SHIVNERI FORT

OVERVIEW

District : Pune
Height above sea level : 3500 feet
Difficulty rating : Medium
Base village : Junnar
Approx. time to reach : 2 hrs from base village
Best Season to visit : Anytime except summer.
Duration : 2 days

How To Reach

To reach on fort Shivneri first we have to reach Junnar. Distance between Junnar Bus stand and Shivneri is 2 km by road.

Ways to reach Junnar :
1) From Mumbai or Kalyan one can reach Junnar via Malshej Ghat or via Khandala Ghat. Route via Malshej Ghat is the preferable as it takes less time. Buses ply hourly from Kalyan towards Junnar. Distance from Mumbai is approximately 100 km.

2) From Pune or Shivaji Nagar one can take buses for Junnar. Buses ply hourly for Junnar from these bus stands.

3) On Kalyan – Nagar road there lie two diversions: a) Bangar Phata b) Aale Phata. One can also descend at any one of these diversions and use local transport to reach Junnar city.

Ways to reach on Shivneri :
1) A 2 km walk from Junnar bus stand takes us to the foothills of Shivneri, right up to the steps. This route is the main one, through 7 magnificent doors. These are named as follows:

On this side is the temple of Goddess Shivai. Shivaji was named after the name of the deity. This is situated in the place where stands the cave carved by the Buddhists during the Satvaahan era. To the right of the temple are few more caves. On the walls of second cave is an inscription. Two more are found on the walls of neighboring caves. In all there are 64 caves carved in the walls of mountain on which Shivneri is built. Many people traverse through this route, as it is very easy.

2) Second route to climb this fort is to ascend from the eastern face. This route is little tiring. From this route it hardly takes 1 hour to reach at the top from the base stand. On the way there is a temple of Hanuman. One has to take a path on the right side of the temple. This small path takes us to the reserved forest. In this forest there lays the path to reach to top. One has to be careful, as there are many paths that can mislead us. Traversing upwards for 20 minutes takes us to the rock cut caves on the eastern side of the fort. On the left we can see steps running upwards. After ascending this steps we can reach top in 10 minutes.

Place to Stay / Eat

One can make a stay on the fort in Shiv Kunj or Ambarkhana. Shiv Kunj is a suitable option among the two because of water cisterns is available near it. Food needs to be arranged by trekker itself. Food is available till Junnar.

Places of Interest

The fort has a significant shape, like an arrowhead, pointing towards the north. Someone has described this as an arrow pointing towards the tyrant Moguls of north, threatening about Shivaji Maharaj. It is surrounded by about 7-8 forts in the region, and was built to guard the city of Junnar and the ancient route of Naneghat. From the top of the fort we can have a view of Lenyadri, a famous pilgrimage and the Giant Meteoric Radio Telescopes of Narayangaon. Shiv Janmasthan: This is the place on the fort where the birth of Shivaji Maharaj took place. This place is named as Shiv Mandir. Ahead of Shiv Mandir there is a huge water tank.

Kadelot point : This is the place where prisoners were punished by throwing them down the fort. This point is on the northern end of the fort.

Shiv Kunj : Shiv Kunj is a monument constructed by the state government, in honor of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Inside Shiv Kunj there is an idol of Bal Shivaji and Jijabai made of "Panchdhatu" (An alloy of 5 metals.)

Kamani Masjid :
In front of Shiv Kunj on can see this Kamani Masjid. It might have been named Kamani because the top of this structure is like bow that is called as Kaman in Hindi. On the east-facing wall there is an inscription in Urdu.

Ganga Jamuna :
These are the water cisterns behind the Shiv Kunj. Water in these cisterns is potable. On whole of Shivneri there are more than 10 water tanks.

Koli Chauthara :
This monument is built in the place where Mughals killed thousands of Koli soldiers in the year 1650.

Ambarkhana :
Every fort needs to have a warehouse for its storage of grains and food products. Ambarkhana is the place where huge amount of grain can be stored. The caretakers here keep this place very clean.

When descending/ascending through the way near Ambarkhana all the seven doors of the fort can be visited. These doors help us to imagine the strength this fort would have given to its defender.