The place reminds me of my wonderful experiences when I was just one trek old and was beginning to cultivate my passion for treks. I still remember I had been to this place when I was in XII i.e. (April, 1994). I had been to Rajmachi a couple of times after that year but was not able to roam around the place as I did during my first trip to Rajmachi.
I got a chance to visit Rajmachi in June this year as there was a group planning to visit Rajmachi in early June, 2009.
I took the opportunity for trekking to Rajmachi my only concern was the rains, which had not reached Mumbai till 5th June and were expected to reach anytime. But I took the risk to visit Rajmachi. I reached Lonavla around 5.30 p.m. The organizers of the trek had told us to that we would be having an early dinner and then would proceed to Rajmachi.
Around 9.30 p.m., after dinner we proceeded towards Rajmachi. The group was big and there were some new comers too. So the speed was going to be slow. Even though it was night trek due to the new comers we were taking constant breaks. The weather was not too cold but it was pleasant for trekking. One thing I realized that the route has changed drastically due to the new hotels coming up around Lonavla and since all the spots near the Mumbai-Pune Highway are already taken up, the new hotels are coming up the nearest hills by cutting the trees and destroying the environment around Lonavla. The worst was that even the usual Trekking route was being converted into a 2 lanes road till the hotels and the hotels have even taken to laying of paver-blocks on the route for vehicles to ply by. Even as we were walking to Rajmachi we could hear the loud music coming from the hotels nearby.
After a walk of around 2 hours we were finally out of the reach of music sound from the hotels and were left to watch the nature around us. The first thing, which drew our attention, was the fireflies, which too were enjoying the Saturday night by parting around trees. It was a wonderful site to see with fireflies clustered around the tree and it looked like a festive season with lighting during Diwali.
We progressed slowly towards Rajmachi enjoying the view around us. The route was a bit rough with stones and pebbles hitting most of us and with night the life was tougher. On the left we could see the fort at a distance but there was a big valley, which separated us from the twin citadels. After some time we felt as if we left the fort far behind and moved across the route in jungle but after a walk of another half hour we could again see the first citadel, Shrivardhan. But it was still another half an hour walk to the village. This is one of the most boring route to trek as u just pass by the citadel but for us to reach the base village we need to walk another half an hour.
After a numerous halts, we finally reached Rajmachi around 2.30 a.m. and we immediately hit the bed as all of us were tired. The weather during the night was cold and chilly. We all got up around 5.30 a.m. and ready to climb the two forts which now can be viewed properly and the enthusiastic trekkers were already clicking snaps on the first glimpse of the fort.
Rajmachi comprises of two citadels (Bale killa) Manaranjan and Shrivardhan. Manranjan overlooks the Konkan and Shreevardhan overlooks the Deccan Plateau. The Forts were basically meant as watchtowers overlooking a wide area of Sahyadris. Towards the west of Manaranjan are the Ulhas River and the Sahyadri Ranges, which protects this citadel. One can see the Dukes Nose and the adjoining Range of Sahyadris. Towards the north side of the forts very near you can view the Dhak fort and the Bahiri pinnacle. The Other forts one can see from here are Manikgad, Karnala, Irsal and Prabalgad. Lohagad is in the east and Koyrigad is in the south of Rajmachi.
The valley surrounding these citadels is just 1 km wide so if any enemy attacks these forts it would be very difficult for the enemy to camp around the fort. The flip side of this is that the camping by the enemy would result in blocking all the routes from this fort.
This Fort may be built around Satavahana Dynasty rule in South-Central India(Satavahanas ruled around 200 BC). It has been standing firmly since then and has witnessed the era of Chalukya, Rashtrakut, Yadav, Kadamb, Bahamani, Adilshahi, Shivshahi and Peshwas.
The fortifications at Manaranjan
The Killedar's Residence on ManaranjanThis fort has very less structures. There are around 2-3 Water Tanks. One big water tank supplies water to the village. Other tanks are dry around this time of the year. There is only one structure on the fort and it looks more like Killedar’s residence or the place of meeting on the Fort. The roof of the structure has collapsed but the walls are still standing firmly inspite of the weather onslaught for all these years. One can easily see the Trains plying on the Mumbai –Pune Railway track from this fort. One gets a very sad feeling when you visit the forts in Maharashtra, the forts are in shambles and the Government (Central and State) and Archeological Survey of India has been neglecting all the Forts in Maharashtra. The Government has 50 Crores to allocate for building a new Museum in Sea but has very little or no funds to cater to these old forts which protected our ancestors from the attacks by Muslims and Christian invaders. After a walk around the Manaranjan fort we decided to move along to Shrivardhan.
