NANEGHAT
Naneghat is a mountain pass near Junnar in Pune district of Maharashtra, India. During the reign of the Satavahana(200 BCE–190 CE), the pass was extensively used as a trade route between Kalyan and Junnar. Literally, the name nane means "coin" and ghat means "pass". The name is given because this path was used as a tollbooth to collect toll from traders crossing the hills.
Last minute of the plan we desided to a night trek to Naneghat so we started 22nd may midnight means 23rd...
At 12.30am we took a bus from Kalyan Bus stand to Naneghat, we were very excited about this trek; within 2hrs we reached base of Naneghat. We began with our trek, for the first half hour it’s just a plain walk…greenery everywhere with a dark..after walking for half hour we came across a small stream and after crossing this stream we found out two ways (Right and left…but both the path after climbing up for around 1 1/2hrs merge into one path) to reach our destination…so we choose to move ahead with the right side direction…like every trek we were enjoying this trek but slowly the path got steeper and we found it little tough to climb the route…we started taking more breaks as we were tired…
The route passed between the trees, mountains & waterfalls…after climbing for 2 hrs we took a break As we started moving ahead the path got much more steeper as the path is made mostly of rock cut steps that have been made by people who used to use this for trekking purpose…finally after climbing for 3 ½ hrs we reached the Naneghat Cave @ 5 am the cave can accommodate 40-45 people and can be used for overnight trekking….
As soon as we reached the cave we saw a big group were already there in the cave but we got a small corner for rest as we all were very tired… after taking rest for around 2hrs we went to visit the surrounding area in the morning…then we climbed at top of the mountain and from there we got a clear view of the nearby forts and the plateaus…
At the beginning of the pass there is a big pot embedded made up of rocks…this pot was used to collect coins from the traders who used to pass from this route…hence it got the name as “ Naneghat” - Nane means “ Coins” and Ghats means “Pass". There is a small Ganpati murti carved in a small cave and also a Shivling near the temple…coming down was easier but it was difficult to balance ourself as our legs were unstable due to tiredness…but after few minutes we were fine…while coming down we took the other route…within 1 1/2hr we reached down to the stream…here we took rest for few minutes just to freshen up ourself…
It was one of the memorable trek so far…from here we got a bus to Kalyan station…we were happy to visit this place and had a wonderful experience --
Some pics by group :-
