As impregnable as Iron and hence the name 'Lohagad'.This fort is located around 65 KMs from Pune near to Lonavala. Though the Deccan Plateau is having hundreds of forts but only very few are
easily accessible and one among them is Lohagad. It makes a wonderful one day trip from cities of both Mumbai and Pune.
The history of this fort confirms that several dynasties ruled here like Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Yadavas, Bahamanis, Nizamshahis, Mughals and Marathas.
Shivaji Maharaj captured it in 1648 but he was forced to surrender it to the Mughals in 1665 by the Treaty of Purandar. He recaptured the fort in 1670.Lohagad rises to an elevation of 1,033 m above sea level. The fort is connected to the neighboring Visapur fort by a small range.
As the beauty of Lohagad multiplies thousand folds during monsoons,We decided to give it a visit.
It took us two and half hour to reach the fort steps,we took the old Pune-Mumbai Highway and took a left turn from Karla Village.It is the same spot from where if you take right turn,you will
reach the famed Devi Ekvira temple at Karla Caves.After crossing the Malavali railway station and the Pune Mumbai expressway,we reached the Bhaje Village.A large waterfall welcomed us
just at the entrance of Bhaje Caves but we decided to cover the fort first due to large expected crowd of trekkers and revelers due to weekend.The roads from here are very narrow and very steep.
The car must be powerful plus the driver must be very experienced,as our ertiga failed to cross a steep curve due to loose shovels on the road and we have to walk to cross 2 steep curves.
Two wheeler must be avoided as I have seen at least a dozen two wheeler's falling on the ground with their occupants.
There are 2 good scenic points to shoot pictures before the foothills of fort.One is to shoot the famed VinchuKata (Scorpian Tail) with their 4 waterfalls and another one at gaumukh khind
from where you can shoot both Visapur fort and the Lohagad fort.We started to climb steps at 10:30 AM and reached the top in flat 60 mins.There are 4 gates in between Ganesh Darwaza,
Narayan Darwaza,Maha darwaza and Hanuman Darwaza.The entrance of this fort is still intact and there are numerous photography opportunities at the 300+ steps and the gates.Do not forget to capture the iconic 'serpentine steps' picture from Maha darwaza.
Just after entering from first ganesh darwaza,you can see an inscription on a stone and some canons.I must say that spend some time at each darwaza and you will observe different
scenic views from every gate.
After the 4th Hanuman darwaza which is the oldest one as other three are younger and bulit by Nana Phadnavis(1742-1800 AD),there are two ways,one is going to right which will
take you to Laxmi Kothi(a place to store the loot from surat),it can accomodate atleast 50 person even now,a lake and the tomb of Sheikh Umar.
The left route will start from a tomb(just in front of 4th gate) like structure and an open air place for meetings(Sabhagruha) which also holds some canons.
Just after this you will find a Shiva temple and an octagonal lake near by.If you walk further you will see some more water ponds,a 16 corner water tank and finally you will reach the main attraction of this fort "Vinchukata".
This place is recently fortified with iron railings as there is a steep drop from here.When we reached this place,it was completely engulfed in the clouds.Then I waited for 30 min and then the clouds
disappeared for few seconds and I got a chance to view as well as click some photos of this majestic 30 meter wide and 1500 meter long fortification which resembles a Scorpion Sting and thus the name Vinchukata or Vinchukada.
There is a proper way to go here and the views from here are magnificent.On the right you can see the twin fort of Visapur and on the left you can see the mighty Pawna dam.
After seeing this ,the way downstairs is simple 30 min walk.The steps are good enough but at some places they are broken and special care needs to be taken during rains as some parts of
stairs resembles like waterfall during rains.
We had a good snacks lunch at the Lohgadwadi base village of bada pao,Maggi,Kanda Bhaji and a steaming cup of tea.For vegetarians,there is only one restaurant that serves pure veg items.
The snacks are good but a little bit expensive but its ok as these are run by locals and they are running it in harsh weather conditions.
