Tuesday, January 20, 2015
We took the instructions of the boys at Danda Fort and headed off to see the Bhawangad Fort.
There was not a single person on the road, we walked and walked and finally we stopped as we wanted to confirm if we were on the right track. Finally from a distance we saw a biker heading towards us.We inquired with him and thank God we were on the right track.
Finally we reached a village a couple of meters away from the fort premises and they too confirmed that we were on the right track. They were surprised to know that we had walked it out all the way from Sitla Devi Temple till here.
A couple of hand pumps on the way helped us refresh ourselves.
Finally we located a signboard giving directions to Bhawangad Fort. On our way we met locals who informed us to watch out for a saffron flag atop the fort from the muddy path to the left of the tar road. They informed us about a temple at the entrance of the fort.
Bhawangad fort is equidistant from Kelve Rd station and Safale station. ST buses ply between the two stops and the buses pass by from this route. While we were walking we saw a ST bus going to Safale. Not sure as to what the bus timings are.
In a matter of minutes we located the muddy path and the saffron flag and started climbing the hill. In ten minutes we were at the entrance of the fort. The Bhawani Shiv Mandir is located here. The temple might be quite old but it was recently renovated. There was a family up here, who had come in a tum tum and were doing a puja (offering prayers).
A little ahead of the temple, one can see the fortification. We followed the fortification and crossed a bastion to enter the fort and reach atop of the fort. The fort offers a beautiful view of the coconut trees, hill ranges around.
Have to admit, but the fort is very well protected with trees all around it, that it can't be seen from the road that leads to it. Nothing much to see up here, again a small fort which can be done in around 20 minutes time. Again I am guessing that it was a watchtower.
Took rest here and then decided to have water at one of the houses of the locals as we had a long way back to Sitla Devi temple. The locals were very generous they offered us water to drink and even let us rest in their houses. Mike was hoping for food too. Now he was expecting a bit too much. Truly Atithi Devo Bhavah, I should say.
At 1:45 PM we were at Sitla Devi Temple, had veg thali at a cost of Rs. 80 per plate. The food was nice and tasty and filling. With our stomach's full we then asked around for a tum tum ride to Kelve Rd Station as there was a local to Dadar at 2:55 PM. Luckily at 2:25 PM we got a tum tum to Kelve Rd Station. The tum tum cost us Rs. 15 each and it runs houseful all the way till the station. Now I was not sure if he would drop us in time, matter of fact is he did drop us at the station at around 2:50 PM.
We boarded the local and off we were on our way to Mumbai. I told Mike that I have just two more forts to conquer in Palghar belt, being Kohoj and Asherigad, all the others being sea forts were conquered.
 |
| Dried tree on the way to the fort |
 |
| Entrance to Bhawani Shiv Mandir and Bhawangad Fort |
A couple of hand pumps on the way helped us refresh ourselves.
 |
| View from atop the Bhawangad Fort walls |
Bhawangad fort is equidistant from Kelve Rd station and Safale station. ST buses ply between the two stops and the buses pass by from this route. While we were walking we saw a ST bus going to Safale. Not sure as to what the bus timings are.
 |
| Fortification of Bhawangad Fort |
 |
| Bastion of Bhawangad Fort |
Have to admit, but the fort is very well protected with trees all around it, that it can't be seen from the road that leads to it. Nothing much to see up here, again a small fort which can be done in around 20 minutes time. Again I am guessing that it was a watchtower.
 |
| Bhawani Shiv Mandir |
 |
| Bhawani Shiv Mandir |
 |
| The muddy road that leads to the fort |
 |
| Veg Thali |
0 comments:
Post a Comment