The Temple Bhairoba
The valley between the two forts is 300-400 Meters wide and a small temple of Bhairoba is situated in this Valley. The temple has 3 Deepmalas and some old ancient carvings. After praying for a few moments in the temple, we moved towards Shreevardhan.
Shreevardhan
The Balle-killa at ShreevardhanShreevardhan (around 3000 ft ASL) is the second and the tallest citadel amongst the two citadels of Rajmachi. This route to this citadel is not an easy one and you don’t seem to realize that you have reached the Mahadwar till you actually pass by it. This fort covers a wide area of covering Deccan Plateau. The fort is built at the pinnacle of one of the peaks in Rajmachi, so that one can view the movements of the downhill region. The view from the fort is breathtaking with wide greenish landscape and undulating hilly terrains. This fort runs parallel to Manaranjan fort. It’s called Shreevardhan as you can view the Sun (Shri) rise from this fort.
Chilkhati Buruj
The fortification of this small fort has a different architecture and cannot be seen on other forts in Maharashtra. The Chilkhati Buruj (Armored fortifications) is the specialty and needs to be seen by every fort lover. There are two such Chilkhati Burujs on the fort. The motive behind building the Chilkhati buruj is that the enemy who attacks the fort will try to destroy these fortifications to gain entry into this fort as the point where these Chilkhati buruj is built is on the lower side of the Fort and are likely to be attacked first. So even if this wall falls due to bombarding of canons the enemy will be surprised to see another fortification inside the outer covering. There are two exits or entry points between two walls of the Chilkhati Buruj. This entry/exit is not easily accessible and only one person can come inside at a time. So this destroys the strategy of the enemy to gain an easy entrance inside the fort. The Fort has a nice small water tank, which is inside the rock, covering most of the part of the water tank and keeps the water cool even during summer. There are a numerous other tanks that are filled with water. A beautiful view of Shirote Lake in the east can be seen from Fort Shreevardhan. Water from this lake is used by Tata Power Companies at their hydroelectric power generation station at Khopoli.
After a four hour-long tour around the forts, we moved on towards the ancient temple that was excavated by the villagers. The ancient temple dates back to around 1000 years old; it has a small water tank at the main entrance of the temple. The entry inside the temple makes you feel pleasant and soothing. The rock built structure keeps the temperature inside the temple cool for the devotees to pray even during the summers. There is an old water tank near this temple and the plaque inside the tank suggests the tank was built around 1712 by one Deshmukh family from Danda-Rajapuri.
The Ancient Temple of Lord Shiva
How Rajmachi was important even during the Olden Times?
The routes around Bhorghat connected the Konkan and the Deccan Plateau and hence were mostly used by traders. Rajmachi used to be an important strategic fort that used to control these routes in the olden days and maintain peace in the areas surrounding these forts. Hence, even Buddhist have built caves around this region which dates back to 200 B.C and are popularly known as Kondana Caves.
After having a small and early lunch we decided to leave, but the lunch was making us sleepy and everyone wished we could have slept a little but we needed to catch the train by 5 p.m. at Karjat so with lazy legs we decided to move towards Kondivde village to catch rickshaw.
As we proceeded through the tricky way down to Kondana village we could feel the heat and the halts became a constant affair and participants were empting the bottles inspite of the warnings given by the group leader. The heat was killing and there were very few trees to cover the heat. So as soon as the group entered the shade it was time to halt. The heat in the month of June exhausts you the most. After a long tiring journey of 3 hours or so we finally reached Kondana village. After filling our water bottles, we proceeded to Kondivde village. By now the trek was as good as over so before leaving I just turned back to see the most exhausting route we climbed down and I saw Manranjan fort standing tall in the ranges as if still guarding the villages down below.
The ruins of a structure on Fort Manoranjan are not of the residence of Killedar, as mentioned by you under the photograph of the structure. It was a ware house for storing ammunition.
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