Kangori Fort AKA Mangalgad

Type: Land Fort
Base Village: Gogavalewadi near Pimpalwadi close to ShivthalGhal
Where: 275 KMs from Pune
Route: Pune-Bhor-Mahad Route
Time visited: August 2012
Time to climb: 1.5 hrs.
Difficulty Grade:  2
How to reach: Take a right turn to Bhor from Pune Satara Highway and after crossing Bhor take road to Mahad. Cross Nira-Devghar dam waters and  Varandha ghat. Take a left to Pimpalwadi from a place called Dhalkathi (After bypassing Bhave Village). Mangalgad should be around 17kms from here.

History on Internet: Kangori Fort was built by Chandrarao More of Jawli. In 1648 Shivaji Maharaj took captured this fort and renamed it to Mangalgad. Chitursing the brother of the Raja of Satara was confined here from 1812 till his death in 1818. In 1817 Cornets Hunter and Morrison, two English officers were imprisoned here for some time.

MountainQuest had arranged this wonderful trek. We were about 45 people. We hit katraj ghat by about 6.35AM.

 

The road via Bhor, Nira-Devghar dam was a scenic one. The paddy fields seemed to be enjoying drizzle.

 

Varandah Ghat seemed to be like a gigantic wet cloth in shades of greens with numerous folds.

 

 

Huge milky white waterfalls were ascending unafraid of the height and treacherous rocks below.

Had Breakfast in the bus. We reached by 10.15 AM.

The drizzling continued. Kangori seemed to be distant from the base and engulfed by fog.

The busstop is next to Gogavale vadi. We started the climb immediately. The climb is through adjoining hill and then you have to climb on the ridge.

 

 

 

 

A rocky dirt road is being developed which was still done only 1/4^th. Once we left the road it was climb through thick cover of trees.

Cloulds were wandering in the entire valley. Two large waterfall could be seen far away.

 

The climb is from the right cliff. The last patch was completely engulfed in the clouds. Visibility was around 10 feet.

 

The tall grass made the misty atmosphere more thrilling.

Finally after 1.5 hours we reached the Kangori Temple. It’s a small temple atop the machi. Throughout the last patch rains continued making numerous streams on the way.

It was fun eating lunch amidst the lashing rains.

Unfortunately Ballekilla was completely inaccessible due to huge growth of grass and fog. We descended in an hour’s time.

 

On the way had hot bhajis and steaming tea admist the rain and fog in the ghat.

Due to lack of time Shivthalghal had to be dropped. The return journey was full of wonderful songs and tales of Everest expedition. Few members of MountainQuest had recently climbed Everest and we were lucky to hear from someone with firsthand experience.  We reached safely back home at around 9 PM. It was wonderful trek that I would cherish forever.