Members: Mahesh Raut, Vishal Chaughule, and Sambhaji Chopdekar.
The most disappointing thing we came to know that there is no direct ST available
for Kavnai from Igatpuri when we arrived at the ST stand.
The
village Kavnai is situated at about 8 km on the Tryambakeshwar road from Ghoti
for which there are jeeps available from Kasara railway station for the
Mumbaikars.
At
Ghoti, one has to get into the crowded jeeps which are parked in front of the
SBI branch at about half a km away from the ST stand through the market area.
The
road to Kavnai is not much in good condition once it bifurcates toward Kavnai.
But the view of both Fort Kavnai and the Budhala, known more as Vaaki's hill
(Vaakicha Dongar) is fantastic.
The
route from the base village - Kapildhara Tirth - is easy to ascend from the
Northern spur and leads us to the Eastern col where a permanent iron ladder has
been mounted that makes it an effortless attempt to enter the gate. The absence
of it would surely have increased the difficulty level to some extent,
especially in the monsoon.
There
is a rectangular excavation to the right. In monsoon, it might be resembling a
water cistern as described in one of the Mr. Pandurang Patankar's books on
forts.
After ascending about 35-odd
steps, the top of Kavnai gets visible. There is a small lake atop with a temple
of Goddess Kavnai along with Shri Ganapati idol. At the banks of this lake, the
remains of a house can be seen near a Mahadev pindi.
We
could find a big rectangular but non-potable water cistern at the Western
bastion. There is one more water tank just behind the Kavnai temple.
The most joyous moment came
when a small, potable water tank was located just ahead. We could refill our water bottles as that water is potable.
Last but not the least, the
adjoining pinnacle known as 'Vaakicha Budhala' looks fascinating from every
angle on the way.
One can descend through the
Kavnai-Budhala pass to reach Vaaki from where the jeep coming from Kavnai for
Ghoti can be obtained.
...
