Vairatgad and Pandavgad
Less Explored forts: Vairatgad and Pandavgad
Vairatgad: The fort Vairatgad is situated in the province of Wai, and 8 km away from Wai. It takes half a day to see the fort.
Grade: Medium
Height:3340 ft ( Mahabaleshwar Range)
Pandavgad: Pandavgad, situated near Wai is easily identified due to its peculiar structure. The mountain on which the fort is built looks as if it is crowned by rocky surface. It is very near to Wai village and is situated on the Wai - Maandhardev route.
Grade: Medium
Height:4185 ft (Mahabaleshwar Range)
My experience
I was going to visit Pune for a long weekend of Christmas and so started planning for a hike or a trek near to Pune with my mates with whom I was on an expedition to Kang Yatze 2, but this time it was more of a reunion. While searching for the nearest place and still an offbeat destination was not that difficult because most of the forts are near to Pune. Pandavgad was the one on the list and a friend suggested to add on with Vairatgad.
So we planned accordingly and decided to go on Sunday the 23rd December 2018.
Three of us started around 6.30am from Sinhagad road (Pune) by one of my besties car, it was dark and could witness the yellow shade of full moon, the drive was of 2hours approximately to Wai and further to Vyazwadi the base village of Vairatgad enroute we had our breakfast which was lip-smacking.
Sunrise captured at the highway
Breakfast
We reached the base village and started with our trek to Vairatgad at around 9 am. The incline wasn't gradual, but the good part was the sun was behind the fort and so we were not affected by it.
Base Village Vyazwadi for Vairatgad
Top of the fort is actually very small. There are remnants of old buildings. There is a small cave to the right. Climbing up 20-25 steps further, we reach the top. To the left, there is a Hanuman temple.
First glimpse of Vairatgad
There are two ways to reach to the fort from the village of Vyajvadi. The way frequently used takes more time. The other one goes from the left side. It takes half an hour to reach the fort by the latter way while the first one takes one hour. Both routes meet at the same point at a distance, from where it takes 10 minutes to reach the top of the fort.
Temple before climbing steps
Hidden cave
A place where you can have accomodation
Virghal
Hanuman temple
Explored the fort for the next 1 hour and started descending around 12.30 and it took 1hour to descend back to the base village. Freshen up and started our way towards Menavli which was 45mins and 20 km from vyazvadi.
Enroute decided to take a light meal which was masala dosa and chaas because we had to climb one more fort. It was almost 3 pm when we started our trek to Pandavgad, we asked villagers as how much time it takes to climb and they said 2.5hours and as an experienced trekkers we decided our return time as 5.15pm no matter where we will be because it is winters and the sun sets early and we were on our own so we did not want to risk our lives as we were told by the villagers that there are wild animals in that area.
Pandavgad from Menawali
That's me
Clear view after you climb the ridge
There wasn't any markings initially but we could see the way to reach the fort though it was all uphill which we realized while descending, after almost 1hour climb we could actually see the fort and markings.
On the first plateau, while ascending from Menavali village, there is a temple of Lord ‘Bhairoba’. Here are remnants of ancient statues. At a distance of 15 minutes there are ruins of the main entrance. Ascending some rock-hewn steps we reach another ‘Machi’. Here are a couple of cisterns.
Entrance to the.fort
While descending
Explored and started our return journey by 5.05 pm and were back till the place we had our friend resting took 20mins and started our way back this time with happy faces as we could make it to the end. At sharp 6.30 pm before it was dark we were back to the base village. The villager offered us water and tea and we decided to go to Dholya Ganpati very famous in Wai and Nana Fadnavis Wada and then had Dinner at PK's biryani at Khed and was back home with lots of memories to year-end trek.
Backdrop of Nana Fadavnis Wada
Temple(Dholya Ganpati)
Highlights of the trek.
Accommodation Facilities
1. Vairatgad:15 people can stay at Hanuman Temple.
2. Pandavgad:‘Pandjai’ temple, which accommodates 15 to 20 persons.
Drinking Water Facility: There are many cisterns, on both the forts and water is available throughout the year.
Transport: Buses run regularly between Wai toVyazwadi (Vairatgad) and Wai-Menavali(Pandavgad). (Best if you have your private vehicle.)
Food Facility: It’s better to make food arrangement by yourself.
