Raigad Fort

Raigad is a hill fort near Mahad in Maharashtra's Raigad district, standing at about 820 metres in the Sahyadri range. Shivaji Maharaj, working with his chief engineer Hiroji Indulkar, oversaw its buildings, and after his coronation in 1674 he made it the capital of his Hindavi Swaraj.

The climb is roughly 1,737 steps, or a ropeway of about 750 metres covers it in around four minutes. Visitors enter through the Maha Darwaja, flanked by two tall bastions, and find the base pillars of the wooden palace, the queen's quarters, a court with a replica throne facing the Nagarkhana Darwaja, and the Ganga Sagar lake. The Hirakani Buruj recalls a milkmaid said to have climbed down the cliff at night to reach her child. The Jagdishwar Mandir, whose first step bears Hiroji Indulkar's name, stands with Shivaji's samadhi and that of his dog Waghya, while his mother Jijabai's samadhi is in Pachad village at the foot of the fort.