Shirgaon Fort

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Shirgaon Fort is also located at a distance of 13 km from Palghar. It can be easily reached from Kelva, but as we had opted for public transport instead of private transport we had to go to Palghar and board a State transport (ST) bus to Satpati. It took us 30 minutes by ST bus to reach Shirgaon Fort.

The frequency of public transport is not good if you are travelling directly from Kelve beach to Shirgaon Fort. From Palghar station there are plenty of ST buses and tum tums to take you to Shirgaon Fort.

Shirgaon Fort

Shirgaon fort is well fortified and the walls are good condition. It took us an hour to see the fort. There are two towers located at the entrance of the fort from where one can geta a panaromic view of the place. The fort is small; it has a few rooms in it but they have not been well-maintained. There are many hidden caves in the walls of the fort. One cave leads to another.

Not much is known about who built this fort. However, at various points in history, the Portuguese, Marathas and the British had conquered the fort and ruled over it.

Inside the Fort

 As we entered the fort from the main entrance, we saw a unique palm tree with six to seven branches popping out. It was not something we had ever seen before.

Two steep staircases take one to the walls of the fort. The entire fort can be seen by walking on the walls. There is a water tank which looks as if it was recently constructed.

Fortification of Shirgaon Fort

Shiragon is a coastal fort and provides a very good view of the sea around. I have clicked a few photographs of horses grazing in lush green meadows with streams of water around. It was truly beautiful.

After exploring the fort in its entirety, we decided to take leave of the fort as we wanted to see Tarapur Fort.