Mama Bhanja Hills:Tales of City leopards/Upvan lake

This trek was on my mind from last couple months,finally the plan was successful on Sunday 3rd July 2016,the reason i selected this place instead of any western ghat place was because of early stages of monsoon season when the western ghats is not fully green,its muddy

It is located in thane west,400 m above sea level.There are some interesting story available on the net from where Mame/bhanja name originated from,i don't know how accurate those story is!

Journey

Early morning Me,Anurag,Mandar and Aakash boarded metro at 5:29 am to Ghatkopar which costed us 50 Rs per person return ticket and from there local train to thane,after arriving at thane we went to Bus depot which is just couple minute away,'the one thing i noticed out here was that this looked like one of the busiest bus depot even on Sunday morning,'probably because of availability of both 'BEST and ST bus' for short distance and long distance accordingly.

We boarded BEST which costed us 15 Rs per person,the journey on the bus was a nightmare as the route he took had many speed breakers,there was a time where we felt like we might hit our head on the bus ceiling.At that time i told them about the story - where an old man head was hit by ST bus ceiling due to speeding of bus on speed breaker causing a sudden death,to this everybody laughed,'i felt like i read this story somewhere,don't know how legit it was!

After halting we went through lokmanya nagar which is a base of mama bhanja hills,'there was a drizzle of rain every now and then.

Base forest of Mama bhanja

Steps leading towards Mama bhanja

Anurag,Aakash,Mandar and Me

There was a steps leading towards Mama Bhanja hills,'this place was perfect for people who are in to cardio workout.People living in this locality are lucky enough to get these kind of hills,except night times when leopards are out for hunting.Regardless i would have visited this place every Sunday morning if it was in Andheri west.

During our trek Anurag was getting little exhausted,anyway what shocked me the most was - that he took my name stating ''krishna is exhausted'' so that aakash and mandar who were moving at good speed should take a break in between for couple minutes.Immediately i defended myself that i am just getting started and was good enough to go without rest then everybody realized why he did that - The reason was his Body physique,'it should not feel like 'The one who go the gym is the first one to get tired'.

Hut on halfway of the trek

Finally we came to the spot where we saw some huts and hens around,'probably it was a hut of some local monitors guarding Masjid and Mama/bhanja Dargah.

After reaching the top there is a Bhanja Dargah on the left and Mama dargah on the right.So first we went to the bhanja dargah which was close.

Bhanja side

Bhanja tomb

From dargah point one can get the view of Powai,Vihar and Tusli lake.There is also a shortcut to these lakes from here through forest but not recommended since there is a high probability of getting lost,Encountering leopard or Officers(Conservator of forest) if they spot you,they will put you behind bars along with that you will be fined.

Powai,Vihar and Tulsi Lake range

Due to monsoon the visibility was low so it was kinda hard to get good view of those lakes.

Don't confuse this above flag(pic) with Pakistani flag as there is no white stripes,moon is facing star in inward direction and there is also three dots on the flag.

Thane city view from the top

After exploring bhanja side we went to the mama side,on the way there was a bench near masjid so we sat there for couple minutes.After a minute a guy who was a care taker came there,he had that matthew mcconaughey persona with Bidi(Indian cheap cigarette) between his two finger pinched smoking like a cowboy.He asked us the ''Number of mountains we have trekked?'' I told him about some mountains but after hearing Kalsubai he got to know that we are not new to this hence told us to give a shot at Harishchandragad which is one of the beautiful mountain in sahyadri range. 

Masjid

Tales of the leopard
He Started giving insight about this place and past stories.

1) Back in 90 s there used to be Muslim saint here.One day in the middle of  the night around 4 am he got the nature call so he hopped back in the backyard of masjid in forest but hours and hours went by and he never returned so people staying with him got worried and did a group search,later on that morning they found out his dead body ripped by leopard.

2)Back in early 2000 another saint was paid to be here,somehow he agreed to be here but Guess what? Placed turned dark,moon hit the sky and saint got the nature call however luckily it was a pee so he pissed within the hut inside lotta(Vessel).Early morning he told his peers i am leaving and he never came back.

3) Recently in 2016,group of teenagers ascended here to trek,only problem was they started off late.By the time they reached top it was dark and they saw leopard and Throwed couple stones at him which made him angry so he was on the verge of chasing them,'thanksfully caretaker gave them a place to stay inside hut that night for the sake of humanity neither it's not allowed.
Now the Toilet has been made beside masjid and Hut.

4) Caretaker said ''he see this leopard most of the night from hut gate,'the reason they come here is to drink water,after that they go away.Sometimes they also hunt domestic hen inside the cage but all caretakers can do is hear voices being locked inside the houses''.

Water Hole made for Leopards

Insight
1)Caretaker have seen almost all the snakes except cobra as this place fall under SNGP range.

2)This place would have been restricted according to rules and regulation,the reason humans are allowed is only because of religious site here on the top.

3)There is a Loban festival every year when the top of the hill is illuminated with lights.

4)Nat Geo also made a documentary on leopard where they covered this place,SNGP Forest and also Mulund hills by setting camera traps.Below is the short clip of that documentary.

5)It is advisable to leave this place by 5:20 pm.

After having a good talk with care taker we went to explore Mama dargah .We also met a uncle who was exercise enthusiast from this locality only,he told us ''Back in the days while going to Powai for office work he used to take shortcut from this hills only and was never caught by officers,he did it so lowkey''.

Mama tomb

Barbered Wire(Restricted Further)

One can get the 360 degree view from mama dargah spot,'on one side there is a city and on other side 'forest'.On further the place is blocked by barbered wire,one of the reason is the raw route and another - sometimes group of armies practice firing Rifle shot,there might be many bullets lying around that place.

Praying before sacrificing

Family above is praying for fulfillment of their wish and later that hen in the bald boy hand will be sacrificed.

After resting for couple minutes we left the place,it was an easy descend.Instead of boarding bus we took sharing rickshaw who charged us 18 Rs per person leaving us at thane station,from there local train to ghatkopar and from there metro to azad nagar stop,nearby we did a lunch at House of food and left before it started to rain heavily.I was home till 6:30 pm.


UPVAN LAKE

Actually the plan was mulund hills not upvan lake,anyway Just like above(Mame/bhanje hills) we took the same transport mode on 26th January early morning and halted at Mulund station.We took a rickshaw till Yogi hills which is just like 2-3 km away,'we copped Cold drinks and biscuit,later on we came to know that Mulund hills is not accessible to human anymore.I asked local guards what was the reason? they said ''People hop out here - Party,Get drunk,smoke cigarette,Throw garbage and couple intimate'' which i think was a fair reason considering this area falls under SNGP area,i talked about all this in my Vihar lake post last year.So we again went back to mulund station but this time by walking to save money and boarded train to kalwa station and from there OLA till Upvan lake which is like 7.5km.

Shiv shankar Idol(Upvan Lake)

The main attraction out here is Shiv shankar idol in the middle of the lake,it is a man made lake which looks beautiful during monsoon time and sanskruti arts festival time.In 1880 thane muncipality spent 13000 Rs on construction of this lake.Back in 2012 crocodile was also found in this lake,which was later shifted on to Tulsi lake in SNGP,now the lake is commercialized.

Dhiraj,Me,Mandar and Aakash

After sitting there for couple minute around the lake,we went outside near one of the local bus stop and boarded bus till thane station and from there the same mode of transport we used in our Mama/bhanja Hills trip to reach home.