Best time to visit: Monsoon to Winter for both the forts.
Vairatgad: The fort Vairatgad is situated in the province of Wai, and 8 km away from Wai. It takes half a day to see the fort.
Grade: Medium
Height:3340 ft ( Mahabaleshwar Range)
Pandavgad: Pandavgad, situated near Wai is easily identified due to its peculiar structure. The mountain on which the fort is built looks as if it is crowned by rocky surface. It is very near to Wai village and is situated on the Wai - Maandhardev route.
Grade: Medium
Height:4185 ft (Mahabaleshwar Range)
My experience
I was going to visit Pune for a long weekend of Christmas and so started planning for a hike or a trek near to Pune with my mates with whom I was on an expedition to Kang Yatze 2, but this time it was more of a reunion. While searching for the nearest place and still an offbeat destination was not that difficult because most of the forts are near to Pune. Pandavgad was the one on the list and a friend suggested to add on with Vairatgad.
So we planned accordingly and decided to go on Sunday the 23rd December 2018.
Three of us started around 6.30am from Sinhagad road (Pune) by one of my besties car, it was dark and could witness the yellow shade of full moon, the drive was of 2hours approximately to Wai and further to Vyazwadi the base village of Vairatgad enroute we had our breakfast which was lip-smacking.
We reached the base village and started with our trek to Vairatgad at around 9 am. The incline wasn't gradual, but the good part was the sun was behind the fort and so we were not affected by it.
Top of the fort is actually very small. There are remnants of old buildings. There is a small cave to the right. Climbing up 20-25 steps further, we reach the top. To the left, there is a Hanuman temple.
Route
There are two ways to reach to the fort from the village of Vyajvadi. The way frequently used takes more time. The other one goes from the left side. It takes half an hour to reach the fort by the latter way while the first one takes one hour. Both routes meet at the same point at a distance, from where it takes 10 minutes to reach the top of the fort.
Steps to the fort
Explored the fort for the next 1 hour and started descending around 12.30 and it took 1hour to descend back to the base village. Freshen up and started our way towards Menavli which was 45mins and 20 km from vyazvadi.
Enroute decided to take a light meal which was masala dosa and chaas because we had to climb one more fort. It was almost 3 pm when we started our trek to Pandavgad, we asked villagers as how much time it takes to climb and they said 2.5hours and as an experienced trekkers we decided our return time as 5.15pm no matter where we will be because it is winters and the sun sets early and we were on our own so we did not want to risk our lives as we were told by the villagers that there are wild animals in that area.
There wasn't any markings initially but we could see the way to reach the fort though it was all uphill which we realized while descending, after almost 1hour climb we could actually see the fort and markings.
On the first plateau, while ascending from Menavali village, there is a temple of Lord ‘Bhairoba’. Here are remnants of ancient statues. At a distance of 15 minutes there are ruins of the main entrance. Ascending some rock-hewn steps we reach another ‘Machi’. Here are a couple of cisterns.
From there it was like 1 hour more but one of our member wasn't able to make it as his pace wasn't matching ours and there was time restriction to return back so we asked him to stay back at a temple and only 2 of us decided to head further and that was where we put in all our energy to make it before 5 pm and kudos we did it. And yes there are markings till the end from the ridge we climbed
Explored and started our return journey by 5.05 pm and were back till the place we had our friend resting took 20mins and started our way back this time with happy faces as we could make it to the end. At sharp 6.30 pm before it was dark we were back to the base village. The villager offered us water and tea and we decided to go to Dholya Ganpati very famous in Wai and Nana Fadnavis Wada and then had Dinner at PK's biryani at Khed and was back home with lots of memories to year-end trek.
Highlights of the trek.
Accommodation Facilities
1. Vairatgad:15 people can stay at Hanuman Temple.
2. Pandavgad:‘Pandjai’ temple, which accommodates 15 to 20 persons.
Drinking Water Facility: There are many cisterns, on both the forts and water is available throughout the year.
Transport: Buses run regularly between Wai toVyazwadi (Vairatgad) and Wai-Menavali(Pandavgad). (Best if you have your private vehicle.)
Food Facility: It’s better to make food arrangement by yourself.
Best time to visit: Monsoon to Winter for both the forts.
Was looking for information for doing both the forts in a single day and nicely shared..
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