Brahmagiri Peak - Trek to the Origin of River Godavari
17-Dec-22 | Brahmagiri Peak
We woke up at 5:30 am and started our walk from hotel by crossing the temple, taking Lord Trimbakeshwar's blessings for our trek, passed by temple street and finally reached the base point of the Brahmagiri trek. Here only one shop was open so early in the morning and the lady at the shop advised us to take trekking sticks (made of bamboo) for 40 Rupees each and she would return Rs 20 upon returning them back to her.
We took one each trekking stick from her and started our trek. We were told that there are around 700 steps we need to take to reach the hilltop which could take around 1-2 hours. But unlike Harihar fort, this is comparatively easy since the trail is clearly defined.
We trekked continuously until sunrise so that we could cover as much distance as possible. The trail is safe since there are lot of shops at each milestone and people running the shops stay there only. So we could see people wake up, freshen up and set their shops for the day.
After some time, sun started peeking through the mountains to throw light on our trail. It was time now to take a pit stop and click some pictures of the views around as Sun god was adding good background colors. We could see Trimbakeshwar town from here.
The trail is nicely made with cobbled stones.
At mid-point of the trek, you will come across some steep steps and again lot of monkeys. These natural trekking poles will be of help here to chase them. Also it was wet in few places. So had to watch carefully and take the steps.
We saw lot of plastic waste along this trail which was very disheartening to see. People should learn to travel responsibly and not litter around. It was even more disheartening to see these monkey’s eat plastic. Again, I am requesting everyone to carry their own water bottles and refill it wherever possible. Try to carry food in steel boxes and use steel/collapsible cups to drink tea/coffee. If not, at least carry your own trash bag and don’t vandalize nature please. These small steps can make a big impact for the future generations to live in a healthy environment.
We came across some caves and small temples during our trek.
From this point here we saw large plain grassland and we were looking for pathway from here to climb up the mountain.
We saw a lady collecting cow dung in a pot. We stopped and asked her for directions in Marathi. She did explain to me, and I translated the same to my travel buddy in English. Looks like I missed something during translation which she instantly corrected me in English. And we were completely amazed seeing this. We asked her name and what has she studied since her English was so fluent. Her name is “Aarti” and she has studied till 10th. While I was happy meeting here, I was also ashamed of myself for being so judgmental just by seeing her attire and the kind of work she was doing. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to take a picture with her but somehow couldn’t get the courage to ask her. But was glad to meet her for teaching a good lesson in life. We then thanked her and continued our trek towards the directions given by her.
From here trek to the hilltop was little tricky since the terrain was little tough. But thanks to the trekking sticks, we were able to cross this terrain and reach on top easily.
Brahmagiri is also called Godavari Ugamasthana (Source of river Godavari). So, once you are at the top, you can pat your back with the accomplishment of the first milestone of the trek and the breathtaking views of the surroundings is certainly a visual treat.
There are clear directions to all the temples around the hill-top. We first saw sign-board on the left directing us to “Moola Ganga” temple. We followed the path and reached on the left side of the mountain where we saw two temples – Brahmagiri temple and Moola Ganga temple.
Moola Ganga Temple
This is the temple from where Godavari river originates.
Brahmagiri Temple
In this temple, you will find the idol of Goda Mai goddess below which the river originates from the Gomukh into the kund and then the water disappears in the ground.
After praying to Goddess, we then saw signboards leading us to Jata Mandir.
From here the walk towards Jata Mandir is pretty easy as you walk along the plain terrain of the mountain to reach on the other side of the mountain. Needless to say during your walk, you will be mesmerized with the views around.
Jata Mandir
It is believed that this is the place where Ganga was flowing ferociously and Lord Shiva had to use his Jata (Jata is a Sanskrit word meaning "twisted locks of hair") to stop the flow.
After praying to Lord Shiva in Jata Mandir, we then saw a path leading to other range of the mountain. Usually this is the last spot of the trek and people return from here. But we had seen videos posted by vloggers in social media of this spot called “Durg Bhandar” located at the fag end of the Brahmagiri mountain range. We could see one group already at that spot clicking pictures.
Behind Jata Mandir, we could see a clear path leading towards that spot. So without a second thought we started our hike along this terrain. The scenic route passes through the edge of the hill hence it can be a bit scary for people who fear heights. I just focused on my path and didn’t look down at all 
. From Jata Mandir, Durg Bhandar may take another 20 minutes walk.
