Chikhaldara
Maharashtra state, the state which
in history constantly fought against intruders and never truly surrendered, in
true sense the state of unbroken spirit. This spirit of freedom was kept alive
by the mountain ranges which border Maharashtra from two sides. The mighty
Sahyadri from west and a mysterious Vindhya ranges from North. These mountains
are dotted by hundreds of forts and remote places where it was almost
impossible for an outsider to reach, forget fighting and winning. As a
As a part of Western Ghats,
Sahyadri ranges became famous. With the closeness of Metro cities like Pune and
Mumbai, many places in Sahyadri got established as Hill stations and
subsequently favourite tourist weekend destination. Compared to that Vindhya
mountain ranges remained unnoticed. The hill stations in this area remained
mostly low profile since it is difficult for travelling crowd from Pune and
Mumbai to reach there. “Chikhaldara” is one such hill station.
Located about 100Km north of Amravati,
Chikhaldara is the only well established hill station in Vidarbha. It is
situated on such a mountain range, beyond which Maharashtra ends and Madhya
Pradesh starts. Chikhaldara is a mountain top plateau with an average height
from mean sea level of about 1088m (3570ft). Because of the unique location,Chikhaldara
has the average rainfall of 154cm which is almost twice compared to other parts
of Vidarbha. The good rainfall and the remoteness has allowed this area to grow
an excellent forest and in true sense that is the main attraction of
Chikhaldara.
Chikhaldara is situated on the
borders of Melghat Project Tiger Area, in other words we can say that it is
surrounded on three sides by the Project Tiger. The Project tiger has an area
of about 1676 sq km. This Project tiger area is divided into several smaller
wildlife reserves from the management point of view. The Melghat wildlife
reserve which is about 780 sq. km. forms the entire southern border and partly
western border of Chikhaldara. Gugamal Nation Park which is about 320 sq km. is
the core zone of project tiger reserve which forms eastern border of
Chikhaldara and partly northeastern border.
This part being a core zone is one of the most untouched and pristine
parts of the Reserve.
Chilkhaldara and Melghat Project tiger
are two inseperable entities. Unless one knows about the natural wealth of
Tiger reserve it is very hard to understand the importance of this hill
station.
The Melghat project Tiger area
contains about 700 species of Plants belonging to 400 genera and 97 different
families. Of these 700 species, 90 are tree species which is the true wealth of
this reserve. The jungle is mainly dry deciduous having teak and bamboo as most
dominant vegetation. Other trees like Saag, Mahua, Ain are also dominant
species of forest. Because of this extensive floral diversity, there is huge
amount of faunal diversity.
The tiger reserve consist of over 70
tigers, almost same number of Leopards, about
two hundred Sloth bears, about 1800 Indian Gaurs, hundreds of herbivore animals
like Cheetal, Sambar, Barking deer, Wild boar, choushinga etc. The reserve also
has rare animals like Flying squirrel, pangolin, Mouse deer, Ratel and Honey
badger. The secretive animals like wild cats, caracal, Hyena can also be
spotted in this reserve. Mammals like Jackal, Wild dogs, porcupines, variety of
mongooses, variety of squirrels and Shrews and other rodents are also found in
abundance. More than 350 species of birds are also found in the reserve.
Hunting birds like Crested Serpent Eagle, changeable hawk eagle, Shikra, Besra,
White eyed buzzard, honey buzzard are found in abundance. The attractive birds
like Flamebacks, orioles, Pea fowls make your mind fresh with just one glimpse.
The chatter of birds like parakeets, iora, Magpie robin, Shama keep the jungle
alive during the day time and the birds like nightjars, owls keep the jungle
alive during night time.
Chikhaldara has great historical
references. It is said that “Bhima” the second eldest and strongest among
Pandava brothers in Mahabharat times, killed King Kichek in this area and threw
his body in the valley full of jungle. The valley is now recognised as
Kichekdara and the water reservoir in which Bhima washed his hands is now known
as Bhimkund.
This area is dotted by extremely
small villages of “Korku” Tribals. This area was originally rules by tribal
kings who were defeated by Bahamani dynasty. Later Bahamani dynasty died while
giving bird to 5 smaller dynasties.
Among these 5 dynasties, Imadshahi was the one which started Ruling this
area. The Gavilgad and Narnala forts were built by Imad shah. Later on Imadshahi
dynasty was exterminated by Moghuls, Nijamshah and Adilshah and rulers kept on
changing. This area was then dominated by Maratha Dynasty under the rule of
Sambhaji Maharaj, the eldest son of Shivaji Maharaj.
Gavilgad and Narnala are two are
extremely huge forts with perimeter more than 15Km each. Of these two forts
Gavilgad is situated right next to Chikhaldara. Narnala on other hand situated
approximately on 3 - 4 Hrs journey time from Chikhaldara. It is very much
interesting to visit these two forts from Archaeological point of view as well
as architectural point of view.
Reaching Gavilgad is cliché if one
is staying in Chikhaldara. You reach then main entrance of the fort directly by
vehicle after travelling just 5 Km from the main Chikhaldara bus station. The
fort is situated on two adjoining hills connected to each other and protected
by fortification from all sides. You enter through the main gate on first hill
which is smaller hill of the two. After crossing three gates you land up in the
main area. This part mostly looks like designed for battle purpose alone. The area
from which approach is easy, we can see double line of fortification. When we
descend this hill and reach the connection between first and second hill, which
is the lowest part of the fort, we can see that the thickness of fortification
has gone up. Again to enter second hill ie second part of the fort, we must
cross 3 huge gates and then we enter the main fort area. This part of the fort
has ruins of palace, mosque and other luxury buildings. This part of the fort
contains several water reservoirs which would have never allowed people on this
fort die of thirst. Since this area lacks any kind of facilities, people don’t
prefer to stay here for long time. The least interference from humans, nooks
and crevices in the mountain and abundance of water has allowed this fort to
become safe place for many animals. Sloth bears, Hyenas, Leopard are
occasionally sighted on this fort if anyone dares to stay back after the
sunset.
