Purandar Trip
The history is something always fascinates so as the historical places. So I decided to visit a near historical place called “PURANDAR FORT”. I called up my friend Kiran and he too got ready for that. So on Sunday 19th July,09 we travelled across Hadapsar, Dive ghat, Saswad and Narayanpur village and reached to foothills of the fort. Narayanpur village has a temple of Lord Mahadev constructed sometime during the Yadav’s dynasty. But we couldn’t get time to see it.
A brief about history :
The mythological name of the Purandar is “Indraneel Parvat”. As per Hindu mythology, when Load Hanuman attempted to carry Dronagiri mountain range, a portion of it slipped off and fell down to form “Indraneel Parvat”.
In 1649, Adilshah was furious by the great deeds of Shivaji Maharaj since he had captured many forts, which were previously under control of Adilshah. Adilshah, therefore arrested Sahaji Raje and Summoned Fatehkhan to get hold of Shivaji. Recognizing the inevitability of a fight, as a part of a strategic decision, Shivaji Maharaj opted Purandar fort, aa a suitable place for battle. However, in spite of the fact that the same fort was not in hands of the Marathas, it was a calculated risk which he had taken within no time, though, he managed to establish his supremacy over the fort using Gusiella technique.
With this fort as base, the Marathas entered into battle with Fatehkhan, which they subsequently won. It was a triumph of Shivaji. Later in 1655, Maharaj nominated Netaji Palkar as the “Sarnaubat” of the fort.
Shivaji Maharaj’s son, Sambhaji, was born on 16th May 1657, Thursday on this fort.
Again in 1665, Mughal Sardar Jaisingh made a lot of Purandar fort. At that time the fort was under the supervision of Murarbaji Despande. A 2000 strong infantry backed him. Selecting 700 strong troops, Murarbaji ventured into battle with Dilerkhan who was nominated by Sardar Jaisingh and backed by 5000 strong infantry. Dilerkhan was marching upwards from all directions on to the Purandar fort. However, first Vajragad was lost and later in spite of a valiant performance by Murarbaji’s troops, the fort of Purandar fell into the hands of Moguls. Later when Shivaji Maharaj understood of his defeat, he entered into treaty with Mogul Sardar Jaisingh in which he agreed to surrender 23 of Mogul forts won by Marathas. It dates 11th June 1665.
Later, after the death of Sambaji Maharaj, Aurangazeb conquered the fort and renamed it as ‘Ajamgad’. Again, on behalf of Marathas, Shankarji Narayan argued with Mughals and took control of the fort. Subsequent to that, in Shake’ 1695, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj handed over the reigns of the fort to Peshwas.
It was the capital of Peshwas for many years then. Shake’ 1697, i.e. 1775, marked the birth of Sawai Madhavrao. In the year 1818, British took the charge of the fort.
The journey :
At the foothills of the Purandar, we were wondering about how to go on fort, whether by treak or by bike directly. But as we were in treking mood we took climbing road which suppose to take 20 mins to reach, but for us it took almost 1 hr.
As we reached at Purandar Machi, we enter through Bini Darwaja as we proceeded further; the khandakada immediately caught our attention. After enter through door, we saw the road branches, one straight ahead whereas the other towards the rear end of fort. As we move on, we come across the vintage military camps and a few bungalows. The same road leads to the foothills of the citadel, where we can see the temple of “Purandareshwar”. Also, the statue of Murarbaji in his fighting stance gives us the feel of his courageous nature and does not fail taking us back to those glorious days.
As we go ahead we saw ‘Padmavati Lake’, next to that there Militarty prohobitated area but still we can go ahead till ‘Bhairav Khind’. A statue of the Great Maratha, ‘Shivaji Maharaj’ can be seen here. On the right hand side we see the ‘Rajale lake’ which also the source of water supply for Purandar Machi.
After seeing vintage military camps and a few bungalows we started again climbing, after a short distance we reached at Delhi Darwaja, the door, facing north, is still in a good
condition. As the road turns near the Darwaja, we can see a temple of Goddess Laxmi. A leftward route from the bifurcation ahead leads us to the other end of the Citadel. The same road leads us to some water cisterns. The rightward road from the bifurcation leads to yet another door (Darwaja). Two statues of lions guard either sides of this Darwaja.
