Kondhana Fort.. The Pride of Maharashtra #Lockdown 

I am very happy to publish this trip as a trip before #Lockdown because this is one of my favorite place near Pune as it make me realize how blessed I am to be the citizen of India, a country where each state has some amazing and interesting history. I know, due to COVID 19 we are not able to explore new places, food and culture.. Sad part.. But we have a lot of memories with us from our past, Isn't it??

So, here I am sharing my memorable one day trip to Kondhana Fort which is the pride of Maharashtra

About:

Kondhana fort also known as a Sinhagad Fort or Lion's fort of Maratha empire is situated in Sahyadri mountains and is at about 760 meters above sea level. This beautiful fort is strategically located vis-à-vis other forts of Maratha empire such as Rajgad, Purandar and Torana.

This fort saw 12 attacks by Mughal and British empires out of which the most popular battle was fought in 1670 by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Subedar (General) Tanhaji Malusare. However, Shivaji Maharaj lost Tanhaji in this battle and expressed his remorse with the words, "Gad aala, pan Sinha gela"- "The fort is conquered, but the Lion is lost". You can see the Samadhi (Mousoleum) of Tanhaji Malusare in the fort. The famous movie, ‘Tanhaji’ is based on the conquest of this fort.

How to reach here?

Kondhana fort is situated around 38 kms from Pune. One can reach here by bike, bus or car (own/rented) or by trekking.

You can board a bus from anywhere in Pune till Corporation (Manapa) and thereafter you can board PMPML bus number 50 which will take you till Sinhagad Payatha (foothill).

Alternately, you can take your own Bike/Car/Rented car and reach here through Sinhagad Village. After reaching here, you can do trekking which is around 3 kms from Sinhagad village or take your vehicle till the fort and park it there.

Best Season to go?

The best season to visit this fort is monsoon and winter, i.e. from June to February. However, people visit here all around the year as you get to see the beautiful city of Pune from the top of this fort. The night view from the fort is something you just can't miss.

Cuisines at Kondhana Fort

You can enjoy authentic Maharashtrian food here like Kanda bhaji with chutney, Matka dahi, pithla bhakri, vangyachi bhaji, and also tea, coffee, lime juice and so on

Expenditure per person including food

It will vary on the basis of how you commute and number of people you are going. We were 5 people and we took our own car. So, the expense was around Rs. 300 per person.