Lingana
The pinnacle of Lingana is located in
between the two grand forts of Shivaji's Swarajya – Raigad &
Torna – on mainline of Sahyadri. The nearest well known
villages/towns are Velhe (base of Torna) and Mahad. Most of the
trekkers travel to either of the location and then to one of the
nearest villages of the fort like Lingana-machi, Singapur, Mohari
etc.
About Fort:
Water Tank on side |
The fort was built by King Shivaji in
1648 after he defeated Chandrarao
More. The main purpose was to secure central Konkan
against Sidis. As the shape of the fort pinnacle resembles to shape
of Shivalinga, it was named as Lingana. The height of the top is
about 2969 feet with respect to the sea level. During its ancient
days, the fort used to house hardcore prisoners. These prisoners were
made to climb the fort with the help of ladders and subsequently the
ladders were removed once they reached the top. As it is not possible
to climb or descend the fort without proper aids, the prisoners used
to die either of hunger/thirst or a fatal injury.
Although History of Lingana is not as
glorious as the major forts like Sinhagad or Rajgad, we get few
references that put some light on it. According
to the treaty of Purandar, Raigad and Lingana were retained by Shivaji
Maharaj.
Records say that Lingana was maintained and looked after till 1786 regularly, from treasury of Raigad.
Records say that Lingana was maintained and looked after till 1786 regularly, from treasury of Raigad.
View from bottom |
Finally
when British took over the Maratha Empire in 1818, they captured and
destroyed the Fort so that no one will be able to capture it back or
stay on it. Thereafter the plight of this great monument has become
sad. Nobody dared to climb it after that for more than a century.
Today many rock climbers look at Lingana as an
excellent place for technical rock climbing in Sahyadri.
How
to go?
Path
1 – From Mahad :
Most
of the trekkers coming from Mumbai come by this way. One can reach
Mahad by ST buses or Railway. From Mahad, we need to take a
bus to Panne Villege. From here we can reach the village on plateau
called Lingana-machi. Then there is 1 hr slippery walk that leads us
to base of the Pinnacle.
The
trekkers coming from Pune have to find their way to Torna. Lingana lies along the small
path going around Torna towards Raigad. Most of
the trekkers coming from Rajgad/Torna to Raigad come by this way.
They either find Singapur or Mohari village in between. From these
villages it is about 1 hr walk upto plateau of Railingi. Then through
the Gully near plateau called as 'Boratyachi Nal' we come to the base
of the pinnacle.
Difficulty
: Veeeeeeery Difficult.
Best
Time to Visit:
The whole trek, which is mostly rock climbing is best done during winters or early summers. So it is suggested to go during November to February/March
Period.
Places
to watch :
The
place is paradise for rock climbers. This is technically toughest
natural rock climb in Sahyadris. You need ropes, carabiners, tape
slings and other rock climbing material. When one comes here the
basic thing to watch is rocks. So watch everything around , Where to
keep your next toe, where to keep your next palm. If you get time to
look away from rock the see the things around. The view of the
plateau of Rilingi is awesome from the cave on fort. In some places
we can still see some broken fortification, but is really hard to
recognize different from other rocks. In distant places you can
easily see Raigad, Torna and Rajgad forts.
Our
Story:
Till
this time, no trek group from Pune had arranged the full climb to
Lingana for wannabe
climbers.
The explorers group once again (first was AMK) gave me the chance to
go for a trek where I thought I will never be able to go.
I had always heard, 'Trek to Lingana is toughest trek in
Sahyadris', and with the madness I achieved after AMK trek, I decided
to jump right in. The organizer asked us to practice our palm grip
and arm strength for the trek(of course stamina was prerequisite). So,I was practicing by climbing trees or small waterfalls. Unfortunately
while doing so I hurt my ankle 2 weeks before the trek. Now the only thing
which I could do was taking care of my leg & pray to god for
fast recovery. The trek was on 4th and 5th
February 2012. By this time I was almost recovered but still not
100%.
Boratyachi Nal |
Plateau of Railingi from Lingana Cave |
We got up at
about 3 o'clock, completed our morning tasks, had a tea and started
off towards Lingana at 4 along with a local guide. From Mohari we
came to Plateau of Railingi and then started the actual trek. The
first part was a gully adjacent to plateau known as 'Boratyachi
Nal'. This was just a narrow space between two mountains with many
lose rocks. We travelled through this rocky slide of a kilometer or
so, in darkness just before dawn. When came at about half the height
of plateau, we took a narrow path towards right. Rested a little till
daybreak.
After
travelling this small path along the mountain we reached at cleft
between Lingana & the plateau. Here we equipped ourselves with
Tape-Slings and other instruments and started the climb.
The wall - first patch after cave |
Overall group was excellent. Although
not having much of an experience of rock-climbing, all of us climbed
upto the cave in about 1 hour. And this 'us' included one with almost
zero experience of rock climbing. So hats off to him! It was about
8.30 – 9 o'clock, when we climbed about 40% of the pinnacle and
were having fun around the cave, taking photographs. From this place we get an awesome view of the plateau in front.
Path! |
With steady and patient movements we
climbed the whole pinnacle. All of us sat down with a sigh of relief.
From this place we could see real roughness of Sahyadri. The capital
of Swarajya – The great Raigad - right in-front of the eyes and the
first fort of same Swarajya – Torna – right behind your back,
somewhere lying the old capital Rajgad and 3000 ft vally on both side
with you standing on a narrow pinnacle of hardly 6-7 ft width. If you
can, imagine yourself....
We had many group photos here. Had some
rest under bright sunshine of noon (Thinking, somebody should plant a
big tree here). Then our leaders gave us required instructions for
rappelling down. The return journey started.
First few just reached on top |
When we reached back to the cave at 3,
everyone was sun-baked finding their water bottles. After a while in
cool shade, we took out our packed lunch and hastily finished. Then
some sat chatting, some having nice afternoon time nap as always.
Meanwhile leaders brought down ropes and instruments. Then after
everybody had lunch, packed their water-bottles, rappelling of 450 ft
started at about 5 o'clock.
the crew |
By the time I came down it was past
9.30. I came down, had almost a liter or so of water, and sat down on
the ground till the last one came down. The group remaining was 5
people – 3 of the leaders, me and one more of the participants. We
rounded all the ropes, tied them properly. Each one carried at least
one rope along with the backpack and left the base at about 10.20.
Walking around the plateau, climbing back the 'Boratyachi nal' was
awesome. All of us came non stop through this part within 40 minutes
or so.
Rappelling down |
We just came up. No sooner we had
touched our a**es to the ground, the leader said, “Hay we need to
move fast, I don't think anybody will serve you food at any hotel
nearby after 12 o'clock”. Hell! Once again we got up and started
running towards the vehicles kept in the village. It was past 12
o'clock when we actually sat in the car and return journey started.
Of course no hotel on the road was open. Some guys had some food left
with them. We shared it as much as possible. Had a great nap in the
car and finally reached Pune at 3.30 in morning of 6th.
Somehow reached home by 4 and slept immediately.