Sudhagad Fort

Articleissues|tone=April 2008
wikify=April 2008
context=April 2008
orphan=April 2008The Sudhagad fort is an ancient hill fort in the Raigad District of Maharashtra, India. It lies about convert|53|km|mi west of Pune, convert|26|km|mi south of Lonavla and convert|11|km|mi east of Pali. The summit is convert|620|m|ft above sea level.

If one has to reach Sudhagad after visiting Ghangad one has to descend in to the Kokan. Three routes i.e. Savashni ghat, Nandand ghat and Nalecha ghat descend into the Kokan.

avashni ghat

One should proceed from Telbaila village towards the walls of Telbaila. After a short walk one should turn to the right following a foot-track. Keeping Telbaila on the left, as one goes around it, one can see in front the Sudhagad fort, detached from the ghat. On coming nearer to Sudhagad one can see that though from a distance, the fort seems to be completely detached, in fact it is connected with the ghat Crestline a little below the plateau. Keeping this connecting point to the left one should get on to the edge of the plateau, from here Savashni ghat descends in to the Kokan. At the base there is a settlement named Bairampada. From here Dhondse village is at a distance of about 5-7 minutes, From Dhondse village a foot-track leads to Sudhagad. It takes two hours to reach Dhondse from Telbaila and yet another 45 minutes to reach Sudhagad.

Nandand ghat

If we decide to take the Dand ghat route, walking westward from Ekole village keeping Ghangad fort on the left, we will reach Kivni village within one hour, passing the village we reach the start of the Nandand ghat at the edge of plateau. On peeping over the edge of the ghat we can see a small river and houses on its banks. This is the village Bawdhan. We can then descend down the steep ghat and reach Bawdhan within an hour. As the route is arid, if one starts late in the morning, the scorching heat and sultry air makes the descend troublesome. Crossing the river we can head towards Pachehhapur. Within 20 minutes we can reach Thakurwadi village. From Thakurwadi, a route goes to Sudhagad along a gully. But as the route is scarcely used we need to avoid it. Another route goes from here to Khadsamble caves. It takes half an hour to reach Khadsamble village from here and yet another 45 minutes to reach the caves. These caves can also be approached from the ghats. From Kivni village, a descent down the Nalecha Ghat brings one to Khadsamble within 45 minutes.

To reach ‘Pachchhapur we need to proceed from Thakurwadi. Pachchhapur is at a distance of one hour from Bawdhan, Pachchhapur village had witnessed the historical meeting of Sambhaji Raje and Akbar, the son of Aurangzeb. History mentions the meeting places as the Badshahacha Mal, Ghodyacha Mal, and Zenda Kathi. But the villagers point at a heap of stones near the village, and say that it was the actual place of the meeting.

If we cast a glance towards Sudhagad we spot a bastion, right there stands the Pachchhapur Darwaja. The route goes along the Umbarbid spur. Taking this route we can reach the fort crossing three consecutive Darwajas of Pachchhapur. The first fort is full of ruins like two temples of Shiva, a restored temple devoted to the Goddess Bhoraidevi, two lakes, a house, a big granary, some tombs, a shrine (Vrindavan) and numerous other ruins, scattered around. Goddess Bhorai is the presiding deity of the Pantsachiva of Bhor. In the Bhorai temple, until recently there was an ancient China clay jar. One monsoon an uprooted tree caused the nearby wall to tumble upon this jar shattering it to pieces. Some pieces lie at this place while several others have been carried off by nearby villagers. The origin of this jar is not known.

The origin of Sudhagad dates back to the 2nd century B.C. The caves of Thanale and Khadsamble were excavated at the same time as Sudhagad. Sudhagad was captured by Bahamani Sultan in 1436 A.D. But there is no information for the period prior to this. In 1657 Sudhagad was included in the Maratha Kingdom. At that time the fort was known as Bhorapgad. It was then given the sweet name ‘Sudhagad’. In the regime of the peshwas. The ‘Pantsachivas’ of Bhor became the custodians of this fort. After the annexation of the princely states in 1950 the fort became patron less. As a result, the fort is in a state of ruins, even though it escaped the wrath of the British. Yet, Dassara festival is celebrated on the fort to this day to recapture the nostalgia of the past glory.

One can camp on the fort, preferably in a house or in the temple of Bhorat, water can be found nearby. Though there is not much vegetation on the fort, a thick grove covers the surroundings of the house. On the slopes of the fort there are trees of pandhri rarely found elsewhere.

External links

* [http://sudhagad.blogspot.com/ Sudhagad "blog"] with illustrations
* [http://picasaweb.google.com/hackuguys Sudhagad Fort] More images of this fort and its surroundings