Sinhagad Fort Trek

My Pune Travel Diary

Day 2 – August 6^th 2022

Woke up with an excitement of yet another adventurous day since I had planned to visit Sinhagad fort trek, most famous Shanivarwada and Dagdu Shet Ganapathi temple today.

Sinhagad Fort Trek

Since Sinhagad fort trek would take minimum 3-4 hours to explore including the trek, my driver had planned to start early in the morning at around 8:30 am so that we get sufficient time to explore the fort. I was picked up from my guest house and we drove along the Satara – Belgaum highway. Enroute, we saw Khadakwasla dam and even the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadkwasla. It’s a beautiful drive.

We reached fort entrance and we were stopped by security who charged us Rs 100 as entry fee to the fort and told us to come back in 2 hours since it will get too crowded.

From here on, it is fun to ride up-to the Fort passing through the enchanting Ghats and fog. Until you reach the base point of the Sinhagad fort, you wont realize where is the actual fort since its fully covered by fog and there was slight drizzle too.

Main parking lot was full and we parked our car just outside the entrance. From here we started our climb uphill to the fort.

Some facts : One of the most famous battles on Sinhagad was fought by Tanaji Malusare, general of Shivaji of the Maratha empire. During the battle Tanaji lost his life. It is believed that Shivaji expressed his remorse with the words, "Gad ala, pan Sinha gela" ("We won the fort, but lost our lion)". Hereafter Shivaji named this fort as “Sinhagad “(Sinha – Lion, Gadh – Fort). This is the second highest peak in Maharashtra.

The fort was built on a cliff in such a way that the fort could be protected from enemies with steep rocks on one side and surrounded by beautiful valley on other side.

Trek distance : One way walk uphill is around 3 KM. But be prepared to more of walking on the hill-top if you want to explore the entire fort. Trust me you wont regret. Its totally worth it😊.

How to reach : One option is your own vehicle which you can take upto the top and from there trek to the fort. If you want to explore local transport, then Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) runs a bus service (bus number 50) from Shaniwar Wada to the Sinhagad foothills (Sinhagad Payatha).

Trek starting point is Sinhagad Paytha. From here you will be led by steps upto the fort. While climbing up-hill you will come across Pune Darwaza first.

From here we further started climbing up to the fort top.

After reaching the top you have a lot of stalls lined up to sell fresh fruits and other refreshments.

From here its challenging to decide which way to go. One of the fascinating and noticeable things is the Doordarshan Relay Towers. Apart from this, there is Kalyan Darwaza,Tanhaji Kada, Tilak Mandir and many more points. Signboards are placed all along the fort. So you can chose which direction to go.

We decided to explore Kalyan Darwaza first.

Kalyan Darwaza

Walk till this Kalyan Darwaza is breathtaking with stunning views.

Once you are near the signboard, you will find steps leading to Kalyan Darwaza. Steps are too slippery due to rains. So please watch out.

But once you reach Kalyan Darwaza, you will be spellbound with the views that unfold here.

Also you can sense the grandeur of construction when you see the door.

Next we proceeded to witness another important landmark in history – Tanhaji Kada.

Tanhaji Kada

This was a long walk along the fort. Rains had stopped now, and the fog was clearing. So we got to see the beautiful lush green valley along with the nearby villages from the hill-top including Khadakwasla dam. The panoramic views of the landscapes around will leave you spellbound.

We continued our walk and were amazed to see how this fort was built with smart planning back in those days.

After a brief walk, we could see our destination - Tanhaji Kada and realized how much more we need to walk.

Finally, we reached Tanhaji ka Kada. You will find a signboard with some details about Tanhaji written here. This is the steepest side of the fort. When you stand on the top here, you can imagine how Tanhaji would have climbed it along with his small army in the night.

There is also a landmark to pay tribute to Tanhaji where he lost his hand during the battle.

While I just started clicking pictures, it started raining heavily. Time to keep my phone inside and open the umbrella. So here on, I don’t have any pictures of the other prominent landmarks of the fort.

Hunger Cravings … By now we had walked enough since morning and its time to enjoy the delicacies here in this perfect season of monsoon. There are lot of food options up-hill. Residents from villages nearby have set up food stalls and they keep inviting you to have onion pakodas which are just so tempting in this monsoon. As you pass by each stall, you will be tempted with the Maggie and onion pakora aromas coming from the food stalls. So we got into one of the stalls and the ladies who were managing this served us Zhunka bhakri (Bhakri is a bread made from Jowar or Bajra grains and Zhunka is a curry made with gram flour), rice, Onion pakoda, chaas(butter milk) and matki dahi(yogurt served in earthern pot). This is the authentic Maharashtrian food, and it was heaven. I just hogged to my heart’s content.

After this wholesome lunch, as we started walking back we came across Lokmanya Tilak Bunglow.

We now started our descend from this magnificent fort. We also saw some more prominent landmarks while walking back.

You will easily need around 2 hours on the top to explore the entire fort. Still I feel you might miss exploring some corner of the fort. Unbelievably huge and magnificent fort built by Maratha’s. I have never seen such a big fort in my life till date.

Rest Room Facilities: There are rest room facilities on the hill-top and even at the parking lot.

While returning we stopped by the Khadakwasla dam for some pictures.