Balapur Fort

Marthwada-Vidharbha Circuit- 8 days, 1750 Kms
Pune-Ahmednagar-Parbhani-Navagarh-Jintur (480 Kms)
Jintur-Lonar-Mehekar-Karanja (216 Kms)
Karnja-Amravati-Chikhaldara (153 Kms)
Chikhaldara-Semadoh-Chikhaldara (50Kms)
Chikhaldara-Partwada-Muktagiri (44Kms)
Muktagiri-Achalpur-Akot-Shegaon (120 Kms)
Shegaon-Mehekar-SindkhedRaja-Jalna-Aurangabad- (265 Kms)
Aurangabad-Nagar-Pune (236 Kms)

Type: Land Fort
Base town: Balapur
Where:
Route taken: Shegaon-Balapur
Time to see around: 1 Hour
Time visited: October 2011
My Meter reading from Pune: ? Kms
History as on Internet: The Balapur Fort was started in 1721 by Azam Shah, the son of Emperor Aurangzeb, and was eventually completed by Ismail Khan, the Nawab of Ellichpur in 1757. Situated on an elevated ground between the two rivers, the fort has very high walls and bastions built of the best brickwork of its time.

The Balapur Fort is situated in Balapur which is about 26 km from Akola on Akola-Khamgaon Road. Located at the junction of the rivers Man and Mhais, the massively built fort is probably the strongest in Vidarbha and Khandesh regions of Maharashtra.

You have to almost take a traverse to reach the gates from Balapur town.

A huge gate stands in shadows of the trees watching over the government school and the children engrossed in thrilling game of cricket.

The fort has three gateways, one within the other.

The temple of Bala Devi, from which the town has derived its name, lies just under the Fort, on the southern side.

The watch towers were used to keep an eye on the town activities.

You can walk on the walls. The area within the fort is all empty except the collectorate office building and huge well.

We proceeded to next destination- Sindhkhed Raja