Sarasgad

Fort: Sarasgad
Region: Pali
Height : 1433 feet above MSL
Base Village: Pali
Grade: Medium




We visited fort Sarasgad on Feb 25th 2008. Me,Saurabh, Purvesh , Deepak , Tushar and Avinash. I started early morning 6am and went to get Avinash from Chapekar chowk and found him and we continued ahead to Talegaon our meeting point with Saurabh and Deepak.

Reached Talegaon early and waited for the guys to come. As usual Deepak and Tushar turned up late and we left Talegaon for Khopoli where we had to pick up Purvesh who was coming from Dombivali.

We reached Lonavala in 30 mins and went to a hotel for breakfast , the time reading 8.45am. We were done by 9.30am and called up Purvesh to confirm his location and he was already nearing Khopoli!

We started fast and covered the distance to Khopoli in about 30mins , in between Deepak riding Tushar's bike went into the expressway instead of the Khopoli exit and we had to wait for them to come back to the proper exit.

Purvesh was waiting for us at the designated place where we turn off for Pen from Khopoli. We went ahead and were cruising and took the left from the bridge for Pali that is famous for the Ashtavinayak Temple and also the base village for Sarasgad. The weather was getting hotter now and the roads were bad.

We reached Pali by 10.30am and parked our bikes in the parking. We came towards the main road and asked the way to the fort.We had to go behind the Ganpati Temple and follow a path and go ahead. The way was simple but the weather was too humid.

We decided we would take Ganpati darshan while coming back and went ahead. The path was via a narrow strip of mud which goes ahead where we climb to the first plateau and come to a huge mango tree. We missed the obvious path and ended up climbing the first plateau via thorny shrubs and rock patches. We finally came to the first plateau and went ahead.

The road ahead seemed simple and we took a well trodden part. The front side of the fort was now visible and looked amazing. We went ahead to a point and sat down to rest, we were getting tired because of the hot climate but we continued ahead with the fort coming closer. The path gets steeper and we were getting tired because the sun had come out in full force now.


We finally reached the rock patch to be climbed to get to the steps of the fort. The fort is built from a rocky outcrop infact the whole of the front and the back of the fort is rock , solid rock. We went ahead and found a tunnel where we spent some time seeing what was inside.



We went ahead into a narrow gully which has the steps. From far the steps arent visible , you need to go near to see them. The steps are perfect and we went ahead. There is a huge bastion ahead and then the main door is at the left. Inside the main door as we go ahead there is a huge cave where one can sleep if coming for an overnight trek.


Most of the portions of the door and the caves are of solid rock so they still stand. As we go in we encountered a water tank but it had all algae infested water we went ahead and found a cave - tank which had the coolest and the cleanest water. We drank our fill and went ahead to the back side of the fort.

The fort is made up of 3 levels , the balekilla, the middle portion where we were and the lower portion. The view from here was breathtaking and we could see the twin walls of Telbaila and also Sudhagad fort from here.



The balekilla is one huge rock which stands on top like a crown and at the base of the rock there are many chambers cut which must have housed granaries and ammunition dumps. Most of which are still intact. We had our lunch here and lazed around.



We then went to the side where we came from and climbed up the balekilla, the climb is easy with some scree laden part and we come on top which is bare except a huge water body and trees on top. We have a tomb on top and a shiv temple on top. The view from the top of the surroundings and Pali village is amazing. We stopped for sometime on top discussing things and then climbed down again to the 2nd level and came back to the entrance , had some photo sessions and climbed down the steps and the rock patch.

The climate was still hot but we came down and slowly came to the base village. It was around 4pm and we went for the Ganpati Darshan after getting fresh. After Ganpati Darshan we came out and filled our stomachs with snacks and tea and started back. We reached Khopoli at around 6.45pm and it was dark now, we left Purvesh at the station for the 8pm local back and left for Pune from there and reached home at around 8.45pm. All in all a nice trek.

Photos