Explore Buddhist Caves, Hike Historic Forts, and Experience Nature’s Splendour.Junnar is Ideal for History Buffs and Adventure Seekers alike

The wind blowing through my hair, the car zipping past green flowery Sahyadri hills, I marvelled at Nature’s grand creation. In silence, Mother Earth pulls us into her heart.  

Well, Delhi bred that I am, Junnar was a discovery for me, as was the Hindavi Swarajya Mahotsav, hosted by Maharashtra Tourism. Junnar is the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the legendary king who carved out the Maratha empire in the 17^th century. His birthplace is inside Shivneri Fort, which we did hike to.

Junnar was declared as the first tourism taluka (a subdivision of a district or a group of villages organized for revenue purposes) in January 2018 by the government of Maharashtra. It falls under Pune district.

With an exemplary responsible and sustainable tourism, keeping the rich legacy of centuries alive, Junnar is the perfect healing destination with its back-to-nature environs.

Located north of the Kukadi river, Junnar is famous for its teak woodlands, leopards, and rich biodiversity. This fertile agricultural land is home to fruit orchards and flower farms, besides crops such as maize, sugarcane and more. It hosts Grape, Mango and Kite festivals.

The region has been inhabited since the 1^st century BC and the geographical wonders include over 200 caves and volcanic ash mounds near Bori Budruk village. The volcanic rock fragments and ash or tephra travelled all the way from Sumatra to the shores here. There were three eruptions, taking place 800,000 years, 500,000 years and 75,000 years ago. Scientists say that the sediment travelled 3,000 km from a Sumatran volcano Toba. But I didn’t get to see this wonder, though the villagers have now made a heritage community to preserve the site.

Junnar’s roots are deep. It was an important political centre and trading route, hence has been controlled by various dynasties, beginning with the Satavahans in the 1^st century. It may have been known as Tagara or Jirnanagar (Old City), according to the historians.  

While you need more than two days to see the geological and man-made wonders of Junnar, I did get a glimpse of some places. Let me begin with the natural ones: With its rich biodiversity, I spent a morning sighting 34 species of birds around Wadaj Dam. You can read about it here.

VedKasturi Agro Farm and Homestay, Purande village

With Junnar’s 187 villages out of which 65 are tribals, it’s difficult to know where to begin your tour. Dr Amol Punde, the man behind this farm, made it easy. This general practitioner has added an eco-friendly bamboo homestay to his farm.

This charming homestay amid sapodilla and mango orchards is an embalming retreat. I could just imagine myself enjoying the days reading under the trees with chirping birds and home-cooked traditional Maharashtrian meals. The crops swayed in the distance. We got our juices flowing as he treated us to a glass of fresh sugarcane juice.

All that I wanted to do was snuggle between the colourful cotton sheets, try my hand at pottery and read my long list of 100 books. If I felt like moving out of this calm state, then Dr Amol said he would arrange the tour with his native friends.

You can contact Dr Amol Punde at +91 98605 08615.

Brahmanatha Temple

Dream over, as we went back into our caravan for a tour of the ancient Sri Siddha Brahmanatha Math temple in the village of Purande.

The temple is situated on the bank of the Kamandala river, a tributary of river Mina. Dating to the 13^th-14^th century under the Yadava Dynasty, this is a Shiva temple. The main sanctum has a ‘swayambhu’ or self-emerged Shivalinga.

On the outside, it is a new construction, but the treasure lies hidden in the main sanctum. There are remnants of four pillars with rare carvings of different yogic postures.

The temple was built on the spot where a Nātha yogī Brahmanātha took samadhi. Another Nath sadhu, Jwalanath, also meditated and took samadhi here.

The head of the temple also calls the village a mini-Kashi or Varanasi as they too have a cremation ground in the centre, like the famous cremation ghat, Mannikarnika, in Varanasi.

HmmBrr Resorts, Wadaj

I can never get enough of oxygenated trips in offbeat places. And the name of this farm stay intrigued me. “It is the sound that the cow makes,” explains Yogesh Rajput who manages the farm and the homestay here.

