Raigad, seen in the

Raigad district Raigad district (), previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The headquarters of the district is Alibag. Other major cities in the district are Panvel, Karjat, Navi Mumbai, Khopoli, Sh ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India, is a hill fort located in the city of Mahad. It is one of the strongest fortresses on the

Deccan Plateau The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura Range, Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound ...

and was historically referred to as Rairee or Rairy fort. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha ruler, along with his chief engineer Hiroji Indulkar, did the construction and development of various buildings and structures, including Raigad. In 1674, after being crowned the king of the Maratha Kingdom of the

Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...

, Shivaji Maharaj chose Raigad as the capital of his Hindavi Swaraj. Located at an elevation of above its base and above sea level within the Sahyadri mountain range, the fort offers views of the surrounding area. The fort was home to around 1,550 people having an average family size of 5 people. Accessing the fort requires ascending approximately 1,737 steps. Alternatively, visitors can opt for the Raigad Ropeway, an

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

spanning in length and reaching a height of , which conveniently transports them from the ground to the fort in just four minutes.

Major features

The main palace was constructed using wood, of which only the base pillars remain. The main fort ruins consist of the queen's quarters, and six chambers, with each chamber having its private restroom. The chambers do not have any windows. In addition, ruins of three watch towers can be seen directly in front of the palace grounds out of which only two remain as the third one was destroyed during a

bombardment A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or cities and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended obje ...

. The fort also overlooks an artificial lake known as the Ganga Sagar Lake. The only main pathway to the fort passes through the "Maha Darwaja" (Huge Door) which was previously closed at sunset. The Maha Darwaja has two huge bastions on both sides of the door which are approximately in height. The top of the fort is above this door. The king's court, inside the Raigad Fort, has a replica of the original throne that faces the main doorway called the ''Nagarkhana Darwaja''. It faces the East Side. It was here where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Rajabhishek took place. This enclosure had been acoustically designed to aid hearing from the doorway to the throne. A secondary entrance, called the ''Mena Darwaja'' on the south side, was supposedly the private entrance for the royal ladies of the fort that lead to the queen's quarters. The convoy of the king and the king himself used the ''Palkhi Darwaja.'' on the north side. To the right of Palkhi Darwaja, is a row of three dark and deep chambers. Historians believe that these were the granaries for the fort. From the fort, one can view the execution point called ''Takmak Tok'', a cliff from which sentenced prisoners were thrown to their death. This area has been fenced off. A statue of Shivaji is erected in front of the ruins of the main market avenue that leads to the ''Jagdishwar Mandir'', which has Sardar Hiroji Indulkar's name engraved on the first step, his own

Samadhi Statue of a meditating Rishikesh.html" ;"title="Shiva, Rishikesh">Shiva, Rishikesh ''Samādhi'' (Pali and ), in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, is a state of meditative consciousness. In many Indian religious traditions, the cultivati ...

and that of his dog named ''Waghya''. The Samadhi of Rajmata Jijabai, Shivaji's mother, can be seen at the base village of Pachad. Additional attractions of the fort include the Khubladha Buruj, Nane Darwaja and the Hatti Talav (Elephant Lake). Henry Oxienden was on the fort from 13 May to 13 June 1674 & he quoted "We arrived at the top of that strong mountain about sun set, which is fortified by nature more than art, being off very difficult access, and but one advance to it, which is guarded by two narrow gates, and fortified with a strong high wall, and bastions thereto. All the other parte of the mountaine is a direct precipice, so that it is impregnable except the treachery of some in it betrays it. On the Mountain are many strong buildings, as the Raja's Court, and houses for other Ministers of State, to the number of about 300, It is in length about 21 miles and breadth * a mile, but no pleasant trees nor any sort of grains grows thereon. Our house was about a mile from the Raja's Palace, into which we retired with no little content."

