Weekend Travels: Satara

Showing posts with label Satara. Show all posts

Thoseghar Waterfall & Chalkewadi Windmills

Thoseghar is situated in Satara District of Maharashtra. Thoseghar is just 20 kms from the Satara city. A 1000 feet waterfall makes the village very special. There is a newly constructed Platform to stand and take a good view of the waterfall. Thoseghar is always the attraction for the nature lovers and now day’s people are looking for different spots especially in the rainy season. Thoseghar is very famous for its high Waterfall. These Waterfalls are very attractive and creates a loud noise in the calm nature. You can enjoy various small waterfalls here which are about 15-20 meters high and one of around 500 meters high. Chalkewadi is just 25kms from Satara city (Around 4kms from Thoseghar), you can see lot of windmills running. These windmills generate the Electricity from breeze and because of these windmills the Satara District is called as the "District of Power". Hundreds of windmills are running here 24x7. If you want to experience the force of wind and sound of windmills you can drive on the top of this hill. Chalkewadi looks beautiful in Rainy season.

Satara is around 110 Kms from Pune and Thoseghar is around 130 Kms from Pune. Entry fee of Rs 10 per head has now been started.

Best time to visit is from August to October

Nearby places to visit from Thoseghar

Chalkewadi Wind Mills (It is 4kms Thoseghar)

Beautiful Nature (In Rainy Days)

Sajjangad ( on the way )

Kaas Plateau ( Around 45 Kms from Thoseghar)

For more photos see link below

https://www.facebook.com/Weekendtravels.in

Thoseghar Waterfall

Panorama View - Thoseghar Waterfall

Thoseghar Waterfall

For more photos see link below

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.368525556598599.1073741841.359767254141096&type=1&l=b991f2f30f

Reaching Thoseghar waterfall from Pune :-

View Larger Map

Vasantgad Fort

The base village of Vasantgad is “Talbeed”, (Karad) this is place remembered for Hambirrao Mohite, Shivaji Maharaj’s second Commander-in-chief. This is also the place of Queen Tarabai. We can also see the memorial of Hambirrao Mohite in Talbeed. The route to the fort starts from outskirts of the village. The fort entrance has been destroyed. We can see a Ganesh idol carved in the ramparts. If we turn right after ascending the steps, we reach a big temple. This is the temple of Chandrasen, the son of Shoorpanakha, Ravana’s sister. There are remnants of two more temples.

The mountain top is extensive, and is well fortified by strong bastions. We find a doorway in the bastion on the south side of the fort. This entrance is of “Gomukhi” type, and the carvings here are still intact. The ramparts are also intact. There is a big grinding wheel on the fort. It takes around one and half hour to see the fort. From the top we get a good glimpse of Koyna River.

The fort is easy to climb. I did not climb from Talbeed village. I took following route, Pune – Satara – Karad – Take left towards Karad Airport – Vasantgad. It takes less than 45mins to climb the fort and one hour to see the entire fort.

History of Vasantgad Fort

Vasantgad was built by Shilahar King Bhoj. Shivaji Maharaj conquered it on 1659. Later, Rajaram Maharaj stayed for some time on this fort when he returned from Jinji. Aurangzeb captured this fort in 1700 and named it “Kili-da-Fateh”. The Marathas got the fort back in 1706.

Approximate Distance from Pune

170Kms

Best time to Visit:

September to May

What to see?

Bastian, Fortification, Cannon, Water cisterns, 2 Temples of Chandreshwar or moon

Water and Food

No water & food on the Fort. Need to carry food and water along with

Stay / Accommodation

No place to stay on the Fort. One can stay at the base village of Talbeed or in Karad.

Places around

Karad, Sadashivgad, The monument of Hambirrao Mohite in Talbid. Chandragiri Ghal where Saint Samarth Ramadas Swami stayed some years

Route Available from Pune

Pune – Satara – Karad Road – Before Karad Take Left towards Talbid

Pune – Satara – Karad – Take left towards Karad Airport - Vasantgad

Vasantgad Fort

Climbing Vasantgad Fort

Vasantgad Fort Main Entrance

Ganpanti Idol at Entrance of Fort

Hanuman Idol

Chandrasen

Vasantgad Fort

View from Vasantgad Fort

Vasantgad Fort

Another Entrance

Vasantgad Fort

View Larger Map

Email: weekendspots@gmail.com

=========END========

Santoshgad Fort or Tathavade

Tathavade or Santoshgad, hill fort lies in the north-west corner of the Phaltan taluka, about 12 miles south-west of Phaltan, the taluka headquarters! The fort is roughly triangular in shape. The local tradition is that this fort was built by Shivaji the Great (1630-80). In 1666 it was in the hands of Bajaji Naik Nimbalkar. In the same year Chhatrapati Shivaji after the treaty of Purandhar served under Jaysing, the Rajput general of Aurangzeb's army, against Bijapur and with his Mavlas escaladed Tathavade. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 165.] The Bijapur Government again apparently got it back from the Moghals probably by treaty. Chhatrapati Shivaji retook it for himself in 1673 [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 202.] And in 1676 he had to retake the open country in its neighborhood, the estate-holders of which were always ready to rebel against him.[ Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 209.] The fort was taken by the Moghals in 1689. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 273.]. But was ceded to Shahu in 1720 in the imperial grants made to him in that year. [Grant Duffs Marathas, Vol. I, 339] in a revenue statement of about 1790 Tathora appears as the head of a sub-division in the Nahisdurg sarkar with revenue of Rs. 1,120. [Warring's Marathas, 244.] The fort remained in the hands of the Marathas till 1818 when it was shelled by a detachment of General Pritzler's army from the plateau and a spur pointed out about half a mile to the west. A good many of the buildings and part of the walls are said to have been injured by the shelling. The commandant fled at the first few shots, the garrison followed, and the fort was taken. Its elaborate design and considerable strength for the times in which it was built may be explained by the fact that it was close to the Nizam Shahi frontier and of some importance therefore to the Bijapur government, while the constant disturbances in the neighborhood in Chhatrapati Shivajis time would amply account for any additions he made to it.

A story is told that the famous dacoit Umaji Naik (1827) was resting at a spring in the ravine which leads down to the fort from the plateau and that a Brahman on his way to Tathavad passed by with a little grain given him in charity. Umaji called on him to stand and give up what he had. But when he learnt that it was only grain sent him off in peace, entreated his blessings, and gave him Rs. 25

Before visiting to Santoshgad, I visited a place called Nimbhalkar wada in Wathar, a similar pace like Shaniwar wada in Pune and then we moved towards Santoshgad. Santoshgad is around 120kms from Pune. The fort is easy to climb. It takes less than 45 mins to climb the fort. Route to climb the fort is easy and there are no difficult patches in between. This fort can be done in one day.

Best time to Visit:

September to April

What to see?

Bastian, Fortification, Water cisterns.

Water and Food

No water & food on the Fort. There are water tanks on the fort but the water is not good to drink.

Stay / Accommodation

No place to stay on the Fort.

For more photos see link below
https://www.facebook.com/Weekendtravels.in