TREK TO TORNA FORT

After Harishchandra, Kalsubai, Ratangadh, and Rajgadh, it was time to do one more trek. We wanted to step up the endurance level so we decided to go to the Torna Fort. It was our monsoon trek. There was no sign of rain on the day but cloudy weather and soft sun light played their best role to unfold nature’s beauty in front of us.

Trekkers for Torna were me, sumit da (our guru nd leader), Suvidha Desai (Nakli photographer), Amol Jadhav (Driver 😂), Manoj Dhangar (Vasai cha ranveer singh)

About Torna fort: 

Torna Fort or Prachandagad (means ’massive fort’) is located in Pune , State of Maharashtra. It is the first fort captured by Shivaji Maharaj in 1643, at the age of 16, forming the nucleus of the Maratha Empire. The mountain has an elevation of 1,403 meters (4,603 ft.) above sea level, making it the highest fort in Pune.

The base village for trek is Velhe and it is hardly 30 km from mum-pune express highway so we decided to go by car. We meet at Borivali station by 11.00pm and left for velhe village at 11.15.

It was a adventurous journey to Velhe via Pabe ghat because "Humare driver k basic mehi problem tha😂". We parked our cars at a restaurant in the village. It was 7 in the clock and we had Poha/Misal pav in breakfast. After a power nap and fresh up our trek began at 9.00 AM.
Weather was perfectly set for trekking conditions. The sun was busy in hide and seeks game with rainy clouds. Starting route is little confusing that's why we take wrong route and after passing through "Guranchi vaat" nd "Nalyachi vaat" finally we find right route for fort. 

 Reaction of new members (Manoj) after watching height of Torna fort and its route was like, are we sure that we’ll climb this fort? Sumit da's reply was not to think about the peak but just try to focus on the hills. The trek to the Torna fort was simple and straight on the path nicely laid after climbing first hill. After 1 hour of hike, we reached on top of one hill. You can see beautiful nature view of Gunjavne Dam once you’re on top of the connected hill. It was not possible for us to start climbing on massive Torna fort without capturing its beauty in our cameras. From the top of hill, you need to walk on small plateau before actual hike. We also found little Kaas pathar on this hill.

 The last 45 minutes of trek uphill are indeed pretty interesting. Torna fort offers you two small rock patches. For safety purpose, railings were mounted. Any person with basic knowledge can climb it easily.

Soon we reached the entry gate of the Torna fort ‘Bini Darwaja’ by 12.15 pm. All were really happy to reach here.

As we were on height, sunny weather was replaced by cloudy weather and cool strong breeze was playing around us. We took a break (limbu sarbat break) and then decided to go to Goddess Mengai Temple.

On the way to the temple, you can see a water tank, constructed room without roof and a Konkan kada.
After 3.15 hours of trek, everyone was hungry and we decided to descend fort. We started descending at 1.20 pm. Myself and Sumit da helped Manoj Nd suvi to descend the rock patch. Descending was not a difficult job but after some time, pressure on the knee becomes troublesome. After descending half the way (Rock patches), we took a break for 10 min. No reason as such for the break. Yet after the small break, we started to cover the remaining distance but suddenly heavy rainfall started so we take another break but barish band honevali nhi thi so we started descending with lighting speed. We reached Velhe village at 3.10 PM. After we reached at our parked car at base village, we had tea Nd Kanda bhaji break and then we left this historical place.
Torna is truly a place to visit and to remember the greatest Maratha King. One must visit the fort and enjoy the nature and the beauty of the great fort. It was a perfect end to an adventurous weekend. We reached home by 10.30 PM safely ending a pleasurable trek in monsoon.

Thanks for reading.

Happy traveling. 

Sachidanand Pawar