Solapur - Osmanabad Trek Report
Date : September 24-27, 2004
Starting Point : Portuguese Church, Dadar, 11.10 pm
Started off at 11.10 pm after everyone assembled at the designated location. There were 9 of us for the trek, viz., Shailesh Kandalgaonkar (leader), Ashish Thakur, Ameya Datey, Ajay Dhuru, Amit Dhuru, Ketan Kale, Ravi Vaidyanathan, Nilesh Pitale and Mahesh Kadam. We booked a 16 seater Cruiser which was quite comfortable in accommodating all of us and our trekking sacks and other stuff too. Left the location and proceeded to our first destination Akluj.
Sept 25, 2004
Akluj (Solapur District)
A beautiful fort in Akluj was our first destination. Reached Akluj at 7.40 am, had our breakfast and then visited the fort. This fort is not quite vast and it took us around an hour to see it completely. Beautifully maintained garden inside the fort and quite a bit of it is being restored. This town in named Akluj after Aklai Devi who is the presiding diety of that town.
On the way to our next stop Velapur, we came across the village of Khandali, which had a “Ghadi” or fortified enclosure which we visited next. It is located around 6.5 kms from Akluj on the Akluj - Velapur road. The “ghadi” is made of compressed mud and stones and can withstand cannon fire. The cannon balls get embedded into the softer mud walls and hardly cause any damage to the stronghold. This one has the Deshmukh family living in it, and has belonged to them for generations. This stronghold is around 400 years old, the first level of fortification has already crumbled except for a small portion of it, the inner walls are also quite fragile. Out of the three entrances that existed in the past, the final inner one is still present.
Velapur (Solapur District) (distance 8 kms from Akluj) – Velapur has a very ancient Hemadpanthi style temple of Shiva & Parvati. The name of the diety is Ardhanarinateshwar. The beautifully and intricately carved black granite sculpture of Shiva and Parvati has been consecrated on the base of the Linga and is highly polished. This village was called Ekchakrinagar back in time but is known as Velapur now. Quite a beautiful temple worth visiting. A shilalekh in the devnagri script is present in the temple and another one on the right hand side of the staircase leading to the temple pond. Left for Pandharpur at 10.20 am.
Pandharpur (Solapur District) (11 kms from Velapur) – Reached the famous town of Pandharpur at 11.00 am. Washed our feet in the river Chandraprabha (Bhima later), had a quick darshan of Vitthal and Rakhumai, took our lunch and left for our next destination Mangalweda which had a fort waiting to be appreciated. Left Pandharpur around 1.00 noon.
Mangalweda (Solapur District) (20 kms from Pandharpur) – A huge crowd greeted us at the entrance of Mangalweda at 2.00 pm when we reached the fort. The whole of zilla parishad offices are located inside this fortification. All the bastions are in a very dilapidated condition but the fort walls are still quite intact. In many places the walls have been refurbished and rebuilt. The fort houses some huge ancient trees which gave the black ibis some good building sites for their nests. The could be heard communicating with their shrill calls quite often. Hardly any of the olden structures left inside, completely occupied by Zilla Parishad offices. Out next stop was the fort of Mohol.
Mohol (Solapur District) (around Kms 14) – Reached the fort of Mohol at 4.15 pm. Inside the village and not visible from the main road. Hardly anything left of the fort except a bastion (out of the 4 which was originally present), and that too in a very bad condition. All the fortification stones are lying around and quite many have been used to reconstruct houses around. Left Mohol in ½ hour and proceeded to Solapur Fort.
Solapur (Solapur District) – (Temple and Fort – reached 5.20 pm – 15-16 kms). The temple is located in the middle of a lake and the fort stands in its banks. A very beautiful temple of Shiva (Siddheshwar Temple). After visiting the temple, went to see the fort. One part of the fortification is right opposite the temple with a river running in the middle and acting as a natural moat. The fort was closed due to rains and we could not have the opportunity of visiting it and seeing its grandeur from inside. However, we managed to get permission from the owner of a tall 6 storey building located in the opposite site of the road to the fort and video shoot the entire fort from above. Disappointed, we left for Tuljapur for the night halt.
Tuljapur (Osmanabad District) – ( Kms) Reached around 8.15 pm for the night halt. Had dinner at a hotel and booked room for ourselves at the pujari’s place which is just next to the temple. Got up at 4.30 am, had a bath and went for the early morning darshan by 5.15 am. A fantastic darshan of Tulja Bhavani at close range was a very pleasurable and beautiful experience. Left for Naldurg after having breakfast at Tuljapur at 6.50 am.
