Anjani Mata Temple, Anjaneri

Rising in a great flat-topped rampart off the Nashik–Trimbak road, Anjaneri is one of the most storied hills in the Godavari valley, and the modest shrine to Anjani Mata that crowns its plateau is the devotional heart of the climb.

• By tradition Anjaneri takes its name from Anjani, mother of Hanuman, and the hill is widely believed to be the god's birthplace — a belief that draws pilgrims and trekkers together on the same stony path.
• The Anjani Mata temple itself is small and unadorned, a place of quiet folded hands rather than grand architecture, but its setting is extraordinary: a windswept tableland ringed by the basalt escarpments of the Sahyadris, with Trimbakeshwar's ridgeline and the source-country of the Godavari spread out below. The ascent is the experience.
• A well-trodden trail climbs from Anjaneri village through scrub and terraced slopes, steepening near the top where rock-cut steps and a short ladder-like stretch lead onto the plateau.
• The climb takes most walkers two to three hours one way and rewards them with cool air, seasonal waterfalls in the monsoon, and a plateau that in the rains turns emerald and wildflower-flecked — the hill is a protected reserved forest known for its endemic plants.
• Alongside the Anjani Mata shrine the plateau holds a cluster of old Jain rock-cut caves and a small pond, layers of much older devotion that make Anjaneri as much a heritage site as a pilgrimage.
• For food, plan to eat before or after the climb rather than on the hill.
• Anjaneri village has only tea-and-snack stalls, so carry water and packed vegetarian food up.
• Trimbakeshwar town, about 7 km on, is a temple settlement where pure-vegetarian thali restaurants and simple sattvic bhojanalayas cluster near the Jyotirlinga; ask for the pure-veg or Jain option, and you will easily find a hot thali, poha, sabudana khichdi and misal to refuel after the trek.