Raigad Fort
Information:- “Raigad is a hill fortress situated in the modern day near Mahad, Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. The Maratha king Shivaji Maharajmade the fort his capital in 1674 when he was crowned King of a Maratha Kingdom which later developed into the Maratha Empireeventually covering majority of modern day India.
The fort, which rises 820 metres (2,700 ft) above sea level, is located in the Sahyadri mountain range. There are approximately 1400–1450 steps leading to the fort, though today a rope-way exists to reach the top of the fort. The fort was looted and destroyed by the British upon siege.”
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had seized the fort in 1656, then the fortress of Rairi, from the royal house of the Chandrarrao Mores, a junior or Cadet dynasty to descended from the ancient Maurya imperial dynasty. The last More king (or raja) was a feudatory of the Sultan ofBijapur.
Shivaji renovated and expanded the Fortress of Rairi and renamed it Raigad (the King’s Fort), the name he gave it when he selected it for his capital when he founded the Maratha empire.Raigad, a hill fortress situated in Raigad District of Maharashtra, It was capital of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s kingdom.
In 1765 the Raigad Fort, along with Malwan in present Sindhudurg District, the southernmost district of Maharashtra, was the target of an armed expedition by the British East India Company, which considered it a piratical stronghold.
In 1818 the fort was bombarded and destroyed by East India Company, using cannons.
Extra Places To Visit:- “Jijamata Palace, Queen’s Palace, Takmok Tok, Gangasagar Lake, Jagadishwar Temple, Mahad ”
Type:- Hill Fort
Fort Range:- Pune
District:- Pune
Height Above Sea Level:- 2900 ft
Difficulty Rating:- Easy
Base Village:- Mahad
App Time To Reach Top:- 2 Hrs by walk and 20 minutes by rope-way
Water Availability:- Available on the fort
Food:- Hotels available on the fort
Shelter:- MTDC rooms and dormitories are available and can be booked by calling MTDC Mumbai office. There are ZP rooms also on the fort.
Best Time To Visit:- Any time.
How To Reach:- Raigad being situated 30km to the north of Mahad, ST buses ply regularly from Mahad. There are buses from Mumbai Central and Pune which ply to Mahad or Raigad via Mahad. We can ascend Raigad either by walk or by ropeway. If we want to ascend the fort by walk, we can go from Chitta Darwaja or Nana Darwaja and we reach MahaDarwaja. It takes about 2 hours to reach the top. If we reach the top of the fort by ropeway, it takes only 15-20 minutes. However, wait time for ropeway depends on the crowd.