Sept 26, 2004
Naldurg (Osmanabad District) (32 kms) – Reached Naldurg at 8.30 am. This fort comes under the ASI and is a protected monument. Photography is prohibited but the watchman appointed by ASI can be pataoed. Mahesh was the guy whom we used to send to patao these guys for photography, and it worked ….. always.. A land fort which has been quite well preserved and is very beautiful. This fort covers an area of around 35 acres and is quite huge. It took us a full 3 hours to see the complete fort and still we missed out on a few things.
Ausa (Latur District) (70+ Kms from Naldurg) Our next destination Ausagad was no exception to the rule. The route was through Umarga which is 35 Kms from Naldurg and Ausa was 45+ kms further down. Reached the fort at 1.30 noon. Ausagad is not as big as Naldurg but equally impressive. The fort is under the ASI and is being maintained well and repairs are underway to maintain it in a good shape. Some statistics of Ausagad are – 7 entrances, 7 wells, 26 bastions, 65 canons and 25 acres spread. Finished our rounds at Ausagad at 2.45 and then proceeded to have our lunch and further down to our next destination Udgir.
Udgir (Latur District) – (91 Kms from Ausa) – Udgir was another lovely fort not worth missing. It is as extensive as Ausagad and has lots of original buildings and construction left in it, though in a bad shape. The beauty of the remains makes us wonder how beautiful the actual buildings and the fort would have been in its glorious past. Reached Udgir at around 4.45 and finished our rounds of the fort by 6.45. We left for our next destination which was supposed to be Ambejogai for the night halt (distance around 117 kms).
Parli (Beed District) – (120 kms from Udgir) One our way, we changed plans and diverted to Parli as we had to come back the next day to Sirur and we had to do that via the Ambejogai route. The last diversion to Parli (around 16 kms) was pretty bad with roads giving us and the vehicle a very bad time. Reached quite late at around 9.45, searched for a Khanaval and had a good meal there. Stayed at the guest house belonging to the temple.
Sept 27, 2004
Woke up quite early at 4.30 am, had our wash and went in to have a darshan of the Jyotirling (Vaijnath “Vaidyanath” of Parli). After a lovely darshan, left at 6.10 am for Ambejogai to seek the Darshan of Amba Bhavani. (24 kms from Parli). The darshan at Ambejogai was also very good, hardly any crowds and we had a good look at the diety and quite much time to pray too !!.
Dharur (Beed District) (40+ Kms from Ambejogai) – On our way to Dharur stopped midway at Aadas when we sighted a ghadi there. This fortified enclosure has been standing proudly for the past 400 years and time has taken its toll, as usual. Left Aadas at 8.00 am for Dharur fort, where we reached at 9.00 am. It took us nearly 2 hours to go round the fort looking at the various structures there. A beautiful fort with lots of construction, dyke protected, and strewn with lots of lakes and tanks too. Left Dharur at 10.45 for Paranda.
Paranda Fort (Osmanabad District) (110+ Kms) Reached Paranda at 3.00 pm after lunch and chasing the pelting rains for an hour on the roads. The fort of Paranda was the cream of the cake. The chowkidar was again pataoed and he let us take photographs. The assistant who accompanied us to the rounds of the fort was quite surprised at the ease with which we got a permission to photograph the fort, which is prohibited according to the ASI notice. A fantastic fort with lots of bastions and crenellated walls. Most bastions had a huge cannon still lying on it and displaying its past glory. Cannons of the Maratha era, the Nizamshahi, Adilshahi, Dutch and English are all found here. There is also a store room where around 50 cannons and around 150+ cannonballs are stored. Quite a picturesque fort with lots of peacocks around voicing their presence regularly. Left half heartedly for our last destination – Karmala at 4.45 pm. A beautiful fort with lots of cannons in brief.
Karmala (Osmanabad District) (20+ kms) – A fort worth forgetting all about. From the outside the walls and bastions are extremely good looking and quite intact. It is when you go inside that u get the shock of your life. A whole town is thriving inside the fort. The walls have been sliced apart to build roads and the bastions are just nowhere in sight. We had the distinct impression of huge fort sets which are made for shooting movies, beautiful from the outside but nothing inside !!! None of the old construction remains inside… did see a lot of Ganpati idols being taken out for visarjan and that was a beautiful sight. Left the fort at around 5.30 and took the jeep back to our hometown Mumbai. Stopped on the way to have a late nite diner at around 1.30 and reached Mumbai Tuesday Morning (Sept 28, 2004) at around 5.30. Thus ended one of the most memorable treks of the Solapur – Latur regions. All pictures (290+) are posted elsewhere under the name Solapur Trek.
