Estimated time for visit – 3-4 hours.
This fort is remembered for the immense heroic act of Shivaji’s Subedar Tanaji Malusare. This fight in 1670 AD was between 1200 Mughals and 50 Maratha soldiers headed by Tanaji. This fort also I remember for the treacherous Raja Jai Singh who was slaved by Shahjahan and Aurangzeb and got many titles for his faithfulness to them. Jai Singh troubled Shivaji as much as Shivaji troubled Aurangzeb. Irony is that this fight was directly between a Rajput Mughal Commander Udaybhan and Shivaji commander Tanaji. Almost all Rajput kings selfishly fought with each other and helped foreign empires to root into India. From 1200 AD the only exceptions were Rana Pratap and Shivaji.
How to reach – Singhgad fort is 45 KM from Pune International airport.. Taxis and buses are available from Pune. Bus goes only up to Ghera Singhadh. From there fort is 10 KM. We have to higher local shared taxis.
Where to stay- Avoid staying at Ghera Singhgadh. It is not economical in any way. Alternatively if you want to stay at the Fort then book online for Maharashtra State Tourism Dev Corporation guest house or Stay at Pune and take Uber for full day and come back to Pune by 8 PM.
Food- Food and water is available at Ghera Singadh in resorts and also there are 2-3 restaurants inside fort.
Fort history – Situated in Bhuleshwar range of Sahyadri mountains it was a favourite fort of Shivaji due to its steep it provides natural protection. There are only two entrances to this fort, -Pune Darwaza and Kalyani Darwaza. The fort was also strategically located at the centre of a string of other Maratha Empire forts such as Rajgad Fort, Purandar Fort, Lohagadh and Torna Fort. It is estimated that it is 2000 years old fort and was captured by Mohammed Bin Tuglaq from koli king Nag Naik in 1328 AD.
Estimated time for visit – 6 hours.
In my experience in all Maharastra, public is not tourist friendly and have little knowledge even about location of the nearby historic places. Even drivers are reluctant and irritated to tell you routes and share information. The vendors inside monument premises are also rude to tourists.
There are two routes to reach the Fort entrance area. Trekking is tough.
So we dropped the idea of trekking to fort from Ghera Singhadh. Seeing the difficulty we preferred going by road and hired a return journey jeep for Rs. 1200 (10 AM to 3 PM).
One guide waved hand when we started from parking area to Fort entrance Pune Darwaza-1. The person looked to be from nearby village. In remote area forts such as in Ranthambore, Penukonda, Daultabad, Chittorgarh and Kalinjar etc I got the guides who were even grass cutters or shepherd but they had very good knowledge. So DO NOT hesitate if such people try to help you as guide.
We cross the Pune Darwaza -1. At this gate the guide shows us Kalyani gate from quite far and the 300 years old jail. Though there are no remnants but guide is very logical and enthusiastic to explain.
We further ascend about 100 tough steps and stand at Pune Darwaza-2 .
We can see some small hawkers here selling some fruits and ground nut etc.
We have so far covered about 200 steps. It is not easy. I can see some older guys who have given up and now resting at some places. Even we are also tired but it is the enthusiasm of my Allahabad friend Shenker Rakshit with heavy camera that I am forced to get up and walk.
We are spell bound by fort greenery and far we can see all over green mountains. The scenes were very beautiful and we thought it is worth to come all these remote forts of Maharashtra in rainy or winter season.
Here are some beautiful scenes of surrounding hills from the fort from any point. These are Bhuleshwari range of Sahyadri mountains.
We move further from Pune Darwaza -2 and see the stable (horse) meant for horse and their grass “naand” (pot). These were made by cutting the rock and leaving pillars.
We can see some small hawkers here selling some fruits and ground nut etc. Further crossing about 100 steps we come to Pune Darwaza-3.
So we have so far covered about 300 steps. It is not easy. I can see some older guys who have given up even at Pune Darwaza-2 and now resting at there. There are 2-3 average restaurants. We take coffee here and offer to guide also. Only Maharashtra snacks and meals available here. Some hawkers show me the tiffins and say it is house made meals to offer. But I avoid taking snacks outside.
By the time we get up from the restaurant it is 11.30 AM. So one and half hour passed in reaching Pune Darwaza-3. The guide next shows us Topkhana “Cannon House” as marked in board here. But the guide says this small building was used for storing ammunition. A small cannon is also installed here.
Just at this place is the soldiers underground barracks where now water is filled.
We move further and guide proudly shows us a building where Bal Gangadhar Tilak used to stay.
Further top is Maharastra State Tourism Corporation Bunglow which is currently under renovation.
Paths inside are either stepped of plane. These are well maintained by Forts government authority.
Next we come across Shivaji’s son Rajaram Samadhi. He died in this fort due to fever.
We walked a little distance from MSTDC guest house to see open Rang Mahal”.
Next we see a sacred but simple memorial on whose name this fort is said to be renamed. Earlier this fort was known as “Kondana Fort” ( not corroborated fact but popular in folks) . In 1670 Shivaji sent Tanaji Malusare to re-conquer this fort from Mughals. It is said that Tanaji fought with 50 soldiers against Mughals 1200 won this fort. He lost his hand but still continued fighting. And finally was martyr. On hearing of the victory Shivaji sadly said –“हमने गढ़ तो जीत लिया, लेकिन मेने मेरा सिंह खो दिया“. From then this fort is known as Singhgadh.
Later in 2003 state Government constructed a bigger memorial for Tanaji.
Synopsis
In Pune region within 110 KM radius three forts are historically important – Torna, Raigadh, Purander, Torna and this fort. Thought sturctures inside are now washed away completely yet these forts draw attention of LARGE number of tourists and trekkers. The young trekkers are very enthuiastic about these forts as I noticed here and also these forts are training ground of Indian military.
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