This is a narrative on short but nice trek to Lohagad fort.
About Lohagad -
It is situated 52km from Pune in western India. Lohagad is at an elevation of 3,450 feet (1,052 m). It divides the basins of the Indrayani and Pavna and is situated on a side range of the Sahyadris. The Visapur fort is located on its eastern side. The four large gates of Lohagad are still in good condition and reasonably intact. Historical records show that in the later Peshwa period, Nana Phadnavis (1742-1800 AD) built several structures in the fort such as a big tank and a step-well (bawali).
On the west side, there is a long and narrow wall-like fortified spur called Vinchukata (Marathi for Scorpion's tail; see picture) because of its shape. Lohagad has a long history with several dynasties occupying it at different periods of time: Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Yadavas, Bahamanis, Nizamshahis, Mughals and Marathas. Shivaji captured it in 1648 CE, but he was forced to surrender it to the Mughals in 1665 CE by the Treaty of Purandar. Shivaji recaptured the fort in 1670 CE and used it for keeping his treasury. This fort was used to keep the loot from Surat. Later in Peshwa time Nana Phadanwis used this fort for living for sometime. The fort has been declared as a protected moument by the government (courtesy Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohagad)
The trek was organized by our own Osmund :) This guy has very good technique of organizing trips for his friends and colleagues. Another example of joyous trip full of youth and excitement and off course "Shadaab"
Well organised with all the essential goodies alongside us. Thanks for this memorable trek with some great people around made it worthwhile.
Since most of the crew was coming from Mumbai and suburbs we booked two Maruti Versa cars which would drop us off to foot of Lohagad. After much settlement we book two cabs for approximately 2400/-
First stop in the trip was to get CNG filled up in both the vehicles so that we don't stall anywhere in the route.
Once that was taken care off the merry group headed towards the destination... It was full off fun and lots of talking ;)
Few pics from on the way to lohagad from Mumbai
As soon as we reached lonavla city we were bit lost as nobody knew the right way to head to. So for approx. 35 to 45 minutes both the cars were wandering off in lonavla trying to navigate to right direction. During this stint of 45 minutes one of our cabs was stopped by none other than our own Mamu (policeman) who wasn't in mood to negotiate and the driver had to shell out fine due to his own blunder (talking on mobile phone in front of traffic cop)
After a delay of 45 minutes both the cars were on right track again and started to head towards Lohagad. Easiest way to reach the route to Lohagad is take left on expressway (near Sinhagad university turn and join the route after small patch of rough road... most of the traffic of lonavla city will be avoided)
At around 11:00 we reached foot of Lohagad from where we abandoned our vehicles and started to hike towards the fort.
The start of this entrance point was very steep and was not in good condition for vehicles to get uphill. Many of the cars (even SUV's) found it difficult to go uphill. However proper guidance and proper control of car helped many surpass this gradient.
Once at the foot we rested for few moment and started to gather our thoughts and most importantly filled our tummies with nice egg burjhi (mashed eggs), Maharashtra's very own Vada Pav (Indian potato burger) and everyone's favourite cutting chai (tea)
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After having a delightful meal we all started to hike our way towards the fort base. The base of fort from this point is aprrox 6kms uphill with good gradient climb. With backpacks and rain falling it became a medium difficulty hike.
Once we started our hike rain gods for some reason wanted to welcome us in there own way to Lohagad and it started pouring. The whole hike was rain soaked as it poured we were welcomed by lush greenery on both sides of hike.
Ritesh asking Shadaab for his umbrella, but shaddab in no mood of sharing. Shadaabh was one character in the whole trip who made everyone just go bonkers with his witty one liners.
Me and shubhankar discussing good time we had when we were part of one big team at office :)
As we kept hiking uphill we came across a small village by name of the fort. You could feel the old style housings and also use of cattle was relevant for day to day activities even though motor vehicles were now easily available.
View of fort from the village
Village school playground, made us remind of our childhood days
Village school building. Hope it becomes a big school and helps the village kids to learn and prosper.
Authentic village well
Once the village was crossed we came across a Vedic Institution which was spread across 0.5 acres of land nicely built and maintained. This is centre to meditate and has nicely placed 9 gods as symbol of planetary positions.
From here on it was easy trail till the base of fort. Once at the base you will notice lots of locals selling stuff to tourists and also lots of garbage been thrown. These vendors don't seem to be legitimate and there was no sign of any administrative officer / officials who take care of this monument of historic importance.
Wrong direction for the sign board to be facing :(
At the entrance there stands this age old firepower which was laying alongside with no proper upkeep done.
Long never ending stairs were our route to the main fort. The stairs seemed to have been refurbished over time but at some critical junctures needs some upkeep as duing the rainy season (when we went) these become very slippery.
At the "DWAR" i.e. one of the four gates
Inside the fort
Top View :)
Temple inside the fort, guess this was central place of worship
A historic pool
The water was damn cold but tempting "pool" can't keep the enthusiasts away from taking a "dip" at it :)
Note:- The pool is not that deep and there is real uneven rocks beneath the stable water. For people who like to jump rather than get down in pool.
Common area
Some Samadhi
On the fort boundary posing for the paparazzi's
Natural source of water
It felt heaven after such a long hike finally the foot was out of the boot and in nice cold water
The Scorpion point of the fort is much talked about and visited site. The approach was bit slippery but it was one point you got to be visiting. Amazing view from there. no pictures as it was drizzling at the time.
During the way back from fort
Kitchen of one of the locals at the base of the fort
Spiral route to get to the top of the fort. Looks amazing if photo-shopped :)
One amazing team who completed this hike
Had a memorable time and trust me best time to visit is June when it just starts raining. If time persists and the trek is properly organized one can also visit Pawna dam which is few kms away and can be viewed from top of the fort.
