Must Visit Bhimashankar

Before I pen down to trip report on Bhimashankar i would like to thank Lord Shiva to make such a lovely place on the earth to visit spiritual odyssey amidst mountain splendour mingled with wildness in the lap of northern part of Sahyadri. Bhimashankar is the place to come to, to rejuvenate your soul in communion with nature set against the backdrop of a rich Sahyadri Wildlife Sanctuary. Bhimashankar is located 127 km from Pune city in the Ghat region of the Sahyadri hills. The main
importance of this place is having the Jyotirling amongst the 12 shrines which are Somnath, Shri Sailam, Mahakaleshwar, Omkareshwar, Kedarnath, Varanasi, Trimbakeshwar, Vaidyanath, Nageshwar, Rameshwaram Grishneshwar and Bhimashankara. We set out at 5:30 on a saturday morning. We took the NH-50 Pune Nashik Highway; And from Mancher we tool a straight left. We reache there by 8:30;could have reached early but stopped often to take pictures enroute; The last 30km was little bumpy but trust me - the route was so picturesque - specially the ghat region. anyway - there was not much crowd that time; we were planning to cover the the trail first to Gupt
Bhimashankar which actually originates from the temple behind. I asked a local about the trail - he told us the trail is of 2km but through deep forest. As this was the first time for us here - so i thought to take that local with us; He was ready to guide us for 200 buckes. I guess my reader can understand little the idea behind this adventure - yes ofcourse birding. Heard about this trail in many blogs since i am pune; and it started really proving when i saw a single puff-throated babbler doing breakfast with insects under a bush. Though it was not much fantastic shot i achieved for low light with higher iso - but put some real energy to cover this trail with full attention. Chimte (the guide) was ahead of us; after walking for 500mtrs we found a spot like birds heaven - two monarch, one male asian paradise flycatcher, few scarlet minivets and 2 crimson backed sunbird around us...wow we
really got mad to see so many colorful birds around us. I never thought that my first trip to this place would be so much rewarding. Chimte showed us three four Malabar Gaint Squirrel or Shekaru (in marathi) by that time. The last few meters was really hard - it was stepping down towards the river bhima waterbody. On the return - we saw many colorful butterflies and insects; but the best finding came at the end when we saw the glimpse of white bellied blue flycatcher - the color was just world of world. We were very delighted to see this endemic beauty inside that forest. The whole trek we completed in two hours; little hectic - but worth to visit for any birder. After the puja we left the place by 2 and reached Pune by 4:30. That is the end of this trip; Hope to visit this place soon - at least once in monsoon.

How to reach

From Pune, drive along the Pune-Nasik NH-50 highway and turn left from Manchar at the road leading to Bhimashankar. The mountain road is quite a steep climb. The distance is about 127 km from Pune.

Government MSRTC buses (non luxury) run from Pune to Bhimashankar every 30 minutes from 5:30 am till 4:00 pm.

Where to stay

The local upajjhayas (priests) make arrangements for the lodging and boarding of pilgrims at a small cost. Visitors are accommodated in either temporary hutments or in dharamshalas near the village. There are few private hotels 10km before the temple - Hotel bluemormon, Hotel Natraj are few better options.

Best time

Anytime through out the year. October to February is best; Monsoon is from May to September mid.

Birds' Checklist

Crimson backed sunbird
Monarch
Asian paradise flycatcher
Red whiskered bulbul
Puff-throated babbler
White bellied blue flycatcher
Blyth's reed warbler
Scarlet minivet
White rumped shama
Black shouldered kite
Tailor bird
and few common