Piliv Fort located on the Satara Pandharpur Road on the way to Pandharpur

Monday, November 14, 2016

Piliv Fort is located around 32 KM away from Akluj fort. i.e around 45 minutes of travel time. Piliv fort is located on the Satara Pandarpur Road. If we visit, then we should reach the fort by 5:30 PM.  We decided to take our chances and head over to see the fort.

Directions available on Google maps. We followed the directions.

The roads are very narrow and in bad shape, they will test your car suspension. Bad roads, increases the time to visit the fort.

Bastions of Piliv Fort

Finally around 5:40 PM after asking locals residing near the fort premises, we were near the fort. The fort walls were intact and in good condition. The bastions looked amazing. Someone has also gone ahead and constructed a shop using the fort wall as one of the walls of his shop. How stupid of him to destroy the national monument.

Bastions and Entrance to Piliv Fort

There is a very small door to enter the fort premises. There was a SUV parked there with a cover, covering it. Not sure why.  

It is small fort, having many bastions,  the stones used in fortification remind me of the forts in Delhi.

Entrance to Piliv Fort

We climbed up the fort walls to get a better view of the fort from the inside and outside. We located a hand cannon. It was heavy to lift. I was able to lift it for a few minutes though. That is the only cannon on the fort premises.

Structures within Piliv Fort

There are people staying in the fort premises. Similar to Mahim fort and Vasai fort. Not sure if they are staying legally or illegally. I guess, the SUV parked near the fort entrance, belonged to one of the people residing in the fort premises.

Hand Cannon at Piliv Fort

The fort takes around 30 minutes to see. The fort smells of nilgiri due to the nilgiri tree in the fort premises. 

Fortification of Piliv Fort

Piliv Village lies at the base of the fort. It is a small town. The narrow roads are packed with people and vehicles. Not sure if there is a public mode of transport to reach the fort premises. 

Fortification of Piliv Fort

Again I am not aware of the history of this fort.

Bastion at Piliv Fort

The time was now 6:15 PM. We were tired. We were on the hunt for a place to stay for the night. Pandharpur was our closest bet. Pandharpur was around 40 KM away on the Satara-Pandharpur Road. 

Please do click on the highlighted words above to read about those explorations. 

Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti) near Solapur

Saturday, November 12, 2016

After driving for a couple of minutes on the Pune Solapur Highway we located this hotel, Hotel Indraaatya. We decided to brake for lunch there. The time was now 2:45 PM on my watch. Not sure if lunch would be served, but we still decided to try our luck post Kugaav Fort.

Hotel Indraaatya

Lunch was served and so we settled for Chicken Thali, at a cost of Rs. 160 each. Twelve, you read it right, twelve pieces of chicken for Rs.160 is not bad. After having a heavy lunch we then headed over to see Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti) near Solapur.

Akluj fort is tagged on Google maps so there is no way you can get lost. It was around an hour away. We reached the fort premises at 4 PM. It was open to public.

Chicken Thali at Hotel Indraaatya

The ticket cost us Rs.20 each. The timings are from 10 AM to 1 PM, lunch break, 2 PM to 630 PM. I guess it is open on all days.

The Main Darwaza to enter the fort and the fortification is artificially created. It has got mannequins of soldiers around it. There is also a historic bastion located in the middle of the fort. I guess the bastion is all that remains of the original fort, that once stood here.

Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti)

Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti)

It is basically a museum depicting the important events in Shivaji's life. The walls on the inside have got the various events on Shivaji's life depicted in the form of large images.

Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti)

Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti)

The Coronation of Shivaji as King and his Birth Ceremony is depicted in 3D format. Mannequins dressed in various attire. A lot of effort has gone in making this museum aka fort. It was nice to see a museum depicting the important events in Shivaji's life. It takes around 20 to 30 minutes to see the fort aka museum.

Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti)

Again not much is known about the history of this fort.

The original bastion located in the center has a statue of Shivaji atop it. It gives a good view of the fort and also the surrounding. It is the topmost point of the fort.

Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti)

Akluj fort (Shiv Srushti)

The time was now 430 PM, we decided to visit Piliv Fort, before we break for the day. 

Please do click on the highlighted words above to read about those explorations.

Kugaav fort aka Inamdaarcha Wada at Kalasi Village near the Pune Solapur Highway

Thursday, November 10, 2016

I came to know about existence of the Kugaav fort, after reading Aashish's blog. As it was on the way, we planned to pay it a visit too.

Kugaav fort aka Kalasi Village or Inamdaarcha Wada in the water

After visiting the Palasdeo temple we headed back to  the Solapur-Pune Highway. Drove till we reached the Varkute Phata. It took us around 15 to 20 minutes to reach Varkute Phata. A couple of people were gathered there. Not sure why, maybe they were waiting for a ST bus or a Jeep to take them to their destination.

We asked them about the whereabouts of Kugaav Fort. Not a soul was able to provide us with directions. Aink. That is strange. We then asked for Kalasi Village or Inamdaarcha Wada. Then the helped us with directions. A small tiny road from Varkute Phata leads to Kalasi Village. Please note  that there are no signboards here, your GPS might not work. So keep asking the locals for directions as and when you find them. Like  we did.

I don't know, the history of this fort, but, if you are aware then please let me know.

Finally after driving over the bumpy roads and spending nearly an hour we reached Kalasi Village. Asked a couple of boys, about the whereabouts of the fort. As per the boys a portion of the movie 'Sairat' was shot here. They were surprised, when they heard that we had come all the way from Mumbai to see this fort. They gave us directions to reach the banks. The tar roads were now replaces by muddy and bumpy roads.

The sun was right over our heads. I could see the fortification in the middle of the river. It was too far to swim, so had to board a boat to take us to the fort. 'Where is the  jetty' no sign of it. Finally a local came along on a bike. I asked him, he said that we need to walk down to the banks of the river, he pointed out in a distance and said that the boats leave from there.

pomegranate plantation

'Now that we found the so called Jetty, Where is the boat' I said to myself. The local also wanted to board the boat to cross over to the other side. He make a couple of calls to find out about the whereabouts of the boat. He told me that the Tehsildar is come to survey the village and hence he has taken the boat along. They should be back here in the next 2 to 3 hours.

'2 to 3 hours?' that is a long wait time to see a fort. We didn't want to waste time as we had loads of historical places on our agenda. I discussed with Manohar and we decided to leave for Akluj fort. I was sad as we had come a long way, but could not explore the fort.

Again we had to drive slowly as the roads are not in good condition. On the way back we stopped to see the pomegranate and maize plantations. Both sides of roads were filled with pomegranate and maize plantations. I was not aware that it is a flower which then gets converted into a fruit. I don't like pomegranate much, but it is still good to know information :)

pomegranate plantation

Finally we reached Vakrute Phata. Not sure if there are rickshaw or jeep or ST buses which ply to the village. Back on the Solapur-Pune Highway again. Our next pit stop was the Akluj fort.