Haji Malang - Malanggadh

Hello there!!!

Am back with my travelogue about trek to Haji Malang and to Malanggadh.

Me and my brothers (Sanket and Vijay) decided that we should explore places in and around Mumbai. We started with Haji Malang which was suggested by Vijay and after looking up about it on Google; we decided to go there on 30^th January 2011.

We decided to start our climb as early as possible to avoid the heat (strongly advisably)… We boarded train for Kalyan at around 5:40 am from Vidyavihar. We reached Kalyan station around 6:30 am, had a cup of hot tea and caught a rickshaw to base village of Malanggadh. It’s a 13km (30 min) ride till the base. We were freezing ‘coz it was really cold in the morning and none of us had any warm clothing with us……

Around 7:15 or so we reached the base of the gadh, had breakfast and then started our hike to Haji Malang Dargah. The entire climb is lined with small shops and houses. There is a myriad of color on both the sides owning to the chaddars to be offered at Dargah. The steps at some places are old (dated back to the time of the fort) and some are new. Due to the steps, the climb to the top is exhausting and one requires frequent breaks. The only thing which might irritate are the beggars who keeps on pestering and its best to ignore them….. We did see monkeys also on our way and it was fun to take their snaps… Some of them were too cute with their babies hanging on their bellies…

After about an hour of climbing we reached the ‘Peheli Salami’ or the Dargah of Haji Bakhtar Baba. The view while climbing is spectacular. This leg of the climb is most exhausting and energy draining. We decided to have a tea and biscuits before starting off again. I was really surprised to see the idol of Ganesha on our way to Peheli Salami. I was equally surprised to see ‘Nav Durga Devi’ temple on our way to 2nd Dargah. Another 15 – 20 min of climbing, we reached ‘Doosri Salami’ or the 2nd Dargah of Haji Sultan Shah. At the summit is the main or Badi Dargah of Baba Haji Malang.

After having visited the dargahs we decided to venture ahead for a trek to Malangadh. To find the way to the Malanggadh, we had to retrace our steps a little back to a paanwala from where a small path leads to the fort. We made over way through rugged rocks, loose soil to reach the base of the fort from where the steps begin to take us to the main bastion of the fort. Before heading up there, we took a path to the right which leads to another durgah. Here we rested for a while and went back to the steps. The view was really spectacular. Vijay and I climbed the half way and Sanket went till the bastion. The steps were extremely steep and Sanket did find it difficult to climb down till the base of the fort.

I took us around 4 ½ hours with frequent breaks to reach the fort bastion. We climbed down to the base of the mountain in about 2 hours. We decided to take lunch at Kalyan Station before heading home…..

I must say that though the climb was tiring, it was good experience and I would suggest people who haven't been there yet to visit the place….

Here’s me signing off for now……..