Praneel-Ramanan's video: Visited VIJAYDURG FORT with Nikhil Explanation by Santosh Pawar Guide

VIJAYDURG FORT - with Guide Me and my friend (Nikhil Mungekar) went on a road trip to Devgad from Mumbai which is 495kms away from Mumbai. The bike we were riding on was Activa 3G with a 110cc engine. We were there for 5 days and in one of those five days we went to this fort called Vijaydurg Fort and we hired a guide to explain the historic importance of this fort and the discovery of helium by a famous British scientist named Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer on 18 August 1868. The name of the guide we hired is Santosh Pawar. He explained about the Expansion of Vijaydurg fort by Shivaji Maharaj, the development of underwater wall to prevent ships from coming close to the fort, secret meeting chambers, secret escape doors and Helium of course. Some other facts about the Fort : Vijaydurg fort is located in Devgad district. This fort was built by King Bhoj in 1205 and was known as “Gheria”. Later Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj took over this fort and named it “Vijaydurga”. Vijaydurg fort was also known as “Eastern Gibraltar” as this fort was impregnable for a long time like the fort “Gibraltar” in Europe. A dilapidated board at the entrance of the fort relates its history. One of the best views of the fort is from the jetty. The fort stretches out into the sea and a walk inside its precincts is worthwhile. The earlier fort covered area of 5 acres and was surrounded by sea on all the 4 sides. Over the years the eastern trench was reclaimed and the road was constructed thereon. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj added triple rows of huge walls, umpteen towers and spacious inner buildings to it and strengthened it in the 17th century. Vijaydurg’s beach is a stretch of about a kilometer with good views of the fort at the right and a small plateau with a hut to the left. Once naval bases, Vijaydurg fort and Sindhudurg fort bear testimony to Maharashtra’s martial supremacy during Shivaji’s reign. This is only one of the two forts of the Maratha kingdom, where Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj personally hoisted the saffron flag. The other fort is “Torana”. This impregnable fort has advantage due to its location. One such advantage is 40 km long waghotan/kharepatan Creek. The large size ships can not enter the shallow water of this creek and hence Maratha warships were anchored in this creek. These ships were invisible from deep sea. There is 200m long, sub sea /underground man made tunnel from the fort to the Dunlap's palatial house in the village. The fencing wall constructed at 8-10 m deep below sea level, 300ft from the fort is another architectural wonder. The wall constructed with literate stones was about 122 mtr long, 3 mtr high & 7 mtr in breadth. Majority of attacking ships hit with this wall and capsized as this wall is not visible above the sea level. Approx 1.5 km from the fort in the Wagjotan Creek is a naval dock. The Maratha warships were built and repaired in this dock. The ships built in this dock were of the 500 tonnage capacity. How to Reach Vijaydurg Fort: By Air: GM_Air_S Kolhapur and Panjim (Goa) are the nearest Airport for Vijaydurg fort. Further journey may be performed by road. By Rail: GM_Railway_S Rajapur is the nearest railway station on Konkan Railways. Further journey may be performed by road. By Road: GM_Bus_S You may take private cars or MSRTC buses from Rajapur, Ratnagiri or Devgad. Instagram Links : https://www.instagram.com/photos_by_chiku/ Channel link : My : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8x93W3xxO2pmz3mEHi4JuA?view_as=subscriber Wordpress : praneel595017972.wordpress.com