Sudhagad

About:

The origin of this fort is said to date back to the 2nd century B.C the same age as the Thanale and Khadsamble caves nearby. It was then called Bhrorapgad (after its presiding deity, Bhoraidevi). In 1436, it was captured by the Bahamani Sultan. In 1657, the Marathas took over and renamed it "Sudhagad"(the sweet one). It was a large fort and Sudhagad was considered by Shivaji as the capital of his kingdom. He surveyed it, but instead chose Raigad because of its central location.

Sudhagad is one of the rarely visited forts in Konkan region. It is amongst those few forts in Maharashtra which are still in good condition. The management of this fort was handled by the king of Bhor. The outside wall of the fort is a strong one and still in good shape. The fort is 2000 feet high. The fort lies near Pali - one of the famous Ashtavinayakas.

The way to Sudhagad is from Village ' Bairampada ' - 13 Kms west to Pali. There are 3 doors to the fort. One of them is ' Maha Darwaja ' . This is very huge door but still in good state. A big platue on the fort consists of temple of Lord Shiva and 'Ambar Khana' (Where the elephants were kept). The main temple of the fort is of 'Devi Bhorai'. The other spots on the fort are a small pond, Echo Point and Takmak Tok. Sudhagad is one of the vital forts in Konkan region. It can be covered while a trip to Pali and Mahad in Ashtavinayak.

In the regime of the Peshwas, the ‘Pantsachivas’ of Bhor became the custodians of this fort. After the annexation of princely states in 1950 the fort became patron less. As a result, the fort is in a state of ruins, even though it escaped the wrath of the British.

Regarded as one of the oldest forts in Maharashtra, Sudhagad, or Bhorapgad as it used to be called before Shivaji conquered it, dates back to a time Before Christ. A few Puranas claim that Sage Bhrug stayed here built the temple of goddess Bhorai. It was used as a strategic vantage point by the rulers of the Bhor dynasty and was later annexed by the Bahamani Sultan in the 1400s.

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History:

The ‘Thanale’ excavations in this area are nearly 2200 years old. This shows that Sudhagad may be that much ancient. The construction and the geographical significance indicate that some great rulers might have constructed the fort.
According to the Puranas, Sage ‘Bhrugu’ had stayed here and he had established the temple of Goddess ‘Bhorai’ on this fort.

Sudhagad was included in ‘Swarajya’ in 1648. It is described in old records as follows:
“Malavji Naik Karake put the ladders in Sakharadara. Initially, Jadhav and Saranayak both climbed the fort under the guidance of chieftain ‘Maloji Bhosale’. After that Haibatrao climbed the fort. 25 soldiers went ahead and killed the guards. Further the chief of the fort was killed in anguish and the fort was conquered.”

Shivaji Maharaj renamed Bhorapgad as Sudhagad. Later Sambhaji met Akbar (the rebellious son of Aurangjeb) in the ‘Pachchapur village’ situated at the base of this fort. Annaji Datto, Balaji Aavji Chitnis, his son Aavji Ballal and Hiroji Pharjand were all important persons in ‘Ashta-Pradhan Mandal’ of Shivaji Maharaj. Sambhaji has killed all of them in ‘Parli’ village near Sudhagad.

Interesting things to do:

Trekking is the most interesting thing to do for ppl here.Photographers delight.

Interesting things to Visit:

Bhoreshwar temple :
There is temple of ‘Bhoreshwar’ near the palace. If we move further, we can see a well with a secret door. There are steps from palace to the ‘Bhorai Devi’ temple. If we descend towards the other route, it takes us to water cisterns, which hold good drinking water. The route on the left side of these cisterns takes us towards a secret door. But this route doesn’t exist now.

Pachchapur Darwaaja :
If we enter to the hill through this door, we come across a plateau after climbing some distance. To the left is the temple of ‘Siddheshwar’, storehouses of food grains, some cisterns, a lake named “Hawaldar Tale” and “Hattimaal”.
On the right hand side we can see natural fortification of the fort.

Takmak Tok of Sudhagad :
After leaving the palace come up with the steps and turn to right hand side of the route. This route goes through ‘Hatti Paga’ (place where elephants were tied).It directly takes us to one peak. This peak is very similar to the cliff “Takmak Tok” on Raigad. From this peak Dhangad, Korigad, Tel-Baila can be seen very clearly. Similarly river ‘Amba’ and the villages surrounding it can be seen from this place.

Dindi Darwaaja :
The way from Ghat of Sawashni takes us directly to Dindi Darwaaja. This door is exact replica of the ‘Mahadarwaaja’ (main entrance) on Raigad. The construction and arrangement of this door is of the type called “Gomukhi” (in shape of cow’s mouth). This door is well protected since it is hidden in between two huge bastions.

There is one secret path well on the fort at the backside of the palace.
It has one tunnel in it, but now it is dumped by mud. There is also a secret path to move down from fort in case of any difficulty. There are some tombs at the backside of the Bhorai Devi temple. We can find beautiful carvings on them.

Mobile range info:

How to reach?

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Hotels/Lodge/Accommodation:

• Kamath Residency # 9324306203
• Govt. Rest House, Pali.02145-222167.

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