Padargad Fort

Overview:

This fort is also popular by name ‘Kalavanticha Mahal’ due to its 2 rock pinnacles. It lies at an elevation of 2202 feet (671 meters) above mean sea level.

Padargad is a small Fort used for vigilance in the past. It is situated to the east of Karjat in the state of Maharashtra. It is on the famous Bhimashanker trek route in the Karjat area, because of its height and difficult climbing, it is not visited by most of the trekkers.

History:

Not much history is known about this fort. This fort was built to keep an eye on Ganpati Ghat which joins Karjat to Bhimashankar. In fact, it can be called a watch tower to keep a vigil on the Mawal area in the greater province of the Maratha. Records say that this fort along with Tungi fort was constructed by Aurangjeb while capturing the Kothaligad Fort.

Places to Visit on Fort:

This is an unexplored and less visited fort that is located behind the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary. The fort is small in size and the fort structure has completely vanished. There are few water tanks and caves on the way of Padargad trek. One must have average trekking skills & preferably equipments to do this trek.

There are 2 main pinnacles at the top. One is big and another is small. They plane land plateau in between them. One big room having dimensions 15 feet long and 8 feet wide is there on the left side of the 2nd pinnacle. You can get absolutely stunning views of the mountains from this place.

How to reach:

Reach Karjat on the Mumbai Central railway line and proceed to Khandas village by bus or auto rickshaw at 14 kms. One can reach Bhimashankar from Khandas via Shidi ghat, Gugal ghat and Ganesh ghat. The Ganesh ghat route can be used to reach the Ganesh temple in 30 minutes and the well in the ghat in another 30 minutes this well has water till January-February. It is advised to fill up our water stock here as there is no water source on the fort.

Next to the well to the right a path goes through a dense forest patch. After a 30 minute trail we come outside the forest cover and have to ascend the hill. We come to a narrow rock patch vertical window which is about 4X2X10 in dimensions. The other side of this is closed and also its roof due to landslides. One has to climb this narrow path using Chimney Climbing technique i.e. using our back and legs against the walls to move upside. There is also a bolt affixed to the upper side which can be used for rope climbing. After climbing this narrow patch we have to cross another 15 feet rock patch using a rope for which a bolt has been affixed on the upper side. After this we have to circumvent the hill adjoining the fort summit and arrive at the cleft between the fort summit and the hill. Here we can see a large cave to the right. Further the path take a diagonal turn where there is a rock patch to one side and a deep valley to the other. After ascending the steps adjoining the rock patch we come on the fort top.

Related Video (Padargad Fort):

Best time to visit:

October to March is the ideal season to do the Padargad trek. Do not visit this fort during monsoon season because it becomes difficult to have a grip on its sharp walls. The trek route becomes very slippery in monsoon months.