Thursday, 15 January 2015

Peb Fort - Maharashtra - India

The Peb fort is situated next to Matheran Mountain. The Peb fort  starts from Neral (3.5 km) and it takes about 2 hours to reach the fort. The path passes through water streams, rocks, grassy meadows, forests and a ladder at the end. 
Peb fort derives its name from the Goddess 'Pebi'. It is also called Vikatgad because its pinnacle is supposedly in the shape of the Elephant headed god - Ganesha. The fort lies in the Matheran range itself and is adjacent to Matheran. 
The fort is famous for its caves which are maintained by disciples of Swami Samartha and the meditation chambers carved out from the rock inside the mountain. To get inside the meditation chamber, one has to crawl through a narrow passage and then climb down into the meditation chamber. The chamber is very well maintained with tiles on the floor for people to sit and meditate. 
The fort also has a temple dedicated to Swami Samartha on the top and has the footwear or Padukas worn by the great saint kept on the top. The view of the entire Neral and Karjat region from the top is worth the climb. Another attraction of the fort is the only standing Bastion or Buruj facing the Panorama point of Matheran, the view from here is breathtaking.
The beautiful waterfall on the way is the main attraction here. Surrounding scenery looks marvelous from the cave in the monsoon. From here we also see the pinnacles of Navara-Navari, Bhatoba and Irshaal, along with forts of Chanderi, Prabalgad and Malanggad and also Nakhind. 
This is one of the popular one-day monsoon treks near Mumbai and also one of the top things to do in Matheran hill station. The fort lies at an altitude of 2100 feet above mean sea level.
Ways To Reach :
From Neral station :
Alight at Neral station on the central railway route and take right. The way on the left takes us to Matheran. A ground, a poultry farm and some houses under construction could be remembered as landmarks on the way. Then proceed towards the huge electric towers on the way. After we arrive at a tower with a big cement base, we see a big waterfall. There are three ways near this waterfall.
1.The way along the waterfall
2.Main way from the center
3.The way along the towers
The way along the waterfall goes through forests and it’s not possible to proceed along this way. Whereas the way along the towers is very very lengthy and there is a diversion on this route, which go towards Panvel. One might get lost on this way. So the best way is the central one, which takes us to the cave on the fort. On this way we see a rock with carving of Lord Ganesh. Ascend from the right side of this rock. Though this is the way of a small waterfall, proceed along the same way. This way takes us at the ridge. From the ridge turn at left and go further. Here we see a big white rock. Climbing this small patch and walking for 10 minutes we reach at a cave. It is advisable to go with a guide. 2 to 2½ hours are required to climb the fort.

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