Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad are
located in Pedgaon village in the Shrigonda Taluka of the Ahmednagar district
of Maharashtra.
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| Entrance to Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
Chand Bibi Tomb, Ahmednagar Fort, Damadi Masjid, Faria Bhag
Palace and Cavalry Tank Museum are some of the historic structures I have
visited in Ahmednagar before.
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| Breakfast at Joshi Vadewale in Pune |
It was just the two of us (Manohar and Me) I prepared the
itinerary and Manohar took care of the driving.
We planned to cover Karmala Fort, Paranda Fort, Dharashiv caves, Ausa Fort, Kharosa Caves, Udgir Fort, Kandhar
Fort, Dharmapuri Fort and Dharur Fort on this roadtrip.
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| Breakfast at Joshi Vadewale in Pune |
As decided we met at Ghatkopar Railway station on the
eastern side around 5:30 AM. The directions to Bahadurgad Fort are tagged on
google maps. Bahadurgad was around 250 KM away, we were sure that we would
reach the fort by afternoon taking breaks into consideration.
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| Sculptures in the premises of Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
We had breakfast in the form of Vada's at Joshi Vadewale in
Pune.
By the time we reached Bahadurgad Fort it was around 12 PM.
There is a village near the entrance of the fort premises. NOTE - There is no
hotel here for refreshments. The villagers informed us that we
can take the car and travel within the fort premises.
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| Temple at the entrance of Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
There is a Darwaza (Door) to enter the fort premises. It has
a orange colored flag atop it swaying in the wind. The fort walls are not in
good condition and have collapsed in certain places.
History states that Bahadur Khan was the administrator of
the fort. Not sure if he built the fort. When Shivaji Maharaj got the news that
around 200 Arabs had come there, he wanted to plunder their wealth. he made
arrangements and was successful in plundering the Arabs of their wealth.
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The man who provided us with information on Temple at the entrance of Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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| Diya Stand at the temple in Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
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Once we entered the fort premises, we saw this temple. Shri
Bhairavnath Mandir. By the look of it, it was an old temple, painted in vibrant
colors. We also met a local sitting in the temple premises. Sadly we were not
able to understand the information he was providing us with. He was definitely
not speaking hindi or marathi. I am sure he might he speaking shuddh marathi,
which is difficult to understand.
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| Carved stones in the premises of Temple at the entrance of Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
Around the temple premises is placed a diya stand. The stand
made of rocks was painted white. Near the diya stand are placed small
sculptures of Gods. Not sure as to who are those Gods.
The temple premises and the huge tree near the temple are
the only source of shade on the entire fort premises.
There is a muddy path via which one has to travel to reach
the different monuments within the fort premises.
On way, you will seen sculptures carved in the stone
scattered across the ground along with stones used in the construction of
structures in the fort premises.
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Rameshwar Mandir in Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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| Information on Rameshwar Mandir at Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
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We parked the car near Rameshwar Mandir. A little information
on the temple in Marathi. Rameshwar Mandir, was built entirely of stone. The temple premises had sculptures of Gods
within them. Also the entrance to the temple has sculptures around it.
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Mallikarjun Mandir in Temple at the entrance of Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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| Information on Mallikarjun Mandir at Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
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We then moved to see the Malikarjun Mandir located a couple
of feet away. A little information on the temple in Marathi. Again this temple was built of stone. It had
carved pillars at the entrance. Sculptures of Gods within them.
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| Daru Kothir in Temple at Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
We then moved to see the Daru Kothir, Not sure what it
meant. there was an old structure here, completely in ruins with wild grass
growing all around it. the structure had a small Moorish Dome atop it. Possibly
a store room.
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| Unknown structure at Temple at Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
We saw this Bastion in the middle of the fort premises.
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| View of River Bhima from Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
Finally we reached the main attraction of the fort, Lakshmi
Narayan Temple and Baleshwar Temple, these beautifully crafted temples at the
banks of River Bhima.. Remember River Bhima, we had traveled on it to reach the
Palasdeo Temple, located in the water.
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Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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Sculpture on the walls of Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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| Sculpture on the walls of Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
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The artwork though
similar on both the Lakshmi Narayan Temple and Baleshwar Temple left me
speechless. It reminded me of the Shiv mandir in Ambernath.
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| Baleshwar Temple in Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
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| Baleshwar Temple in Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
We then visited the Pataleshwar Temple, the temple is still
in use, it had a Shivling, statue of Nandi and sculptures places near it.
We then walked to the bastions of the fort. The bastion was
at the banks of the River Bhima and offered fantastic view of the river. Due to
wild vegetation growing within the fort premises we couldn't see much inside
the fort.
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Bastion and fort walls of Temple at the entrance of Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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| That's us at Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
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We visited the final structure in the fort premises. It had
its own Darwaza and walls around it. Though certain portions of the walls have
collapsed, but the Darwaza is intact. It has two orange colored flags swaying
in the wind atop it.
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Structure in Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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| Broken fortification of Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra near River Bhima |
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We also saw this lamp, stone sculpture and information
signboard. Note sure what it it.
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Monument at Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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| Within the monument premises of Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
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We then headed over to see the ruins at the banks of the
River Bhima. Graffiti artists had been here before me.
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River Bhima from Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra
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| That's me at Bahadurgad Fort aka Fort of Pedgaon aka Dharmaveergad in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra |
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Though we initially thought there was nothing much to see in
the fort premises, the artwork of the temples was just amazing.
We then headed over to see the next fort, Karmala Fort.
NOTE: Please click on the highlighted words in the blog to read about them.
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