Lohagad is one of the many

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

s of Maharashtra state in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Situated close to the hill station

Lonavala Lonavala (ISO: Loṇāvaḷā) is a hill station town and a Municipal Council in the Pune district, Maharashtra, India. It is about west of Pune and to the east of Mumbai. It is known for its production of the hard candy ''chikki'' and is als ...

and northwest of

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, Lohagad rises to an elevation of above sea level. The fort is connected to the neighboring Visapur fort by a small range. The fort was under the

Maratha empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

for the majority of the time, with a short period of 5 years under the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

History

Lohagad has a long history with several dynasties occupying it at different periods of time:

Satavahanas The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the lat ...

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

Rashtrakutas Rashtrakuta ( IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing the ...

Yadavas The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and S ...

Bahamani The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

s, Nizams,

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj captured it in 1648 AD, but he was forced to surrender it to the

in 1665 AD by the Treaty of Purandar. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj recaptured the fort in 1670 AD and used it for keeping his treasury. This fort was used to keep the winnings from Surat. Later in Peshwa time Nana Phadnavis used this fort for living for some time and built several structures in the fort such as a big tank and a step-well.

Jain Inscription

The lohagad fort has caves on its south side facing Lohgadwadi. In September 2019 an inscription in

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

Brahmi Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' ...

script in

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

language dating back to the 2nd or 1st century BC was discovered by team of trekkers from Pune in the cave on the cliff. The inscription was studied by Dr. Shreekant Pradhan, an ancient Indian paintings scholar working at Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute. The inscription was found on the outside wall of a rock-cut cave on the eastern side cliff of the Lohgad fort, close to Lohgadwadi village. The inscription is written in the Brahmi script and the language is Prakrit influenced Sanskrit. The inscription is similar to, but more descriptive than, an inscription discovered at Pale caves (Maval) by Mr. R.L.Bhide and studied by archaeologists HD Sankalia and Shobhana Gokhale in 1969. It starts with ‘ Namo Arihantanam’ which is commonly used by Jains in Navakar Mantra, pointing to the fact that the Lohgad cave is a Jain rock-cut cave. The inscription at Pale caves also begins in a similar manner and based on Sankalia and Gokhale’s study, it was assumed to be a

inscription. The inscription mentions the name "Ida Rakhita", meaning Indra Rakshita, who donated water cisterns, rock-cut benches to settlements in the area. The inscription at Pale also mentions the same name. The newly discovered inscription is 50c m-wide and 40cm-long and is written in six lines.The Lohagad Jain cave is near the fort. The fort has been declared as a protected monument by the government.

Geography and Climate

Lohagad is part of the Western Ghats. It rises to an elevation of above sea level, and is located to the southwest of the larger Visapur fort. The range divides the basins of the Indrayani river and Pavana lake. Lohagad overlooks the Pavana reservoir, located to the south of the mountain. The hill extends to the northwest to a fortified spur, called ''Vinchukada'' (Scorpion's tail) because of its resembling shape. The four large gates of Lohagad are still in good condition and reasonably intact. During the monsoon, the top of the fort is covered with mist and clouds and becomes particularly wet with growing moss. The roads and trails leading to the hill are quite slippery at this time of the year and precautions are necessary to be taken while venturing the routes.

Accessibility

Lohagad fort can be accessed by various modes of travel. The nearest airport is the

Pune International Airport Pune Airport is a customs airport located approximately northeast of the historic centre of Pune in the state of Maharashtra, India. The airport is a civil enclave operated by the Airports Authority of India at the western side of Lohagaon ...

. The proposed

Navi Mumbai International Airport Navi Mumbai International Airport, officially D. B. Patil International Airport, is an international airport being constructed in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It will serve in parallel as an alternative with Mumbai's existing Chhatrapati S ...

will serve as the nearest airport in the coming future. The nearest train station is Malavli, which can be accessed by suburban trains between

and Pune. The nearest major train station is

, on the

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

railway line. Lohagad is connected by the Mumbai-Pune Highway and can also be accessed from

Paud Paud is a small village in the heart of the Mulshi valley in Pune district, the fourth most populous district in India. It is located in the state of Maharashtra. The main sources of income are the two international schools on the nearby hill ...

via Kolvan and Dudhiware Khind for all vehicles. People can also hike all the way to the fort. Bhaja Caves is on the way to Lohagad if a small diversion is taken. This walk is a particular favorite of trekkers, especially in the monsoon season. It is a simple, very scenic and pleasant trek and the distance from Malavli and Lohagad can be covered in around two hours. A tar road exists all the way to the top from Malavli station and one can hire a tempo or cab to the top. The best season to visit the fort is in the monsoons. A variety of birds and insects can also be spotted in these hills.

Nearby attractions

* Bhaja Caves - from Malavli, once home to

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monks. *

Karla Caves The Karla Caves, Karli Caves, Karle Caves or Karla Cells, are a complex of ancient Buddhist Indian rock-cut caves at Karli near Lonavala, Maharashtra. It is just 10.9 Kilometers away from Lonavala. Other caves in the area are Bhaja Caves, Pat ...

*Lohagad Jain cave *Lonavala - , a famous and scenic hill station. * Aamby Valley City - from Lonavala. * Visapur Fort

Gallery

File:Lohagad 1.JPG, File:Lohagad 01.jpg, File:Lohagad-2.JPG, Wall fortification of lohgad Image:Lohagad wall.jpg, Lohagad fort walls

References

External links

Lohagad at MTDC site
{{MarathaEmpire Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire Lonavala-Khandala Forts in Pune district Buildings and structures in Lonavala-Khandala