The Rajgad Fort

The King of Forts;
The Fort of Kings.

Indeed, as its name suggests, Rajgad is one of the most royal forts on Sahyadri ranges. It is a paradigm of high-class architecture. That's why it furnishes a fantastic experience of treking and sight seeing.

Situated 40 km south-west to Pune; Rajgad is 4514 feet high. Rajgad is built on the hill, called Murumbdev. This fort is surrounded on three sides by fotified machees (plains)- Suvela, Padmavati, and Sanjeevani.

There are four gates (called as Darwaja) to Rajgad. They are: Gunjawane Darwaja, Pali Darwaja, Chor Darwaja and Alu Darwaja. Here are the ways to reach these gates:

Gunjavne Darwaja: Reach Margasni by Pune-Velha bus. (First bus from Swargate is at 8:30 am. (re check it!)).
Pali Darwaja: This is the easiest way to reach Rajgad. Reach Wajeghar by same Pune-Velha bus, then go to Pali which is at the foothill of the fort. This gate is shown in the above photograph.
Chor Darwaja: Take Velhe bus from Pune to Winzar village, cross Kanandi river and climb up via Sakhargaon.
Alu Darwaja: Take a bus to Bhor from Pune. Bhutonde village which is at the foothill of Rajgad can be reached from Bhor via bus. It takes about 3 hours from Bhutonde to Alu darwaja.

First three gates will take you to Padmawati machi ; which is the most convenient place to stay. There is Padmawati temple where you can spend your night(s).

What next?

Once you reach Padmawati machi then fort offfers you ample amount of sight seeing.

On Padmawati machi you will find: Padmawati lake, Shivaji Maharaja's residencial palace ruins, Hawaldar's wada (constable's residence) cemetary of queen Sai.

Suvela machi is the beautiful fortified structure as can be seen from the above photograph. Stone step which is known as Hatti (because of its huge and elephant like shape)is one of the attractions here. On this machi there is a 15 feet diameter natural hole which is called as "Waghacha Dola" (tiger's eye).

The third plain, Sanjeevni machi is about two km in length. Double fortification and a bastion can be seen here.
Tip for trekers: There is a direct route from Sanjivani machi, through Alu Darwaja, to the Budhla machi on the fort TORNA!!

Few Photos

FAQs

How to go? Pune-Velha bus can take you to Margasni from where you can reach Gunjawane which is at the bottom of Rajgad. OR Same bus will take you to Wajeghar from where you can go to Sakhargaon and then start climbing.
When to go? June to March. But the period of mansoon (July to September) would be ideal!
Where to stay? On the top of fort, in the Padmavati Temple.
Where to eat? Carry your own food and water with you.
How much time does it take? Since Rajgad is very big fort, its good to spend at least 2 days for this trek. However a 1-day trek is also possible (starting from Pune).

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