SANGMESHWARIANS ON TREK

Sangameshwar college being leading in Solapur city, apart from education, it provides ample facilities to the students.Contribution by each and everyone makes it possible to achieve victory in various fields. It may be academics, sports, cultural activities, NSS ,NCC, etc. Also there are various cells and clubs in our college and one from them is the “Sangameshwar Trekking Club”. It is initiated by Dr.Prof.Shivaji Maske (Geography department) in 2020.. The motive of this club is to keep the health of stakeholders intact, as well as explore the glorious forts of our state.Till now we have completed trekking Vasota, Ratangarh & Tikona fort and this time it was Visapur, Lohagarh, Bhaje caves, Karla Caves & Ekvira temple on the list!

It was 10th Feb that we got the notice for this trek and within no time all enthusiastic trekkers grabbed their seats and the ball started rolling. We got proper preparatory instructions and following the same we hit the road by 9:30 p.m. on 18th Feb, 2023. On 19th Feb it was Sunday and birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, so it was best of both the world's for the trek.

On 19th, we reached the Bhaje village around 5:30 a.m. After freshning and winding up our breakfast , by 7:00 a.m. we headed towards the trek. The start was in ghat region; a walk of 4 km, split the road into two. The trail on the right was Lohagarh, and towards the left was Visapur fort.First, we embarked for Visapur fort (Ht.3556 ft). It was a rocky trek that we completed in an hour. On the top we saw Mahadev and Hanuman temple along with isolated caves, old house ruins, ancient water cisterns & huge flour mill. It had beautiful view and foggy clouds to capture pictures and store it as a memory.It was an unforgettable adventurous trek for all.

After reverting from Visapur fort , we had typical Maharashtrian lunch in the lap of nature. The cool water of Pawna dam was saviour for we people. Then energized people joined for Lohagarh trek, which is situated on the same plateau and is twin fort to Visapur. Comprising of 2500 steps we completed it by 1:00 p.m. with company of my friends and monkeys in the surrounding. At the top, was scorching sun along with cool breeze. It was a breathtaking view that are souls witnessed right there. We met a troop alike us who were there to clean the fort on occasion of Shivaji Maharaj’s birth anniversary. The fort being rich in heritage, there we saw Shivkalin Canon,Lakshmi Kothi, Vinchu Kada,Darga,wells,cave,Ganesh and Hanuman door. Following the same route we returned by 3:30 p.m.

The slogans of Shivaji Maharaj chanted at the top had spread positive vibrations everywhere! For both the fort there were arrows all along the way, steering the trekkers in the right direction which we followed cautiously. These majestic forts offer a panoramic view of lakes ,clouds and other forts making the view even more mesmerizing.

“Fortune favours the bold” and so now it was time to head towards the Bhaje village to hike the “Bhaje Caves”. It had 300 steps which felt like 3000 for us after the two treks. It’s one of the ancient Buddhist caves with fine carvings.

A splash of water on our face , energized us and by 4:30 p.m. we left for Karla caves and Ekvira temple. To reach the temple top we ascended almost 500 steps. All slouching yet thespiritual vibrations helped us reach there. There was a board written;

स्वच्छता असेल जिथे, लक्ष्मी नांदेल तिथे

But unfortunately , stupid humans didn’t leave this place also to clutter. The sunset view above was captivating and the valley below was polluted with plastic. It was a holistic and horriblefeeling at the same time. Due to time constraint we missed the Karla Caves but saw facade beside the temple. On the way back, along with memories,shopped some sweets. Then tired we had our dinner and we hit the sack in our respective seats. Around 4:30 a.m. the next day we reverted to the college.

With the company of Maske sir, Khandekar sir,Kharade sir,Rajguru sir, Solapure sir, Jadhav sir, Vhangavde sir, staff- Santosh Fulari , Vinayak Sarangmath, Dhananjay Bachhav. Friends including Rutuja Lakshmi ,Shweta, Priyanka ,Komal , Payal, Arpita, Gayatri ,Labdhee, Vaishnavi, Nikhil, Prithviraj, Onkar ,Aditya, Anurag,Vedant,Nandan Aniket, Sagar,Rishikesh,Shravan ,Mahesh,Ruturaj,Kunal, Sanket, Samarth,Manoj ,Aakash & Anuj ; all proved to be fit us fiddle and completed this wonderful trek.

Summing up, heartfelt thanks to the organisers for assuring care free trek. It has surely given us lesson for maintaining fitness and importance of visiting historical forts on special occasions like 19th Feb. It was a fantastic initiative ;