After completing your walk along the plain terrain, you will see that the path ends and leads you to some steep steps inside the mountain. By the time we reached here, the group of trekkers were returning. So we asked them if its safe and easy to reach there. They said yes and its totally worth going.
With these words of encouragement, we then took those high steep steps. It’s truly an architectural prodigy to see these stairs cut inside the huge rocks.
Durg Bhandar is also known as “Bhandar Durg Fort” which served as a watchtower. Now if I look back and imagine our journey through these deep rock cut steps, I can understand that this was mainly done to keep a watch on enemies since no one can ever make out its existence until you reach this spot.
These steps will finally emerge into a natural bridge that will lead you to Durg Bhandar. And here we got the WOW moment of this trek.
My travel buddy who is an ardent courageous trekker walked along the bridge and went ahead to explore if there is a path to go down the mountain. He did find some steps down. But I had no courage the pass through the narrow bridge since I was too scared to do that. So unfortunately, we decided to head back after clicking pictures and my travel buddy decided to visit solo next time to complete this full circuit.
We headed back the same way and during our descent.
Enroute we clicked pictures of small temples and caves enroute since while ascend it was pitch dark and our focus was to reach on top before sunrise.
By now all the food stalls were open and functional. So we took a pit stop for lime juice and Maggie break. After relaxing for a while, we started our descent since we had to head back to hotel to catch our bus back to Pune. Totally it might take around 4-5 hours to complete this trek.
We saw lot of people from all ages including senior citizens climbing up this trail during our return. I was amazed seeing their enthusiasm. Looks like this place is a must visit for people who come for Jyotirlinga darshan in Trimbakeshwar.
We reached our hotel at around 11:30 am, freshened up and headed back on our return journey to Pune.
During check-out from Midtown, our front desk personnel told us to take bus to Nashik from the main naka rather than going towards Trimbakeshwar parking which was just 5-7 minutes’ walk from our hotel. So, we went there, and we could see lot of people waiting for bus to Nashik. Then 3 buses reached back-to-back, and people were confused which one to board as each driver was saying its lunch time this bus wont ply now. There was utter chaos here and finally one lady conductor let us in and told the bus would leave in 5 mins. And as promised, the bus left in 5 mins with packed capacity. Journey from Trimbakeshwar to Nashik took around 40-45 mins. We had booked our tickets to Pune from Nashik in a private bus and we were supposed to board it from Dwarka circle. But we had reached before time, so we decided to have lunch first. Bus dropped us at old CBS, Nashik.
My travel buddy had already researched well and shortlisted Hotel Mazda for lunch. We walked from CBS to this hotel and upon reaching Hotel Mazda heaved a sigh of relief since we were too exhausted walking in extreme heat for the last couple of hours.
Hotel Mazda is a café cum restaurant cum bar but it has great ambience and good food. We had a relaxed break here with good food and desserts which was much required in this heat.
Finally, we asked the restaurant bill-desk guy for directions to Dwarka circle and he suggested us to take an auto there. We reached Dwarka and waited for our bus. But there was neither any trace of the bus nor the driver’s number was reachable.
While we were waiting for the bus, we noticed one guy was shouting Pune and people were inquiring with him and hopping onto the parked Toyota Innova car. I thought that this is not a bad option if anybody is on an unplanned trip. To our luck, the bus never turned up even after a wait of 30 minutes. There were last 2 seats left in the Innova. So we decided to deal with the private bus agency later for refund and hopped onto this vehicle which was also carrying good descent people across all age groups. He said he would charge Rs.500 per person which we felt is reasonable since our private bus fare was Rs. 495.
With that began our non-stop journey to Pune from Nashik into this A/C vehicle with a comfortable drive and soothing music. After reaching Pune, driver dropped everyone and even though he had to go towards Pune city he drove all the way to Chinchwad only so that we could easily get an auto to Hinjewadi since we were new to the city. We were so pleased with his modest behavior.
We thanked him and took his number so that we can contact him for any future visits to Pune. We then hopped onto an auto and reached Hinjewadi in around 20 minutes as mentioned by our driver.
Signing off now with the satisfaction of successfully completing yet another weekend of travel with two thrilling treks back-to-back in the abode of Lord Shiva without whose blessings we wouldn’t have accomplished these😊.
Other Pages from my Pune Dec 22 Travel Diary
Pune Offbeat Travel - Gram Samskruti Udyan and Vishrambaug Wada Palace
Harihar Fort - Maharashtra's 80 Degree Vertically Inclined Trek
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