Kalyan: A group of children from Kalyan have managed to climb atop Shrimalang Fort, considered the foothills of the Sahyadri mountain range. The Fort is especially challenging to ascend and by achieving the feat, the kid climbers have been receiving praise from all over.
The adventurous group includes Shravya Bhonsale (4), Sakshi Hipparkar (4), Srujan Dharmadhikari (8), Ishan Paswan (10) and Nandini Thopte (10). The group climbed the arduous fort under the supervision of the trekking organization Rock Adventure. Rock Adventure's Darshan Deshmukh, Ranjit Bhonsale, Pawan Ghuge, Bhushan Pawar, Sunil Khanase, Sanjay Kare, Prashil Ambade, Abhishek Gore and Suhas Jadhav provided technical assistance and emotional support to the little trekkers.
It takes around 2 hours to make the Shrimalang summit, and it takes a lot of courage to navigate its tough terrain. Towards the peak of the fort, it becomes very difficult to climb as it has space for merely single steps. Climbers have to make way by pipes. Losing control while making the ascend can turn fatal. Shrimalag is a 2000-foot-high cliff situated in the Matheran range.
Built during the reign of the Shilahara dynasty, Shrimalang acted as a surveillance fort. It is situated 16 km away from South of Kalyan. From the Panvel Vavanje village, it lies at a distance of 2 km. Situated in the Northeast of Uran and East of Borghat, Bhimashankar, and Malshej Ghat, this fort was strategically important during its heyday.