Apart from this fort, Chikhaldara
has several spectacular points like Panchbol point, Hariken point, Mozari
point, Devi point, Sunset point, Prospects point, Monkey point etc. Panchbol
point is famous for multiple echos while Hariken point is famous for high speed
wind. Though all Chikhaldara has good population of Rhesus monkeys and Lagoors,
monkey point specifically has large number of moneys. Sunset point gives you
spectacular view of jungle with dozens of different shades of green and with
hundreds of different noises while sun goes down.
Chikhaldara has a descent rainfall
but it is situated on the top of the mountain so it is very necessary to
conserve water if one does not want to face shortage during summer. The
government through his various departments has built many water conservation
projects which has created variety of size of water reservoirs. The reservoirs
like Bir dam, Kalapani Dam, Shakkar lake are few bigger ones. These dams does
not help just human population but they help wildlife to a great extent. In the
months of summer if you linger around these water reservoirs then you are sure
to sight some mammal like barking deer, cheetal or wild boar and at least a two
dozen species of birds. There was a time when the pride of India used to walk
on the roads Chikhaldara. But with slightly increase in the population and
poaching, Tiger is not sighted around Chikhaldara habitation anymore.
Semadoh village is located about
20Km from Chikhaldara which is situated on the banks of Sipna river. Just
outside this village, on the banks of river, forest department has built an
extremely nice Campsite. Nature lovers can book this place in Amaravati forest
department office at very nominal cost and then enjoy the feel of jungle by
living right in the middle of jungle. Flying squirrel is a shy nocturnal animal
which mainly lives on trees and hence it is a very rare animal to spot. The
sighting of this animal is almost guaranteed to people who stay in Semadoh
Campsite. With permission from Forest department one can explore the tourist
zone of Melghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
Considering that Natural wealth of
Chikhaldara , reaching Chikhaldara is not easy but again its not difficult if
you are a true nature lover. If you have 3 – 4 days in your hand, Chikhaldara
is the most ideal destination for Nature lovers, Photographers, historians,
Archaeologist and even for those who just want to have spectacular views and
want to go away from city noises. The best season to visit Chikhaldara is from
October to June. Chikhaldara is not closed during monsoon season but just it is
difficult to reach. But the way you can see and experience waterfalls, streams
and rivers in monsoon; no other season can offer you the same.
Chikhaldara is situated about 100Km from
Amravati which is the nearest railway station as well as the main town. If you
want to hire any vehicle or want to take bus to reach Chikhaldara, you have to
go to Amravati first. The distance to Nagpur is approximately 230Km which is
the nearest airport. For a Pune or a Mumbai resident, the travelling distance
is about 750 Km, but the Luxury buses that run on the Mumbai – Aurangabad –
Nagpur highway make journey very easy and comfortable. The first evening you
sit in the bus and next morning you are in Amravati. Take bus or hire a vehicle
in Amravati and within 2 - 3 hrs you are in Chikhaldara.
Chikhaldara has fair number of
hotels which comes in various price ranges. There are simple air cooled hotels
as well as AC hotels. The most interesting property is owned by Maharashtra
tourism Development Corporation (MTDC). They have a spacious and well wooded
property with comfortable rooms and they are very much affordable.
Chikhaldara used to be a crowded
destination by tourists from Nagpur and Amravati and surrounding towns. But
with the IT boom, people have started less and less time exploring such areas.
Several resorts in Chikhaldara had to close down because of not getting enough
tourists which is very much disturbing. Fantastic destination like Chikhaldara
should not go to ruins and that’s why people from other parts of Maharashtra
and mainly the huge population of Mumbai and Pune should start visiting this
off beat hill station. If you have 3-4 days in your hand remember that there is
a place on just overnight journey’s distance which can offer you a better
experience than any other well known tourist destination. Only thing one should
remember that don’t take city to Chikhaldara but go to experience Chikhaldara.
Do not expect disco, bars, Spa in Chikhaldara but go to experience the jungle,
silence and peace of mind. Go to take nothing else but photographs and wonderful
memories and remember to leave only footprints and nothing else.
Weekend treks are routine for me and
Dharam & this time we planned with TrekDi famous for its haunted, remote,
rarely visited & scenic place selection. Before
departing from Pune, it was a sudden shock when we were asked “Hope you are carrying
saltwater & turmeric powder since its only remedy to remove leech from your
body part? “We were not prepared to face the attack but decided to move ahead. We
travelled in the bus the entire night on the route little known from Pune to Koyna
Town. To the Best of my knowledge, “Jungli Jaigad” is located in dense forest
of Koyna Wildlife sanctuary just near Koyna dam. This is also a part of Tiger
reserve sanctuary, however we couldn’t spot any tiger during our trip. 
Our trek ended with
a short trek to huge water fall on the way of Koyna dam at botanical garden. I thank TrelDi team for arranging &
choosing such nice & adventurous trek. It refreshed my memory of trekking
in rain forest of Assam & I wasn’t aware that such trek is available within
Sahyadri. It was nice experience to trek with TrekDi team and hope for future
event with them. I must advise all enthusiastic trekkers to attempt it once
during early monsoon only and that to with full preparation, acknowledgement to
forest & guide is must for everyone, else you will surely end up with big
trouble. 
