Suvarnadurg and Raigad

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Suvarnadurg

   The Konkan coast of Maharashtra is a long green strip between the Sahyadri hills and the Arabian Sea, and every few kilometres a fort stands on a headland or an island. Suvarnadurg, the golden fort, rises from a rocky islet just off Harnai, a fishing port with a morning market that is one of the sights of the coast. The fort was strengthened in the seventeenth century by Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha state, as part of his drive to build a navy, and later it became the base of the admiral Kanhoji Angre, who ruled the sea here for decades and clashed with the British, Portuguese and Dutch. The walls are of black basalt, thick enough to withstand cannon fire, and they stand out against the green water.

   Read the complete Suvarnadurg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Suvarnadurg is where the day begins. Next is Pratapgad.

2. 2. Pratapgad

   Pratapgad stands on a spur of the Sahyadri, the Western Ghats, about twenty kilometres from the hill station of Mahabaleshwar, guarding the old route between the Deccan plateau and the Konkan coast. Shivaji, founder of the Maratha state, had the fort built in the 1650s, and in 1659 it was the scene of the most famous episode of his life. Afzal Khan, a general of the Bijapur Sultanate, came with a large army to crush him, and the two met for a parley below the fort. Accounts differ on who struck first, but Shivaji, wearing armour under his clothes and the wagh nakh, a claw-shaped weapon, on his hand, killed Afzal Khan, and his troops hidden in the forest routed the Bijapuri army. The story is told across Maharashtra with immense pride, and Afzal Khan's tomb lies below the fort.

   Read the complete Pratapgad write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Pratapgad comes up about 179 km into the recorded legs. Next is Rajgad.

3. 3. Rajgad

   In the folded hills of the Sahyadri, south-west of Pune, a great flat-topped mountain rises above the valleys with sheer cliffs on all sides and walls running along its crest. This is Rajgad, the king's fort, and for about twenty-five years in the seventeenth century it was the capital of Shivaji, the Maratha warrior king who carved out an independent kingdom against the Mughal Empire and the sultanates of the Deccan. It is one of the most revered places in Maharashtra, and climbing it is something of a pilgrimage.

   Read the complete Rajgad write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 299 km into the recorded legs you reach Rajgad. Next is Raigad.

4. 4. Raigad

   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.

   Read the complete Raigad write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Raigad, about halfway. Next is back through Rajgad.

5. 5. back through Rajgad

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Rajgad write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Rajgad sits at 507 km, about halfway. Next is back through Pratapgad.

6. 6. back through Pratapgad

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Pratapgad write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Pratapgad comes up about 586 km into the recorded legs. Next is Suvarnadurg.

7. 7. Suvarnadurg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Suvarnadurg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Suvarnadurg closes the day.