As we started walking uphill, We got to see here the remnants of few structures like ‘food-grain storage rooms’ as als
o of a castle. A few water reservoirs. After a walk 15 minutes along the main road and climb the steps, we come across ‘Kedareshwar’ temple. A reconstructed temple, it is of Lord Kedareshwar. During Mahashivratri thousands of pilgrims visit this temple. ‘Deepastambha’, a stone pillar for enlightening the lamps, can be seen in front of the temple.
This temple is a topmost part of the fort. One can see the forts like Rajgad, Torna, Sinhagad, Raireshwar, Rohida, Malhargad as well as Karhe-Plateau from here. At the rear end of this temple there is a fortified place called as ‘Koknya’
After seeing the temple we started back journey, and reached shortly at Delhi-Darwaja, There we saw a huge rock extending eastwards. This is nothing but ‘Khandakada’. At its end lies a bastion. As we went ahead, we come across Kedar Darwaja. Although it wasn’t in good condition. however, its historical value and importance can’t be overlooked.
Again reaching at Delhi Darwaja, we started coming down, while coming down we reached at ‘ Purandareshwar Temple’, the Lord Mahadev’s temple built
in ‘Hemadic’ style of architecture. The temple houses approx. 1.25 to 1.5 feet high statue of Lord ‘Indra’. Bajirao(I) was instrumental in leading its reconstruction.
There was one canteen where we had our lunch and then again came at Bini Darwaja, there we saw ‘Statue of Murarbaji Deshpande’, was established in 1970 ( which is at right if we go through Bini Darwaja). We should have seen this when we got through Bini Darwaja but we took left side.
After this we had started our journey back to foothills where we parked our bike and there we started back to Pune.
Following is the place on Purandar I think we missed to see,
Rameshwar temple :
This temple is located towards the rear end of Purandareshwar temple. Constructed during the start of ‘Peshva’ dynasty, built by Balaji Vishwanath, it was a temple that was privately owned by the Peshvas. Moving further ahead we come across the remains of an ancient two storied bungalow called as ‘Wada’.
It was in the same ‘Wada’ that Sawai Madhavrao was born. Behind it is a well, which is in a good condition even today.
A brief about history :
The mythological name of the Purandar is “Indraneel Parvat”. As per Hindu mythology, when Load Hanuman attempted to carry Dronagiri mountain range, a portion of it slipped off and fell down to form “Indraneel Parvat”.
In 1649, Adilshah was furious by the great deeds of Shivaji Maharaj since he had captured many forts, which were previously under control of Adilshah. Adilshah, therefore arrested Sahaji Raje and Summoned Fatehkhan to get hold of Shivaji. Recognizing the inevitability of a fight, as a part of a strategic decision, Shivaji Maharaj opted Purandar fort, aa a suitable place for battle. However, in spite of the fact that the same fort was not in hands of the Marathas, it was a calculated risk which he had taken within no time, though, he managed to establish his supremacy over the fort using Gusiella technique.
With this fort as base, the Marathas entered into battle with Fatehkhan, which they subsequently won. It was a triumph of Shivaji. Later in 1655, Maharaj nominated Netaji Palkar as the “Sarnaubat” of the fort.
Shivaji Maharaj’s son, Sambhaji, was born on 16th May 1657, Thursday on this fort.
Again in 1665, Mughal Sardar Jaisingh made a lot of Purandar fort. At that time the fort was under the supervision of Murarbaji Despande. A 2000 strong infantry backed him. Selecting 700 strong troops, Murarbaji ventured into battle with Dilerkhan who was nominated by Sardar Jaisingh and backed by 5000 strong infantry. Dilerkhan was marching upwards from all directions on to the Purandar fort. However, first Vajragad was lost and later in spite of a valiant performance by Murarbaji’s troops, the fort of Purandar fell into the hands of Moguls. Later when Shivaji Maharaj understood of his defeat, he entered into treaty with Mogul Sardar Jaisingh in which he agreed to surrender 23 of Mogul forts won by Marathas. It dates 11th June 1665.