Chetan Parkhe, the man behind the venture, believes in the wisdom of the Vedas and the rishis. Breeding over 80 indigenous cows in the ages-old practices, he churns out a healthy life for the family, the people employed here and his guests.  

Rajput elucidated why the indigenous breed has more power over the New Jersey breed—they have a longer lifespan in their native land and are more productive over the long-term. The detailed conversation with Rajput woke up my senses as to why the cow is called ‘Kamdhenu’, the miraculous cow of plenty.

The entire lifecycle of a cow is about good nutrients for all—the soil, the people and the cow itself. The calf lives on this milk, humans do as well. They make many dairy products such as ghee, curd, cottage cheese or paneer, butter, buttermilk! Cow dung and urine make for good compost, and thereby good for organic farming. Cow urine, when treated, makes for herbal medication. After its passing, the cow contributes through ‘samadhi khaad’. The cow is buried with salt in earth, and the resultant residue gives nutrients to the soil.

HmmBrr takes a scientific approach to farming, keeping a record of the cows and aiming to bring out a better breed. Well trained indigenous caretakers are assigned for all the tasks.

Seeing the shiny and soft coats of the gentle animals, I guessed that they enjoyed their stay at the farm. They had nutritious fodder, enough room to walk around, a covered shelter and good owners. “Happy animals are like happy souls,” said Rajput. “They are gentle and loving.”

The farm stay also grows many medicinal herbs; sapodilla and mango trees lined the boundary. Sunshine, good air, good food and an ideal retreat! The guests can buy A2 ghee and organic fruits from their in-house shop.

You can contact Chetan Parkhe at +91 98234 56478.

Kulswami Khandoba Temple Wadaj

Coming out of HmmBrr, we stopped at the temple dedicated to the guardian of Wadaj. Khandoba is a form of Lord Shiva, coming from the word ‘khadga’ meaning sword and ‘ba’ stands for father.

This colourfully constructed temple is the heart of the village. Khandoba lives here in the form of a tree.

Legend goes that Khandoba lived in Jogdha, about a kilometre from Wadaj, on the Bhandara hills. An ardent devotee, Sadananda Chavan and his family served the god. As he aged and found it difficult to go up and down the hill, he requested the god to come down from the hills.

The god visited him in a vision on Champa sashti (sixth day of Shukla Paksha in the month of Margashirsha, that is November-December), and said that he would come down with Sadananda the next day when he came for his daily puja to the hills. However, there was a condition. Sadananda had to keep walking straight and not look back. If he did that, then the god would disappear. Sadananda agreed.

The next day, he went to Jogdha for his daily worship and requested the god to come home with him. As Sadananda came down the hill, his curiosity got the better of him and he turned around to see if the god was accompanying him. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and Khandoba merged with the tree at that spot.

Hearing about this, the villagers turned this into a shrine, which has eventually become a large temple complex over the years. A trust was established in 1966.

The Khandoba is worshipped with turmeric, coconut and flowers here. There is a shrine dedicated to Saint Tukaram also in the temple. Born in Dehu, near Pune, the saint is best known for devotional poetry, abhanga, and his poems mostly focus on social reform.

Brahmi Script at Naneghat

You can’t be in Junnar and visit only one cave, which I had at Shivneri Fort. But I wasn’t prepared for the daunting stony path down to the lesser visited Naneghat caves. In the city, this would be barely six steps, but the loose rocks, the invisible valley below, and the thought of a fall into a bottomless pit was jittery, not to miss the thorny shrubs. The lure of seeing the ancient Brahmi script was far stronger though.

Our guide, Swapnil, helped me down, where Siddharth Kasbe, the expert waited. I was in awe of the erstwhile traders who traversed perilous valleys and narrow mountain passes. Naneghat seemed a far tougher route than Little Petra in Jordan.

This mountain pass, part of an ancient trading route, in the Western Ghats connected the Konkan coast and Deccan plateau through Junnar. It was the fastest route linking the seaports of Sopara, Kalyan and Thana with economic centres in Nasik, Paithan, Ter and others.

