Escape to Rajghad

It was going to be yet another boring weekend and after undergoing perpetual stress at work I as usual wanted to get away from Mumbai. I ganged up with eight other friends who had a mutual feeling. Just as Shivaji escaped from custody of Aurangzeb at Agra to come back to Rajgad his mountain capital, we too decided to escape to Rajgad.

So as planned we set off from Mumbai at 7 am on Saturday morning. Speeding past the ExpressWay way we wanted to reach the base village Gunjavane by 11. We had a stopover before we reached the base village. Most of us were famished and therefore we stopped for breakfast and a cuppa tea at one of the food courts on the ExpressWay. We munched on some light breakfast and quickly proceeded on our journey towards the base village Gunjavane, a small village at base of the fort.

Rajgadh as the name suggests is the 'King of all Forts'. About 85 kms from Pune, this fort has great historical relevance, as it was Shivaji's favourite fort and is first mountain capital. At the base village we parked ourselves at 'Shivteerth Rajgadh Pratishton' a nice homely hotel kind of place. Most trekkers stop here to park their bikes and vehicles and have a quick bite. We received a warm welcome from Balu Pawar who works here. We made our selves comfortable. I had carried enough lunch for all of us but we decided we to have a light lunch as we wanted to trek up feeling light. So we ordered for some 'Poha' and tea. While, we were waiting for our order we noticed the complete model of the 'Rajgadh fort' that has been built by the locals. One can get a complete view of how the fort is structured and which are the various places to visit when atop the fort.

Pawar gave us a complete rundown on the history of the fort and explained each and very place in the fort. There is also a small museum that the locals have built in this hotel. It houses photographs of Rajgad and few memorabilias of Shivaji's times which the locals keep finding when they get on a cleaning spree. In the meantime lunch had arrived we had lunch and rested for about half hour before we started on our trek.

There are several routes to get up to the fort. If you want to really do it the easy way you can travel by bus for two hours to Wazheghar, Bhutonda or Pali from Pune and the it will take you right to the foothills of this legendary fort. The adventurous freaks that we are, we decided to trek through the most difficult route that is the 'Chor Darwaza' route (it is also the most preferred route for trekkers), otherwise there is an easier route through Pali, which while being a cakewalk is a longer one too.

We started our trek at 1 pm leading to the Chor Darwaja of the fort. This route represents a good trek. It is shorter but slightly tough. You will realize it when you climb but it is fun at every stage.

We reached a plateau in one hour and climbed some shorter hills on the way and suddenly came to a steep rock patch. This is where the actual climb starts. Steps have been cut into the rocks and also protected by railings. Imagine what would it be like if the railings are not there!!! and Finally after all that fun climbing along the steep rock patch, we reached the Padmavati Machi in two hours.

Rajgad fort, which is 1350 mts in height consists of three long ridges leading from the central 'Bale Killa' (the central place), which is almost 500 feet high and really difficult to climb. Then you have the Padmavati machi/ridge towards the south is where the main temple and water tank is situated. It offers a good place to stay! Then there is the Sanjivani Machi ,Suvela Machi. TheSuvela Machi is one of the strongest places on the fort. The third machi - Sanjivani is very beautiful too.

We parked ourselves at one of the temples as few other trekkers occupied the other two temples. It was around 3 pm and we had enough time on our hands to take some rest and explore the fort. The view of the sunset from Rajgad is really awe inspiring as the sun sets behing Torna fort surrounding the entire ridge and valley between Rajgad and Torna with a orange halo for a brief period that seems like eternity. Rajgad connects to Torna vide a ridge and this is a complete day’s trekking taking about 6 -7 hours of trek.

After sunset we prepared a good sumptuous dinner which included ‘Theplas, Jeera Rice and the typical Maharashtrian ‘Usal’- made of sprouts. We had candle light dinner and after dinner decided to step out into the open and sleep under the open skies. At rajgad, You lie down and look up at the skies you see so many stars, a rare treat for city living Mumbaiites. We ended up doing a little bit of stargazing. trying to inform each other as much as we could. At around 11 pm the tiredness of the day’s activity set in and we slept wonderfully amidst a natural surrounding with the wind playing it’s night song on an otherwise silent dark night.Like everyone else, I just had to get into my sleeping bag and within minutes was fast a sleep.

Next morning (Sunday) we were up by 6.30 am. Prepared tea and decided to set off to for Balle Killa, which is a 45 minute climb from Padmavati Machi. It is very difficult to climb. However railing on the way up help to make the climb possible. Once you have reached the ancient Gates that mark entrance to Bale Killa, the sense of achievement is universal as one glimpses into a beautiful view of the lake from the top. We spent time talking about the place clicking photographs. One can see the whole of Sahyadri’s from the top of this fort. The vision includes Torana, Raireshwar, Mahabaleshwar, Pratapgad, Raigad, Lingana, Bhatghar, Tung, Visapur and Sinhagad.

We could not explore Sanjivini Machi and Suvela Machi as we did not have so much time. All of us had to get back to our jobs, which mainly provides our daily bread and butter and there was no shying away from that fact. Having got a good reason to come back yet again, we started descending at around 11.30 and by 1.30 we were at Pawar’s hotel where lunch was waiting for us. We all had a quick wash and gorged on the great authentic Maharashtrian lunch. At 3.30 we took leave from Pawar and back to our Qualis to head back to our houses in Mumbai.

Rajgad is truly a place to visit and remember the greatest Maratha King. One must visit the fort and enjoy the nature and the beauty of the great fort.

How to get there

* When in Pune, get to Swargate and take a bus to Welle and alight at Margasani stop and then proceed to Gunjavane, which is 4-5 km walk-Local transport can be available

* From Mumbai take a bus or train to Pune and get to Swargate from here take a bus going towards Wellhe and alight at Margasani. Alternatively if you are fortunate you can take a bus directly to base village Gunjavane or Vajheghar.

The buses to Wellhe are frequent.