About Lohagad -
It is situated 52km from Pune in western India. Lohagad is at an elevation of 3,450 feet (1,052 m). It divides the basins of the Indrayani and Pavna and is situated on a side range of the Sahyadris. The Visapur fort is located on its eastern side. The four large gates of Lohagad are still in good condition and reasonably intact. Historical records show that in the later Peshwa period, Nana Phadnavis (1742-1800 AD) built several structures in the fort such as a big tank and a step-well (bawali).
On the west side, there is a long and narrow wall-like fortified spur called Vinchukata (Marathi for Scorpion's tail; see picture) because of its shape. Lohagad has a long history with several dynasties occupying it at different periods of time: Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Yadavas, Bahamanis, Nizamshahis, Mughals and Marathas. Shivaji captured it in 1648 CE, but he was forced to surrender it to the Mughals in 1665 CE by the Treaty of Purandar. Shivaji recaptured the fort in 1670 CE and used it for keeping his treasury. This fort was used to keep the loot from Surat. Later in Peshwa time Nana Phadanwis used this fort for living for sometime. The fort has been declared as a protected moument by the government (courtesy Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohagad)
The trek was organized by our own Osmund :) This guy has very good technique of organizing trips for his friends and colleagues. Another example of joyous trip full of youth and excitement and off course "Shadaab"
Well organised with all the essential goodies alongside us. Thanks for this memorable trek with some great people around made it worthwhile.
Since most of the crew was coming from Mumbai and suburbs we booked two Maruti Versa cars which would drop us off to foot of Lohagad. After much settlement we book two cabs for approximately 2400/-
First stop in the trip was to get CNG filled up in both the vehicles so that we don't stall anywhere in the route.
Once that was taken care off the merry group headed towards the destination... It was full off fun and lots of talking ;)
Few pics from on the way to lohagad from Mumbai
As soon as we reached lonavla city we were bit lost as nobody knew the right way to head to. So for approx. 35 to 45 minutes both the cars were wandering off in lonavla trying to navigate to right direction. During this stint of 45 minutes one of our cabs was stopped by none other than our own Mamu (policeman) who wasn't in mood to negotiate and the driver had to shell out fine due to his own blunder (talking on mobile phone in front of traffic cop)
After a delay of 45 minutes both the cars were on right track again and started to head towards Lohagad. Easiest way to reach the route to Lohagad is take left on expressway (near Sinhagad university turn and join the route after small patch of rough road... most of the traffic of lonavla city will be avoided)
At around 11:00 we reached foot of Lohagad from where we abandoned our vehicles and started to hike towards the fort.
The start of this entrance point was very steep and was not in good condition for vehicles to get uphill. Many of the cars (even SUV's) found it difficult to go uphill. However proper guidance and proper control of car helped many surpass this gradient.
Once at the foot we rested for few moment and started to gather our thoughts and most importantly filled our tummies with nice egg burjhi (mashed eggs), Maharashtra's very own Vada Pav (Indian potato burger) and everyone's favourite cutting chai (tea)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
After having a delightful meal we all started to hike our way towards the fort base. The base of fort from this point is aprrox 6kms uphill with good gradient climb. With backpacks and rain falling it became a medium difficulty hike.
Once we started our hike rain gods for some reason wanted to welcome us in there own way to Lohagad and it started pouring. The whole hike was rain soaked as it poured we were welcomed by lush greenery on both sides of hike.
Ritesh asking Shadaab for his umbrella, but shaddab in no mood of sharing. Shadaabh was one character in the whole trip who made everyone just go bonkers with his witty one liners.
Me and shubhankar discussing good time we had when we were part of one big team at office :)
As we kept hiking uphill we came across a small village by name of the fort. You could feel the old style housings and also use of cattle was relevant for day to day activities even though motor vehicles were now easily available.
View of fort from the village
Village school playground, made us remind of our childhood days
Village school building. Hope it becomes a big school and helps the village kids to learn and prosper.
Authentic village well
Once the village was crossed we came across a Vedic Institution which was spread across 0.5 acres of land nicely built and maintained. This is centre to meditate and has nicely placed 9 gods as symbol of planetary positions.
From here on it was easy trail till the base of fort. Once at the base you will notice lots of locals selling stuff to tourists and also lots of garbage been thrown. These vendors don't seem to be legitimate and there was no sign of any administrative officer / officials who take care of this monument of historic importance.
Wrong direction for the sign board to be facing :(
At the entrance there stands this age old firepower which was laying alongside with no proper upkeep done.
Long never ending stairs were our route to the main fort. The stairs seemed to have been refurbished over time but at some critical junctures needs some upkeep as duing the rainy season (when we went) these become very slippery.
At the "DWAR" i.e. one of the four gates
Temple inside the fort, guess this was central place of worship
A historic pool
The water was damn cold but tempting "pool" can't keep the enthusiasts away from taking a "dip" at it :)
Note:- The pool is not that deep and there is real uneven rocks beneath the stable water. For people who like to jump rather than get down in pool.
On the fort boundary posing for the paparazzi's
It felt heaven after such a long hike finally the foot was out of the boot and in nice cold water
The Scorpion point of the fort is much talked about and visited site. The approach was bit slippery but it was one point you got to be visiting. Amazing view from there. no pictures as it was drizzling at the time.
During the way back from fort
Kitchen of one of the locals at the base of the fort
Spiral route to get to the top of the fort. Looks amazing if photo-shopped :)
One amazing team who completed this hike
Had a memorable time and trust me best time to visit is June when it just starts raining. If time persists and the trek is properly organized one can also visit Pawna dam which is few kms away and can be viewed from top of the fort.
