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From Lonavala towards Aamby Valley is a 20 km drive past innumerable waterfalls, till one reaches Shahpur (Shivpur) village where you park your car and pay a local shop keeper to look after it. From there it is an hour's easy, but fascinating, walk up the hill. |
About Maharashtra • Forts • Hill Stations
Travelogues • Rock Climbing • Trekking • Paragliding Leisure • Elephanta Caves • Nature Trail
Trekking | ||||
Around the base of the fort there is dense jungle. A path through it takes one to the steps of a fort. This jungle, with dense bamboo thickets, abounds in flora and a fascinating variety of birds and insects. The steps are steep but not very taxing for the average person. At about the halfway mark there are some caves and a view point from where one gets one's first panoramic view of Aamby Valley. There is also a small Ganesh Mandir. Another 15 minutes climb gets one to the top, via an ill-maintained entrance gate to the fort. Like most main entrances to a fort, this is parallel to the walls. The reason for this is to prevent the enemy from being able to gain momentum in a charge to storm the gates.
The temple of Korai Devi, after whom the fort is named, appears to have been built much after the fort.
A walk around the ramparts gives a wonderful panoramic view of the surrounding country, primarily Aamby Valley which lays siege to the fort from nearly three sides.
Of course our lesser ecologically minded friends have left a trail of empty bottles and food packets all over in a place seemingly bereft of any garbage clearance system. The best time to visit is early in the morning when one has the place to one's self. Later in the day it can get quite crowded, especially on weekends. A monsoon walk in the mist and light rain is a truly recommended day out with the family.
Photo Credit: Brig (retd.) Xerxes P Adrianwalla
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Editor: Romola Butalia (c) India Travelogue. All rights reserved. |
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It looms out of the mist like the prow of the Titanic; enigmatic and majestic, caped in the monsoon green so typical of the region. Koraigarh (or Korigarh), in the vicinity of Lonavala, is a day's nature walk, ideal for the monsoon season when it is a verdant green, swathed in chill mist at the top.
Inside the perimeter, the walk is a naturalist's delight. The ecology is centered around two ponds that are teeming with life. The most striking is the deafening bull frog chorus: thousands of frogs in curious symphony. The food chain was demonstrated by the presence of a large number of tiny water snakes, land crabs and a multitude of insects.