Nane means coins and ghat is pass—hence, this is touted as one of the oldest toll booths of India. A huge rock pot, much like a stupa, guards the pass. It is believed that this huge pot had to be emptied three times in a day. Experts say that the Satavahanas were the earliest Indian rulers to issue their own coins with portraits of their rulers, starting with king Gautamiputra Satakarni.

The cave, apparently man-made, was the resting place for the travellers. Its walls are covered with Brahmi script, dated between the 1^st-3^rd century BC, and attributed to queen Naganika or Nayanika from the Satavahana dynasty, wife of king Satakarni.

Historians opine that the queen mother sponsored the cave after the death of her husband, as the inscription narrates details about their life together, her son crowned as the new king, the sacrifices and donations made. Siddharth Kasbe read the script out to us. You can watch the video here.

I stood awestruck. I was witness to the fact that words are a gateway for generations to see, breathe and revel in eras long gone, yet leaving behind traces of their time on earth.

Experts claim that the script is a gateway to the region’s history. It traces the chronology of the rulers and royal lineage of the Satavahana Empire.  The script also provides the link between Vedic and Hindu deities. These inscriptions also present the world’s oldest numeration symbols for ‘2, 4, 6, 7, and 9’ that resemble modern era numerals, more closely those found in modern Nagari and Hindu-Arabic script.

The cave was discovered by British naturalist, Colonel William Henry Sykes, in 1828, during one of his summer hiking trips in the Deccan plateau.  

You can contact Siddharth Kasbe at +91 77578 91409.

Kukdeshwar Temple, Pur village

This Shiva temple is very close to Naneghat. Dated to the 12th century, it is the home of the guardian of river Kukadi, the land and people around it. While the original walls and roof have survived the ravages of time, the original idol of Lord Parshwavnatha was destroyed.

Built in Hemadpanthi style of architecture, the sculptures carved on the walls, roof are breathtaking. Hemadpanthi Sculpture is named after its founder Hemadpant, a prime minister in the court of Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri (1259-1274 CE). This style incorporated readily available black stone and limestone and now have the status of World Heritage Site.

It is a living temple, as we saw newlyweds with their family leave when we reached there. An annual fair on the tenth day of the Bhadrapada month’s (August-September) bright half is also held here.

Under the vast sky, treasures lying amid shrubs and rocks, Junnar is perhaps one of the most exotic offbeat locations I have visited. But then, one lifetime isn’t enough to discover India’s splendour.

More places of attraction in Junnar

Caves: Lenayadri complex housing a famous Ashtavinayak temple, Chawand, Suleman, Manmodi, Tulja

You can also enjoy adventure activities such as ziplining, rope cycling, ATV near Lenayadri caves

Temples: Famous temple of Lord Ganesha at Ozar, Nageshwar temple at Khireshwar

Reservoirs: Underground water chain built by Nizam Shahi Wazir Malik Ambar which exists at Sayyed Wada (hauz) and Pirzade Wada

Forts: Jivdhan/Jeevdhan, Hadsar, Chawand, Nimgiri, Narayangad, Shindola

Ghats: Malshej Ghat, Darya Ghat

Dams: Pimpalgaon Joga, Chilewadi Pachaghar, Yadgaon, Manik Doh

World’s largest radio telescope, Giant Meter Wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at Narayangaon

Leopard conservation centre at Manik Doh  

Films shot in Junnar: Ravan, Tees Mar khan, Rakshas, Chalte Chalte, Tingya (Marathi), Tapaal (Marathi)

How to reach Junnar

The 100 km drive from Pune International Airport to Wadaj Dam took three hours. Junnar can be reached easily via road from Mumbai, Nashik, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar as well.

BEST TIME TO VISIT JUNNAR: JULY TO MARCH

LOCAL DISHES OF MAHARASHTRA: VADA PAV, MISAL PAV, KOKUM SHERBET

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Mads’ Cookhouse.