BACHELOR PARTY IN THE SAHYADRIS
ANJANERI: When the baap of all bachelors, Lord Hanuman, beckons us for a
rendezvous in the wilderness of the Sahyadris via Nisarga Bhraman, we
should be foolish to skip the bachelor party. No, Hanumanji wasn’t
calling us to announce his marriage plans; He isn’t dumb and stupid like
you and me to harbour such insane thoughts. He was inviting us to
partake of the glorious splendour of mother nature at the height of the
monsoon.
So, on Saturday, we put on our rucksacks and hopped
on to the ghost train to Kasara. And, from there, bundling ourselves
into jeeps we went on a rough ride to Trimbakeshwar. Some of us who were
awake spotted the night watchmen – the cats, the snakes, the mongoose
and the ghostly shapes of trees – zipping by in the intrusive light of
our jeeps.
We reached the holy town at 5.30 in the morning just
in time for the early morning puja. Don’t ask me what temple it was, I
am no temple guy, so I slept in the jeep when the others were
circumambulating the temple.
The temple darshan was over by
7.30 am, and we headed to the Anjaneri fort, reportedly the birthplace
of Lord Hanuman. And the 5-km trek wound through the steep serpentine
path in the hills until Anjaneri, the base village, shrunk into a tiny
hamlet in the panoramic grandeur of scarped hills, lakes, and green
wooded forests.
After a quick breakfast at the foot of the
fort, we ascended the broad steps carved into the hills, wound round the
precipitous scarp, and trudged up the steep steps that rose in a
straight line to reach the rolling meadow-like green plateau.
On our way up, we were treated to a bit of history by Sameer. Pointing
to a row of steps carved into the stone on either side of the ravine
near the first cave temple which housed the image of Lord Mahavira,
Sameer explained that there used to be a huge entrance wall, or what you
call darwaza, in the olden days which had been reduced to rubble by
nature’s weathering forces. Near the darwaza was a beautiful abstract
stone impression of probably Goddess Lakshmi.
The plateau
offered some more breathtaking vistas, the most magnificent of which was
a mesmerizing waterfall that thundered down into the valley below.
Cattle, with their tinkling bells, ambling around on the vast meadow
feeding sumptuously on the fluorescent green grass provided the perfect
setting for the waterfall. It was a truly awesome sight.
To one
corner of the plateau was a temple dedicated to the mother of Lord
Hanuman, the Anjani Mata Mandir, at the foot of another mighty hill atop
which Lord Hanuman lived. It had a standing image of Anjani Mata in
front of whom was a kneeling Lord Hanuman bowing to His mother with
hands folded. Besides the mother-son duo was Lord Gajanand @ Ganapati.
On our way to Hanuman’s hill, we encountered a beautiful pond where a
scenic tree with a twisted trunk was desperately bending into the pond
in a Bollywood-like setting.
Indulging in a photo shoot and a
bit of monkeying around on the tree, we trudged up the hill which had
nice little cement steps zigzagging all the way to the top. A side alley
laden with the fresh circles of cow dung led to another cave temple
that was hidden in the woods. Adjacent to it were a complex of
not-so-important temples and an ashram.
As always, the best
was reserved for the last. And it came in the form of a dense fog that
enveloped us from all sides cutting us away from the neighbouring hills
and dales. But we didn’t complain. We rejoiced in the black and white
foggy wonder that played hide and seek with our surroundings. Walking in
the fog was like discovering your pathway in the dark. You don’t get to
see more than a furlong of your path. And it was great fun.
The stairway took us to another broad mindblowing plateau on the highest
summit of which was another Anjani Mata Mandir. In this temple the
mother holds on to baby Hanuman, in a dear embrace. There were many
other idols in a row of stones arranged in a circular or rectangular
fashion.
On our way back, the warm sunshine cleared the fog
opening up the breathtaking vistas all around us. Walking down the steps
treating ourselves to nature’s wonders, we reached the first plateau,
had our lunch at the pond, and came down the huge steps carefully to the
base of the hills.
I headed to Trimbakeshwar where I caught
the bus and reached Pune after a painful 6-hour journey. I mean painful
for the other passengers, as I slept like a log all the way to Pune. The
others jeeped down to Kasara, took the train and hopefully were in
Mumbai by 10 pm.
Thank you Rohit, Parag, Hemant, and Sameer for organizing another wonderful trek.
Written BY: N Venugopal Rao
