Vajragad

(History)
Vajragad was one of the 23 forts given to Mughals in Purandar treaty in 1665. It was won back in 1670. After Shivaji Maharaj’s death, it was lost to Mughal and they named it as “Ajamgad”. Again in 1695, Shahu Maharaj won it and handed over the control to Peshwas. It is also called “Rudramal”. It’s height from sea level is about 4444 ft (~1355 m). Vajragad and Purandar are sibling forts very near to Pune (about 30-35 Kms). Its mythological name is “Indraneel Parvat”. As per Hindu mythology, when Lord Hanuman attempted to carry “Dronagiri” mountain range, a portion of it slipped off his hands and fell down to form “Indraneel Parvat”. There is a Siva Temple in the base village of these forts, “Narayanpur”, called “Narayaneshwar”. This temple is said to be from the days of “Pandavas”. Purandar and Vajragad always had a demanding place in Maratha Empire as Purandar was Capital of Peshwas for many years.

(Reach the base)
There are two ways to reach the Narayanpur, which is base village for both Purandar and Vajragad. One is via “Saswad” (Pune-Swargate-Hadapsar-Dive Ghat (remember to see the “Mastani Lake” from here)-Saswad-Narayanpur) and another is via “Balaji Temple” near Kapurhol on Pune-Satara highway (Pune-Swargate-Katraj-Katraj Ghat-Kapurhol-Balaji Temple-Narayanpur). One can go either by bike or ST bus or city bus to this fort. There is continuous city bus service for Saswad from Hadapsar and ST bus service for Balaji Temple from Swargate. Once you reach Narayanpur, take the blessings from “Narayaneshwar” and “Ek Mukhi Datta” and then move towards the Narayanpeth. It is a small locality of few houses very close to Narayanpur. From here, one can either go by trek route or by road. There are two trek routes available. One take you directly to “Binni Darwaja” and another route take you through some old bungalows and few lakes. I would suggest go by this route so that you can see the view of Sinhagad, Torna and Rajgad along with some great scenes from down and moreover some of the parts of Purandar and Padmavati Lake. Choose any route from these three (bike/car, trek1 and trek2 (which I suggested)) and you will finally arrive at Binni Darwaja on Pupandar Machi.

(Reach the top)
Here, you can see a statue of “Narveer Murarbaji Deshpande” and a Shiv Temple behind his statue. Beside the Bini Darwaja, you can see the map of India made of cement on the ground. Beside this, is a ruins of church. There are many bungalows and halls on this Machi as it was center for Military activities at some point of point. From this church, move ahead and you may see old Shiv Temple on your right hand side. After this temple, there is a Hotel where you can have your lunch/break fast as per the requirement. The water in the tank beside this hotel is too cool and sweet in taste. There are three temples near this hotel – Purandareshwar, Rameshwar and a Maruti. After having a break at this point, move ahead and reach the “Shivale Lake” surrounded by many ruins of old bungalows. You can see the reflection of Vajragad in this lake. Leave the lake behind and reach “Bhairav Khind”, where a statue of Shivaji Maharaj is installed. From here one may go to either Purandar (right side) or Vajragad (left side). Take left for Vajragad and climb a small hill then keep left and march towards Vajragad. After having almost a round turn to the rock patch you may now see the walls of fort. Locate/Identify the position of door and then move upwards. In rainy season its hard to locate the door as there is much grass and taller trees coming out due to rain.

(About fort and sightseeing)
Once you identify and reach the footsteps of door, you can see the broken road and steps which will take you to the “Mahadarwaja”. A cool and fast moving air flowing in the door tempts you to take the rest and spend few minutes in the shadow of door. You can notice the sign (I think of it to be lotus) on the door which is not elsewhere (on other forts it is generally an elephant, horse or tiger is carved). There could be many buffalos and cows on the fort as they come here to eat the grass. Walk through the steps after door and come on the top of the fort. Here you can see a huge rock in the middle and the wall surrounding the border of the fort. You can see the bigger and complete picture of Purandar from here. There are not much places to see on this fort now but two temples and two water tanks are in good condition along with the Mahadarwaja and few ruins of fortification. Move beside that huge rock and you can see those temples of Vajra Maruti and Shiv Temple. Go though a small door cum window and see those temples and tanks. After seeing the temples you can spend some more time on fort and have a look at surrounding area.

(Come down)
After seeing everything, come back to Purandar Machi from same route and decide whether to go to Purandar or back home depending upon time. While going down, I would suggest, go by the trek route which you haven’t seen while coming so that you can explore more things. This route starts directly from Binni Dwarwaja and take you to Narayan Peth in just 30 minutes. I am posting some of the pictures taken by me when I visited Vajragad in October 2008.

Vajragad - Mahadarwaja Binni Darwaja on Purandar Machi Narveer Murarbaji Deshpande Narayaneshwar Temple in Narayanpur

Purandar-Vajragad Ghat Top view of the ghat Map of India on Purandar Machi Vajragad Balekilla Vajra-Maruti on Vajragad