Raigad is a flat-topped mountain in the Sahyadri, the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, with cliffs falling away on almost every side, and it was chosen by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as the capital of the Maratha kingdom. In 1674 he was crowned here, a ceremony that announced the Marathas as a sovereign power in the face of the Mughal empire, and the fort became the political heart of the young state. Today the summit holds the ruins of the palace, the market street with its rows of stone shop plinths, water tanks cut into the rock, and Shivaji's samadhi, which draws a steady stream of visitors who come as pilgrims rather than tourists.
Getting to the top is part of the experience. There are a great many stone steps for those who walk, and a ropeway for those who would rather not, swinging up over the cliffs with the valley dropping away below. At the base, at Pachad, are the remains of the palace associated with Jijabai, Shivaji's mother. The views from the summit across the folded green ridges of the Konkan, especially after the monsoon, are spectacular.
Riding here is all about the season. The monsoon, roughly June to September, transforms the Sahyadri into an impossibly green landscape full of waterfalls, and it also makes the ghat roads slippery, foggy and prone to landslides; many local riders love it, but it demands care. October to February is the comfortable time, with clear skies and cooler air. The approach from the coast is via the Mumbai to Goa highway through Mahad, and from Pune you can come down one of the ghats, such as Varandha or Tamhini, which drop from the Deccan plateau to the coastal plain in long sequences of hairpins and views. Expect trucks, buses, people and animals on the road at all times.
Mahad, about seventeen kilometres away, is the nearest town of any size, with fuel, food and mechanics; it has historical weight of its own as the place where B. R. Ambedkar led the Mahad Satyagraha in 1927 for access to public water. Around the base of Raigad you will find simple stalls selling tea, vada pav and kokum sherbet, a sour pink drink that is perfect in the heat. Start the climb early, before the sun gets high, and carry water.