-Deepali Lanke

Introduction:-

Junnar is a city which has a long history. The Junnar city has aninteresting geographical location and because of its strategic location thecity became extremely important in terms of Trade and Security. Naneghat aancient trade route which connects Ghat and Kokan starts from Junnar city .Naneghat was a busy route in those days so for the security purpose 4 fortswere built in the surrounding region.
1. Jivdhan which is on the right hand side ofthe Naneghat which is easily recognizable because of its pinnacle.
2. Hadsar.
3. Chavand.
4. Shivneri

We can call them as watch towers of thisroute

Informationof Chavand Fort:-

Chavand fort is situated at a height of 3000 ft from the sea level. As manyother forts in Maharashtra this fort is also built by The Satvahanas. After theSatvahanas the fort and the surrounding region was ruled by Muslim empires.Then in May 1672 the great Shivajiconquered this fort and the surrounding region including Harishchandra gad aswell. Shivaji Maharaj renamed this fort as "Prasanna Gad".
After the Maratha Empire this fort came underBritish dominance .In 1818 British Army got hold of this fort and as per theirstrategy they destroyed each and every monument of the fort along with theroute to reach the top.

The route to reach the top starts from the Chavandwadi which is the basevillage of the fort. Any vehicle going towards Aptale village can drop you atChavandwadi. The Trek starts From Chavandwadi .
After walking for about 20 mins we reach thebroken staircase which is carved in rock. This rock patch is a result ofbritish invasion. When Britishers won the fort they destroyed the rock cutsteps of the fort. Now "Junnar forest department" and an organizationnamed "Shivaji Trail" have fixed Railings on this 107 ft rock patch. TheseRailings are really useful while ascending and descending.

FascinatingSpots:-

The Mahadarwaja of theFort is still in good condition.
 The entire door is madeup of stone. The Mahadarwaja is built in Gomukhi style, Surrounded by twobastions. Mahadarwaja is not visible till you cross the last step of the fort.

After crossing the Mahadarwaja you will see two routes rightroute with 5-10 more steps will take you to the top. And the left one takes youon the Fort walls. From the right side route after ascending more 5-10 steps wecan see many old constructions.

Once we reach thetop we can see a saffron flag and Chamunda devi mandir on a small hillock whichis the highest part of the fort, it is in good condition.

From the top there aretwo routes, the straight route takes you to the Chamunda temple and the leftroute goes towards a broken temple and "Saat Taki" (7 tanks).
After walking for 10 mins onthe left side route you will reach a broken temple there is a small water pond outsidethe temple with statue of Gods carved on the walls. This is called as"Pushkarni".

From the top of thefort we can experience a great view of surrounding Sahyadri region ,"Manikdoh"  Dam and Kukadi River. From this Pushkarni in theNorth-west direction there 7 water tanks (Saat taki).
This is a unique constructionas the 7 tanks are carved in a single rock.

From the Chavand fortyou can view Shivneri , Jivdhan many other forts.

Kukadeshwar Temple:-

Another must visit spot near Chavand fort is"Kukadeshwar" temple. Right now this beautiful temple is in ruinedcondition but still you can see some beautiful designs carved on the wallsand pillars of this temple. 

This mightyforts are our protectors, there are many things which we need to study so thatwe can explore our golden history. Destroyed by Britishers and by our ownpeople as well. Now this is the time to protect them.