Rajgad Trek

After a gap of about 10 months since my last trek, I finally managed to crystallize a plan with my friends to go trekking. Destination - Rajgad. To give a brief idea, this fort used to be Chhatrapati Shivaji's capital for many years. Its a GRAND fort and it becomes evident from the very first sight of it. 4250 ft is the maximum height from sea level.

Route from Mumbai. - Carry on towards Satara after Mumbai Pune Express way. Turn right at NASRAPUR. Carry on for about 10 kms before you turn right towards MARGASANI. After 5 more kms, another left will take you to GUNJAVNE which is the base village from where the route begins. There are 4-5 different routes. One goes from PALI, and is the easiest one with steps. It takes you to Main Door (Maha Darwaja) of the fort. The one from Gunjavne takes you to CHOR DARWAJA (Secret Door).Gunjavne route has moderate difficulty level with a good amount of challenge towards the end. The steps are quite steep, though there is metal railing to assist you. But be careful.

We chose this route primarily because there are facilities in Gunjavne village. You can park your car, book your food and the villagers will serve you on the fort. You can buy water, etc. There is practically everything available here which is essential. So even if you do not carry any food or water, you can get it at this village or even on the fort. So you need not worry and carry too much weight with you.

It doesn't end here. The fort is huge and there is so much to see on the top. 'Baale Killa' (Inner Fort) itself will take an hour. There is another steep climb to reach the top of Bale Killa. There are 3 Maachis. Each will require 2-3 hours if you want to see it thoroughly. You need to walk a lot from 1 Maachi to another.

Suwela Maachi (Nedhe and some good views)
Sanjeevani Maachi (Sunset, Main Entrance)
Padmaavati Maachi (Padmaavati Temple, view of Torna)

Accommodation is available in Padmaavati Temple (20-30 people) and also Yatri Nivas which is a simple rock structure with a shade. (20-30 people). You can get everything from Tea, to Chhas by asking the locals who are stationed outside Yatri Niwas. They also provide you wood for Campfire. Everything is chargeable, but justifiable.

We had a good stay up there with campfire and everything. We came down the next day. It again took 3 hrs for us to reach the base. All in all, a spectacular fort to visit. I had done a lot of research on the internet about this fort. There are some books available too. I hope this blog post helps someone do his/her homework. Happy Trekking.