Hill fort in Pune district, Maharashtra, India
Photo: Akshaypadte, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Rajgad is a hill fort in South Maharashtra. It was built as Murumbdev and was later renamed Rajgad by Shivaji Maharaj. It is south-west of Pune City. The base village Gunjavane is around 60 km from Pune. This fort was the first capital of Shivaji Maharaj's Hindavi Swarajya. The capital was later shifted to Raigad. The area of the fort base is 62 km² (24 sq mi).
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This is one of the entrances to the fort. If one walks from Torna fort to Rajgad, then this is the only way to enter.
There is a small fresh water lake on Padmavati Machee. The chor darwaza leads to here directly. The walls of the lake are intact even today and the lake never dries up (even in the hottest summer). Once you climb the fort, it would be a good idea to remove your shoes and relax a little by dangling your feet in the water. There are small fish in the lake and they come to nibble at the dead skin on your feet.
There are 3 machees on Rajgad. One of the best maintained is the Padmavati Machee. This was a military base as well as a residential area.
This temple was constructed by Shivaji Maharaj. In front of the temple is the tomb of Saibai, Shivaji Maharaj's wife.
This is in front of Padmavati temple. The Shiva linga present is believed to be of Shivaji Maharaj's times.
This extends approximately for 2½ km and has been constructed in three phases. For each phase, an armoured fortified place is provided. There are many cisterns on this machee. There is also an underground escape route (unusable now) which leads directly to the outermost fortification.
This is situated on the eastern part of the fort. This machee narrows down in width as one proceeds farther along its length. At the start of the machee, there is a hill called 'Duba'. As we proceed ahead, there is a small temple of Lord Hanuman. Straight ahead from this temple leads to the second stage, from where the fortification starts. If you turn right before the steps leading to the fortification and walk a little, you will come across a giant hole in the rock face. This is about 3 m in diameter and has been carved by the force of wind. This hole is called 'Nedh' or 'Hatti Prastar'. It's possible to climb into this hole for a good view. At the base of this hole is an idol of Lord Ganesha and one can reach a second Gupt Darwaza from here. This doorway is called 'Madhe darwaza'.
Padmavati Machee via Chor Darwaza (Secret Doorway)
This is the most popular route and starts from Gunjavane village. This route takes approximately 2½ hours to ascend the fort and leads to the Padmavati Machee (Plateau).
Via Pali Darwaza
This is a simple climb. However, it will take longer to climb from here as compared to Chor Darwaza. To get here, turn right from Nasrapur and go to Velhe village.
Suvela Machee via Chor Darwaza
From Gunjavane village, there is a route through the forest which leads to Suvela Machee. However, it's a treacherous path comprising steep rock faces.
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