Wednesday, November 16, 2016
After visiting Piliv fort, we took directions
from the local and landed onto the Satara-Pandharpur Highway, which was to take
us to Pandharpur. We were to rest there for the night.
 |
| Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
En route, we located this fortified structure on our right hand side. Now this was not on our itinerary. But we still decided to pay it a visit. Parked the car outside it, we entered the stone walled premises via the Maha Darwaza or the Main Door.
 |
| Maha Darwaza to Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
The Main Darwaza had a small Chor Darwaza
or Small Door in it. The wooden door was decorated with nails, that are 5 inch
long, currently they are totally rusted. When the fort was attacked by the enemies,
the enemy could enter the fort either by climbing the walls or the main door. History
states that Elephants were used to attack and break open the Maha Darwaza,
hence the nails to injure the Elephants.
It was a land fort and the walls were not
very tall. Like the Ahmednagar Fort in Ahmednagar. The fortification was
intact. The fort was square shaped.
 |
| Maha Darwaza and Chor Darwaza |
There was just one house in its premises. The
current owner of the Wada stays in that small house. They are the descendants of the Nimbalkar's.
 |
| Stone tablets at Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
There is a old well, near the house. The
well is around 50 feet deep but no water within it. There are a couple of old
structures in the Wada premises. We saw a granary too.
The descendants had unearthed a sword and
musket gun. Not sure how many more historic treasures are buried under ground.
We also located grinding stone, rock cut stone artifacts here. Similar to the
ones we saw at Tural Hot Water Springs on NH66.
 |
| Old structures within Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
The time was now 6:45 PM and we had to
reach Pandharpur.
On the Satara-Pandharpur Road, we were
greeted with lighting and thunder. Finally came the rain to cool down the
soaring temperatures. How I love and cherish the smell of the soil.
 |
| Artifacts at Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
Now we had to search for a place to stay
for the night. We tried the local government guest house. But it was full. Through
past experience, we have never got to stay in a Government guest house.
We got ourselves room's in Hotel Laxmi
Palace, at a cost of Rs 700 for non AC. The AC ones cost Rs.1000. The rooms
were okay, but not that great.
 |
| Current residents at Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
Ate some street side chinese food and
omlette pav. But nothing beats the street side chinese food we had at Wai, what
say Manohar.
 |
| Well at Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
That night it rained so heavily that the
power conked off. We had to keep the balcony door open so that the chilly
breeze could come in. Good we didn't take the AC room, as it would have been a complete waste of money.
 |
| Unearthed Musket Gun at Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
 |
| Unearthed Sword at Wada on the way to Pandharpur from Piliv |
Next morning woke up, had breakfast at
Kamat's located on the Satara-Pandharpur Road. The food was not at all tasty.
First time ever, it didn't live up to the brand name. We then headed off to see Machnur Fort.
Please do click on the highlighted words above to read about those explorations.
Please do click on the highlighted words above to read about those explorations.