It took us 3 hours to climb and completely explore the fort and when we were getting down we saw hundreds of people climbing up the stairs.So it is wise to reach this fort early in the
morning.There was a complete chaos while returning from the fort as people haphazardly parked their cars on the steep roads.
Somehow we reached the base of Bhaje caves and start climbing the 200 steps of caves.There is an ASI entrance fees of Rs.25 to visit these caves.
It is a group od 22 rock cut caves with cave no.12 is the main cave as a chaityagriha rest all other are Viharas.These belongs to Hinayana sect and are 2200 years old.caves are surrounded by 2 big waterfalls and numerous small one which are falling just outside of viharas forming a water curtain.I just wondered when the monks were resting in these viharas then they must be having a wonderful view of these small water channels from their nicely crafted windows.
Apart from cave no. 12 ,the another cave of importance is cave 18.It has a pillared verandah in front and is adorned with unique reliefs.
The carvings in this cave proves that tabla was used in India even before two thousand years.
The carving in this cave depicts a woman playing tabla and another one dancing.
A notable part that makes these set of caves unique is a group of 14 stupas, five inside and nine outside an irregular excavation. The stupas are relics of resident monks, who died at Bhaja,
and display an inscription with the names of three monks, Ampinika, Dhammagiri and Sanghdina.One of the stupa shows Stavirana Bhadanta means the venerable reverend inscribed on it.
The stupa particulars show the name of the monks and their respective titles.The stupas have been carved very elaborately and two of them have a relic box on their upper side.
We spent nearly 1 hour in exploring all the caves.Then we spent 30 min at the main Waterfall which is enchanting enough to force anyone to drench in it.It is a safe waterfall and must be visited.
The road from here back to Pune is good and after a customary dinner at famed 'Toni daa dhaba' on old Highway ,we reached our home back with lot of memories and pictures.
easily accessible and one among them is Lohagad. It makes a wonderful one day trip from cities of both Mumbai and Pune.
 |
| Fort as seen from foothills. |
Shivaji Maharaj captured it in 1648 but he was forced to surrender it to the Mughals in 1665 by the Treaty of Purandar. He recaptured the fort in 1670.Lohagad rises to an elevation of 1,033 m above sea level. The fort is connected to the neighboring Visapur fort by a small range.
 |
| Twin Visapur fort which is only accessible through a trek. |
 |
| One of the old inscription just after first gate Ganesh Darwaza. |
As the beauty of Lohagad multiplies thousand folds during monsoons,We decided to give it a visit.
It took us two and half hour to reach the fort steps,we took the old Pune-Mumbai Highway and took a left turn from Karla Village.It is the same spot from where if you take right turn,you will
reach the famed Devi Ekvira temple at Karla Caves.After crossing the Malavali railway station and the Pune Mumbai expressway,we reached the Bhaje Village.A large waterfall welcomed us
just at the entrance of Bhaje Caves but we decided to cover the fort first due to large expected crowd of trekkers and revelers due to weekend.The roads from here are very narrow and very steep.
The car must be powerful plus the driver must be very experienced,as our ertiga failed to cross a steep curve due to loose shovels on the road and we have to walk to cross 2 steep curves.
Two wheeler must be avoided as I have seen at least a dozen two wheeler's falling on the ground with their occupants.
There are 2 good scenic points to shoot pictures before the foothills of fort.One is to shoot the famed VinchuKata (Scorpian Tail) with their 4 waterfalls and another one at gaumukh khind
from where you can shoot both Visapur fort and the Lohagad fort.We started to climb steps at 10:30 AM and reached the top in flat 60 mins.There are 4 gates in between Ganesh Darwaza,
Narayan Darwaza,Maha darwaza and Hanuman Darwaza.The entrance of this fort is still intact and there are numerous photography opportunities at the 300+ steps and the gates.Do not forget to capture the iconic 'serpentine steps' picture from Maha darwaza.
 |
| Trademark Serpentine steps of Lohagad. |
Just after entering from first ganesh darwaza,you can see an inscription on a stone and some canons.I must say that spend some time at each darwaza and you will observe different
scenic views from every gate.
 |
| MahaDarwaza |
After the 4th Hanuman darwaza which is the oldest one as other three are younger and bulit by Nana Phadnavis(1742-1800 AD),there are two ways,one is going to right which will
take you to Laxmi Kothi(a place to store the loot from surat),it can accomodate atleast 50 person even now,a lake and the tomb of Sheikh Umar.
