Ponda Fort

Ponda Fort, which some call the Chhatrapati Shivaji fort, occupies a hill at Farmagudi near Ponda in Goa. The original fort, known locally as Kota, probably dates from the Adil Shahi sultans of Bijapur and was destroyed by the Portuguese under João de Castro in 1549. Shivaji besieged Ponda in 1666 without success, but captured it in May 1675 and had the fort rebuilt. In 1683 its small Maratha garrison held off the viceroy of Goa until Sambhaji arrived with 600 men; Sambhaji then demolished the old fort and raised a new one close by, named Mardangad.

The area later passed to the Mughals and the kings of Sonda before becoming Portuguese territory under treaties of 1764 and 1771. After Goa joined India the fort was renovated as a park, with a statue of Shivaji put up by former chief minister Shashikala Kakodkar. The state's annual Shivaji Jayanti celebrations are held nearby, and the fort is repainted each year beforehand. Sections of wall fell in 2015 and 2017.