Makrandgad Fort is a fort near

Pratapgad Pratapgad is a mountain fort located in Satara district, in the Western Indian state of Maharashtra. The fort is situated 24 kilometres from the Mahabaleshwar hill station. The fort is now a popular tourist destination. The fort's historical ...

Fort. It is located 156km from

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 ...

, in Satara district, of

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 ...

. The fort is located in the midst of the famous Javli forest. The fort is accessible from the Hatlot and Ghonaspur village. The trek to this fort is an easy one day trek for visitors at Mahabaleshwar. The fort consists of two flattened humps with a ridge between them.

History

This fort was constructed by King

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

in 1656 at the same time when Pratapgad was constructed. This fort was though of less importance as it did not command any trade routes or pass but, it was a link between Pratapgad and fort Vasota. It was surrendered by private negotiations to the British in 1818.

How to reach

The nearest town is Mahabaleshwar which is 37 km from Ghonsapur. The base village of the fort is Ghonaspur which is 27km from Pratapgad. There are good hotels in Mahabaleshwar. The trekking path starts from the hillock west of the Ghonsapur. The route is very safe and narrow. There is a dense forest on the trekking route. It takes about one hour to reach the col between the two humps. The right path goes Malikarjun temple and a water spring on the fort and the left path goes to another hump. The night stay on the fort cannot be made due to lack of potable water on the fort. The villagers from the local village make night stay and food arrangements at a reasonable cost. The other route is from the village Hatlot.

Places to see

The fort is said to consist of two portions Madhushikhar and Makrandgad. The Madhu peak is a geographical boundary between

Satara Satara may refer to: Places * Satara (city), Maharashtra, India * Satara district, Maharashtra, India * Satara Lok Sabha constituency * Satara Assembly constituency * Satara railway station * Satara State, a former princely state of British Ind ...

Raigad Raigad may refer to: *Raigad district in Maharashtra, India **Raigad fort **Raigad (Lok Sabha constituency) in Maharashtra, India *Raigarh Raigarh is a city in northern Chhattisgarh known as the 'Cultural capital of Chhattisgarh'; Raigarh is fa ...

and

Ratnagiri district Ratnagiri district (Marathi pronunciation: �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The administrative headquarter of the district is located in the town of Ratnagiri. The district is 11.34% urban. The district ...

. The Makrandgad fort is occupied on a small spur. There are few ruins of buildings and water tanks that can be seen on the fort. It takes about half an hour to encircle the fort. The Fort walls are now in ruins. From the top of the fort

Mahipatgad Mahipatgad is a hill fort situated on the east of the Khed. It is one of the largest forts in Maharashtra, with an area of 120 acres. This fort is located 23.6 km from the Khed City. The Mahipatgad. Suamargad and Rasalgad are situated ...

Rasalgad Rasalgad is a fort in the Maharashtra state of India. It lies 15 km east of Khed City. The fort has been developed as a tourist attraction. Its fortification is in good condition. The fort lied on the south end of a narrow spur which joins ...

and

Sumargad Sumargad is a less-visited fort in the Ratnagiri district. This fort lies east of the Khed. It is about from Khed City. There are no human settlements around the fort. There are two ways to reach Sumargad; one from Mahipatgad and the other ...

can be seen on a clear sky.

References

{{MarathaEmpire Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Forts in Satara district 16th-century forts in India Tourist attractions in Satara district

History

How to reach

Places to see

See also

References