Later, after the death of Sambaji Maharaj, Aurangazeb conquered the fort and renamed it as ‘Ajamgad’. Again, on behalf of Marathas, Shankarji Narayan argued with Mughals and took control of the fort. Subsequent to that, in Shake’ 1695, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj handed over the reigns of the fort to Peshwas.
It was the capital of Peshwas for many years then. Shake’ 1697, i.e. 1775, marked the birth of Sawai Madhavrao. In the year 1818, British took the charge of the fort.
The journey :
At the foothills of the Purandar, we were wondering about how to go on fort, whether by treak or by bike directly. But as we were in treking mood we took climbing road which suppose to take 20 mins to reach, but for us it took almost 1 hr.
As we reached at Purandar Machi, we enter through Bini Darwaja as we proceeded further; the khandakada immediately caught our attention. After enter through door, we saw the road branches, one straight ahead whereas the other towards the rear end of fort. As we move on, we come across the vintage military camps and a few bungalows. The same road leads to the foothills of the citadel, where we can see the temple of “Purandareshwar”. Also, the statue of Murarbaji in his fighting stance gives us the feel of his courageous nature and does not fail taking us back to those glorious days.
As we go ahead we saw ‘Padmavati Lake’, next to that there Militarty prohobitated area but still we can go ahead till ‘Bhairav Khind’. A statue of the Great Maratha, ‘Shivaji Maharaj’ can be seen here. On the right hand side we see the ‘Rajale lake’ which also the source of water supply for Purandar Machi.
After seeing vintage military camps and a few bungalows we started again climbing, after a short distance we reached at Delhi Darwaja, the door, facing north, is still in a good
condition. As the road turns near the Darwaja, we can see a temple of Goddess Laxmi. A leftward route from the bifurcation ahead leads us to the other end of the Citadel. The same road leads us to some water cisterns. The rightward road from the bifurcation leads to yet another door (Darwaja). Two statues of lions guard either sides of this Darwaja.
As we started walking uphill, We got to see here the remnants of few structures like ‘food-grain storage rooms’ as als
o of a castle. A few water reservoirs. After a walk 15 minutes along the main road and climb the steps, we come across ‘Kedareshwar’ temple. A reconstructed temple, it is of Lord Kedareshwar. During Mahashivratri thousands of pilgrims visit this temple. ‘Deepastambha’, a stone pillar for enlightening the lamps, can be seen in front of the temple.
This temple is a topmost part of the fort. One can see the forts like Rajgad, Torna, Sinhagad, Raireshwar, Rohida, Malhargad as well as Karhe-Plateau from here. At the rear end of this temple there is a fortified place called as ‘Koknya’
After seeing the temple we started back journey, and reached shortly at Delhi-Darwaja, There we saw a huge rock extending eastwards. This is nothing but ‘Khandakada’. At its end lies a bastion. As we went ahead, we come across Kedar Darwaja. Although it wasn’t in good condition. however, its historical value and importance can’t be overlooked.
Again reaching at Delhi Darwaja, we started coming down, while coming down we reached at ‘ Purandareshwar Temple’, the Lord Mahadev’s temple built
in ‘Hemadic’ style of architecture. The temple houses approx. 1.25 to 1.5 feet high statue of Lord ‘Indra’. Bajirao(I) was instrumental in leading its reconstruction.
There was one canteen where we had our lunch and then again came at Bini Darwaja, there we saw ‘Statue of Murarbaji Deshpande’, was established in 1970 ( which is at right if we go through Bini Darwaja). We should have seen this when we got through Bini Darwaja but we took left side.
After this we had started our journey back to foothills where we parked our bike and there we started back to Pune.
Following is the place on Purandar I think we missed to see,
Rameshwar temple :
This temple is located towards the rear end of Purandareshwar temple. Constructed during the start of ‘Peshva’ dynasty, built by Balaji Vishwanath, it was a temple that was privately owned by the Peshvas. Moving further ahead we come across the remains of an ancient two storied bungalow called as ‘Wada’.
It was in the same ‘Wada’ that Sawai Madhavrao was born. Behind it is a well, which is in a good condition even today.
