lake. |
One cannot miss capturing photographs of this marvelous scenery.
At the lake, we saw a couple of villagers filling their tins and jars
with water. Surprisingly, none of them carried pots.I spotted a common
Kingfisher in flight who was probably trying a fish for breakfast.
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| PFTC Team start walk early morning towards Nagnath Lingi from Village Shelte |
We walked the length of the dam’s wall and then entered the jungle. The jungle was draped in green The sun emitted dim lights, the winds blew the tune, the birds sang, the leaves danced. Oh, what a concert it was!
Trekking
the high gradient slopes, we reached the base of the pinnacle at 10.15
am. Everyone got to their jobs. Tanaji Landge, Kiran Patre and Jayraj
Joshi conducted a recce of the 190 ft climbing route.Subhash Patel,
Megha Joshi and I looked after the kitchen. Atul and his friends waited
too.
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Mohime agodar Sulka Poojan
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Once the trio was ready with the climbing gears, we all prayed to the Lord and the rock for safety and success.
At
10.45 am, Tanaji Landge (Lead Climber) initiated the climb. He crossed
the 70 ft patch, hammered a piton into the crack and set up the belay
for Kiran Patre (2nd man) and Jayraj Joshi (3rd man). They scaled to
reach the first patch by 11.30 am. Atul was to accompany them
throughout.
The next patch (70-80 ft) was tougher. Climbing from the same face was dreadful due to unavailability of suitable holds. Hence, they carefully traversed ↩along the reedy alleyway, concerned of the valley deep down. As they traversed, our contact was severed.
We called “A..O A..O” out
at intervals to reach them but all in vain. When they returned to the
base, they explained their approach. Obnoxiously grown cactus and scree
patches challenged them at every step. They anchored the rope to a
sturdy succulent cactus stem. Kiran Patre held the belay device
(lifeline) for Jayraj Joshi (1st man) and Tanaji Landge (2nd man).
Surmounting the 40 ft rock patch, marching through the exposed way (from
beneath the cactus), and carefully passing through the slippery scree,
they cut the second patch by 12:40 pm.
As
the last patch remained, they were self-motivated to complete it soon.
Cautious climbing until 1:10 pm and the three musketeers summited the
Nagnath Pinnacle taking PFTC to newer heights.
Down
at the base camp, Subhash Patel was engaged in cooking as Megha Joshi
and I collected twigs and dry leaves for fire. Once again, our master
chef Patel made a super delicious Sabzi with onion, potato and other
available ingredients. We had lunch and rested for some time. Megha
Joshi was trying for a siesta as
she was sleep deprived. Later, we spoke to Atul’s friends to know about
the jungle and they informed us about its wildlife and commercial usage
(villagers cut trees to obtain teakwood as was evident from the sawdust
residues on our trails). We were waiting for the climbers to return.
As they were descending, we could hear them at a distance. Like ascend,
descend was tough too. When they reached the base at 3:00 pm, they
looked satisfied and hungry both. They were satisfied by heart and
hungry by stomach. They ate their food as we listened to their
experiences. Once the lunch and tea was done, we wound up and restarted
for Kohoj Killa at 4:00 pm.
The climb was steep and trek poles helped a lot. We took a
halt at Lagori point (self-named as Lagori point due to the arrangement
of rocks). We climbed the assembled Lagori rocks and took a minute to
view the world around. Oh! It was simply transcending.
The long shot of the Pazaar Lake was largely a replica of the Indian map. The surroundings were magical. ☺☺ We
advanced towards the fort and reached there by 5:00 pm. The fort was
huge but with relics. A portion of fortified wall and a couple of
bastions stand in ruins today.
Hanuman
idol carved in a stone is placed near one of the bastions. We freshened
up at the water tank (marked as no. 11) and also refilled our bottles.
Up, the humanoid rock formed of wind erosion grabbed our attention.
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| 11 No.Cave |
The sun set and it grew darker, we continued to descend. By 7:10 pm, we had reached the Pazaar Lake.
The mountain,the
lake, the earth and the sky, everything was moon lit. We unloaded
ourselves and sat there in traquil. That was the time of meditation and
privacy. Those were the moments of extreme ecstasy and solipsism. I
sensed Pazaar having tête-à-tête with me. All treks I did tell me they
were simply about “searching for self”. At every mountain and at every
pinnacle, the search was on. However, the Khoj at Kohoj reveals to me
“Do not search, Do not find, Do not hunt. Certain things in life are not
meant for searching, not meant for finding, not meant hunting but are
simply meant for engaging. # Let certain things remain unrehearsed # Let certain things remain unexplored # Let Life remain mysterious #
Invigorated
by introspection, we started again at 7:30 pm. We reached the base at
8:00 pm. Our group parted with Atul and his friends. We thanked them for
their help. They headed to Shelte, we headed to Vaghote. Around 8:15
pm, we were back to the car park. A quick check of all equipment and rearranging of sacks, everything was loaded on the carrier and we were back on NH-8 by 9:00 pm. We halted for dinner at a dhaaba at 10:00 pm and reached Vasai at 11:00 pm.
With this one more pinnacle was checked, on the climbing season's list.
-regards,
Jagruti✒
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