Starting Point : Portuguese Church, Dadar, 11.10 pm
Started off at 11.10 pm after everyone assembled at the designated location. There were 9 of us for the trek, viz., Shailesh Kandalgaonkar (leader), Ashish Thakur, Ameya Datey, Ajay Dhuru, Amit Dhuru, Ketan Kale, Ravi Vaidyanathan, Nilesh Pitale and Mahesh Kadam. We booked a 16 seater Cruiser which was quite comfortable in accommodating all of us and our trekking sacks and other stuff too. Left the location and proceeded to our first destination Akluj.
Sept 25, 2004
Akluj (Solapur District)
A beautiful fort in Akluj was our first destination. Reached Akluj at 7.40 am, had our breakfast and then visited the fort. This fort is not quite vast and it took us around an hour to see it completely. Beautifully maintained garden inside the fort and quite a bit of it is being restored. This town in named Akluj after Aklai Devi who is the presiding diety of that town. On the way to our next stop Velapur, we came across the village of Khandali, which had a “Ghadi” or fortified enclosure which we visited next. It is located around 6.5 kms from Akluj on the Akluj - Velapur road. The “ghadi” is made of compressed mud and stones and can withstand cannon fire. The cannon balls get embedded into the softer mud walls and hardly cause any damage to the stronghold. This one has the Deshmukh family living in it, and has belonged to them for generations. This stronghold is around 400 years old, the first level of fortification has already crumbled except for a small portion of it, the inner walls are also quite fragile. Out of the three entrances that existed in the past, the final inner one is still present.
Velapur (Solapur District) (distance 8 kms from Akluj) – Velapur has a very ancient Hemadpanthi style temple of Shiva & Parvati. The name of the diety is Ardhanarinateshwar. The beautifully and intricately carved black granite sculpture of Shiva and Parvati has been consecrated on the base of the Linga and is highly polished. This village was called Ekchakrinagar back in time but is known as Velapur now. Quite a beautiful temple worth visiting. A shilalekh in the devnagri script is present in the temple and another one on the right hand side of the staircase leading to the temple pond. Left for Pandharpur at 10.20 am.
Pandharpur (Solapur District) (11 kms from Velapur) – Reached the famous town of Pandharpur at 11.00 am. Washed our feet in the river Chandraprabha (Bhima later), had a quick darshan of Vitthal and Rakhumai, took our lunch and left for our next destination Mangalweda which had a fort waiting to be appreciated. Left Pandharpur around 1.00 noon.
Mangalweda (Solapur District) (20 kms from Pandharpur) – A huge crowd greeted us at the entrance of Mangalweda at 2.00 pm when we reached the fort. The whole of zilla parishad offices are located inside this fortification. All the bastions are in a very dilapidated condition but the fort walls are still quite intact. In many places the walls have been refurbished and rebuilt. The fort houses some huge ancient trees which gave the black ibis some good building sites for their nests. The could be heard communicating with their shrill calls quite often. Hardly any of the olden structures left inside, completely occupied by Zilla Parishad offices. Out next stop was the fort of Mohol.
Mohol (Solapur District) (around Kms 14) – Reached the fort of Mohol at 4.15 pm. Inside the village and not visible from the main road. Hardly anything left of the fort except a bastion (out of the 4 which was originally present), and that too in a very bad condition. All the fortification stones are lying around and quite many have been used to reconstruct houses around. Left Mohol in ½ hour and proceeded to Solapur Fort.
Solapur (Solapur District) – (Temple and Fort – reached 5.20 pm – 15-16 kms). The temple is located in the middle of a lake and the fort stands in its banks. A very beautiful temple of Shiva (Siddheshwar Temple). After visiting the temple, went to see the fort. One part of the fortification is right opposite the temple with a river running in the middle and acting as a natural moat. The fort was closed due to rains and we could not have the opportunity of visiting it and seeing its grandeur from inside. However, we managed to get permission from the owner of a tall 6 storey building located in the opposite site of the road to the fort and video shoot the entire fort from above. Disappointed, we left for Tuljapur for the night halt.
Tuljapur (Osmanabad District) – ( Kms) Reached around 8.15 pm for the night halt. Had dinner at a hotel and booked room for ourselves at the pujari’s place which is just next to the temple. Got up at 4.30 am, had a bath and went for the early morning darshan by 5.15 am. A fantastic darshan of Tulja Bhavani at close range was a very pleasurable and beautiful experience. Left for Naldurg after having breakfast at Tuljapur at 6.50 am.
