The Chanderi Trek

Chanderi is a nice one day trek for trekking around Mumbai, located in between Badlapur and Vangani Station ,the central suburbs near Mumbai. The path to the base is through a small village by the name of Goregaon.  There is also an alternative path from Vangani station through Chincholi Village, but we had decided to take an auto directly from Badlapur Station. Our group of 10 members comprising 2 girls and 8 boys gathered at Badlapur station at 9.00 a.m. way after the scheduled time. From Mumbai one can get local trains to Badlapur but they are in a span of 20 minutes if you are to travel beyond Kalyan. Some members missed this fact so we started our journey little later than scheduled time, by auto to the base village for 150 rs to and fro for a single auto rickshaw ride.

It was a morning in January 2010, so the weather was quite pleasant. The journey was an interesting part as we had packed (literally) 5 people in the 3 seater auto-rickshaw, which took us through the narrow routes approaching the base. We had carried light food, but at one small shop on the way, we got down to carry more snacks and water bottles for the trek. 

Chanderi Hill Fort View from the Base

Soon we reached the base which had a few houses of the natives, some of whom seemed a bit perplexed. Some others knew why we were here and started offering us the guide services which we were looking for. Initially we thought we would not take a guide. But a sum of 200 Rs. for a 6 hrs to and fro journey seemed justified enough, and hence we proceeded with our guide.

Group Photo at the base with the Target View - Our Trek Group Ritual Pic 

It started with a good 800 metres walk to reach the base of the hill, alongside the farm fields with a view of the rocky pinnacle. Our guide started rushing and was separated by a distance of more than 5 metres, but we asked him to take it easy and let us match his speed as we were not used to such terrain in our regular course of a day. Moreover one of our members was in a hang over of a cocktail party the previous night.

Path full of Mammoth size rocks along the natural waterfalls

 A major part of the trail passes from near the waterways which are marked by mammoth size rocks some of them as big as 20 ft in height. It was winter so there was no real water in these waterways except a few very small streams here and there. Our guide told us that in the monsoon there are plenty of water cascades which make a picturesque view of the hill.

Tiring trail 

 The size of many of these rocks and narrow path made us bend our backs and stretch our knees, literally after every 10 minutes in the trail. There was no continuous normal bipedal walkway in the path.

Almost an hour of the journey and some of us started breaking down and reached for the water bottles, but considering the long way we carried on. 

Huge Rocks

Moreover, the beauty and the variety of trees and the vegetation accompanied by several insects and flowers with butterflies were good enough to soothe our eyes. The freshness in the cold air and the shade of the trees reduced the effort to some extent. At various spots we could capture these stills in our cameras.  




At many points in the trail which passes closely along the waterfalls, we found spots of huge rocks as high as 15 feet for a little rock climbing session. 

A Light moment on the Rocks

A few of us got a good chance for testing their rock climbing skills here. A few others used that time to relax and sip in some water and take a breather. Almost two hours into the trail and the guide as promised earlier had taken us to a big flat rock which was in a shady place, good enough for us to relax and stretch our backs a little. 

Mid trial Break 

The rock was cold and for that moment  it felt as soft as a sofa cushion. It was a good chance to stretch our muscles a bit and rejuvenate ourselves.

We lied there in the silence for 15 minutes and regathered ourselves to set for next milestone which was the base of the pinnacle.

A little unrest had creped into our group as we could not see our target which was only 15 minutes away according to the guide. This happened for a couple of times and at a point we took the decision for some members to wait and others to complete the climb and comeback.

So only 5 of us progressed forward in the trek where now we were out of the shadow of the shrubs. The base was now visible and it constituted rocks with little pale green patches. The way towards the top was marked by steps, which according to the guide were made by the Pandavas, who stayed in the caves when they were undercover.

The view of the Summit from the base of the top rock

In front of us was the huge pinnacle and behind us was a view of the valley and the road that we took appearing as thin as a needle. The range of mountains near Panvel was also seen from here. Our guide told us that there is also another trail from Panvel to reach the Chanderi Fort.

Range of Mountains near Panvel as Seen from Chanderi

We were now to visit the cave which was at the base of the pinnacle but it was on the other side. It meant that we would now have to take a walk on the periphery of the apex rock. The guide was almost taking a stroll along that path which was only one foot wide with the rock on our left and the deep valley on the right. 

At the cave with the Steep valley 

I, along with my fellow members was talking baby steps trying to avoid the fear when I looked at the valley on my right, almost like the ‘Govinda’ in the Bollywood movie ‘Deewana Mastana', but the situation not quite funny as in the movie.

One has to trust their own shoe company’s manufacturing process as a slip would take them down the valley for a free ride to heaven or to hell as the individual case may be. A better option was to continuously lean on the rocky side for support as you walk. This part was the testing time both mentally as well as physically of how much control one has on his/her body. We managed to pass the test to reach the beautiful cave which had the temple of Lord Shiva.

Temple of Lord Shiva with Shiv-linga Inside the Cave  

There was also a natural water reservoir nearby where we filled our water bottles for the remaining journey. After a few minutes of relaxing in the caves we started descending back. We had to go through the same walk along the periphery with only the change in direction. After finishing that walk the rest of the path was like a piece of cake.

 We soon reached the place our other members were waiting for us. It was 3.00 pm and we thought we would break to finish our lunch quickly and start our descend at 3.30 pm. 

Descend from the Apex rock 

The way downwards was just as meticulous as upwards and to add to that the legs and bodies were tiring faster.The couple of girls in our group were cheered and motivated by others for really fighting it hard . We were also pushing in faster as it was winter and we wanted to make our way out before dark. The same sequence of the huge rocks around the narrow paths repeated and we had to take extra care as any injury would really dampen our speed. It was around 5.45 pm and it suddenly got darker, so we had to rely on our mobile phone torches to see the way through. Soon we managed to make it to the base when it was actually dark and our autos had already arrived. We paid the guide his fees which we thought was well-deserved as it would have been difficult to find the path in the dense woods, if we would not have taken the guide. Off we went to the Badlapur station and got a fast train to CST.

I look back at the Chanderi trek as the toughest one for me so far on endurance levels both mentally as well as physically and feel great to have completed it with a team full of enthusiasts, encouraging each other, a trek that created a strong bonding that will remain intact for some time to come.

At a Glance
Trek -Chanderi
Height above mean sea level - 2250 feet (source: Google Earth)
Base Village –Chincholi near Goregoan.
Transport- Auto from Badlapur Rly Stn to the base or Vangani Rly Stn to the base.
Time to reach the top -About 3 hours from the base
Shelter -Cave at the top & Water Tanks.