A Short Drive to Purandar Fort (Once Again)

Recently I had been to Purandar Fort (yes, for the fourth time) just to de-stress. 

This fort was one of my favorite destinations over weekends because of its close proximity to the city and the nature alike – which is really a rare occurrence. I just really love the way the roads wound up to the top through the trees and quaint nature.

I had already been to this area thrice before, I would not go into the details of the journey, once again. The previous logs are found at the links below:

2011 Log

2012 Log

2015 Log

This time, we noticed quite a few changes around the fort:

• The infrastructure of the whole area was maintained quite well as it is nowadays mostly being used as a training academy of the army.

• Security was really really tight. Everywhere there were guards with arms to guide the tourists and threaten the miscreants.

• Camera was not allowed to the top anymore. You have to submit your phones or cameras to the security personnel.

• The roads were being cleaned, renovated and widened. 

• There were well designated parking areas.

• Thorough checking at the entry gate.

I have tried to add some narratives for each one of these pictures below, though there are not many photographs this time.

The Ruins of the Past

Remnants of the early Army settlements on Purandar Fort (in the year 1665, the famous Purandar Treaty was signed here between Chhatrapati Shivaji and Rajput ruler Jai Singh I, a commender of the Mughal Empire).

See the scriptures on the wall at the left. Sad to see that our lack of awareness and callous attitude are slowly destroying our own heritage and culture.




The Deserted

The entrance of the early settlements in Purandar Fort. Not maintained at all.



The Church

When the Britishers took over the charges of this fort, they built a few churches inside the premises of the fort-city.



The View

A cliched view from the top. How beautiful our country is! The urban beauty is in full display.


That's all folks!!

A Short Drive to Purandar Ghat via Saswad

There goes a saying – an idle brain is a devil’s workshop. Well, this might not be true everywhere, for an idle brain on a lazy Sunday morning produced a brilliant idea, which led to the creation of this post.

We were sipping on our morning cup of tea and brooding over the fact there was nothing to look forward to for the rest of the day. Then, like a sudden strike of the lightning, it occurred to me that we could really seize this opportunity by embarking on a short trip. The better half readily fell for it and it was up to me to find out a destination close to the nature and which is not far away. We decided on Purandar Ghat – which is on the way to Purandar Fort, famous for the Purandar Treaty from the History – as it is close (around 50 Kms only) and we can be back within 4-5 hours and primarily because the route was known. We never intended to visit the fort; all we planned was to be in close proximity with the nature and some good opportunities for a few random clicks.

It was easier said than done – having an infant at home always poses new challenges – and we could only start at around 11 in the morning.

The road that we followed could be found below (no help from GPS). Mostly when we crossed the overly busy Hadapsar Industrial Area, it was a smooth drive towards Saswad through Dive Ghat and beyond. From the diversion for Purandar Fort to the Purandar Village (located at the base of the Purandar Ghat) was a little challenging for hatchback and sedans, but once we were past the village, the actual beauty of the rustic nature unfolded and the roads were in much better shapes. It was easier negotiating the hair-pin bends and the steep curves.

The plan was simple – go till the entrance of the Fort and then take a U-turn. All along the way towards the fort, it was lush green. The narrow tarred roads were winding up through the hillock, through thick vegetation. The purity of the air was easily noticeable. Chirping of the birds, the sound of the falling leaves and the gentle sound of the wind breezing constituted some otherworldly atmosphere. We stopped at many intervals, perhaps at every possible opportunity, sat, relaxed and then started once again, in a cyclic order.

When we felt that we were quite rejuvenated and had accumulated enough strength to fight the battle for a week, we turned back towards ‘home, sweet home’. We were back at Saswad by 2 pm where we had a small Maharashtrian lunch and then took leave. And by 3.30 pm.we reached home, reinvigorated and fresh.

A short but memorable and a crisp but enjoyable drive indeed.

Map of the Route:

Please see the link here.
  

Let the pictures utter thousand more words:

Roads - Winding Up

View from the top - surely a cliched click

Still don't have the faintest idea of what it was

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