| Fort Name : | Alphabetically | RangeWise | DistrictWise | CategoryWise | GradeWise |
| Varugad | FortHeight : 3000 | ||||
| Type : Hill forts | Fort Range : Sitamai, Maann, Satara | ||||
| District : Satara | Grade : Medium | ||||
| Varugad was built by King Shivaj Maharaj and its custodian was of a Parbhu caste. This fort had a good garrison and around 200 watchmen stationed regularly. In 1818, the king of Satara, Vitthalpant Phadnis won this fort along with his 200 men from Bajirao II. | |||||
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| Fascinating Spots : | |||||
| Varugad is divided in two parts – The Summit and the Citadel. 1) The Summit:- The fortification wall of the fort is clearly visible from the road even before we enter the fort. The entire summit is fortified with a wall and is intact till date. A route from the summit leads further to the citadel. Earlier there were 5 doorways to enter the summit but now only one stands well. There is a small lake over here. The road ends at a huge temple of the deity Bhairoba. Here one can find ample space for an overnight stay. There is a borewell and some huts just opposite to the temple. Behind the temple there is a cottage. Moving ahead from the temple one comes across the Phaltan doorway. The road from Girvi Jadhavwadi comes to the fort from this doorway. 2) The Citadel:- The route which comes from Girvi jadhavwadi on the fort gets divided in two routes after entering from the Phaltan doorway. The left route leads to Ghodewadi on the summit while the straight (right) route leads to the entrance of the citadel in a 15 minutes trail. At the base of the citadel there is a beautiful built in water tank. The entrance of the citadel is built in the Gomukhi architectural style. The fortification wall of the citadel is still intact. There is a rebuilt structure on the fort which was earlier the office in the ancient times. Just opposite to this there is a well and a water tank. | |
| Ways To Reach : | |
| Phaltan is the central location to reach Varugad fort from where one can access multiple routes. The fort is divided in two parts. The first part which is the summit where Ghodewadi village is based and the second part is the citadel which can be accessed from the summit itself. There are two routes to reach the summit. One is a proper paved tar road leading to the summit and the second is an unpaved road. 1) Phaltan to Girvi:- Taking an S.T. bus from Phaltan one can reach Girvi village from where Jadhavwada is 5kms further and is the base village of the fort. A path from there takes us to the fort in about 2 hours time and further 20 minutes to reach the citadel. 2) Phaltan-Dahiwadi:- On Phaltan-Dahiwadi road, 20 kms after Phaltan there is a diversion to Mograle village. An unpaved motorable road from this diversion takes us to the summit in 15 kms via Tondli village. 3) On Phaltan-Dahiwadi road, 26 kms after Phaltan there is Beejwadi village. An unpaved motorable road from this village leads to the summit. 4) state transport buses do serve Mumbai-Pune-Phaltan-Varugad route. One can reach the summit directly using this mode. | |
| Accommodation Facility : | |
| The cottage near the temple can accommodate up to 25 people. The temple premises can also be used which can accommodate around 40 people or more comfortably. There is also a roof sheltered structure built behind the temple which can used with the permission of the locals. | |
| Food Facility : | |
| Food arrangements can be made from the locals. | |
| Drinking Water Facility : | |
| Available throughout the year. | |
| Time To Reach : | |
| 2 hours from Jadhavwadi. | |
| Notes : | |
| 1) One should avoid a new moon or Amavasya period for a stay in the fort as there is huge religious gathering overnight in the temple and there is no place to stay either on the temple or in the cottage. 2) After an overnight stay at Varugad, one can visit Shikhar-Shingnapur 40 kms from here. This place is also the deity of the Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In this temple area there is a pond built by Malojiraje, the grandfather of Shivaji Maharaj, tombs of Shivaji, Sambhaji and Rajaram and the huge entrance of the temple. After this, one can visit Mahimangad fort which is 25 kms ahead. The information on Mahimangad is available on the website. |
| Marathi Version |