Raigad Fort development to be speeded up: Ajit Pawar

The Maha Vikas Aghadi government is set to give a major push to speed up the development of Raigad Fort and the neighbouring areas.

Located in Raigad district’s Mahad area, the Raigad Fort has a great significance in India’s history as it is from here that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj laid the foundation of ‘Hindavi-swaraj’ or self-rule of Hindu people.

To discuss the progress of the ongoing works, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar chaired a review meeting.

“Funds will not be a constraint for the project,” he said.

Besides the Raigad Fort, the 21 villages in the vicinity are also being developed.

Top officials of Tourism and Cultural Affairs departments, Archaeological Survey of India, Directorate of Archaeology were present.

Raigad Development Authority (RDA) chairman and Shri Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, the 13th descendent of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who hails from the royal family of Kolhapur, Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare, cultural affairs minister Amit Deshmukh, tourism, environment and protocol minister Aaditya Thackeray, minister of state for tourism Aditi Tatkare, Principal Secretary (Tourism) Valsa Nair-Singh, Konkan divisional commissioner Vilas Patil and Raigad district collector Mahendra Kalyankar were present.

In 1674, Shivaji Maharaj made Raigad Fort his capital.

Shivaji was crowned king in a ceremony on 6 June 1674 at Raigad Fort.

From here, he laid the foundation of the Hindavi-Swaraj or the self-rule of the Hindu people.

Earlier known as Rairi, Shivaji Maharaj seized the fort from Chandrarao More, the king of Jawli and a descendant of Chandragupta Maurya, in 1656. For over a decade, it was renovated and strengthened. The villages of Pachad and Raigadwadi are located at the base of the fort.

After the death of Shivaji and thereafter the killing of his son Sambhajil Maharaj in 1689, the fort was captured by Mughals under Aurangzeb and in 1818, it was the target of an armed expedition of the British East India Company.

Located 820 metres (2,700 feet) above sea level in the Sahyadri mountain ranges, the fort can be accessed by a single pathway comprising 1737 steps. Surrounded by deep green valleys, the fort has several gateways that enthral its visitors, namely, the Mena Darwaja, Nagarkhana Darwaja, Palkhi Darwaja, and the majestic Maha Darwaja which is the main entrance to the imperial structure. The Britishers had named it "Gibraltar of the East'' as the well-fortified structure atop the hill was extremely difficult to access, let alone conquer. Various landmarks have lent it the credo of ‘Shiva-teerth'.

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