LOHAGAD AND VISAPUR FORTS : The story of Two Forts
As you drive from Mumbai to Pune on the Express highway, you will be greeted by 2 huge cliffs to the right at Karla. These 2 cliffs embody ancient forts of Lohagad and Visapur respectively. These forts are favorite monsoon getaways for people from Mumbai and Pune. The story of these two brothers is like any other Bollywood movie where the elder brother is first captured and the younger brother is forced to surrender to the enemy.
The story of the elder LOHAGAD fort is ancient as mentioned by Ptolemy as Olochoera, the chief places inland from South Konkan. In modern history it is mentioned as one of chief forts of Malik Ahmad in 1489 when he ambitiously declared himself as an independent ruler out of the Bahamani kingdom to form Nizamshahi dynasty at Ahmedngar in Maharashtra and remained with them until their fall in 1637. The Bijapur sultans then ruled the fort till 1648 when it was captured by Shivaji Maharaj. However in 1665, it was handed over to the Mughals as per the treaty between Shivaji Maharaj and Mirza Raja Jaisingh only to recaptured again by the Marathas in 1670. In 1770, the fort was taken by a Koli named Javji Bhomble in the interest of Nana Phadnavis, a famous statesman of the Maratha empire during Peshwas. Between 1796 to 1800, Nana Phadnavis placed Dhondopant Nitsure as the commander of the fort. After Nana’s death in 1800, his widow took refuge in the fort and Dhondopant refused to hand over the fort to the Peshwas. He remained in command of the fort till 1843 as the Peshwa with the support of the British allowed him to keep the fort on the condition of a faithful subject. However a garrison of Dhondopant fired at the Peshwa when the latter was entering a temple. General Wellesley then threatened to storm the fort on promise of personal safety and yearly grant to Nana’s widow. Dhondopant then retired to Thana and the widow to Panvel. When the fort surrendered to the British it had an impressive amount of ammunition of all kinds. In the final Anglo-Maratha war in 1818 a strong force under Colonel Prother was sent to capture both Visapur and Lohagad forts. After capturing the former, the latter also surrendered without any resistance. Lohagad fort was garrisoned by soldiers till 1845 and then abandoned. In 1862 it was reported to be strong fort with walls in little disrepair.
VISAPUR fort was built by the first Peshwas Balaji Vishwanath. In 1818 , owing to the enormous strength of Lohagad fort the British decided to capture Visapur and then attack on its neighbouring fort. Accordingly a garrison of 380 Europeans and 800 Indians was placed under Colonel Prother. Visapur was attacked and captured without resistance. Both the north and south gateways were blown up and preparations were made to attack Lohagad.
LOHAGAD is almost 2000 years old but surprisingly much of its doorways are still intact. Lohagad and Vispur fort can be reached from the base village of Lohagadwadi. Lohagad is 3,390 above the sea level and has 4 doorways to reach the top of the fort namely Ganesh Darwaja, Narayan Darwaja, Hanuman Darwaja nd Maha Darwaja. As you enter the Ganesh Darwaja, there is a plinth with information regarding the fort commander Dhondopant Nitsure. Further a small Dhindi Darwaja takes you a bastion which shows the scenic beauty of the entire region of Lonavala. It is also a spot from where you can admire the extraordinary architecture of the entire fort carved from a single hill. One can also see toilets that were built for the soldiers residing on the fort. A hidden doorway of 3 x 6 feet can also be seen on the the fort. These hidden doorways were used as exits in case the fort falls to the enemy. Although today it is not advisable to explore them. On the top, there is a stone mausoleum 15 feet square inside and has 2 ornamented tombs. It has no inscription but many believe these are tombs of either Aurangzeb’s wife or daughter. Near this mausoleum there are remains of an old court house. There are caves and cannons on top of the fort. Chief object amongst other caves is the Laxmi Kothi.Entering the doorway of this cave brings you to a rock cut hall of 50 x 30 feet and 7 feet high with stone benches but without any idols. A doorway inside this cave leads to another hall 50 x 9 and 7 feet high. The belief is that it was used by Lomesh Rishi and one of the sultans had ordered a search here for him but could not find him. There is a tomb of Shaikh Umar Avalia, an Arab saint who had come to the fort from Mecca. Every year between December and January a fair is held on the fort in honour of this saint and thus is visited by atleast 2000 pilgrims. A temple of Shiva can also be seen on the fort along with a idol of Lord Ganesh. The Nana Phadnavis tank is 150 yards round and has 2 flight of steps to go down. An inscription here states that the tank was built by Balaji JanardhanBhau alias Nana Phadnavis . The water of this pond was also used for gardening. The northwest corner of the fort is called as Vinchukata or Scorpion sting It is 1500 yards long and 20 to 40 yards broad and was used to keep an eye on the entire region.
VISAPUR fort rises from the same plataeu and was built only between 1718 to 1720 AD. It rises to 3,556 above the sea level and is higher than the Lohagad fort. Unlike Lohagad which has steps, the ascent to this fort is by climbing through rocks . an iron gun ten feet long and of four-inch bore, marked with the Tudor Rose and Crown, flanked by the letters E. R. This is probably a gun of Queen Elizabeth’s reign probably taken as bounty from an English ship and presented to the Peshwa by Kanhoji Angre or some other commander of the Maratha navy. Like other guns on the fort it has been disabled by breaking off its trunnions There are ruins of government offices and Peshwa Palace on the fort.
Lohagad remains as the finest example of our historic architectural marvels.
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