Raigad Fort

Capital of the Maratha Empire

Raigad fort is located in mahad tehsil of the Raigad district in konkan region. It is one of the most important fort and has very high value in Maratha history. It can be called as the strongest fort on the Deccan platue so far. The fort heights around 2700 ft above from the base level and 4450 ft. above high from the base sea level. There are two ways to reach the top of the fort, one can take steps which are near 1740 steps or it can also be reached by rope way. The fort has witnessed many rules of different rulers over the period. There are significant number of structures that still can be seen on the fort and still in present time the fort rests in all the hearts of Maharashtra people.



Raigad fort is well connected by road transport and can be reached easily. Local bus are available for the pachad village which is the base village of the fort from the mahad bus village. Also, local private transport is also available to reach the base of the fort. Base village of fort Raigad is around 23 km away from the mahad town, 136 km from Satara city and around 133 km away from pune city. From pune one can use tamhini ghat to enter Raigad and from Satara one can go with ambenali ghat road to enter Raigad district. The fort can be visited on any day all over year. On special occasions like, shivjayanti, Shiv rajyabhishek sohla, shambhu rajyabhishek sohla etc. programmes are arranged on the fort and many people visit fort during these times.



History

Raigad fort has very long span and has very special place in history. It has witnessed the brave Marathas build their own empire defeating the mohmmadian powers of Delhi and Bijapur. Raigad was initially known by his name as rairyee. Firstly, It was in the hands of chandrarao more, the stateman of jaoli state under adilshaha. Even after many warnings given by chatrapati shivaji maharaj, he continued his rude behaviour and injustice on the people living in the jaoli and nearby regions. So finally, shivaji maharaj decided to take jaoli from more and connect the region with swarajya, as in, chatrapati shivaji mahara won the region and battle in the year 1659 and now by winning this region it was very easy for shivray to control the ghatmatha and konkan region far. After, shivaji maharaj saw the fort rairyee and ordered abaji sondev and hiroji indulkar to reconstruct the fort as the new capital for Maratha Empire. The fort has seen many ups and downs of the empire.



The fort also has witnessed the grand coronation ceremony of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 6 June 1674. An English writer Henry Oxenden has written his journey to Raigad fort, also, he has described the fort in his diary which is now a great reference.

After the death of shivaji maharaj, Chatrapati shambhaji maharaj took in charge of marathas and led a glorious journey of empire from this fort till the death in 1689. After the death of Sambhaji maharaj, itikad khan came to capture the Raigad fort with huge amry. However, Rajaram maharaj were able to escape from the fort through wagh darwaja and went to pratapgad fort and then gingee fort far in south and controlled Maratha Empire from there. Somehow, Raigad fort gets defeated and Mughals took control on the fort and captured many members of the royal family. Mughal captured the fort and they gave it to the siddhi of janjira after some years. In reign of chatrapati shahu maharaj, Marathas again took control on the Raigad fort till britishers took it in the year 1818.


It is said that, nearly there were 300-350 stones houses, palaces of queens and king, offices, mansions of other ministers, a coin mint, a market and garrisons which were able to accommodate around 2000 men at a time. As the fort was the capital of the empire, it was well and beautifully decorated with gardens, pillars, water reservoirs, pathways and bastions. At present times, archaeological works are going on the fort under the guidance of Sambhaji chatrapati of Kolhapur. Many structures on the fort still gives the idea of how it was build.




A palace was built by chatrapati shivaji maharaj in the base village of pachad for Rajmata jaja bai sahib, which is also known as pachad kot. The main complex of the offices, palaces and the house of king and queen can still be visited on the fort. It was very hard or nearly impossible to capture the fort because of its height and impregnable defence system, the fort resides in jaoli and surrounded by many forts which gave defence to the fort. Jagdishwar temple is one of the very important structure on the fort, which is near the Samadhi of chatrapati shivaji maharaj.

Places to see on the Fort:



1.     Hirkani Buruj

2.     Andheri caves

3.     Mahadarwaja- Main Entrance

4.     Nane darwaja

5.     Khubladha bastion

6.     Palakhi darwaja

7.     Queens palaces

8.     Rajwada

9.     Mena darwaja

10.  Meghdambari

11.  Khalabatkhana

12.  Nagarkhana

13.  Darbar

14.  Gangasagar lake

15.  Chatrapati shivaji maharaj statue

16.  Holicha maal

17.  Hatti talav

18.  Hattikhana

19.  Shri shirkai devi temple

20.  Marketplace

21.  Vadeshwar temple

22.  Mansions of ministers

23.  Wagh darwaja

24.  Takmak tok

25.  Jagdishwar temple

26.  Shivaji maharaj Samadhi

27.  Kolimb lake

28.  Wagh dara

29.  Bhavanicha khalga

30.  Linganyacha pahara

31.  And many more…



Nearest Tourist places:

Mahad: mahad is town situated at 25 km from the Raigad fort. There are many places and caves near mahad to visit.

Mahabaleshwar: Mahabaleshwar: Mahabaleshwar hill station is located 83 km away from the pachad village which is base village of Raigad fort and can be reached by ambenali ghat road present around.

Lingana: Lingana fort is 50 km away from Raigad fort by road. It one of the hardest trek in sahyadri and safety gear and proper guide team is needed to climb the fort.

Harihareshwar and Shrivardhan: Harihareshwar is famous for its temple and beach and it is 86 km far from Raigad fort by road transport.

Kokandiva fort: it is very scenic place to visit in rainy season which is only 10 km away from the base village pachad.



"Leave nothing but footprints, Take nothing but memories."