Sept 26, 2004
Naldurg (Osmanabad District) (32 kms) – Reached Naldurg at 8.30 am. This fort comes under the ASI and is a protected monument. Photography is prohibited but the watchman appointed by ASI can be pataoed. Mahesh was the guy whom we used to send to patao these guys for photography, and it worked ….. always.. A land fort which has been quite well preserved and is very beautiful. This fort covers an area of around 35 acres and is quite huge. It took us a full 3 hours to see the complete fort and still we missed out on a few things.
Ausa (Latur District) (70+ Kms from Naldurg) Our next destination Ausagad was no exception to the rule. The route was through Umarga which is 35 Kms from Naldurg and Ausa was 45+ kms further down. Reached the fort at 1.30 noon. Ausagad is not as big as Naldurg but equally impressive. The fort is under the ASI and is being maintained well and repairs are underway to maintain it in a good shape. Some statistics of Ausagad are – 7 entrances, 7 wells, 26 bastions, 65 canons and 25 acres spread. Finished our rounds at Ausagad at 2.45 and then proceeded to have our lunch and further down to our next destination Udgir.
Udgir (Latur District) – (91 Kms from Ausa) – Udgir was another lovely fort not worth missing. It is as extensive as Ausagad and has lots of original buildings and construction left in it, though in a bad shape. The beauty of the remains makes us wonder how beautiful the actual buildings and the fort would have been in its glorious past. Reached Udgir at around 4.45 and finished our rounds of the fort by 6.45. We left for our next destination which was supposed to be Ambejogai for the night halt (distance around 117 kms).
Parli (Beed District) – (120 kms from Udgir) One our way, we changed plans and diverted to Parli as we had to come back the next day to Sirur and we had to do that via the Ambejogai route. The last diversion to Parli (around 16 kms) was pretty bad with roads giving us and the vehicle a very bad time. Reached quite late at around 9.45, searched for a Khanaval and had a good meal there. Stayed at the guest house belonging to the temple.
Sept 27, 2004
Woke up quite early at 4.30 am, had our wash and went in to have a darshan of the Jyotirling (Vaijnath “Vaidyanath” of Parli). After a lovely darshan, left at 6.10 am for Ambejogai to seek the Darshan of Amba Bhavani. (24 kms from Parli). The darshan at Ambejogai was also very good, hardly any crowds and we had a good look at the diety and quite much time to pray too !!.
Dharur (Beed District) (40+ Kms from Ambejogai) – On our way to Dharur stopped midway at Aadas when we sighted a ghadi there. This fortified enclosure has been standing proudly for the past 400 years and time has taken its toll, as usual. Left Aadas at 8.00 am for Dharur fort, where we reached at 9.00 am. It took us nearly 2 hours to go round the fort looking at the various structures there. A beautiful fort with lots of construction, dyke protected, and strewn with lots of lakes and tanks too. Left Dharur at 10.45 for Paranda.
Paranda Fort (Osmanabad District) (110+ Kms) Reached Paranda at 3.00 pm after lunch and chasing the pelting rains for an hour on the roads. The fort of Paranda was the cream of the cake. The chowkidar was again pataoed and he let us take photographs. The assistant who accompanied us to the rounds of the fort was quite surprised at the ease with which we got a permission to photograph the fort, which is prohibited according to the ASI notice. A fantastic fort with lots of bastions and crenellated walls. Most bastions had a huge cannon still lying on it and displaying its past glory. Cannons of the Maratha era, the Nizamshahi, Adilshahi, Dutch and English are all found here. There is also a store room where around 50 cannons and around 150+ cannonballs are stored. Quite a picturesque fort with lots of peacocks around voicing their presence regularly. Left half heartedly for our last destination – Karmala at 4.45 pm. A beautiful fort with lots of cannons in brief.
Karmala (Osmanabad District) (20+ kms) – A fort worth forgetting all about. From the outside the walls and bastions are extremely good looking and quite intact. It is when you go inside that u get the shock of your life. A whole town is thriving inside the fort. The walls have been sliced apart to build roads and the bastions are just nowhere in sight. We had the distinct impression of huge fort sets which are made for shooting movies, beautiful from the outside but nothing inside !!! None of the old construction remains inside… did see a lot of Ganpati idols being taken out for visarjan and that was a beautiful sight. Left the fort at around 5.30 and took the jeep back to our hometown Mumbai. Stopped on the way to have a late nite diner at around 1.30 and reached Mumbai Tuesday Morning (Sept 28, 2004) at around 5.30. Thus ended one of the most memorable treks of the Solapur – Latur regions. All pictures (290+) are posted elsewhere under the name Solapur Trek.
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