Take an Adventurous Hike to the Top of Pavagadh Mountain Near Vadodara in India

I am an adventure lover and love to take long walks and hikes to enjoy the beauty of nature. I took one such hike to the mountain of Pavagadh near the city of Vadodara in Gujarat State of India during my last trip to India. Pavagadh is a famous place of pilgrimage for all Hindus as there are very famous and ancient temples of Mahakali Mata, and Bhadrakali Mata at the top of this mountain. The mountain of Pavagadh is 2,500 feet tall and is situated 30 miles away from the city of Vadodara.

One can easily reach up to the base of this Mountain by road through state Transport buses or the taxis. Once you reach at the base of this mountain, you have two options. One is to climb this mountain by bus or taxi up to Manchi and then, use the rope way cable car available. Using this option would need climbing of only around 250 steps finally to reach the Mahakali Mata temple after the cable car ride. The second option is to take up the entire climb on your feet. This option is slightly strenuous and involves long walk/hike. We preferred the second option as we all were lovers of long and difficult walks. We had started from Vadodara at around 7 am by bus and had reached the mountain base at around 8.30 am. We started to climb up the mountain immediately. As soon as you start climbing, the first gate, known as Ataka gate comes. The Lake known as Medi Talav comes next. The water of this Lake is very sweet even today after around 700 years of its construction. The next gate on your way is known as Buland gate. This gate is also known as Budhia gate. The next gate that comes on the way is known as Lali Darwaza. There are two ways drifting from this gate. One goes to Manchi, the rest point for going to the top of Pavagadh Mountain and the second goes towards the ancient Palace of Khapara Jhaveri. We took the way to Manchi.

Manchi is a rest place at around half way to the top of the mountain. There are many hotels, dharmshalas and the benches for taking the rest here at Manchi. If you go ahead of Manchi, you will pass through Makai Kothar Gate. There are two ways diverting as soon as you come out of this gate. One goes to the temple of Bhadrakali Mata and the other goes to the main temple of Mahakali Mata. We selected the way towards the main temple of Mahakali Mata. The famous wooden bridge, known as Patia Bridge, comes next. This is a very narrow bridge and it can be hazardous to walk through this bridge during the heavy rush mainly on Navratri fair days. One incident of stamping took place here at this bridge before around 6 years. Around 30 people were killed in stamping in that unfortunate incident on this narrow wooden bridge. After crossing the bridge, the final gate, which is known as Takorkhana gate, comes. There are Jain temples near this gate. The famous Dhudhia Lake is now visible. There are many hotels, shops for buying the Prasad etc here at this Lake. Some devoted pilgrims take a holy deep inside this lake before starting their final journey to Mahakali Mata temple. This final journey is real strenuous as it involves climbing of 250 very high and steep steps to finally reach the Mahakali Mata temple. We were able to reach the top of this mountain within around two and a half hours. Though, this climb was tiring and strenuous, the views all around in the way are simply breathtaking. The fun of climbing up this mountain on your feet is really worth enjoying. However, this difficult climb is only for those who are physically fit and healthy. If you do not want to take up this climb on your feet, the taxis and buses go up to Manchi and one can avail the rope way cable cars that can take you up to the Dhudhia Lake. The view of the entire region from the top of the Mountain is simply breathtaking. The towns of Champaner and Halol are visible down below on a clear day from the top of this Mountain.

Our group has enjoyed this memorable visit to Pavagadh immensely. And hence, I would suggest all my AC readers and friends to consider taking this slightly adventurous hiking to the Mountain of Pavagadh situated near Vadodara in the State of Gujarat in India during their next trip to India.