Lying southwest of Bhor-Pune, this is a prominent 8km long plateau. At the temple here, Shivaji Maharaj as a teen-aged boy vowed to establish “Swarajya”. It is a place of worship. There is a small village at the top.
There are many approaches to this plateau; from Rayari village, Korle village or a long zigzag ridge connects the plateau to Kenjalgad. The breath-taking views and the feeling of untouched nature is just mind-blowing. Ideal place for a one-day trek.
The places worth visiting on Raireshwar are Raireshwar Temple, Gomukh Lake, Nakhinda, and Pandavleni. It is a very beautiful place to visit from June to February.
Raireshwar is named after the Rayari village and the “Sambardara” route is the name given by the locals. This route to Raireshwar starts from the historic “Rayari” village.
The Raireshwar plateau is approx. 600-700 meters high from Rayari village. The front and rear areas look very beautiful after reaching a certain height. At the front, from east to west Raireshwar plateau & at the north, the Nira-Deoghar dam shows a beautiful panoramic landscape.
Within 2-3 hrs. this route leads directly to the historic temple of Raireshwar.
Kenjalgad fort is next to Raireshwar plateau. The top of the fort is small and we can see the ammunition room, Kenjal Devi’s temple, few water cisterns, lime mortars and steps dug in the rock.
From Kenjalgad fort we can see other forts and plateaus like Kamalgad, Pandavgad, Chandan-Vandan and Raireshwar, Koleshwar, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani respectively.
The fort is also mentioned in history as Kelanja, Mohangad or Manmohangad instead of Kenjalgad fort.
Shivajinagar > Swargate > Katraj > Bhor > Rayari (Base)
06:00 – Shivajinagar
06:30 – Swargate
06:59 – Katraj
Please come 15 minutes before at your pickup point to avoid getting late.
Wonderful trek and ably conducted by Vishal and team.
Very unique and offbeat location, well planned and timing was maintained.
I found the service of this SG trekkers trekking club was nice.
