Nashik is famous for its religious places, believe me, Nashik has a lot more to offer. The hills that surround the whole place.
A little off the territory of Nashik, Anjaneri Mountains offers the right amount of solitude and peace from the fussy city life. But reaching here is a big task. It will be a tad tedious but the promising view that one gets to see worth all the efforts.
There are multiple routes to reach Anjaneri Hills
Local Train: The cheapest and most convenient way to reach Anjaneri for Mumbaikar it through Local Train (Central Railway). You can take any Kasara bound local train to reach Kasara Station. Take a local cab from Kasara Railway Station to Anjaneri Village. Once at Kasara, there are loads of connecting buses to Nashik and many other places, along with an ample number of share-taxis for INR 100-120 per adult passenger oneway.
For Sunset Trek: Take 05:00AM Kasara-CSMT Train
For Sunrise Trek: Take 06:25PM Kasara-CSMT Train
Mainline Train: You can take a direct train from Mumbai to Nasik, which takes 4 hours. Nashik is located at a distance of 40 km from the Anjaneri Hills and can be reached by taking cabs, buses and taxis. Not recommended as the journey is tiring and time-consuming.
For Sunset Trek: 12859 - Gitanjali Express: Departs at 6:00 AM from Mumbai CST will reach Nashik Road station around 9.30 AM.
For Night Trek & Sunrise Trek:
Now from here, you have 3 ways to go to Anjaneri Hills. You need to check for bus or shared taxi leaving for Trimbakeshwar. Anjaneri Village is on the way to Triambakeshwar
After reaching Nashik Road station you can simply take a way out of the station and you will see Bus Depot in front of you, from here you will get Bus for Trimbakeshwar. But frequency is low from here.
Beside Bus Depot, you will find the Taxi Stand, from there you can get a shared taxi to go to Triambakeshwar.
Best alternative is to hire an Activa/Bike from Nashik City. For bike rental, you many check out KingsTravel.
It will take an hour and a half to you reach Anjaneri Village from any of these three ways.
Car: If comfort is your priority and travelling in a group go for a by car. Anjaneri is well-connected to Mumbai by roadways it will take around 4/5 hours. The most preferred route is NH3, Mumbai Agra highway. The road well constructed. Ideal route - Mumbai-Thane-Bhiwandi-Shahapur- Kasara-Igatpuri-Nasik-Anjaneri. Several ATMs, petrol pumps, hotels, restaurants and banks are located on the route. (There are simultaneous routes from Igatpuri and Jawhar. Roads from these routes may not be promising however if you are travelling in daylight in monsoon, take either of the alternatives. They are beautiful.)
Anjaneri Parvat
Anjaneri Parvat is quite significant amongst the devotees as locals say that the cave on the top of the hill was the place where Goddess Anjana gave birth to Lord Hanuman. And that's how the mountain got its name. Along with the cave, believed to be the place where Lord Hanuman was born, there's Anajani Mata temple. A lot of other places associated with the life of Lord Hanuman are also there, which can be seen while trekking on the hill. One such place is a cave, which is believed to be the spot where Lord Pawan Dev took Bal Hanuman when he was hit by the 'vajra' of Lord Indra. Also, there is a Mata Anjana temple; the place where Goddess Anjani meditated for a kid, and Shiva ultimately appeared in front of her to bless a boon. There are two pindies inside the temple; the big one is of Mata Anjana and the small one is of Bal Hanuman. A cave decorated with inscriptions that are as old as 1000 years also appears while trekking on the hill.
From the base village/ entry gate, it will take 45 minutes of walk to reach the starting point. You can treat this walk as a warm-up for the trek. You can also drive upto the starting point.
At the starting point to can see two pinnacles which are called as "Navara" and Navari.
After another 30 minutes of trek, you will reach the Anjaneri Fort. There are some caves and temples inside the fort and during the rainy season, you will experience a continuous water stream on the stairs. One needs to be very careful while using those stairs in rainy season as those are bit slippery. But once you complete the fort stairs, a plain area comes. Such a beautiful place it is. Those who like to have a picnic, this is the perfect spot. For here you get to capture both amazing sunrise as well as sunset.
To reach the Anjaneri temple, you have to cross three mountains. When you cross the fort, you have already crossed the first mountain and came on second. Top of the second mountain is a plain area and you need to walk around 1 km to reach the Indra Sarovar Lake.
From here, you have to trek to the 3rd mountain for another almost 1 km, you will get to see first glimpse of the main temple. A small temple of Anjani Mata (Mother of Lord Hanuman) with little Hanuman.
Enjoy the beautiful surroundings. The sky-high mountain and tranquillity will mesmerise you. From the top, you can watch the beautiful view of the lake shaped like the footprint of Lord Hanuman. The journey is actually a pilgrimage with trek experience and truly thrilling.
Listen To Me:
Please don't carry anything hanging from the bag or in hand because you will find many monkeys
DSLR/GoPro/ Any Professional Camera are not allowed, only cell phone camera.
Carry some ready to eat food, atleast 2 litres of water and mat/bedsheet to rest.
For a sunset trek: Very important to carry a torch with extra batteries (Extra batteries for backup), Cap and Sunscreen
Anjaneri Hills is also known for Meteor sight in India with shooting star as high as 120 in an hour. But you will need special permission to stay at night from the Forest Department.
You can also do it with a visit to Trimbakeshwar temple and Brahmagiri Hill (Origin of Godavari River)
Talk to the native villagers gently and give respect to them. Cause you are their guests.
Carry an Id proof.
In monsoon, you can also experience reverse waterfall - unique experience, wherein the wind currents on top are so strong that they carry the water from the waterfall along, creating a reverse waterfall occurrence, and drenching you in its glory.
Snapshot:
Anjaneri fort trek difficulty level: Easy.
Base village for Anjaneri fort: Anjaneri
Anjaneri fort height: 4200 ft.
Time required to climb Anjaneri fort: 3 hours.
Region: Trimbakeshwar.
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