Monday, July 9, 2012

Patta fort Vishramgad

Patta fort Vishramgad

Patta or Vishramgad (1396 meters) from mean sea level

Patta/Vishramgad fort is spread to almost 10 kilometers east to west and almost 7 kilometers north to south
Thus this fort is having a vast expanse hence many base villages

Base villages for Patta fort
1) Pattawadi, Taluka Akole dist Ahmednagar
2) Kokanwadi Taluka Akole dist Ahmednagar
3) Tirdhe, Taluka Sinnar Dist Nasik
4) Taaked ,Taluka Igatpuri dist Nasik
5) Ninvi-Girwadi Near Deolali camp Taluka and District Nasik

Location
Patta /Vishramgad fort  is located in Kalsubai range a mountain range which emerges from Sahyadris at Alang-Kulang and Madangad forts near Igatpuri and run east-west direction till Sinnar in Nasik District 
Kalsubai the highest mountain in Maharashtra(1648 meters) is located in this mountain range hence this range is called as Kalsubai range
Patta fort is 4th mountain east of Kalsubai towards Deolali -Sinnar but geographically this fort is located in Akole Taluka of Ahmednagar

How to reach here
By ST bus,it is very inconvinient
From Akole ST bus stand,there is ony one bus around 4:30 pm to paach-pattewadi.You need to get down at a village nearby and walk around 4 kms to reach Pattawadi till evening,make an overnight stay in that village and climb Patta fort from here next day and come back
From Sinnar in Nasik,there are buses to Konambe village and from there,you need to walk till Tirdhe village and then by Traversing Avandh fort,you need to reach Patta fort in 4 hours through Dilli Darwaza(Shown in one photograph below)
From Bhandardara/Akole,there are few buses and jeeps to Ekdara village and from there you need to walk around 2 hours to reach Pattawadi and climb this fort

Thus if you want to trek this fort,you need to have your own vehicle and drive around 400 kms a day(From Pune/Mumbai).That is the only convinient way



History of Patta fort
Patta fort earlier belonged to Mughals but in year 1671,Moropant Pingle was on a mission of capturing forts in Nasik and Baglan range and thus in year 1672,Moropant Pingle was succesful to capture this fort
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj during raid on Jalna in year 1679 rested for some time near Sangamner and unfortunately the Maratha army was siezed from all sides by Mughal army and Shivaji Maharaj was ill during that time. Bahirji Naik succesfully rescued Shivaji Maharaj and took him to Patta fort. Shivaji Maharaj stayed on this fort for around 1.5 months to recover from illness(After Rajgad and Raigad,Patta is the only fort where Shivaji Maharaj stayed for this much long time)

During Peshwa period,this fort was used as a hill station by royal families.Later during British rule,freedom fighters used this fort for their place of hiding hence it was destroyed and dismantled by britishers after year 1820.Now only few remains of palaces are seen


Following are photographs with description

Vast expanse of Patta fort seen on the way
                                   


The huge spread and traverse of Patta fort.From one end to other,it is almost 10 kms long
                                   

On the way to Patta fort,A Plateau on the way.After walking 3 kms,you reach a plateau above Pattawadi village

                                     
Cannons on way to Patta fort
                                     


Reaching halfway fom Pattawadi village

Approaching caves where Samadhi of Laxmangiri Maharaj is located
                           

Samadhi of Laxmangiri Maharaj at a cave on Patta fort
                                     


                                        


                                


Pattai devi temple
                                   




Dilli Darwaza the route from Avandh fort via Tirdhe meets here
                                   


Water tank on Patta fort.This water is supplied to Pattawadi village
                                 



Remains of Palace on top
                               

                             
                                 

                             
Inside Palace
                                  




The point from where cannons were fired from this fort
                         
                             



Nearby Patta fort summit




From Patta fort summit.A very very strong wind was blowing here and it was enough  to blow away anybody



Kokanwadi village seen below from Patta fort Summit





Traverse of Patta fort towards Avandh


                           
Near Saptateerth on Patta fort
                         

                              



Mahakaal mountain(1450 meters) near Ekdara the neighbour of Patta fort and Kalsubai(Not seen due to dense clouds and fog)

Close view of Mahakaal Mountain and Bitandgad(Extreme right mountain) in the Sahyadris range
Mhaiswalan ghat on road to Igatpuri

                              
Windmills on way to Taaked in Mhais-walan ghat

Scene from Mhaiswalan ghat


                           
Taaked village near Igatpuri
                           


Sarvateerth at Taaked.There is one Jataayu temple and Ram temple in its surroundings.
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7 comments:

  1. One More Way to visit this place is
    Goto Sinnar,Catch Buses to 'Thangaon'
    Then you can Hire any local Jeep From thangaon
    10 Km From thangaon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thanks Ray
      You have solved a major problem.
      One most tiresome part in this trek was driving my bike for around 400+ kms a day.
      Sinnar is connected by regular buses on Pune-Nasik highway.
      How frequent are buses from Sinnar to Thangaon?
      If there are frequent buses,then I dont mind even walking 10 kms till Pattawadi from Thangaon even if I dont get jeep,doesnt matter me a lot.
      I can start early in morning around 1:30 am and reach Sinnar around 5:30 am and reach Thangaon before 8:00 am
      walking 10 kms will take me around 1.5 hours and another 1 hour to reach patta Summit so even if I manage to reach Taaked around 3:00 pm,I can reach Pune before 10:00 pm

      Delete
    2. I am planning to go to patta fort this weekend...do know if there is any facility where I can park my two wheeler safely ?

      Delete
    3. thanks for telling the simplest route .

      Delete
  2. Are there any possible way of parking the two wheeler with safety near the Patta Fort ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is no problem at all.
      pattawadi village is safe one.You can park your bike without any problem.

      I have been there almost 4 times and parked my bike there without any problems

      Delete
  3. There is a only one direct bus igatpuri-pachpatta @6.30am from Igatpuri upto pachpatta village.kasara-sinnar bus is upto fata or junction near pipaldarawadi.there is long distance walk.

    ReplyDelete