Ghangad Fort - by Krish Iyer

Krish Iyer is ten years old and loves to trek Forts. He has meticulously made a list of all the forts around Pune that he wants to visit and captured information about them. This is his first blog. 

Ghangad Fort Trek

Grade: Easy-Medium                                              Height: 2998 ft

Base Village: Ekole                                        District: Pune

Ghangad fort is located in Lonavala region in the Mulshi Taluka. It has many forts surrounding it like Korigad, Tailbaila, Sudhagad and Sarasgad.

But, Ghangad is isolated from these other forts.

History

A board near the Garjai Devi Temple placed by Shivaji Trails (a trekking group that conserves forts) provides a detailed history about this fort. It was used as a jail and watchtower.

My Journey

We left from our home at 6:00 and reached the starting point at 8:15 am. We saw some interesting rock formations on the way.

Three rock formations on the way

Although there is not much to see once you reach the top of Ghangad Fort, the trail is very interesting. The trail starts from the Ekole Village. Initially it is a straight trail with very little ascent.

Ghangad Fort in the background

Then starts a forest trail. On the way you can see some colorful flowers. After 20 minutes of trekking, we reached the Garjai Devi Temple. Here we can see two very old stone lamp posts. There is also a huge trunk of a fallen tree where we took a lot of photos. 

Near Garjai Devi Temple

After the temple there is some more forest trail and then we reach a diversion. One path goes to dead end but we can see some volcanic rock formations.

Rock formations at Ghangad

The other trail goes to the first entrance with two bastions on each side. From here the trail is open and has no forest. We took rest at the bastions here.

Main entrance to Ghangad Fort

After the entrance we saw a man made cave. Maybe this was used to keep the prisoners. To the right of the bastion there is a big fallen rock which forms a tunnel like path and is a good place to camp. We went behind the rock and saw an idol of goddess Mahishasurmardini. We sang a couple of verses of the prayer ‘Aigiri Nandini’.

Idol of Goddess Mahishasurmardini

To the left of the entrance is a 15 ft ladder. Thanks to Shivaji Trails for placing the ladder, otherwise it is not possible to go up easily. Even with the ladder it was a bit scary.

After the ladder there is a narrow trail and then steep climb. But it is not that difficult. Be careful as many nails have been stuck on the rocks. There is a tank on the way but the water is not drinkable. We took 10 minutes from the ladder to reach the entrance of the top of the fort.

Entrance to the top

Here we came across a bastion with a flag on it. We took many photos here. My mother says that on every trek there HAS to be a photo with the flag😀.

To the left of the flag there is another bastion. I was very surprised to see a palm tree growing here!

There was a short 2 minutes climb after the bastion and we reached the topmost part . We ate breakfast here. There was a great view from the top. You can see Tailbaila, Sudhagad, and Sarasgad forts, and also Savvasincha Ghat.

View of Tailbaila

View from the top

Things to know

1. Water Facility- Carry enough water with you as there is no potable water anywhere.
2. Accommodation- The Garjai Devi Temple can accommodate around 20 people. You can pitch your tent near the fallen rock. It is a good place to pitch your tent.
3. Food- There is no place to get food at the top but there are two food stalls near the base.
4. Time to trek- It takes around 1 hour to reach Ghangad Fort from the base.