Rajgad - The King of Forts

I was just going through all my blog posts today, and I was surprised to find that there were no posts about Rajgad, a fort which I have visited at least 4-5 times! I figured that this oversight must be remedied at once, and I set to work!

Rajgad is one of the most important forts in the history of the Maratha Empire founded by Shivaji Bhosale. He is widely recognised as one of the most powerful and cunning leaders in the history of India and the world. The reason why Rajgad gets this importance is because, this fort was the capital of the Maratha kingdom for nearly 26 years, before the capital was shifted to Raigad fort.
The history of Rajgad begins from the capture of the Torna fort, which lies in across it. After the capture of Torna, quite a bit of hidden gold was found during the repair work. With this newfound wealth, the construction of Rajgad was undertaken. During this fort's stint as the capital, it bore witness to many important battles and events of the Maratha kingdom. Notable among which are, the defeat of Afzal Khan, the Treaty of Purander, the Sacking of Surat, etc. This fort also witnessed the death of Shivaji's elder wife, Saibai. There is a small memorial dedicated to her on this fort.
The fort has an interesting structure, a structure similar to a dike with sheer cliffs on all sides serves as a citadel (Balekilla) of the fort, three ridges emerge from it in different directions. These ridges are known as Padmavati, Sanjeevani and Suvela respectively.

The Padmavati machi is the widest of all, and plays host to the Chor Darwaja (Secret door), which ironically, is the most used approach to the fort. The machi also has a number of structures on it, such as the Padmavati Lake, Saibai's Memorial, the Padmavati temple and the Rameshwar temple, and a Rest house. Additionally, this machi also hosts the King's Court (Darbar), and the offices (Sadar). If you want to stay on the fort, Padmavati is the only ridge which offers any shelter from the elements, unless you're carrying camping equipment.

© Nilesh Walimbe

Sanjeevani machi is the only one of the three, which has dual fortifications. At the end of the machi, you have the Alu Darwaja. Also, you can go over to the Torna fort from this machi (~5-6 hours).

Suvela machi has one of the most noticeable natural features, a Needle hole. Besides this, the route to the machi also has the Gunjawane Darwaja, which is one of the lesser known routes of the fort. This route has been almost completely abandoned and should not be used by inexperienced climbers. The needle hole is clearly visible while travelling to Gunjawane.
The citadel of the fort is accessible from the Padmavati machi, from which a route traverses part of the bastion before heading up a series of rock patches. At the end of these patches, you can see the massive gates which guard the balekilla. These gates are one of the few intact structures left on the fort. The Balekilla itself has few structures such as the Janani temple. There are various ruins on this part of the fort which include the Royal palace, another court, etc.
There are 3 different routes to climb Rajgad. One is via the Chor Darwaja. To use this route one can either drive down by a car/bike or can take a public transport bus. The buses to Gunjawane depart from the Swargate MSRTC station in Pune. There are only 2-3 buses in a day, so make sure you plan accordingly. The last bus to Gunjawane departs at 1730.
If you're driving down, take the NH4 from Pune, and make a turn at the Nasrapur Phata. From there, you can ask for directions to Gunjawane.

References & Credits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajgad
http://trekshitiz.com/trekshitiz/Ei/Rajgad-Trek-R-Alpha.html
Balekilla :http://flexiter.in/rajgad-forts-in-maharashtra-near-pune/
Sanjeevani Machi :https://www.flickr.com/photos/25365312@N08/14855695237/