Neelkantheshwar

We decided to go to Neelkantheshwar on one not-so-rainy day of rainy season. I must explain what “not-so-rainy day of rainy season” mean. I feel nature is in its best form in monsoon. Green scenes sooths your eyes and refreshes your mind. At same time, if you don’t want your camera to get wet, click wonderful snaps and enjoy the season then you have to find that lucky span in monsoon and I call it “not-so-rainy day of rainy season”. I fortunately got one Saturday for Neelkantheshwar. My friend and I packed our backpacks and started early. It was a beautiful morning. Teak wood tree blossoms added to the beauty. We waited at Khadakwasala dam for a while to wish “Good morning” to Cormorants and proceeded further.

How to reach: There are 3 routes to reach Neelkantheshwar.

Route#1:

1. Take Sinhagad road and travel up to “Rule” village. Rule village is between Khanapur and Panshet.
2. Route is Pune-Khadakwasla-Donje Phata-Khanapur-Rule.
3. Park your vehicle properly on roadside in Rule village. On right hand side you see the river.
4. Take pathway that takes you to riverbank. This path goes through fields and is muddy.
5. You can get boat to cross the river. After crossing the river, you have to walk for approx 4-5 Kms.
6. Not entire walk is simple. After a while you have to climb a mountain to reach Neelkantheshwar temple at top. Approx time to reach top is 1.5 – 2 hrs (also depends upon your stamina).
7. Climbing complexity – Easy/Moderate. Time-consuming. Bit tiring.

Route#2:

1. Take Sinhagad road and travel up to Panshet
2. Route is Pune-Khadakwasla-Donje Phata-Khanapur-Panshet.
3. Panshet has two dams- Panshet dam and Varasgaon dam
4. Follow the road to Varasgaon dam. You will find a small road, which goes to Neelkantheshwar. There is some signboard also.
5. This road takes up to Neelkantheshwar base. The road is in very bad condition.
6. Cars/bikes can reach up to base and then we have to climb up for 20-30 mins.
7. Climbing complexity – Simple.
8. Climbing efforts are 10% if we compare this with Route#1.

Route#3:

1. Take the road, which connects Warje and Khadakwasala dam (back side).
2. In the mid somewhere there is a path which goes to Neelkantheshwar base through a small village.
3. Route is Pune-Khadakwasla- Neelkantheshwar base or Pune-Warje- Neelkantheshwar base.
4. This road takes up to Neelkantheshwar base. The road is supposed to be best route.
5. Cars/bikes can reach up to base and then we have to climb up for 20-30 mins.
6. Climbing complexity – Simple.
7. Climbing efforts are 10% if we compare this with Route#1.

So lets continue… we took up Route#2. After reaching Varasgaon, we found the road was bad but beauty of the surrounding was mind blowing. We took some good snaps including that of Small Blue Kingfisher (my favorite). We traveled a kilometer or so. Further the road was washed out due to rains and also there were rivulets and streams flowing over the path. My car’s front tires got stuck somewhere and we decided to revert back. We came back to village “Rule” and parked our car near a teashop. We then followed Route#1.

We walked through fields to reach riverbank and waited for boat. One interesting thing to mention here – This boat is provided by Pune Municipal Corporation for to-and-fro journey of villagers. Someone has used his sheer intelligence to avoid the efforts of rowing the boat. The thick rope is tied from one end to another end of the bank and boatman just pulls the rope to drive the boat. Boatride was joyful. We paid him boat fare and enquired about evening timings.

We began to climb. The path was very pleasant. There were different hues of green everywhere. We found some Green bee-eaters, Chameleon and butterflies. We reached a green plateau and rested on lush green grass. Backwaters of Panshet, Varasgaon and Khadakvasla dam were visible from here. Actually we wasted some time in changing of routes and it was already very sunny. We got tired and in hurry left water bottles in car. It was bit tiresome. We reached on the top. First thing to mention is – Water from the well on the top. We were terribly thirsty and that water tasted like ‘heaven’.

Neelkantheshwar hill is very widespread. There is huge temple of Lord Shiva and the place gets its name after him i.e. “Neelkantheshwar”. “Neel” means “blue” and “kanth” means, “throat”. According to mythological accounts during Sagar Manthan (the churning of the Ocean), Lord Shiva drank all the effluent venom which gushed out, it turned his throat (kanth) into blue (neel). Hence, Lord Shiva is also known as “Neelkanth”.

This place is developed by a forest ranger called “Sarje Mama”. He found Shiva-linga on this mountain and built the temple. Another main attraction of this place is thousands of clay sculptures. These sculptures depict various mythological events and characters in Hinduism including Ramayana and Mahabharata. Few of them to mention are Shivaji Maharaj-Sant Tukaram, Dashavtars, Ashtavinayakas, Bhim-Bakasur fight, Sanr Ramdas, etc. Sarje Mama makes these sculptures. Sarje Mama is also associated with Anti-addiction association. He has helped in rehabilitation of many alcoholics and contributed in their re-establishment.

We ordered some things to eat from the small hotel outside the temple. They cook food for you as per your order. We relaxed for some half an hour and began to explore the place. There was picturesque view of backwaters as well as glimpses of Sinhagad fort.

We came to a cliff side and noticed a bird. It was huge and it was balancing itself against the air, as if it was practicing how to fly. After observing closely we were sure that it was a juvenile eagle. We stood quiet watching it. Suddenly its parents flew close to protect it. They must have thought we were trying to harm their baby. I focused my camera on them and they appeared so close through camera lens. I was moved for a moment. I had never watched eagles so closely and it was exciting and threatening at same time. Before we could capture them through the lenses they had already reached very high altitude. They were now three tiny dots in the sky. Later on, I came to know that Tawny eagles are seen here. It was a thrilling experience.

We started descending in early evening. We couldn’t get any water in back journey as there were no bottles. On the way, again we were thirsty. We met some pretty village gals who were going to water stream to fill their pots. We accompanied them to the stream and they gave us water to quench our thirst.

We returned back to “Rule” village after another exciting boat ride. It was raining by then and old village woman asked us for lift. As we drove back, we had interesting talks. She was a farmer and was disappointed with young generation from her village, which is no more interested in farming. She was also unhappy that most of the farmers sell their land to builders for development and lose their asset. She had great love for farming and native soil. We could feel the intensity of concern from her words. We dropped her at Rajaram Bridge and came home.

Neelkantheshwar is definitely worth for one day outing. I recommend you to follow Route#3 for smooth and enjoyable trip.

NOTE: For more snaps visit – http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruhiclicks/sets/72157601014214262/detail/