''Hirakani Buruj''

The fort has a historic buruj called "Hirakani Buruj" (Hirakani Bastion) constructed over a huge steep cliff. The legend goes "that a milkmaid named as Hirakani from a nearby village had come to sell milk to the people living at the fort. She happened to be inside the fort when the gates got closed and locked at sunset. Hearing the cries of her infant son back at the village echo after nightfall, the anxious mother couldn't wait till dawn and courageously climbed down the steep cliff in pitch darkness all for the love of her little one. She later repeated this extraordinary feat in front of Shivaji and was rewarded for her bravery." Noticing that this was a potential loophole, Shivaji built a bastion over the cliff and named it after the milkmaid as Hirakani Buruj.

Incidents

The statue of Chatrapati Shivaji's pet dog was removed by alleged members of the Sambhaji Brigade in July 2012 as a protest but was re-instated by Shivaji Raigad Smarak Samiti, the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

, sculptor Rambhau Parkhi and the District Administration.

Ropeway

The "Raigad Ropeway" is a ropeway which provides passenger transportation to the fort. Prior to the ropeway the only way to ascend Raigad fort was to trek to it, which took an hour. The Ropeway makes this site relatively more accessible to those not in a physical condition to make this trek. The Raigad Ropeway project is a non-profit endeavour, being the only one of its kind in India. This facility is owned by the Shri Shivaji Raigad Smarak Mandal, (SSRSM)

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, an organisation started by

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokamānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

in 1886. Construction of this Ropeway was completed in 1996. In 1990, the SSRSM was permitted by the government of Maharashtra to construct the ropeway. An offer of Rupees Eighty Million, received from a Central Government firm, from Naini,

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

, was considered to be unviable. Subsequently Jog Engineering Limited offered to execute the project on a

Build–operate–transfer Build–operate–transfer (BOT) or build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) is a form of project delivery method, usually for large-scale infrastructure projects, wherein a private entity receives a concession (contract), concession from the public ...

basis in 1994, at a cost of INR 31 Million, and the same was accepted by SSRSM. The construction work commenced in November 1994, and was completed by March 1996. The project was inaugurated by Prof. Rajendra Singh, Sarsanghchalak of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

. The ascent is 420 m and the rope length is 760 m. The motor capacity is 52.22 kW and the cabin weight is 100 kg each.

Ropeway Museum

The ropeway project includes a museum which was created by Babasaheb Purandare and Ninad Bedekar.

Gallery

File:Raigad fort towers.jpg, Towers a.k.a. Manore File:Raigad 1896.jpg, Raigad in 1896 File:Raigad fort walls hidden in the green.JPG, Fortification of the Raigad Fort File:RaigadFort1.jpg, Raigad Fort Palace Ruins File:Inscripted name of the architect of Raigad.JPG, Chief Architect Hiroji Indulkar inscription File:Total view of fort.jpg, Manore view File:Outer view of shiv temple.jpg, Jagdishwar temple File:Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Samadhi Raigad.jpg, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Samadhi (memorial) File:Shilalekh at Raigadh.jpg, Inscription at Jagdishwar temple File:Palace at Raigad Fort.jpg, Rajsadar of Raigad fort File:Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his throne.jpg, Throne of Maratha Empire (Meghdambri/ ''Sinhasan)'' File:Wagh Darwaza of Raigad fort.jpg, Wagh Darwaza File:Mahadarwaza and fortification of Raigad fort.jpg, Mahadarwaza and fortification File:Ropeway trolleys.JPG, Raigad Ropeway trolleys File:Opes of Raigad Ropeway.JPG , Raigad Ropeway ropes File:Riagad Ropeway Information.JPG , Raigad Ropeway Information in Marathi

In popular culture

Many scenes of web series 'The secret of the Shiledars' were shot at Raigad Fort. Some scenes of the 2025 Hindi film '' Chhaava'' were shot on-location at Raigad.

References

External links

(Raigad Fort Place to See)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raigad Fort Former capital cities in India Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Forts in Raigad district 16th-century forts in India Tourist attractions in Pune district Former populated places in India Hiking trails in India Water Heritage Sites in India