Fort : Hadsar

Distance	106 km	Height	4680 ft / 1431 m
Days	2 days	Difficulty	Medium
Base Village	Hadsar
Shelter	About 5 persons can stay in the Mahadeo temple. However, in the monsoon rainwater gets collected in the temple.

Overview

Sahyadyi range has a plethora of forts. Taluka Junnar, belonging ot the Pune district is no exception. Hadsat is a beautilful fort located in this region.

Places of Interest

The entrance gates of the fort of Hadsar are epitomes of the medieval architechture. Twin doors in a tunnel-like entranceway, steps carved out of the rock and the Gomukha construction of the entrance are worth studying. Passing through the main entrance, the path is divided into two. One leads to the top of a hillock and the other to the second gate.
Walking towards the elevated area in the front of the cistern leads us to three huge stores carved in the rock butting the cliff. These are not suitable for a stay, though. The rock also has images of Lord Ganesh carved on it. Towards the right, there is a big pond with a Mahadeo temple and a huge Nandi. The hall of the temple has six corners, three of which have idols of Lord Ganesha, Garuda (Eagle) and Lord Hanuman respectively on them. The pond in the front of the temple gets completely filled in the monsoon. A stonewalled well like construction can be seen at the center of the pond. Adjascent to the temple lays a strong bastion.
Descending from the right of the bastion-wall, a cistern now-filled up with sand soil can be seen. Proceeding little ahead leads us to a carved-out-stone cave in the rock. This was meant for surveying pusposes.
A splendid view of the Manikdeo dam and it's surroundings enriches this place. The whole range of Chavand, Naneghat, Shivneri, Bhairavgad, and Jeevdhan is visible from here.

History

Fort Hadsar, also known as Parvatgad, was constructed during the Satvaahanas and was heavily inhabited during that period. It is located on the outskirts of Ahmednagar (known commonly as Nagar) to control the trade route passing through Naneghat. Documentary evidences show that Hadsar was one of the forts exchanged in the 1637 treaty between Shahaji Raje and Mughals. In 1818 the British forces conquered Junnar and the forts in this region. Like most other cases, main features of this forts were demolished by the British during their attack and later.

How to Reach

There are two major ways to reach the fort Hadsar.
One of them is the royal entrance whereas the other one is made by villagers by carving steps on the rock. Both these ways start from the village of Hadsar. From Junnar any bus going towards, Rajur or Kewada takes us to Hadsar within 45 minutes. There is a well on the way where on starts ascending the hill from village Hadsar. Walk for a short while towards the left on the plateau and pass between two hillocks can be seen after traversing for about 15 minutes. Moving straight ahead in the direction of this pass brings us to the bassion in about half an hour. A simple climb on the rock will take us to the fort entrance. Two water cisterns dug in the rock can be seen on the way.
To take the other route, instead of moving in the direction of the pass one has to circumvent the hill from the left and reach the other side of the hill. About 150 steps from this point will take up to the main entrance in the pass. This being to the royal approach is simpler than the other. About an hours time is enough to the fort from here.

Food Facility

Not available on the fort, hence food needs to be carried along.

Drinking Water Facility

The cistern in front of the main is an all-time supply of water.