The left route will start from a tomb(just in front of 4th gate) like structure and an open air place for meetings(Sabhagruha) which also holds some canons.
Just after this you will find a Shiva temple and an octagonal lake near by.If you walk further you will see some more water ponds,a 16 corner water tank and finally you will reach the main attraction of this fort "Vinchukata".
This place is recently fortified with iron railings as there is a steep drop from here.When we reached this place,it was completely engulfed in the clouds.Then I waited for 30 min and then the clouds
disappeared for few seconds and I got a chance to view as well as click some photos of this majestic 30 meter wide and 1500 meter long fortification which resembles a Scorpion Sting and thus the name Vinchukata or Vinchukada.
 |
| Famed Vinchukata |
 |
| Vinchukata engulfed in clouds. |
There is a proper way to go here and the views from here are magnificent.On the right you can see the twin fort of Visapur and on the left you can see the mighty Pawna dam.
After seeing this ,the way downstairs is simple 30 min walk.The steps are good enough but at some places they are broken and special care needs to be taken during rains as some parts of
stairs resembles like waterfall during rains.
We had a good snacks lunch at the Lohgadwadi base village of bada pao,Maggi,Kanda Bhaji and a steaming cup of tea.For vegetarians,there is only one restaurant that serves pure veg items.
The snacks are good but a little bit expensive but its ok as these are run by locals and they are running it in harsh weather conditions.
It took us 3 hours to climb and completely explore the fort and when we were getting down we saw hundreds of people climbing up the stairs.So it is wise to reach this fort early in the
morning.There was a complete chaos while returning from the fort as people haphazardly parked their cars on the steep roads.
Somehow we reached the base of Bhaje caves and start climbing the 200 steps of caves.There is an ASI entrance fees of Rs.25 to visit these caves.
 |
| ChaityaGriha |
 |
| Bhaje Caves. |
 |
| Important :Ancient game of Chaupad inscribed on the floor of Cave No.12 |
It is a group od 22 rock cut caves with cave no.12 is the main cave as a chaityagriha rest all other are Viharas.These belongs to Hinayana sect and are 2200 years old.caves are surrounded by 2 big waterfalls and numerous small one which are falling just outside of viharas forming a water curtain.I just wondered when the monks were resting in these viharas then they must be having a wonderful view of these small water channels from their nicely crafted windows.
Apart from cave no. 12 ,the another cave of importance is cave 18.It has a pillared verandah in front and is adorned with unique reliefs.
The carvings in this cave proves that tabla was used in India even before two thousand years.
The carving in this cave depicts a woman playing tabla and another one dancing.
 |
| Lower left corner,one can see a lady playing Tabla. |
A notable part that makes these set of caves unique is a group of 14 stupas, five inside and nine outside an irregular excavation. The stupas are relics of resident monks, who died at Bhaja,
and display an inscription with the names of three monks, Ampinika, Dhammagiri and Sanghdina.One of the stupa shows Stavirana Bhadanta means the venerable reverend inscribed on it.
The stupa particulars show the name of the monks and their respective titles.The stupas have been carved very elaborately and two of them have a relic box on their upper side.
 |
| Unique thing with Bhaje caves. |
 |
| Group of 14 stupas. |
We spent nearly 1 hour in exploring all the caves.Then we spent 30 min at the main Waterfall which is enchanting enough to force anyone to drench in it.It is a safe waterfall and must be visited.
 |
| Bhaje Waterfall |
The road from here back to Pune is good and after a customary dinner at famed 'Toni daa dhaba' on old Highway ,we reached our home back with lot of memories and pictures.
